USCA Texas Motor Speedway
 

So far Brian Hobaugh is first in the auto x and speed stop....


It's a little chilly here but the rains held off and the 12 hour Chump Cars are still out there on the road course dukein' it out....

Thanks for the update.. Keep them coming... And some pics too!

Greg, how many cars are running in the USCA? Is the weather any better today?

Thanks for posting Greg, awesome photo!

Is Andy's Falcon a runner?

https://scontent-a-sea.xx.fbcdn.net/...82784604_n.jpg

Look like Brian's having a good time!

https://scontent-b-sea.xx.fbcdn.net/...52927470_n.jpg

That's a nice collection of time slips for one day.

The weather is WAY WAY better today -- you could ALMOST take your coat off....


There's maybe 45 cars here. I haven't asked or counted but it's a decent turnout but not what it should be. There's not enough "casual" and first time drivers here and there should be. They're getting so many hours of seat time it's unreal. People everywhere willing to discuss lines and tires and pressures and shocks and watching each other and then giving opinions on what to try etc.

There's been a few spins on this infield track but there's nothing to hit -- so they just put it in gear and take off again.


LOL

People are having a blast

So many runs it's unreal.... everyone is just getting way more driving than
they signed up for. Very well organized --- nice garages to park in... Lots of tools around and lots of knowledge! Perfect environment for a great time.


BRIAN IS TRAILERED -- broke the tranny early today so she's all loaded up and ready to start the journey back to NorCal.

See some of you at GOOD-GUYS PLEASANTON!

Greg,
I guess as long as it was Brian all is good. He is probably going to do some paint work anyway when the new body kit comes.

Glad everyone had fun and no one got hurt.

I see the Goodguys/DSE Camaro driven by Ryan Mathews did pretty well all weekend!

See you in a few days Greg.
Ed

Did all of the USCA cars get garage spots? That is way cool!

Hearing how few showed up makes me even sadder that I couldn't be there. Kind of like RTTA when my car just wasn't quite ready. I sure hope I get a second chance next year for this one!!!

Greg I think you should buy him a Jerico 5 Speed, I think that's the 2nd or 3rd time he's broken that G Force.

That G-Force won't be going back in there...

I think he wants to go to the same trans Mike Maier runs. Just can't remember what the name was.

Nice BLOWN SLS Black Edition....







http://i919.photobucket.com/albums/a...d/IMG_5275.jpg

Todays awards ceremony! The afternoon turned out really nice!






http://i919.photobucket.com/albums/a...d/IMG_5276.jpg

Andy's Falcon looks like it has the wrong tires on it…

Great looking car - I've been wanting to do one for a while and while there are some things that I would have done differently it looks like a cool ride.

Congratulations to Terry Fair on the win in 2WD3K and to Steve Kepler in the AWD class.

Texas
 

Thanks for the updates
Looks like this series is coming along nicely...
again all the passes you get you can really hone
the car in... trying to get my ready for Goodguys
this weekend..then Fontana and maybe Portland
Told my wife I could not make her friends daughters
wedding due to my racing schedule... did not seem
to phase her:)

Panteracer Norcal Bob

Says the guys from the Great NW. I added a jacket over the top of my hoodie and still had trouble staying warm. That wind really cuts thru the layers.


The last run group of the day had 1 person in it. Its my assumption that everyone else had already either spent their tires and/or themselves and couldnt take anymore. WTG Cheryl Herrick for taking the SOLO track time.

I showed up anyway. Didnt want to miss out on another event. I came out and did my best to help out as a volunteer. But I also live close enough to the track to hear the cars run on a clear evening. It was torture being there without a car watching everyone have fun. The road course looked great.

Jimi mentioned we may get another chance next year. We'll have to do everything we can to keep our cars together for it and then hype it up for more participation to keep them coming back.

I look at the event calendar geared toward our niche hobby and wonder why we have to drive 10 hrs to get to the next closest event. No I can see why. We've got 5 autocross clubs in the DFW area and 2 motorsports tracks. Surely we alone could have filled the event. Perhaps we just needed more time to get the word out. Its only been 4 months since the event announcement. I think there was less time for RTTA and the Power Tour events. Maybe a late September or October event would be better for this area. Who knows... :EmoteClueless:

"Aaron" had Toyos on his car. The Falcon was pretty slick and looked awesome on the track. He's a pretty decent driver as well. Several times you'd see him sideways around a turn trying to get the most out of it. I think his fastest time was 44.XX

I'll second the congrats to Terry. He clinched the fastest time of the weekend in the last session of the day. There wasnt much left of his rear tires when he was done. Seeing him and Ryan Mathews in the DSE Monster Camaro chase each other around was pretty fun. It looked like a modern Mustang vs Camaro battle. They both appeared to be comparatively equipped vehicles.

