SCCA Nationals 2004

[Denny Trimble]

Congrats to UTA for dominating again in Topeka. And, it looks like the UMR car held together this year to keep UTA from taking all the trophies!

I wish I could have been there. Any stories to share?

[Denny Trimble]

Congrats to UTA for dominating again in Topeka. And, it looks like the UMR car held together this year to keep UTA from taking all the trophies!

I wish I could have been there. Any stories to share?

[Tiga driver]

It was a good time. FASE had more cars and drivers than AM. That was cool. KU did a great job of hosting out of towners with some housing and food. It was pretty clear that UTA and UMR were the fastest after day 1. UMR had to do an engine change for day two and lost some time on day 2. It also didn't help they were on R35 tires.

It is too bad that more schools did not show up. Rumor has it that SCCA has bought 30+ acres of land is going to paving it for autocrosses. That would great since the Topeka concrete is so rough. It is also pretty clear to me that those teams that regularly participate in autocrosses are usually the top schools in the dynamic events.

Here is a group pic after running Friday hosted on Solo2.org

http://www.solo2.org/Default.aspx?tabid=25&mid=441&path=&currentitem=3&currentstrip=1&media=solo2-day2-2004+054.jpg&ctl=Viewer

[Solo2.org]

ah yes, free image hosting again http://fsae.com/groupee_common/emoticons/icon_smile.gif

[UTA racer rikki]

Denny,

We had a good time for sure. Sorry you couldn't make it down for this one. Well, we had our customary cream filled donuts each day, though I had to pass on the first day because we were running pretty soon after breakfast, all provided again by K.U. of course. They seem to have this theory that they make you slower.

First day we had a bit of tire lift... again. We were afraid to make any adjustments on the fly for the south course without talking it over, so we just ran with it. We made a minor adjustment in preperation for the much faster North course. We apparently did the right thing because the car was definitely hooked up and fast.

Interestingly the car was hooked up enough that people watching my run got to see the front wheel stop while modulating gas and brake through a corner. If that's not clear enough, we were lifting a front tire. Jane, once again, was seen getting the inside two wheels off the ground again, but nothing like last year.

I just want to say that I wish more teams would participate in the Nationals event. I know that money is sometimes hard to scrounge up for it, but it is definitely worth it. Just coming to the event is an experience in itself, and I would recomend it to anyone. I had the best time just chatting with everyone at Bennigans before the first day of racing. Sitting in K.U.'s car was definitely a great experience and it was nice hearing a couple of different approaches to how people design their cars.

I think that Mike and the UMR team won't allow the car to show up to another Nationals event without 25A tires. Excellent driving by all, and good luck on the upcoming year.

[B Lewis @ PE Engine Management]

Congrats UTA and Erick!!

I wish we could have been there. We were all ready to go...had airline tickets and everything but had to change plans at the last minute due to last minute conflicts. Oh well. I guess we'll try again next year. http://fsae.com/groupee_common/emoticons/icon_smile.gif

[Vince]

Like Erick said, more teams should show up. Luckily, I get to go with a bunch of people who are from my auto-x region, so its makes nationals very fun and interesting. Where else do you get to see people have burn out contests on the home made scooters with 5hp Briggs motors or a blender that has a weed-eater engine to make "beverages"� after the racing is over for the day. I'd like to thank UTA and Dr. Bob for letting me drive the car to get a time in on the Thursday. I'd also like to thank the guy from UMR who took pictures and gave every team a copy. Do you happen to have picture from Friday?
Vince
Texas A&M FSAE

[Tiga driver]

Vince,

I have a copy from day 2. Got some good pics of you rolling to the start and coming through the finish. I'm going to burn a CD for everyone and mail it to your repsective FSAE addresses listed on your homepages. If any of the FSAE Nationals guys want me to send it to another address please message or email me.

Thanks,
James

[UTA racer rikki]

Hey Vince,

No prob man. It sucks going to Nationals and having things like that happen. It's almost to spite all the work that you've done through the year. I was sorry to see you guys only get a couple of runs in your car the second day. I am sure that there would have been some battles for trophy positions for sure.

Anyways, I didn't get a chance to ask you what you thought of the '03 car. I didn't know when was a good time to approach you and ask what your opinions were, but it's definitely feedback worth hearing.

[mtg]

I wish I could have made it out to Nationals as well. I had fun in '03, and with our car being reliable this year, it would have definitely been more fun.

Mike brought a box of the famous cream filled donuts back to Rolla when the engine was swapped. Mmmmmm, donuts.

Matt