Livestream?

In reply to John Welsh (Moderate Supporter) :

Complete with runaway bride!

Results sheet has been updated:

https://docs.google.com/spreadsheets/d/10Y4xgohCtiuJwYcFbh0Yo0Woec4f1rrqvJfNqPBL2rM/edit?usp=sharing

John Welsh (Moderate Supporter) said:

OMG. Bandit Miata! 

Opportunity missed!!!!  

Substitute Avalon for Pontiac.  

slowbird said:

World's fastest Avalon!

Do we have a sense of what cars are in contention for the overall? How close is it, is the concours gonna make or break these contenders? The suspense is building! 

Well, given that cumulative times will be around 55-60 seconds (for 100 points), the concours points are worth roughly 2/3 to 3/4 seconds each. The concours likely will determine the overall winner. Without looking, I'd think Ed Malle's Mustang has the fastest combined times. There really should be an award for "The Overall Fastest Car".

Well, just read Tom's result sheet and it shows how little I know ! Congrats Georgia Tech ! Anyone know if they're running any power adders, or normally aspirated?

In reply to Tom Suddard :

Car 4 Roll-Ovalon definitely did not run a 12.6 my best was 14.1

In reply to DeadSkunk (Warren) :

Car #4's drag ET was corrected to 14.157

Can anyone there get a picture of the #42, '84 Corvette?  It is doing well (showing 5th on results) but I am not familiar with it. 

What's it got in it?  

In reply to John Welsh (Moderate Supporter) :

One of two C4 Vette-carts. The one thing I wasn't a huge fan of was the upturned zoomie style exhaust 

Exquisite post from The MoFaux...on the Face Place with the whole field

For those not on FacePlace, I'll repost the pics:  

No offense, i know simplify and add lightness works, but death karts just don't make for good magazine pictures 

Patrick (Forum Supporter) said:

No offense, i know simplify and add lightness works, but death karts just don't make for good magazine pictures 

Not like your sister's wagon on gold wheels...

Patrick (Forum Supporter) said:

No offense, i know simplify and add lightness works, but death karts just don't make for good magazine pictures 

Same. It doesn't take any skill at all to hack a body off a car and not put any kind of body back on it.

In reply to Patrick (Forum Supporter) :

Exactly why I took the 12

In this chatter about death carts are we lumping the Corvettes in the same category as the Avalon?  

I am reminded that the early premise of the $1500 Challenge was, "racing doesn't have to be expensive; if you only had $1,500 what would you race and how well could you do?"  

Ugly as it may be, the Avalon does answer this question.  Further more, it is the leading $1k car.  I like these types of entires because it does in-grain that your really can "get out there" cheap and do surprisingly well.  It also doesn't require mad-fabrication skills (though Travis is a mad-fabricator) or engine building skills (this one is stock.)  

The Vette-carts still require a lot of effort and are still limited by the constraints of keeping in budget.  So, I like seeing them here on short budgets rather than a Road-kill approach of put HiPro parts and come out with a LoPro appearance.  

Though, I will agree, there is clearly a group of Varsity Players in this game that bring amazement.  I love what they do!!!!  I also know that I lack the skill to play at their level...I just do.  However, I can bring a 10th and 11th finishing car as well as have had a hand in other mid-pack finishers which are crafted from more of a Jr Varsity approach.  

maschinenbau (I live here) said:

In reply to Patrick (Forum Supporter) :

Exactly why I took the 12

Once you've seen one Avalon kart you've seen them all.

Keep in mind the mr2 is third dynamically.  It is ahead of Ed mall's mustang and Jonathan's ls swapped rx7. 

It is attainable by many folks on the GRM board as it is essentially a stripped stock mr2 with Chinese coilovers and a set of Hoosiers, whereas the other cars in the top three took a ton of engineering and fabrication to get where they are.

Adding lightness is hard to beat on a budget...

Can't you all let anything be a surprise? I'll turn sharing back on as soon as the awards have been given out.

From the dead last in dynamic scoring, lack of a pro driver really hurt our score. On the up side all of the boys made multiple runs on the autocross, one of which had only just learned to drive a stick shift car. All of them made multiple passes on the drag strip, and none of them had driven on a drag strip before.

Thats how I call last a big win. Still had a great time, and they all want to race more.

To win the Challenge you have to engineer and fabricate, just read the rules and that's obvious. To have fun in Gainesville and have a secondary use for the car do whatever turns your crank. I've got no issue with Vette kart type builds, any more than I would with lightly modified street cars , like a cheap supercharged Miata .

I like the death carts, I think there's a difference between doing one the right way and the wrong way. Given that these all passed safety tech, I think they were done the right way. And the giant mask is a nice touch.

I do think that there's something to be said for the really excellent bodywork on some of the cars. That's why concours plays such a big part in the final score. Chassis fab, drivetrain design, and body all come together to make a car more than the sum of its parts.

In reply to Fladiver64 (Forum Supporter) :

Also be sure the boys realize they put themselves into a genuine "Pro" competition which is something that others would never think to do and never seek the opportunity to do.   The Challenge really spoiled me from a drag racing perspective.  My first drag racing was this Challenge style, run-a-ton type.  Then, I go to a local track and wait HOURS to get in a few runs.  To have an entire track just for your group of 40 cars in unheard of elsewhere.  

In reply to John Welsh (Moderate Supporter) :

Would the Avalon realistically pass tech at any other event? So if it really a fair answer to "what can you race"?