Texas
 

Chris,
I was working in my shop last night and looked on
the wall and where I put a pic of your car and mine
side by side for tech at the Challenge in Pahrump

just reminded me since you just posted

Been nice here in Kali.. just went over the hill to
the coast yesterday thru the twisty roads with two
other Panteras.. life if good.. now back to working
on the Firebird

Panteracer Norcal Bob

Greg Weld is the new Erin Andrews.

C&R

Alright, I laughed out loud at that one... :lol:

I wonder if being the weekend after the GG show hurt or helped the USCA event attendance? Or if more people were just saving up their vacation days and dollars to go to the next USCA event instead?

Chris, I agree with you 100% that if we want Jimi and the USCA to come back to Texas us local guys will have to do a better job of promoting the event and convincing "our friends" to show up. Many of the guys I talked to that came out as spectators were bummed they didn't sign up. All sorts of reasons and excuses for their reluctance but after seeing the level of camaraderie, driving events and instruction offered by the Jet Hot driving instructors, they were kicking themselves. I knew I wasn't going to win anything or set a fastest time of ANY day with guys like Hobaugh, Finch, Tucker, Terry and Ryan Matthews being there but it sure was awesome to watch them duke it out, running my own car in between to keep the pavement warm for their next shot at a better time.

We really need to push for this event in Texas again in 2015. We have many talented drivers, awesome cars and people as you mentioned connected to the hobby here that we should have no problem filling up the dance card with entrants.

Now get the Maverick back on the road and let's go do another event!...Oh and by the way, thanks for braving the cold and volunteering. I know I wore you guys out on the auto-x Saturday making you guys chase the cones that kept jumping out in front of my car! :headspin:

We would have been able to get a much larger contingent out there, but many had signed up for the BMW Trifecta event at COTA, the F1 track in Austin. Others were at either the Chump Car race at TMS or at the similar World-Racing-League event at Motorsport Ranch Houston. I'm certain more of the NASA Time Trial guys will try this next year, but March dates are often triple or quadruple booked in Texas.

That made me chuckle. Ryan's Camaro is for all intents and purposes, a real W2W racecar. The Vorshlag Mustang is a 3800 lb (with driver and fuel) streetcar with a stock engine (440 whp) and a LOT of chassis tuning, but no spherical suspension bushings or anything else that would reduce longevity or make noise on the street. We even ran on a 315 front tire!

Well, we did put on a noisy exhaust... :relax:

Terry took the lead in his first track session, but Ryan was always nipping at his heels. Terry had to go out and keep running faster times to hold on to the event record. Really we were hoping to make it in the top 5 overall for this event. So happy with how it turned out. And again, had another great time at it. Promise to start drumming up support earlier for the next one.

http://vorshlag.smugmug.com/Projects...rategery-M.jpg

Says Janes Snowden...:D

Thanks for filling in the gaps for me. That makes much more sense. I hated to think that everyone took the weekend off. Is there a community calendar with these and other events listed?

I had no idea. Well at least it performed to its appearance. Incredible driving and that exhaust sounded sweet as he wrung it out on the straights.

The only thing missing from this image is the heat waves coming off the car. Otherwise, it captures the moment perfectly.

http://vorshlag.smugmug.com/Projects...rategery-M.jpg

The attendance was a little lacking at this TMS event, for sure. We're going to be begging Jimi to come back to Texas with the USCA crew next year. With so many talented drivers, beautiful cars and shops here in the DFW area, it was a shame that more didn't enter!

http://vorshlag.smugmug.com/Racing-E..._DSF2888-L.jpg

In that last week before the event weekend we called a lot of our customers and friends and managed to get 10 of the sign-ups out of the 38 total entries (might have been 39, if they count Aaron from GMG?). I wish more shop owners had done the same, and I sent emails out to several begging them to make some calls. :wacko:

Picture gallery: http://vorshlag.smugmug.com/Racing-E...te-Street-Car/

http://vorshlag.smugmug.com/Racing-E..._DSF2825-L.jpg

One of our staff members at Vorshlag is a great photographer (Brandon) and he took the good pictures in the gallery above on Sunday. We also shot a bunch of stuff with my camera on Friday and Saturday. The amount of amazing cars and trucks entered was insane, even with only 38 or so entrants. It is a shame more people didn't come out to spectate or enter in their own cars.

http://vorshlag.smugmug.com/Racing-E..._DSF2780-L.jpg

Aaron and some of the gang from GMG were there but I suspect, with his Discovery Channel contract, we won't see him or his car on the episode that will air showing this event. They were all super nice and it was fun watching him wheel that Falcon around the road course on Sunday.

