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View Full Version : 1 GLH vs 50+ Vipers...



sy2206
08-07-2011, 10:13 AM
The Viper Club of America, much like any major car club, has a big event in the summer(like our big SDAC event). However, their's is every other year, and 2011 is an off year for them. So instead of doing nothing, they have teamed up with the Mopar Nats and have arranged to have some Viper events at the Nats this year. One of which, is a "Vipers only" autox. LOL, to make a long story short, I was able to pull a few strings and sneak into this event. So it'll be me and my GLHT autoxing against a gang of Vipers.:eyebrows: They said they're expecting 50-65 cars to participate. This should be a blast, I can't wait!!

I'll be curious to see how the track is laid out. Generally speaking, the hosting club can tweak the layout to make it work to their advantage. For example, when I've ran with the Minnesota Autosports Club, which is a lot of Miatas, Civics, EVOs, M3's, they usually set up a tighter track, because their cars handle very very well, and the majority of them don't make a ton of power. Two weeks later I ran at the same venue with the Corvette Club of MN, and they had a much more opened up course, much higher speed, to utilize the higher hp and weaker handling Corvettes. The Viper event next Sun is being held in the parking lot of an active shopping mall. I would assume they'll just have a big section roped off, and they'll setup the course in that area, which I'm sure is out in the back 40 away from the building/traffic/shoppers/etc. However, considering the stores are still open for shopping, I can see the mall requesting that it be a lower speed event. If the Viper Club gets their way, I would think the course layout would be opened up a little bit. I guess I'll find out a week from today. I'm curious to see the mix of cars also. I'm sure there will be some older GTS's and RT/10's, I'm not real worried about them. But if there's a whole pile of new ACR's I could be in trouble...

Spectating is free, so any of you guys that are down at the Nats and want to come check it out, swing on over. It's about 10mins from National Trails Raceway. The autox is being held Sunday the 14th, at:

Indian Mount Shopping Mall
771 South 30th Street
Heath, OH 43056

CoolV300C
08-07-2011, 10:49 AM
Post some pics and update this later. Wpuld love to see how this turns out.

jaysshelby
08-07-2011, 01:12 PM
still bums me out I can't make it to this with ya Mark.

BadAssPerformance
08-07-2011, 05:42 PM
Awesome, good luck Mark! Make us proud!

I may try to stop by, but really hope the Shadow is going rounds in Pro on Sunday!

...oh, and yer dead on with the local/host club setting the track. As awesome as Vipers are, they usually need more room to play than most AutoX layouts allow, so expect a couple long sections

cordes
08-07-2011, 09:16 PM
This is awesome! I demand videos. Best of luck to you.

Turbo224
08-08-2011, 11:08 AM
I would love to see pictures of this!

sy2206
08-08-2011, 11:57 AM
Thanks guys! Yes, I will post picts and the results when I get home Sunday eve. I'm hoping to have some in-car videos also.

66auto-xcharger
08-12-2011, 08:28 PM
Mark, If you get this befor you leave. I need to talk with you about Sundays Auto-X Send me your PH #

David H.
Lost in Akron Ohio

BoostedDrummer
08-12-2011, 10:10 PM
I would love to see pics and videos of all this as well haha :thumb:

sy2206
08-15-2011, 06:25 AM
Ok, here's the results. Just over 60 cars were registered for the event, but there was a few drops of rain that scared most of the Vipers away. Generally speaking, Viper guys fit more into the "polishing" crowd then the "racing" crowd, so if a little bad weather rolls in, they're gone. So there were only 14 cars that competed, 7 in Stock and 7 in Modified. They threw me in the stock class, and I finished 3rd. It was a pretty short event, I expected it to go longer. I had a couple issues with my car in the morning, so I didn't make it until about 1.5 hours after the start. Everyone got 4 practice runs in the morn, then 3 runs through the course as your "scored" times. Well, I missed all 4 of my practice runs by being late, so my first few runs through the course counted as my scored runs. I guess it's kind of irrelavant as I was not eligible for a trophy anyway(seeing as this was a Viper series points event). After we all made our three runs, I pulled back into the pits and started getting out of my car when three of the Viper guys came over and said, "Hey, you should go make some more runs through the course. This little thing hauls! We know you didn't get your morning runs, so go blast a few now, we want to see you race some more! We can't believe how fast that thing is, you're running quicker then a bunch of us!" One of the guys told me later they were refering to my car as the "Mini-Viper". All in all, it was a good time, and I had fun. I didn't get a lot of picts, as I was busy driving. MB took a bunch, I'm sure she'll post them up. Here's a couple I took...

dodgeshadowchik
08-15-2011, 07:27 AM
Yup! It was definatly fun watching the Omni make some runs! Love how it skates around on three wheels. :thumb:

I'll post pics up hopefully today. Got sidetracked and brought a friend back up to Michigan with me so he could buy a car that he found up this way.

CoolV300C
08-15-2011, 07:29 AM
Cool. Good showing. Lets see some more pics MB!!

sy2206
08-15-2011, 04:21 PM
Yup! It was definatly fun watching the Omni make some runs! Love how it skates around on three wheels. :thumb:

LOL, yeah, the three wheels is not uncommon at all. A friend of mine said I should put "tricycl" on the plates. You left like 3 mins too soon. When I got back from my third run, they announced that the course was open for fun runs, and ride-alongs! So if anyone wanted to ride in any of the cars on the track, that was fair game. I was going to see if you wanted to go for a spin, but right as I pulled back to my spot, I saw you pulling out of the parking lot. I ran a bunch of times in the afternoon, and rode in one of the vipers a couple times.

Johnny
08-15-2011, 04:34 PM
Great!!
Any of the Viper guys ride with you?
I had one ride with me once (after I beat his times).
After riding in my car he said " I will NEVER underestimate one of these cars again, damn its fast!"

Good job Mark, glad you had a good time.

black86glhs
08-15-2011, 05:55 PM
I was considering coming, but with the weather we had, I thought it would be pouring rain there too. Damn. It was nice out down there compared to here.

66auto-xcharger
08-15-2011, 05:57 PM
Sorry I did not make it looks like you had a good outing with Viper guys. It’s nice to here of some respect from the Viper crowd.

David H.