Marlboro Racing School

[Teri C.]

This place is freakin' awesome!!!!!



I just want to go to bed so I can get up and drive tomorrow.



We drove Mustangs on a road course, totally more fun than it sounds. I had that baby squeelin' around those corners. We also drove the Van Diemen, small Formula car made in Britian. That was by far my favorite as I am an Indy car fan. So responsive! I can't wait to get back in it. The IROC car was amazing to drive on the actual Homestead Miami track. You will never realize how banked those corners are until you are actually on the track.



Tomorrow we go FAST !!! Today was more learning the car and the handling. The instructor said I was a "natural". Ha! Dear ole Dad is getting pissed cuz I am blowing his doors off. Didn't knock a cone over all day.



I will post more when I get home. Lots of pictures!



Have a great rest of your weekend! No worries, Mates!

 

[Greg Meyer]

Teri,



Back (now sadly, way back) in the late 70s and early 80s I drove Formula V cars for an engine builder...



Open wheel is as "fine" as it gets...

 

[William H. (Bill) Barham]

Way to go Teri.. It sounds like you're having a great time.



Bill

 

[JR F]

Did you pick a yellow one ??????? Have fun.Jr

 

[Staci Matheis]

When you get back, Teri.....



Look up your local SCCA (Sports Car Club of America) club and ask them about "Solo II" events or "autocrossing". If there isn't an SCCA club in your area, just about any sports car club will have information.



I say "used to be" because insurability of such events was getting to be difficult when I stopped back in the early-80's.



Solo II/Autocrossing used to be a "run what you brung" venue for those of us who, for one reason of another, didn't make it to full-out racing. You could use your regular street car (I once used a rental car!) to fully race prepared cars. Cars are divided into classes depending on engine size, overall make performance and degree of modification/race preparation.



We used anything from a very large, smooth parking lot with the course laid out with pylons and speeds pretty much limited to those reached in 1st and 2nd gear to road race courses such as the one just west of St. Louis, Mid-America Raceways, which is 2.86 miles around. I went to one SCCA National Competition in Salina, Kansas where they used an abandoned airport's runways. Dorsey Schroeder got his start this way; I remember his first autocross when he blew up his Fiat 850!



Take a look! You'll HAVE to give it a try.....

And then you'll be hooked!



me!

 

[Carlos Hathcock III]

Sounds like great fun!!! Watch out for the police HAHAHAHAH

 

[Bruce Freeman]

Staci The SCCA and autocross are still going strong. But as you suggested because of insurance have been moved from parking lots to full out road courses and drag strips..

BF

 

[Terry Hutchison]

Staci, do you remember the Grebers from MAR? They were always racing out there. they're kin of my wife. I think little Bobby got out of the sports cars and went to racing stock cars. Hutch

 

[Staci Matheis]

Boy, Hutch..... "Grebers" doesn't even ring a bell..... But I was doing that stuff 25 to 35 years ago - before old age started effecting my memory..... Back when NASCAR held the "Firecracker 250" at MAR..... Back when the original Mini's and Bugeyed Sprites ran the streets! Were they the owners who lived in the house by the back entrance to the place - down where you came up the hill from corner 10 and onto the straightaway? Back then (again!) you could go out there on a weekday and run your car around the track for a whopping $10 a day!





Bruce, it sounds like you've been doing a bit recently!



I think the last time I ran an autocross was about 1980 or '81..... I had sold my MGB - modified just enough to keep it in "Production" classes - because I had thought I was going to be moving and selling my house, etc and wouldn't have anyplace for my "toy car". I went out there in a 1980 Mustang with the turbo-charged engine and the TRX suspension package. Son-of-a-gun wheel-hopped all over the place. Put a sway bar from a T-Bird and springs from a Fairmont Wagon cut down about an inch under it so that no one could tell I had made changes. Thing still wheel hopped..... I couldn't afford to buy another toy at the time for autocrossing so I just stopped going.....



Da##! That used to be so much fun!!

 

[Terry Hutchison]

Staci, that's when they were running out there-I've known my wife for 32 years and they were racing out there long before and after I met her. No, they didn't live by the track, they live right behind my in-laws in St. Peters.

 

[Staci Matheis]

Hutch - What kind of car did they run?

(I thought you ment that they owned the place.)

 

[Staci Matheis]

It's funny..... I had never been to the SCCA website until today when I was talking on the phone with Greg Meyer. He was there so I had to go!



Here's a link to their section on Solo II / Autocrossing:
http://www.scca.com/Solo/Solo2.asp?IdS=08BE12-CBE3120&x=050|030&~=

 

[Staci Matheis]

SCCA has seperated "higher speed" autocrossing into a seperate category which they call Solo I. It would appear that they have changed the safety rules somewhat in the last 25 years..... We always figured that the events were one and the same and competed in both whether they were on a high speed race course or a parking lot. The events were just run one car at a time rather than wheel-to-wheel competition.



Here's the Solo I link:
http://www.scca.com/Solo/Index.asp?IdS=08BE12-CBE3120&x=050|067&~=