Sucess at Wet Skid Pad

Just a quick note since I need to get some sleep after putting on over 650 miles today from South Bend to Grissom Air Force Base to Summit Point, West Virginia. I had some real sucess today with a 1st place in class and 6th place overall in the 1st event, the Wet Skid Pad competition. More to tell later.

We are on our way!

We had a nice long drive yesterday, only one of many 600 plus mile runs we will have this week. Got to South Bend around 7:30 last night so we had time to get a good meal. That's real important since much of this week the menu will be fast food. The ride out was uneventful except my Valentine 1 radar detector failed so we stopped and Rick bought an Escort. I guess that was only fitting since Escort is one of the national sponsors of this years event.

The picture above shows Rick and I next to the loaded car before leaving right after the storm and tornado warning on Thursday morning. You can't see the little tire trailer on behind from the angle of the picture. The other picture shows me finishing up the decal application process. We are required to have all the decals for the national sponsors before we go through tech.

Tomorrow the real fun starts, in the morning we will do the wet skid pad competition. Wet skid pad consists of doing two laps around one direction on the skid pad with the sprinklers on then a keyhole turn and two laps the other direction. Your best lap in each direction are added together and divided by two to get your average speed. With that speed they calculated your g force. Unfortunately there are alot of all wheel drive vehicles and they certainly get the advantage in this event.

There is an impressive mix of vehicles entered in this years race. There are three Vipers, six Corvettes, three Nissan GTRs probably 4 EVOs and a bunch of BMWs and Porsches, a couple Cadillac CTSVs, a new Challenger with retro style Rally driving lights that must be the size of small dinner plates. There are also a couple of Hondas one of which is twin charged, both super charged and turbo charged. Several Mazdas including a new Mazda 2 which comes stock as a 2000 pound car with a 105hp engine. This car however has a transplant drivetrain from a Mazda Speed3 and now has over 300hp and has Charles Espenlaub as its driver. Charles has several wins as a professional sports car driver. There are many other cars from vintage Camaros to Rousch Mustangs, a Jaguar XK, a VW TDI and an Ultima GTR which is a botique Lotus sized sports car with a big engine and many more. You can find the whole list at http://www.onelapofamerica.com under 2011 entrants list.

After the wet skid pad we head to Grissom Air Force Base and compete in a large autocross on the runway in the afternoon, then off to Summit Point in West Virginia for two track events on Sunday. Keep checking back and watch for more updates. Wish us luck.

Soon Time to Leave

It won't be long now till we leave on this great adventure. Last week Sharon and I did a couple of days at the shore and I took the folding bike along to ride and build up some riding stamina. Many of the tracks we visit we have never seen before. The format is, you come out of the pits and do one lap and that is considered your recognizance lap. After that one lap you stop at the start finish line and are flagged to a start your competitive run one car at a time. It is certainly a disadvantage if you are not familiar with the track versus some of the competitors that are. There just isn't enough time to always walk the track, so I will be taking my bike and can hopefully do a lap or two to get a little familiar with the driving line. At most tracks you are allowed to walk, jog, roller blade, scooter or bike around the track but you can't use anything motorized.

We are now up to over $1300 in our fundraising for the Pa Breast Cancer Coalition. When we took this on we thought it would be an easy goal of about $2000 and really thought we would do much more than that. I guess part of it is the economy. If anyone out there still would like to donate we will put your name on the car for any donation of at least $10. If you get your name on the car before we leave, you can consider yourself riding along vicariously;^) Many people have made a donation in honor or in memory of a friend or family member who has dealt with cancer or breast cancer. We will be accepting donations for the rest of this years track and show season and the stickers will be seen at many track events and car shows. As I mentioned before Rick has also decorated his car with the Breast Cancer Coalition logo and is putting the same stickers on his car.

This will probably be my last post until we get started, but I will try to update on a regular basis as time permits from the road. It does look like a couple of days will be extremely long and by the time we get to our motel updating my blog might not be a high priority. Please check back often for any updates and feel free to share the blog address with anyone who might be a motor sport enthusiast or be interested in this type of thing.

Corvette filling up with Breast Cancer Stickers

The Jimbob Racing charity this year is the Pa. Breast Cancer Coalition. We are placing a sticker on the car for each donation of $10 or more. Many people have donated and have their own name put on to show their support for the Coalition. Others have put the name of a friend or a loved one who has dealt with this terrible disease. Space is filling up, so don't wait too long if you would like to make a donation. Checks should be made out to the Pa. Breast Cancer Coalition, if you see me or Rick cash is also acceptable. Feel free to make donations to put several stickers on the car. With the stickers you can ride along vicariously on this amazing adventure and donate to a good cause at the same time. We will also be filling Rick's Corvette up with the stickers. Rick has placed the Pa. Breast Cancer Coalition logo on the hood of his car and will attempt to fill the hood and trunk area. He plans to also leave the stickers on through the car show season, well into the fall.

If you are sending a check by mail please send it to Jim Roberts West Main Auto, 14 W. Main St. Mount Joy, Pa. 17552