NCporsche

Plans have been long underway for the Parade 2008 AX @ Lowes Motor Speedway.

There are two levels of volunteers; Parade volunteers and Regional volunteers.

Neither one will ensure that you will have the opportunity to be one of the 400 cars running the track. Sign up, to run the track, must be done through the Parade website. Volunteering will give you an extra point in being accepted. A trial run is scheduled for March. If you drive the trial run in March you will NOT be allowed to AX during Parade.

Volunteer slots are available through the Carolina Region. If you want to volunteer, with no promises made to run the track, send me a PM or post a response in this thread.

For the locals, there will be a PCA AX in Winston-Salem Sunday April 6. Check the March edition of Tobacco Roads for more info.

NCporsche

Yesterday, the AX course for Parade Charlotte was laid out and certified. It was a fascinating day working with the PCA chairs that flew in for the day and the local volunteers.

Run times on the 3/4 mile infield track at Lowes Motor Speedway will be in the 60 seconds range. It will be a fast course with some third gear stretches. Yesterday, at times, I wish I had brought my car to run the course. What a great day it would have been to practice. The cars that did drive got in ten runs +.

The PCA rules are strict. If your drive the course in practice you would not be able to drive during Parade. You were not even allowed to ride as a passenger during practice and then drive during Parade.

With all the walking yesterday, I joked to Becca that we should have brought her scooter. She replied that she asked and was told that again "if you drive the course during practice, no driving during Parade, not even the scooter".

A pat on the back to everyone that helped out yesterday.

Jim Michaels

Even I can drive the infield portion of LMS in less than 30 seconds, so there must be some added slow-downs to the course. I hope participants don't have to drive it in reverse.

NCporsche

From what I learned yesterday, Parade AX must be run at an average time of 60 seconds.

The original start, which was labeled a "drag strip" start was moved 300' closer to the skid pad. There was the concern that the original rolling start, between the concrete walls, into the skid pad and first slalom, would cause problems if a novice was hitting it hard and the turbo kicked in.

Moving the start and placing a gate between the start and the start timer would allow a slower and safer start. This 300' move took maybe 5 seconds from the course time and as the run time was at 70-80 seconds, the 5 second loss was negligible.

We've made the most use of the skid pad, lots of sweeping turns, both left and right, along with some surprises. If you drive this Parade AX, you definitely want to walk the course beforehand. I'll post the original map in the next couple of days, but the course has been tweaked.

Jim Michaels

I guess it's been too long since I ran LMS because I don't know what the "skid pad" refers to. I remember infield entry from the banking between the walls, a left, a straight, a right, another right, a short straight, an uphill right, a left at the top of the hill, and a charge down the hill to a left bend oval re-entry near NASCAR 1. Is it still that way?

P.S. I call my Cayman S "Humpy Wheeler." Hope the original Humpy Wheeler doesn't mind if I run there.

NCporsche

The skid pad is typically where they park the RVs during the NASCAR races.

Attached is the original map of the Parade AX. The course has been tweaked, so the map has changed.

Slantnose!

Hello.
So this is really the course?
Thanks for posting!

Jim Michaels

Marc: Read NC's above post again.

NCporsche

Dateline - April 1st 2008

The autocross is the only event full for Parade. There is a wait list available and with the expected 5% cancellation rate, this will open up the first 20 on the wait list.

NCporsche

Parade AX pictures are now on-line at the Parade website.

Had my car protested and I was a little concerned. The protest centered around my tires (Kumho) and the protester cited A 2.5 5.3 a. "Tires must have visible tread across the entire tread surface".

The protest was denied and he lost his $50.00. He had the third place position and was trying to bump me so he could take second.

After the event, I thought I should have protested the first place car. I'm glad I didn't. The first place car was a 924S with a 944 wing. Getting back home and reading the PCRs, it seems that any fixed wing is acceptable in the PO3 class, as long as the front of the wing is attached to the car.

Regardless, I'm happy with a second place and Becca took a third in the Ladies class. For our first big national event, the little 944 with 250,000 miles did well.

J P Stein

Does one need the keys to the kingdom, know the secret handshake & code word, or what exactly to find the results of the AX? I screwed around on both the National & Zone 3 websites with no luck.

Jim Michaels

Results will be posted in a while. We southerners don't like to rush things, you know.

Bobby Smith

Good job Jim at Charlotte. I too would love to take a peek at results. The course was really fast and quite different than your typical auto-x layout. I was a long but very good day.
Bobby Smith

Jim Michaels

Bobby: I was wondering how I'd get to congratulate you for FTD in a timely fashion, and you just made it easy. I'm happy to remind you that my initial prediction was correct. Yours was a very popular victory with my local (BRR-PCA) crowd. Very nice job!

I don't actually have anything to do with posting times. Posting Parade results seem to take forever anyway, and it is a holiday weekend. Maybe the Charlotte autox is still running a bit behind schedule.

There are a couple of photos of you and your 914 on course posted at the PCA Parade photo site. Under the Autocross section, they are photos #655 and #656, very near the end. The photos were not as good as the 10 (!) pics they had of my car (is there no justice?). You must have been going too fast for a good photo.

AJ88CAB

I know it's been discussed in one way or another but we really need to come up with a simple way for us to identify each other at events like this. I would have loved to put a face with a screen name and been able to meet some of you folks. Could be as simple as a mailing label on the windshield with "rennlist" and our screen name hand written.

Anyway, I managed a 3rd place in P-9 (75.876). It was my first Parade and it was a blast.