I <3 Rallyx
Holy crap, why didn't we have rallycross around here sooner?! I can not convey how much more fun it is to romp around in the dirt over skidding around on the asphalt.... it's just... after years of atv riding it's like I'm back home. :]
As you can tell, I had a race this weekend. The SCCA group got in touch with the State Fair Grounds in Hutchinson, KS, and got this HUGE lot for the day for $50. Cheap as heck and I can see this spot being the PERFECT location for many more rallycross events to come. Lap times were around 90 seconds long, compared to the usual 40-50. Yes, this place is BIG! We were only using half the lot, no less.
Overall the event was great. My friend Tim and myself showed up a little late, but were snuck into registration, worked first heat right off the bat, and then got our cars inspected during the break between first and second heat so we could race second. I love these guys, always accommodating. I'll admit that I fought for traction a lot. The surface quickly deteriorated into loose dirt and my tries only had about 1/16-1/8" of tread. Needless to say I wasn't accelerating very quickly and the car was always over steering, but I had fun. The Rallyscort (Ford Escort) was my only competition in modified 2wd, but he managed to roll his car on his second run after either catching a rut or rolling the bead on his tire. Both him and his passenger at the time were unharmed, but the car was towed back home to Wichita. It'll race again someday.
Had he not done that, I'm sure he would have soundly beat me as his first run was 3 seconds faster than mine. I definitely need new tires. Originally I was planning on buying a set of autocross specific tires for the Conquest so I could be competitive in Street Modified, but now I'm thinking I have better chances (and have more fun) in rallycross so chances are I'm going to find a nice set of aggressive snow tires to use. I've been told that BF Goodrich Traction T/As work great in hard packed dirt, but after witnessing how quickly the surface turned to powder at this location I'm confident I need a good aggressive tire. Something with large blocks and wide open voids. Short of going to a true rally tire which would require a custom set of wheels (if I wanted the right back spacing), a snow tire is about as aggressive as I can get. They're such a soft rubber that they will quickly get too hot on hard packed dirt, but short of traveling to another region for a race or even nationals if I go that far, I should be fine. Anyway, a good set of all seasons work rather well in hard packed and I may just buy a set of Traction T/As for daily use.
Anyway, video and another photo after the break.
Same photographer as before, but this was a photo from my very first rallycross from back in July.
A couple people even shot video. First one is a short clip of just my car, second was a video covering the whole event with a shot of my car and even a cameo appearance of myself walking the course. :P
As you can tell, I had a race this weekend. The SCCA group got in touch with the State Fair Grounds in Hutchinson, KS, and got this HUGE lot for the day for $50. Cheap as heck and I can see this spot being the PERFECT location for many more rallycross events to come. Lap times were around 90 seconds long, compared to the usual 40-50. Yes, this place is BIG! We were only using half the lot, no less.
Overall the event was great. My friend Tim and myself showed up a little late, but were snuck into registration, worked first heat right off the bat, and then got our cars inspected during the break between first and second heat so we could race second. I love these guys, always accommodating. I'll admit that I fought for traction a lot. The surface quickly deteriorated into loose dirt and my tries only had about 1/16-1/8" of tread. Needless to say I wasn't accelerating very quickly and the car was always over steering, but I had fun. The Rallyscort (Ford Escort) was my only competition in modified 2wd, but he managed to roll his car on his second run after either catching a rut or rolling the bead on his tire. Both him and his passenger at the time were unharmed, but the car was towed back home to Wichita. It'll race again someday.
Had he not done that, I'm sure he would have soundly beat me as his first run was 3 seconds faster than mine. I definitely need new tires. Originally I was planning on buying a set of autocross specific tires for the Conquest so I could be competitive in Street Modified, but now I'm thinking I have better chances (and have more fun) in rallycross so chances are I'm going to find a nice set of aggressive snow tires to use. I've been told that BF Goodrich Traction T/As work great in hard packed dirt, but after witnessing how quickly the surface turned to powder at this location I'm confident I need a good aggressive tire. Something with large blocks and wide open voids. Short of going to a true rally tire which would require a custom set of wheels (if I wanted the right back spacing), a snow tire is about as aggressive as I can get. They're such a soft rubber that they will quickly get too hot on hard packed dirt, but short of traveling to another region for a race or even nationals if I go that far, I should be fine. Anyway, a good set of all seasons work rather well in hard packed and I may just buy a set of Traction T/As for daily use.
Anyway, video and another photo after the break.
Same photographer as before, but this was a photo from my very first rallycross from back in July.
A couple people even shot video. First one is a short clip of just my car, second was a video covering the whole event with a shot of my car and even a cameo appearance of myself walking the course. :P
Click to view