Who competing has actual experience racing/auto-xing/time trials?
- Thread starter SpyHunter
- 60 comments
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- 59
- oJAMEYo
I raced motocross for years. I have a TAG kart but i have not got to race it yet.
- 713
- Connecticut
- Forcednduckshn
- 283
- GTP_Spyhunter
Congrats on your 2nd place finish! What class?
I autoX. Took 6th Place Day 1, 9th overall in B Stock at Nationals this year (in an AP1, wish I had a CR, or an AP2 for that matter) Extensive carting experience.
What's your name? I've probably heard of you!
Nick B
I was the guy that released you guys from grid.
I ran STS. Actually going to run that car again this year. John H.
CodeRedR51
Premium
- 55,282
- United States
Countless track days. Currently hold the fastest FWD record at my old track.
Couple years worth of autocrossing, ran FTD for one event in my Miata. (on all season tires)
LOTS of canyon running experience.
Couple years worth of autocrossing, ran FTD for one event in my Miata. (on all season tires)
LOTS of canyon running experience.
- 615
- blindsidefive0
I was talking with Nick about this on another thread...
I do some time trialing with COMSCC, a Massachusetts based club with primarily SCCA ITA and SPEC miata drivers looking to get extra track time. Previously have only been able to do a couple events/year - this year my 325i is all sorted out and should be competitive.
I've done some casual go-karting, but signed up this year for my first ever league with a local Boston indoor Kart facility.
SpyHunter - best signature ever. It's like, I can't make my 370 go fast, give me a GT-R that'll go faster on it's own.
I do some time trialing with COMSCC, a Massachusetts based club with primarily SCCA ITA and SPEC miata drivers looking to get extra track time. Previously have only been able to do a couple events/year - this year my 325i is all sorted out and should be competitive.
I've done some casual go-karting, but signed up this year for my first ever league with a local Boston indoor Kart facility.
SpyHunter - best signature ever. It's like, I can't make my 370 go fast, give me a GT-R that'll go faster on it's own.
- 1,936
- United States
- RaceManiacGT1
Just Formula SAE in my college years, never ran a "real" car in competition though...
- 75
- lfishbulb and RacinDave
I have run my daily driver 95 Miata in NASA HPDEs at Mid Ohio for a couple years and Autox (E class in NASA and E stock then ESP in SCCA) for one year at Kil Kare in Xenia, Ohio (cheaper!). I had the pleasure of driving an S2000 with with Kumho 710s for a couple runs and it was glorious. No FTDs yet. This is why I love this time trial because we all drive the same equipment. I always wonder how good I would be if I got into a well sorted car. Sometimes it sucks getting beat by people with nicer stuff when you feel like you are faster. On the flip side it is awesome when you beat someone with clearly a better car.
I remember chasing your Ghost GTP_Spyhunter in the GT5 TT last year on the Indy road course. I finished 19th. R1600, I believe our times were very close last year. Competition seems fierce so far and it will get even better.
I remember chasing your Ghost GTP_Spyhunter in the GT5 TT last year on the Indy road course. I finished 19th. R1600, I believe our times were very close last year. Competition seems fierce so far and it will get even better.
- 620
- Choate51
Did a year and change with a regional yamaha kart club in Indiana. Used to be known as SIRA. The series went to a different course each round, and most were temporary street courses with buildings and real guardrails as your barriers.
I was >20lbs over weight and still ran top 5 out of 20-25 entrants after figuring how to set a cart up and get used to driving.
I was >20lbs over weight and still ran top 5 out of 20-25 entrants after figuring how to set a cart up and get used to driving.
- 33
Lots of HPDEs and Auto-X. Rally-X experience as well. Did a few Redline Time Attack sessions.
- 713
- Connecticut
- Forcednduckshn
- 713
- Connecticut
- Forcednduckshn
I was the guy that released you guys from grid.
John H.
Ahhh!!! Congrats! I'm looking to find an AP2 and have another go...but ideally a CR to really have a chance at a championship. Need to take care of the financial situation first...
I'd say I've given the racing dream a real shot and came up short by a few hundred thousand dollars...
I havent raced in about 6 years. Started racing 125cc shifter karts at 18, then did Skip Barber 3 day racing school and 2 day advanced school.
