Smith College Gearing Up for the Grassroots Motorsports $2017 Challenge

In reply to Ovid_and_Flem:

They did.

Mr Joshua has had a mental lapse.

SVreX wrote: In reply to Ovid_and_Flem: They did. Mr Joshua has had a mental lapse.

Yeah-getting beat by them in the AutoX scrambled my brain a bit.

In reply to SVreX:

FTD on autoX with a true student driver, right?

In reply to Ovid_and_Flem:

Yep

I just emailed them about a free NA shell w/ suspension I came across last night. It's in FL but I bet if they came to get it we could probably scrounge up a free drivetrain, suspension parts, wheels, etc. between here and CT to make the road trip worth their while. Cue Build Thread, Cue Your Trips and Adventures Thread.

Interesting comments. Full disclosure. I was the person who hosted the seven Smith engineering students at the Watkins Glen NASA weekend. I have personally visited 14 engineering schools in the past year, and the Smith program is excellent, but rather new, and very small. In most respects they are no different than any other engineering students. One of the seven Smith students was a motorhead before she arrived at college. The other six were simply smart students with an open mind looking to learn about different aspects of engineering. I have worked with Formula SAE and SAE Baja teams for 30 years now. Those school programs vary from vastly overfunded class projects micromanaged by faculty to low-buck student club run grassroots efforts. Smith has no history with racing, so the students are doing this on this own. They looked at Formula SAE, but like any smart team evaluated their resources and concluded that the GRM $2017 was the best opportunity to learn, have fun, and maybe make some industry contacts that could lead to them working within the sport. One of the students is interning with Hale Motorsports on their Pirelli World Challenge team. Does Smith benefit from great donations? Yes. Is this different than any other successful school? No. Will the students complete the car? I believe so. I donated my $250, and have encouraged companies who hire entry level engineers to step up at the $400 resume book level.

Good for you Dean, I am really interested to see what the team turns out, and hear their impressions of the challenge. We all love to see the creativity that an open mind and a tight budget turn out. Hopefully the Smith team feels the same. I think the girls are in for an awesome experience.

In reply to DeanCase:

I'm glad you replied, Dean. The lawyer in me made me do my due diligence before donating and revealed GH's Haie Racing/NASA connection and further explained the Miata choice...didn't want to out you

I have been in touch with their defacto leader and have learned they are very serious about the challenge and are receiving no current funding from Smith College.....they're doing on their own.

C'mon guys...pony up. They'll be a great addition to the Challenge.

In reply to Ovid_and_Flem:

The school is being supportive in that they have a place to work, but it is 100% student brain-power. I'm helping out as the business mentor since my engineering skills are rather dated these days. And, unlike TeamEvil, when I post, I post under my real name. :)

In reply to DeanCase:

As a new forum member, I sure hope you recognized from others' responses he was a Wolfpack of 1.

The nomenclature for people like him in forum speak is 'shiny, happy person,"

The Challenge is a great format for college teams because there are very few rules. You can run whatever you want, as long as it doesn't cost over $2,017. There is no restrictor plate rule in the Challenge as there is in FSAE. If it runs 10s in the quarter and tears up the autocross course for $2,017, more power to you. I can see why it's so attractive to a group trying to get off the ground.

These young people are starting from zero. The tow vehicle and trailer will be passed on to the next group coming in. The welder, the shop air, the hand tools will be scraped together bit by bit over time. Success has to start somewhere and this effort is Day 1. They will come and they will learn. They will ask questions, take suggestions, borrow tools, scratch their heads, fail at stuff, succeed at stuff, and go home to figure out what went right and what E36 M3 the bed. Then they'll pass it on to the next group who hopefully possess the leadership abilities necessary to carry the team to the next level. It's how the successful college teams have done it and it's how they will do it.

Also, it would be a mistake to think all the students at an academically rigorous and successful institution of higher learning are there by the grace of some birthright or family money. These schools take many promising students from differing backgrounds who do not have anywhere near the means to attend and provide them with the money and housing necessary to succeed. If that means they must bus a few tables to do so, well, these young people have already had to work harder than anyone else to get where they're going so it's no biggy.

My nephew got a full academic ride to a fine school to study physics. He's already got his name on a couple of papers. I guarantee you his parents are not "to the manor born." They were just hardworking, creative, and smart. Now they have a scientist in the family who's fielding grad school offers from many fine schools. So let's not rain on anybody's parade, especially before it begins. These young people are just interested in what we're interested in. Let's not mash their curiosity just so they will conform to someone's myopic world view.

