Kart Enduro "Test N Tune"

Here are the considerations;

The facility runs 10 carts maximum on the track at any given time, regardless of whether it's a regular business/customer day, a special rental testing session, or a special rental race/enduro.

If we come down Friday night without doing a special rental, we will be standing in line with people off the street taking turns at approximately $22 for an 8 minute session. Or, they sell an all day pass of unlimited races for $89, but you're still in the rotation with anyone and everyone doing 8 minute races. How many races you get to run depends on how many people are at the track and how long you hang out.

If we want to block out some time for our group only, in one hour increments, it's $800/hour. We can have open testing, or a mix of testing and then a mini enduro, or some other mix. If we had ten people that's $80 each per hour, and we have exclusive use. Right now there are 16 people on the Friday night list, if we wanted to rent the track for two hours, that would be $100 per person, and we could go out and come in as we please, or test for approximately 45 minutes and have a one hour enduro.

Opinions?
 
I quickly ran the numbers and using 16 people and a 2 hour rental, it comes out to 75 minutes per person (not counting for driver changes etc, this is theoretical after all) at a cost of $0.75/minute

I didn't allow for fuel towers though....
 
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What time would this be. Ill be coming down Friday evening afterwork and wouldnt mind getting some track time, but depending on the border and traffic it could be anywhere from 500 PM to 800 PM by the time I get down there
 
Don't know what time yet, still need to figure out if we're going to go exclusive or just mix in with the public.

If we rent the track, we would have much more flexibility as to how long you run, rotation, etc... You wouldn't be tied to 8 minutes ($2.75/min.), but, it would take cooperation between us to allocate the time equitably. I don't think it's practical to ask the track management to manage that in the case that it's an open test session, it would have to be something we managed between ourselves. If someone needs to be sure that everyone gets exactly their share of minutes in a group buy, then we should probably just mix with the public, or set up a more formal event like a one or two hour enduro.

It just depends on what people are trying to get out of this.

If a person simply wants a chance to run the track a little to get familiar with the layout, with no financial commitment and/or just a modest per run fee, then we should just mix with the public and take our turn in the rotation. The down side to this is who knows what/who you're going to be running with at any given time; kids, old ladies, guys named Rod, etc.. and will it be worthwhile.

If we all want to have the place to ourselves for a little while, with the flexibility to manage your stint length as you see fit, and keep things kind of low pressure, we should set up a test session.

If we want the place to ourselves, and a bit more structure, we should set up a shorter enduro.

In the first case, people can manage their financial part independently.

In the second and third case, someone (probably me) will need to assume responsibility for the rental fee, and I will need payment before hand from people so that I'm not personally on the hook for the $800 or $1600.

So far we have one vote for a 2 hour block. If you vote for something along these lines, please understand we will need to get going setting it up, and need payment up front with a minimum number of commitments to make it happen.

Finally, if anyone else mentions fuel towers, headlights, people over the wall, or anything about taking the checkers to get a finish, I know people with limp mode switches...
 
I was more or less looking at this as trying to get a couple sessions in and not spending a ton of extra cash. My pre-race testing is going to be very limited and if I get a couple sessions in on Friday then that is all I get. The short story, I can't afford another 100 bucks!
 
I like the idea of blocking out some time. The problem I see is. What time is this going to happen.
Many of us will be driving from Portland or Up North. If we scheduled an hour or two at 8pm I think many will join. If it is scheduled at 5pm you run the risk of losing the out of towners.
It appears that Rod and many others probably don't need more track time but I would like to have the opportunity to run the track with some qualified drivers (Not the public) and Jeff you are included as a qualified dirver.

Thanks for all the effort putting this together,

Mark
 
Went to the track to coninue negotiations and somehow ended up in a Kart :D

Short version is this: There are some very fast drivers there (Some BMW guys were in yesterday as well as some local shoes) and that makes driving the line, establishing turn in, etc. etc. very enjoyable. However, in one of the sessions, some "walk in" folks ended up on the track with us, and it was not good. I think that we need to really consider using our own time instead of the general public, for two distinct reasons.

1. If a slower (and someone who does not take it as seriously as this dysfunctional group) set of driver(s) ends up on the track with us, it will seriously compromise your muscle memory and practice goals.

2. Because when you get a good head of steam going with some fast drivers, you end up intimidating the slower drivers, and they may choose to not return to Apex, thus compromising Walker's future business potential.

My .02 cents.

If we can put together a one hour test and perhaps a two hour race, how many folks we need to participate to make it economical?

Track is open till 11:00 PM, so we run 8:00 to 10:00 or 8:00 to 11:00?

RP
 
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mark_hanken said:
I like the idea of blocking out some time. The problem I see is. What time is this going to happen.
Many of us will be driving from Portland or Up North. If we scheduled an hour or two at 8pm I think many will join. If it is scheduled at 5pm you run the risk of losing the out of towners.
It appears that Rod and many others probably don't need more track time but I would like to have the opportunity to run the track with some qualified drivers (Not the public) and Jeff you are included as a qualified dirver.