Ran the Skip Barber regional championship and finished 2nd by 1, ONE freaking point. Had 8 wins out of 14 races. The next year I moved on to the Skip Barber National championship where (I've gotta name drop) I raced against Raphael Matos (IRL driver) Gerrardo Bonilla (ALMS LMP2 driver) Marco Andretti and a few others. They were faster than me, but given my very limited seat time I though I did pretty damn good. My best result in the national was 3rd and 4th place at Elkhart Lake in Wisconsin. I left the national championship a few races early after I realized I wasnt going to make the top 10 shootout at the end of the year. It cost a pretty penny and to do the next level of racing was going to cost 250k just for the racing expense, nevermind airfare, hotels, etc... WAY too much to justify without a sponsor.
I always hoped to get a sponsor but never realized at the time how immensly difficult it was to do so and that you had to sell yourself as a business oportunity for someone, not that you are talented and they should support you. I learned the sad reality that racing is all about how much money you have and very very little about how much talent you have. This has become extremely prevalent in modern motorsport, just look at F1 this year.
Nico Hulkenburg had a great rookie year, but he was dropped from Williams in favor of a new rookie who is bringing tons of mexican state sponsorship money.
Im looking forward to this competition as my second chance to get into a car where someone might care about my talent. IF I can make it into the portion of the competition where it switches to real cars, Im quite confident in my abilities. But the digital stuff is still a little difficult for me, but hey, its the same for everyone right?
I havent raced in about 6 years. Started racing 125cc shifter karts at 18, then did Skip Barber 3 day racing school and 2 day advanced school.
Ran the Skip Barber regional championship and finished 2nd by 1, ONE freaking point. Had 8 wins out of 14 races. The next year I moved on to the Skip Barber National championship where (I've gotta name drop) I raced against Raphael Matos (IRL driver) Gerrardo Bonilla (ALMS LMP2 driver) Marco Andretti and a few others. They were faster than me, but given my very limited seat time I though I did pretty damn good. My best result in the national was 3rd and 4th place at Elkhart Lake in Wisconsin. I left the national championship a few races early after I realized I wasnt going to make the top 10 shootout at the end of the year. It cost a pretty penny and to do the next level of racing was going to cost 250k just for the racing expense, nevermind airfare, hotels, etc... WAY too much to justify without a sponsor.
I always hoped to get a sponsor but never realized at the time how immensly difficult it was to do so and that you had to sell yourself as a business oportunity for someone, not that you are talented and they should support you. I learned the sad reality that racing is all about how much money you have and very very little about how much talent you have. This has become extremely prevalent in modern motorsport, just look at F1 this year.
Nico Hulkenburg had a great rookie year, but he was dropped from Williams in favor of a new rookie who is bringing tons of mexican state sponsorship money.
Im looking forward to this competition as my second chance to get into a car where someone might care about my talent. IF I can make it into the portion of the competition where it switches to real cars, Im quite confident in my abilities. But the digital stuff is still a little difficult for me, but hey, its the same for everyone right?
- 164
- emotionap1
I did some auto-x in my ap1 and numerous runs at the dragon. I wanted to do some TT's but the only place around is CMP and I believe VIR requires a rollbar/hardtop with softtops now...
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- 1,103
- NY
- Tommy_861
The really short version:
AutoXed for about 11 years with some local wins a couple local titles, nothing great.
Went to Skip Barber 3 day in 2003, did some lapping and stuff with them from 03-05 at Limerock, Pocono, and Daytona. Also did their Advanced 2 day. Couldn't afford to actually enter any events, but tried to get sponsors to get me somewhere. Never got any. I actually spoke to a Pro Formula Mazda team as well as Grand Am both of which were willing to run me for the right sponsorship money. Then I started getting phonecalls from other teams... Then I realized the only reason they are calling is not due to my talent (I really had nothing to show for my training with no real race experience) but the fact they thought I had money. Joke was on them!
Started a 24 Hours of Lemons team in 2008 running a 93 VW Fox. Built the car out of my old winter beater in my folks driveway. Shes surprisingly very quick! We have 2 events under our belt with 4 scheduled this year.
