Goodguys Autocross Report and Ride along

[ehansen007]

This last weekend I attended the Goodguys Del Mar Fall Nationals in San Diego to do some auto crossing. By winning the street rod class back in April, I was able to join Dennis Russell and Brett Vokel in the Pro Class and race against the best with other street machines. Of course, Brett had the Ridetech "Orangutan" 33 so with his results in the Optima Challenge, I new 2nd place was up for grabs! The track was dirty and once it started to scrub off and get some rubber down, times started dropping. This was a typical stab and shoot with longer straightaways than the Spring Nationals Course so we were going faster into tighter turns. It was a blast. Unfortunately, I was only able to attend on Friday but I was able to lay down a time that was good enough for third that day. However, Saturday was much warmer and so times came down. I just noticed, I logged 5th overall. Oh well. As the day went on, I felt I was keeping up with Brett at only a second behind and then on his last run run he took off 3 seconds! That thing hooks up!

Class Name Year Make Model Best Time Points
PRO Bret / RideTech 33 Ford Coupe 54.755 11
PRO Rob MacGregor 69 Chevy C-10 55.522 10
PRO Rodney Prouty 68 Chevy Camaro 55.73 9
PRO Jeff Schwartz 65 Pontiac Tempest 56.236 8
PRO Eric Hanson 33 Ford Coupe 57.36 7
PRO Dennis Russell 33 Ford Roadster 58.015 6
PRO Robert Pierik 71 Chevy Camaro 58.445 5
PRO Jeff Schwartz 49 Chevy 3100 58.859
PRO Cheryl Herrick 67 Chevy Nova 58.911 4
PRO Cheryl Herrick 65 Chevy II Wagon 60.405

The best part and what I didn't know was that they were raising money for the Wounded Warrior Foundation by offering rides in the pro cars for $20 to any spectator. It wasn't long before we had people lined up. I took a quick video of a run with one of my more "animated" ride-alongs. For whatever reason, I kept getting the girls in my car. so the guy running the event would run over to help unbuckle their harness. You'll see it in the video. For what it's worth, this was also my fastest run! The entire program raised over $7000 in ride-alongs. How great is that!

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http://youtu.be/a3ZAAH43Itg

[Mad Dog]

Very cool, Erik! Thanks for sharing.

[conmech]

I saw the roadster and chatted for a few minutes. AWESOME work guys. Wish I would have left my kids at home and been able to enjoy the ride. Maybe next time.

[WIS89]

Erik-

I love the Wounded Warrior Project and what they do! Thanks so much for supporting them with your generosity. I am sure people loved getting to see and ride in your beautiful car! Thanks for being selfless and helping a great organization help our bravest with their needs. Thank you.

Regards,

Steve

[stack]

Great video.

stack

[ehansen007]

Thanks guys,

I can also say that I took Schenk's advice and got some 700# Eibachs for the front and moved the stock 500#s to the back. I expected it to be a brutal ride but it was actually just fine all the way down to the race track and back which is about an hour. I think I got air off of one section of the fwy but it wasn't too bad. And changing the springs in the back is a real ***** with the three link. I should really switch to a Qa1 setup.

[Jay Mann]

Erik,

The ride along is a cool idea. I would expect that a 100Lb woman would not affect handling too much, but what about a 250Lb family sized guy? That would realy affect your times!!
I haven't driven my car seriously yet, but I can say that the QA1 setup from Dan Ruth is super clean and easy to remove and adjust, no spacers!! Yeah, the bolt is in backwards, switched it around later.

13754




Thanks guys,

I can also say that I took Schenk's advice and got some 700# Eibachs for the front and moved the stock 500#s to the back. I expected it to be a brutal ride but it was actually just fine all the way down to the race track and back which is about an hour. I think I got air off of one section of the fwy but it wasn't too bad. And changing the springs in the back is a real ***** with the three link. I should really switch to a Qa1 setup.

[Ray]

Eric,

I saw that run. At one point you could hear her screaming over the sound of the car. We all got a kick out that.

Ray

[Tom Veale]

Thanks Erik,

THE BEST YET!!!

Having passengers to thrill is a big part of the overall fun of owning this car!

We used to give "Touring Laps" during lunch time and I'd always use my Grand Caravan for the purposes! That way I could get six people screaming all in harmony!!

Best regards, TV