Thanks for all the effort putting this together,

Mark
Click to expand...

Mark, now really, is there anything such as too much track time? :p

Jeff is a qualified driver whilst in my rear view mirror, when he is front of me he is just another cheater :D:D Truth is, I expect all of us to be on a serious pace right away, and then clawing for the last .05 seconds for the lead positions. I cannot see a bunch of licensed racers and workers backing down with the general public for some seat time. Won't work I say!!!

To really get complicated, maybe we buy the block and then sell bits of time (say 20 minutes) to guys like Curtis, so he gets a taste of the speed and then watches with envy as we all slowly pick up the pace. He will never make it on the sidelines, his wallet will come out faster than a bank asking for TARP funds :)

RP
 
I would go for blocking some time, i think 8-10 would work. it would give a reasonable amount of time for those of us that have to travel from Portland or BC to get there, my concern was that 5 or 6 would have been impossible for me to get there.

I am looking to familiarize myself with the track and karts, having never been to this facility before. Not sure how different the karts are from the ones I've drive up here. Im not to concerned what the format is for Friday. A glorified test session or a smaller enduro, either is fine with me.

I do agree we should try and block out a period of time for us and not interfere with the general customers.
 
The Friday night event, "Prologue du Kartrrera Panolympia" will be a combined practice and race, from 8-10 pm.

Minimum/max. 10 teams to proceed, 2 person min./4 max. per team, $160 + tax team entry fee, team captain assumes responsibility for fee in full.

Driver's meeting at 7:30, open practice at 8 pm and runs for approximately 50 minutes or whatever interval tbd that allows for set up and start of a one hour race from 9-10 pm. Race grid set by practice times.

This post will serve as the official entry list.

Team #1
1. Randy Blaylock
2. Rich Pfarr

Team #2
1. Scott Haun
2. Thomas Leisner
3. Domingo Luina

Team #3
1. Rod Powell
2. Jeffrey McCormick
3. Joe Manke

Team #4
1. Dave Haire
2. Sammy Puleo
3. Trevor Cobb

Team #5
1. Walker Armstrong (yeah, the facility owner!)
2. Phil

Team # 6
1. Scott Morton
2. John Zapel

Team # 7
1. Tony Severson
2. Vince Funk
3. James Cassidy (pending)

Team #8
1. Mark Hanken
2. Jeff Hanken
3. Ken Shreve
4. Darren Dilley

Team #9
1. Jeff Remfert
2. Terry Overdiek
3. Curtis Creager

Team #10
1. Patrick Boyle
2. Manfred Duske
3. Dino Davis
 
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Rod Powell said:
so he gets a taste of the speed and then watches with envy as we all slowly pick up the pace.

RP
Click to expand...

I will say this I am not worried about me getting up to speed at all. I need a couple of good sessions and then it's time relax and let the race come to me, wow that was all zen like!
For me It's more about watching others struggle to find pace and being able to keep that pace up for 30 minutes :D

Ciao,
IL Padrino
 
Hi Thomas,

I spoke with Scott last night before he left for his hunting trip, and he mentioned that he wanted to be included if a test and tune did happen, and he also asked me to include you and Dom.

Is this correct to your knowledge?
 
Hello to all,

Rod and Randy, thank you for adding me to your list for this race. I greatly appreciate the chance to run with all of you. I've never gotten to run with drivers of your caliber before so this is very exciting for me. Vince and I plan to add James Cassidy to our squad, provided he will be in town. We'll let you know as soon as we find out. I am at the track every Sunday, on the all day pass. I have the bright, light blue helmet and run under the name "Strike & Destroy." If any of you are out practicing and see me, please introduce yourself. I look forward to meeting you all. You guys are really going to enjoy yourselves here. The carts are very even and the track is challenging but not too much so. The only thing I can recommend is drive as many different carts as possible. Each one handles differently but they can all be fast. If anyone has any questions, please ask, I will tell you everything I know. I've driven more races than anyone else there so I have a pretty good idea of how things go. If there's anything I can do, let me know. I look forward to seeing you all at the track. Thank you again for the opportunity to run with you guys, this is going to be a blast.

Tony Severson
 
FYI to all, Tony Severson is one of the current track record holders at Apex, he turns 29's consistently in any cart he drivers. Vince Funk is very fast as well, so they be the ones to beat (as well as Walker and Phil) and they know the line like no else's business. It would do us all well to lash onto their bumpers when possible and do what they do.

Welcome aboard Tony, look forward to meeting you in person. Looks like a few racers will be doing some recon work this Sunday, and I may attend as well with Smokin Joe, so I will introduce myself. Look for Scott Norton, he plans on being there Sunday at about noon.

FYI to everyone else, if you pay Tony for any advanced tips, you get the "just because" sputter button :D:D

RP
 
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