I also went to Team O'Neil rally school earlier this year for 2 days. Its an absolute hoot!
Ohh and I go kart sort of often at GPNY in Westchester, NY.
I'm with Zoli007 on this one. I think I'm faster in real life, this video game stuff just doesn't translate well to you when you have a lot of experience using all your senses to read and control the car.
AutoXed for about 11 years with some local wins a couple local titles, nothing great.
Went to Skip Barber 3 day in 2003, did some lapping and stuff with them from 03-05 at Limerock, Pocono, and Daytona. Also did their Advanced 2 day. Couldn't afford to actually enter any events, but tried to get sponsors to get me somewhere. Never got any. I actually spoke to a Pro Formula Mazda team as well as Grand Am both of which were willing to run me for the right sponsorship money. Then I started getting phonecalls from other teams... Then I realized the only reason they are calling is not due to my talent (I really had nothing to show for my training with no real race experience) but the fact they thought I had money. Joke was on them!
Started a 24 Hours of Lemons team in 2008 running a 93 VW Fox. Built the car out of my old winter beater in my folks driveway. Shes surprisingly very quick! We have 2 events under our belt with 4 scheduled this year.
I also went to Team O'Neil rally school earlier this year for 2 days. Its an absolute hoot!
Ohh and I go kart sort of often at GPNY in Westchester, NY.
I'm with Zoli007 on this one. I think I'm faster in real life, this video game stuff just doesn't translate well to you when you have a lot of experience using all your senses to read and control the car.
- 36
3 years of stock car racing at the local half mile short track. Best finish 6th in the Feature. (or A main, Main event, whatever you want to call it) Also 4 heat race wins. (short 8 lap, 9 car races)
Before that, Did 4 years of local karting (yamaha KT100) at 3 different tracks. Won 4 championships, 2 in one year at tracks 100 miles apart. (one ran friday nights, one ran saturday morning, never made a single change in the setup)
I cannot run with the fast guys yet in GT Academy. Was ranked 82nd last I checked in the Midwest region. I have not had time to get the G27 out and run some laps. So I am hopping that a wheel does the trick like everyone says. Just a lot easier to play using a controller when you only got 30-45mins to play at time. Also dont have room for the wheel where the ps3 is currently hooked up.
Before that, Did 4 years of local karting (yamaha KT100) at 3 different tracks. Won 4 championships, 2 in one year at tracks 100 miles apart. (one ran friday nights, one ran saturday morning, never made a single change in the setup)
I cannot run with the fast guys yet in GT Academy. Was ranked 82nd last I checked in the Midwest region. I have not had time to get the G27 out and run some laps. So I am hopping that a wheel does the trick like everyone says. Just a lot easier to play using a controller when you only got 30-45mins to play at time. Also dont have room for the wheel where the ps3 is currently hooked up.
- 2
- xp_evo_45
Awesome to see a few AutoX-ers! How many times have you heard "it's just a few cones in a parking lot!"
I started a few years back in San Diego. I started with a car I had already modified just for fun and ended up being introduced to AutoX. I am classed in X-Prepared with my Evo 8 RS. I do alright in the local events considering the weight of the car (2,700lbs) the local competetion here (several Natl's winners) and my autoX experience(3 years).
I have to put it on hold because of my job but will be back at it in a few years...
Good to see there are people that compete at the national level here!
...and I always thought the people on top of the leader boards were kids using the d-pad in moms basement! Muahaha!
I've tried the Academy races and am in the top 500-600 range with about 30 mintues per track so far. I'll try again this weekend! at least now I dont feel like a total loser for not being in the top 100!
I started a few years back in San Diego. I started with a car I had already modified just for fun and ended up being introduced to AutoX. I am classed in X-Prepared with my Evo 8 RS. I do alright in the local events considering the weight of the car (2,700lbs) the local competetion here (several Natl's winners) and my autoX experience(3 years).
I have to put it on hold because of my job but will be back at it in a few years...
Good to see there are people that compete at the national level here!
...and I always thought the people on top of the leader boards were kids using the d-pad in moms basement! Muahaha!
I've tried the Academy races and am in the top 500-600 range with about 30 mintues per track so far. I'll try again this weekend! at least now I dont feel like a total loser for not being in the top 100!