DeanCase, You have Raced at a Top Tier Venue and are going to meet a set of rules like no other, $2017 dollars Is a set of wheels and Tires In Most Forms of racing.

My suggestion would be to do as I have done and Buy a running car and prep that for the event, adhereing to the Monetary Limit is Darn near Impossable withuot a huge stash of "Junk" parts and a wheeler Dealer mentality, I feel I Posses Both those items and see that Abandoning My Vette and Buying a former Challenge car Is the Only way to Make the Show at this Late Date.

That little Ford racer on 2017 Classifieds is Ideal and should be considered. Best Of Luck Girl's And Don't hesitate to Ask Here For Help Of ANY Kind. some smart folks here Too!

In reply to Ovid_and_Flem:

Agreed. I've spent many years with the GRM community and 99% are great people. There is always one.

I'll provide this advice that I gave to someone else looking to do some "crowd sourcing" of funds for The Challenge.

Choose a "sports car", "race car" as your basis.

It seems you have done this with choosing a Miata. As much as I would like to see a Ford Aspire with a turbo added to it, I feel that when you are asking others to support the cause and you have little time to really explain the event, you will have a harder time getting people to support your "economy car" effort in a race. It will be much easier to build support from the "unkowning" if you ask for dollars to race a traditional sports car/race car.

John
Challenger of two Infiniti Q45's and one Nissan Quest Minivan.
Neither perceived as sports cars/race cars.

In reply to John Welsh :

I loved your Quest project last year. I am encouraging them to use a Miata as i know that world, and know people who can offer use advice and mentorship. The diversity of hardware and ideas at the GRM $20XX Challenge is what makes it so much fun.

DeanCase wrote: In reply to John Welsh : I loved your Quest project last year. I am encouraging them to use a Miata as i know that world, and know people who can offer use advice and mentorship. The diversity of hardware and ideas at the GRM $20XX Challenge is what makes it so much fun.

There's a wealth of Miata knowledge and a lot of crappy cars out there for cheap. You need both for a quality first foray. plus, we have in our ranks the one and only Keith Tanner who literally wrote the book(s)on modifying these cars.

[Shameless plug] By the way, we have Keith's How to Build a High-Performance Mazda Miata MX-5 and Mazda MX-5 Miata: Find it. Fix it. Trick it. on sale here at Autobooks-Aerobooks here in Burbank or autobooks-aerobooks.com. [/Shameless plug] Ahem, just thought I'd mention it, ahem nudge-nudge.

In reply to Jerry From LA:

And if you don't leave those manuals in the car, they don't count in your budget,

In reply to DeanCase:

I emailed the team about my turbo Miata (5 time Challenge participant, 3rd place overall 2015).

It could be a really good start.

In reply to DeanCase:

Ah, I recognized the name somewhat but couldn't put my finger on it. What you wrote made me remember The Ole Nissan Guy.

Now even more cool and more glad to have y'all.

SVreX wrote: In reply to DeanCase: I emailed the team about my turbo Miata (5 time Challenge participant, 3rd place overall 2015). It could be a really good start.

Kool that you would Offer that car up but it really is a Great starting Point.

I'm just going to keep my personal opinions to myself and try to be as nice as possible...

I would gladly donate my turbo Integra from last year to any college team with earnest intentions. It is a well sorted car with low operating costs, huge market support and it would not get lost in the ever-present sea of basic Mazdas. The car needs some work but nothing too difficult, just a bunch of little things; would certainly make the trip up to Mass from NJ.

Beyond that, I will probably just spectate this year so I should be down there and would gladly make myself useful in any way. Reach out for help, new friends are still friends and we all try to support each other as much as possible.

wheels777 wrote:

Ovid_and_Flem wrote:

MrJoshua wrote:

chaparral wrote:

GTXVette wrote: Think I remember something about "Best finish for a College Team" Then I still got to go with the Local Trade School. Go Tech! Oh and that'd Be Georgia, not Texas

Wasn't Texas A&M second one year with a turbo 1.8 Miata?

Nope

I thought Texas A&M finished 2nd in 2015.

I was happy with the way the 2015 turned out ...... just sayin' ..... :-) If the Smithettes needs any help, PM us....

If I were them, I'd call my team the smithereens. Just sayin.

I should have mentioned sooner that I'm in Northampton and would be happy to help in any way I can. Message me if you want.

In reply to SVreX:

THANK YOU!

In reply to sesto elemento:

The Smithereens is a singing group at Smith College -- that predates the 80's band. For the students, the preferred term is "Smithie".