http://vorshlag.smugmug.com/Racing-E..._DSF2839-L.jpg

This new USCA show should be on channel "MAVTV" (owned by Lucas Oil) and starts airing August 8th, with the Laguna Seca round. The TMS event should be on about a week later, so around August 15th?

http://vorshlag.smugmug.com/Racing-E..._DSF2777-L.jpg

Just wanted to thank Jason (aka: modernbeat), who is our Head Engineer here at Vorshlag, for his help this weekend. He kept the car sorted and settings tweaked - and kept my head in the right place so I could drive. My wife Amy was also there all weekend pitching in (she normally drives at these events and has several SCCA National Championships - that I don't have), as was Kyle and Brandon from our shop and Stuart from Maxcyspeed (who does our shock tuning).

http://vorshlag.smugmug.com/Racing-E..._DSF2792-L.jpg

Lou from LGM was there in one of his C7s as the camera equipped "chase car", and we had some fun on a few laps of filming on the road course. We did some lead/follow laps and I let the ass hang out a LOT, goofing for the cameras. I've already heard rumors that he thought I was trying my hardest to keep up with him, so I guess he thinks that C7 is faster than a 3800 pound Mustang, hehehehe.... :D Maybe next year he will enter and bring some of his customers come out and run USCA, to show us what these plastic GM cars can do? (yes, I'm trying to goad him into entering in 2015!)

http://vorshlag.smugmug.com/Racing-E..._DSF2944-L.jpg

Todd from MyShopAssist and Evolution Dynamics was there entered in his EVO, which had won the overall at the Optima Qualifier in Dallas (at the end of the Hot Rod power tour) in 2012 and had been invited to the Optima Shootout in Vegas twice. He brought his dog Violet, who instantly became the mascot of the event. Such a sweet puppy!

http://vorshlag.smugmug.com/Racing-E..._DSF2929-L.jpg

I'll post a few more pictures Brandon took on the road course in my next post.... he's still processing and uploading.

http://vorshlag.smugmug.com/Racing-E..._DSF3032-L.jpg

More soon,
Terry Fair @ Vorshlag

Terry, congrats on earning the invite to Vegas! :cheers: It was awesome watching you go at it this weekend. For those that have not seen you drive before, it was simply #$%&* amazing as you kept raising the bar with every lap, auto-x run or attempt to improve your time on the speed stop challenge.

On a more personal note, I wanted to thank you for taking the time to give me some pointers when we walked the auto-x and speed/stop challenge Saturday morning and offering me up some gear oil when my axle seal crapped out on me on Sunday so I could make it home. You are top notch man and the invite is well deserved!

THAT'S IT!!


What were we talking about......?

I got some great news after unloading my Camaro off Greg's rig today. It appears that I broke the drive shaft in half. More to come....

I so want to come run with you guys, but I'm just garage built POS Camaro that just might make it interesting. BFG wanna help me out with some tires? Plenty of room on the quater panel for decals!

Normally that would be horrible news! But if it's not the tranny that is great news. Nice work as usual out there Brian :thumbsup:

I think your car would be great out there. Nobody said it had to be perfect. I think the audience needs to know that its about getting your car out to have fun with it. It doesnt take a shop built, 6-figure budget, car to do these events.

Looking at all the builds on the various sites I always thought that my car would never be good enough. Last weekend I went out to the USCA event to spectate and realized this is not the case. Don't get me wrong there were many really nice cars but at the same time not all of them had 100% show quality fit and finish. Most of the cars were there to be driven, not to sit on pedestals. I'm really glad I went and can't wait until my car's on the road and able to join in the fun.

^ This is a fact. It is not a show car event, it's a driving event. Run what ya brung and have fun! Besides, Mils (sp?) would probably kick ass on 90% of the field.

Well,sort of Ron, The design segment is still geared towards shiny show cars and will definitely effect your placing in the overall standings. It's much better than it used to be but still carries a significant amount of weight in the overall score. You just have to accept the fact that that's the way it is going in and enjoy the fun on the track.

That's a great point Tim. I guess I was trying to say don't let stuff like that stop you from getting out there and having fun.

Oh sure.... you're home sleeping in your own bed while I'm still out here on the road!

Was good to hang out with ya buddy!

See ya somewhere!

BTW --- I would add to this conversation that "winning" is not really very important -- when compared to hanging out with great people -- and even just rooting for them or helping them - or learning from them. Not to mention driving on some of the best tracks in the country. I didn't see one person at either event - that wasn't having the time of their life.

Agreed although hanging out with you last weekend wasn't too bad either.....

Thanks buddy! We had fun didn't we --- and we didn't even have cars to drive!


I was just there in support of my buddies Brian and Steve... and frankly just in support of the whole USCA "thing".

I have to say -- it's been a very long month. Arrived home tonight finally... It was a great trip and I'd do it again in a heartbeat.