COVID-19 and the $2000 Challenge

In reply to bobzilla :

Thank you, I needed that this week. 

Small update in the Georgia Tech challenge team:

We're still planning to try and make it in October assuming things still happen. Figured I'd throw something in here since we can't officially register yet to show our intended support. We haven't been able to access our shop our touch our cars since the school shut down in March, but assuming we regain access sometime next month and things are stable come October we will be there in some fashion.  We've been working on some CAD designs so as soon as we're given the go ahead, we're ready to hit the machine shop running.

Looking forward to seeing everyone and hoping the challenge can still be a bright spot in the otherwise bleak year. Stay safe everyone!

I went to an event last weekend, social distancing (and mask wearing when it was not possible) was being handled on the grounds somewhat well, but not as well in the small town we were in.  I’m trying to keep my distance from everyone for a while, just in case.  I’m still planning on attending the challenge, too, just haven’t signed up since I want to make sure the car will be ready.  I’ll also try to be as self-contained as possible at the challenge, while still getting to interact.  I’ll go to Stampie’s socially-distanced bar, but sadly, I’m unlikely to go to the Gator’s Den - guess I’ll just have to run out to Sonny’s drive through for meals at the hotel instead.

I whipped up 2200 gallons of hand sanitizer yesterday and am tossing together 3300 gallons Friday for production to package next week. 

I may need to borrow bed or trailer space to get it south as I'm planning on driving the escort down.

eastsideTim said:

...guess I’ll just have to run out to Sonny’s drive through for meals at the hotel instead.

Let me shill for the *AMAZING* Leonardo's restaurant with deep dish pizza to die for. And garlic knots swimming in butter. (Hoping they're still open)

Also, I don't know what availability of E85 is around Gainesville, but if anyone is setup to run E100 or E85, let me know and I'll bring a hundred gallons or so of E100 down. 

Screw COVID!

Scared Cone Racing will be there. Looks like we are the lucky 13th entrant on MSR. 

I've written to GRM 3 different times regarding the Challenge and have not received a response. Is anyone there???

How are you writing to us? I haven't seen anything in my inbox. 

My address is Tom@ this website.

In reply to Tom Suddard :

I've written to the GRM headquarters email address and sent a message to you through the website. I just tried again. 

Has there been any updates on the state of affairs surrounding the Challenge?

My Australian friends have had to cancel their trip here, so no trip across America with them.

This also means that us taking the 3000 mile one way trip is getting less and less likely

In reply to Antihero (Forum Supporter) :

I hope you & your Aussie friends can reschedule for next year, and actually get to enjoy your trip. 

John Brown (Forum Supporter) said:

Has there been any updates on the state of affairs surrounding the Challenge?

It would help!

Pete Gossett (Forum Supporter) said:

In reply to Antihero (Forum Supporter) :

I hope you & your Aussie friends can reschedule for next year, and actually get to enjoy your trip. 

I hope so too. We were really looking forward to it, doing our first challenge, seeing new Orleans for the first time....

Hell, my wife has seen the critters you've uploaded on the book of faces and was looking forward to seeing them when we dropped off the rampage lol

Greg Smith (Forum Supporter) said:

eastsideTim said:

...guess I’ll just have to run out to Sonny’s drive through for meals at the hotel instead.

Let me shill for the *AMAZING* Leonardo's restaurant with deep dish pizza to die for. And garlic knots swimming in butter. (Hoping they're still open)

Still open!!

In reply to Antihero (Forum Supporter) :

The good news is it's possible we'll have more by next year.

Official Update: We're still good to go, and still planning to hold the Challenge with a mask requirement and social distancing. Nancy and I are working on a massive document outlining every single operational change, but in the meantime you can learn more here:

https://2000challenge.com/covid19-policies

Sorry we haven't been updating everyone more often, but we're quite confident the Challenge will happen as originally scheduled. Heck, the current lack of entries is as big a threat to it as Covid! If you're planning on attending, please show us by registering your car. In order to plan effectively, we need to get a feel for how many cars will enter. If we cancel or reschedule the event (and again, there are absolutely no plans to), then we'll happily refund all entry fees paid.

In reply to Tom Suddard :

Well I'm still planning on attending, but without a car. I'll find a team I can tag along with, but with as crazy a year as it's been so far, and the continuing threat of a bad storm season, it'll be a bit closer to the event before I sign up. 

Will be registering as soon as our car actually runs 

In reply to Pete Gossett (Forum Supporter) :

Ummm you have a car... making that happen is NOT a problem. 

I'm going to need to get the ignition system issue on the escort sorted once I'm medically cleared to, then get brakes, tires, then I'll register. Then I'll focus on getting the motor mounts in, reclearing to roof and hood and throwing the coilovers on it.

Pete Gossett (Forum Supporter) said:

In reply to Tom Suddard :

Well I'm still planning on attending, but without a car. I'll find a team I can tag along with, but with as crazy a year as it's been so far, and the continuing threat of a bad storm season, it'll be a bit closer to the event before I sign up. 

How good are you with mopar? You and stampie can both be on team super slow....

For me, it's more about figuring out for myself and my family what the real risk of me going vs. not going is. And like everyone else in the world I "want to see what happens" so I am delaying registering.

If I were more local and this was an autox and maybe I could swing not staying at a hotel, it would be different. But this is 2 1000 mile drives, and staying 3-4-5 nights in a building that isn't my home.

It's hard to judge what the real increased risk is (can we ever?), but also it's so emotionally charged it's hard to even have a logical conversation with family about it. For you other long distancers, what are you using to help make a decision?

Robbie (Forum Supporter) said:

For me, it's more about figuring out for myself and my family what the real risk of me going vs. not going is. And like everyone else in the world I "want to see what happens" so I am delaying registering.

If I were more local and this was an autox and maybe I could swing not staying at a hotel, it would be different. But this is 2 1000 mile drives, and staying 3-4-5 nights in a building that isn't my home.

It's hard to judge what the real increased risk is (can we ever?), but also it's so emotionally charged it's hard to even have a logical conversation with family about it. For you other long distancers, what are you using to help make a decision?

We have to make the thousand mile trip each way also. We typically only stop for one night on the way down and make the return trip home in one shot  

In the past, the GRM Challenge has been one of our first events to sign up for and it is one of our favorite events to attend. However, the potential lack of attendance is weighing heavily on our interest for 2020. The people who attend this event are some of the most fun and innovative and interesting people with a common interest and we consider many of them friends. Without them and the GRM family participating in person and here on the board, it is weighing towards taking a year off.

There  are a lot of folks who are not attending for fear of Covid, fear of traveling with all the hostilities that we have been witnessing and the challenges that many now face with their employment. Our family has seen a layoff, multiple furloughs, pay cuts and for myself a persuasive invitation to retire.  Incurring the costs for traveling, hotels and food are going to be an unwelcome to hit to the budget, however we have always absorbed these costs knowing how much we personally get from this event.

I know that I have not made any statements here suggesting whether you should or should not attend. Frankly all I have done is express my own thoughts and struggles in trying to decide.  After all the excitement and fun that was had by those who participated in the recent events, I am confident that there are a large number of us struggling with that decision.

After careful consideration we're not going to make it, we've lost the majority of our autox testing season, the entirety of it at sites similar to Gainsville and to be perfectly honest business hasn't been great an 800mi drive and week-long vacation aren't what I should be doing. We wish everyone the best! Good luck to whoever saddles themselves with the unintentional parking lot build, second-best building tree is directly across from the service entrance get some oil, hotel bar margarita,  and/or blood on the curb it's regrettably tradition