Jason_B
Premium
- 1,555
- expressseven75
I've raced karts for 10 years, USAC National Midgets for a season in a half. Working for an Indy Car team, and on a Grand-Am Team for the 24 Hours of Daytona twice.
I'm 31, I've got 2 jobs this time of year, I don't have the time to put into this. I'll try to put some time into it this weekend though.
I'm 31, I've got 2 jobs this time of year, I don't have the time to put into this. I'll try to put some time into it this weekend though.
- 615
- blindsidefive0
I guess a follow-up question - does anyone's real life racing experience preclude them from participating in the GT Academy?
Turbo - you mentioned Miata SCCA. I was talking with a few members of the club I run time trials with, and a few of them said they couldn't do this because they competed at nationals so they needed a National A license.
Turbo - you mentioned Miata SCCA. I was talking with a few members of the club I run time trials with, and a few of them said they couldn't do this because they competed at nationals so they needed a National A license.
- 22
- gator-nole
I have roughly 40 days on track, all but 3 in my BMW and the other 3 in a skip barber formula car. I also have years (think 20) of autox experience but I've never competitively setup my car for it other than some tires and an old suspension and only recently started going to almost every event each year. That said, I should be better than I am both in real and virtual driving but I'm not. Having a DS3 doesn't help in GT either. Was 6th in the US on a pad in last years TT but around 150 overall in the US.
I haven't been home since the new TT started but look forward to grinding it out when I get home next week.
I haven't been home since the new TT started but look forward to grinding it out when I get home next week.
The racing I did was all through Skip Barber and I never held any class of SCCA license. Im sure it would have been simply a matter of paperwork but I never had it.
And it definitely seems like you need a wheel to have a chance. I commend those of you who get anywhere near the top times with a pad because I gave no idea how you do it.
I wanted to buy the fanatec gt3 wheel but after learning that all the finals stuff will be done with dfgt's, I didnt want to buy, use, and get used to the fanatec only to have to then play with the dfgt IF (capitalized for a reason) I make it to the finals. Practice on the equipment that will be used no?
Good luck to all, truth is Someones dream will come true.
And it definitely seems like you need a wheel to have a chance. I commend those of you who get anywhere near the top times with a pad because I gave no idea how you do it.
I wanted to buy the fanatec gt3 wheel but after learning that all the finals stuff will be done with dfgt's, I didnt want to buy, use, and get used to the fanatec only to have to then play with the dfgt IF (capitalized for a reason) I make it to the finals. Practice on the equipment that will be used no?
Good luck to all, truth is Someones dream will come true.
CodeRedR51
Premium
- 55,282
- United States
I'm guessing this is directed at me. I never ran an SCCA event as my local auto-x events were put on by a co-worker. (Keith @ FM) Same with the track days. I'm in the Phoenix area now, so looking at doing some SCCA events down here once I get another Miata. (Hopefully soon)
- 283
- GTP_Spyhunter
Wait, you worked at Flyin' Miata!? LMAO!! I held the track record for fastest door slammer for a bit. Laguna blue miata, FMII kit. That would have been 2006.
CodeRedR51
Premium
- 55,282
- United States
Wait, you worked at Flyin' Miata!? LMAO!! I held the track record for fastest door slammer for a bit. Laguna blue miata, FMII kit. That would have been 2006.
Yeah. Started working there in 2008. Great job, but was a dead end. Needed to move on unfortunately.
Edit: I think I recognize you now. I think you may have been one of my friends on MySpace long ago.
- 1,103
- NY
- Tommy_861
Thats actually a good question for some of us. Firstly completing Skip Barber does qualify you for an SCCA license, as well as other competition licenses. Or it licenses you as well just for their series. I myself, converted mine to an IMSA license in preparation for Pro Formula Mazda in 2005, however I never even turned a wheel in one of those cars so it was really all on paper. As well I don't believe that license is what they would consider an International A level license which they have said you can't have.
I believe what they mean by that is any of the pro level licenses (Grand Am, ALMS P1, IndyCar, NASCAR, etc). Not the Amateur level ones. At least I hope.
In reality it doesn't matter to me, I'm in like 1100th place.
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