Grocery Getter 24 Hour

Have you guys heard of this? Found this out through a couple Pro Drivers wanting to do this...

History will be made on Sepember 22nd and 23rd of 2018. This will be the inaugural "Grocery Getter Classic" with a 24HOUR endurance race , Max 500 cars.

The Rule's are basic Street cars and vans only no trucks , (stock is stock )not over 22ft in lenght. All side and rear glass removed, head and tail lights remove, stock gas tank for that made of car, MUST ( working AM-FM radio, Stock bumpers no reinforcements . 4 driver minimum. same size tires at all time. This is a street car not a race car. No roll cage no racing seats stock seat only . This is not a race car.

Entry fee for this $500.00 per car (with 4 pit passes included)

PAY OUT:
500 cars $50000.00 to win , top 250 cars pay out
400 cars $40000.00 to win , top 200 cars pay out
300 cars $30000.00 to win , top 150 cars pay out
200 cars $20000.00 to win, top 100 cars pay out

Car with the most laps after 24 hours win. 

https://baerfieldmotorpark.com/grocery-getter-classic/

This is tailor made for a w body gm.  

Patrick said:

This is tailor made for a w body gm.  

I was thinking the same thing. I'd go with a late-'90s Grand Prix GT with the N/A 3800. Nothing kills a 3800.

I was thinking a Volvo 240. Those things are tanks, 4 cylinder and they just keep running

Sounds like fun but... 500 cars, no cages/seats/harnesses? I can't imagine the paddock/pit congestion and safety concerns that will arise with that many questionably prepared cars and drivers.

One of my friends wanted to do it. Im about 45 minutes from bearfield but havnt been there since 06 when my friend stopped racing stock car.

I really, really want to do this. I wonder what safety equipment is required... if there's no firesuit requirement, I'm totally in.

P71?

03 olds aurora?

500 cars.  No licensing requirement, 24 hours, no safety gear...what could go wrong?

NickD said:

Patrick said:

This is tailor made for a w body gm.  

I was thinking the same thing. I'd go with a late-'90s Grand Prix GT with the N/A 3800. Nothing kills a 3800.

The transmission is the Achilles heel.

Nick Comstock said:

NickD said:

Patrick said:

This is tailor made for a w body gm.  

I was thinking the same thing. I'd go with a late-'90s Grand Prix GT with the N/A 3800. Nothing kills a 3800.

The transmission is the Achilles heel.

Owned plenty of 4TxxE vehicles. Never had a transmission failure. I'd take the chance. I also had a 300K mile 4L60E that was worked hard and rarely service and never blew up, so maybe GM transmissions just like me.

APEowner said:

500 cars.  No licensing requirement, 24 hours, no safety gear...what could go wrong?

Are they counting on clogging up the track to keep speeds in check?

Edited to add: Checked the website, and it appears to be that they're running this on a 3/8 mile oval track. This would have been bonkers enough on a track the size of Road Atlanta. 500 cars on a 3/8 mile oval would call for running the cars packed nose to tail, three or four abreast, over the entire track!

I predict someone dies

Patrick said:

I predict someone dies

I predict that with so many cars on track at the same time, speeds won't be very high due to gridlock and the inevitable crashes and breakdowns will keep the race under full course yellow for 3/4 of the time. That or congestion in the pits and delays with safety inspections and timing/scoring screw everything up. All that is contingent on 100 or 500 cars showing up to race in the first place though.

This is a demolition derby with the chance to fix the car. I'm not being sarcastic, I think it actually IS being thought of as a demolition derby by the organizers. No glass, no lights, maximum size rule? Contact is expected to be part of the race.

3/8s mile is 1980 ft.  Assuming the average car is 20 ft long.  Bumper to bumper, LA gridlock style, you can fit 99 cars on the track.  500 cars would be 5 lanes, bumpers touching, continuously around the track.  What's the word record of fewest laps completed by a race winner in a 24 hour race?

I did a 24hrs of LeMons race at Stafford once.  The 'road' course was ~.5 miles and there were maybe 60 cars at the start of the race.  We were always 2 wide.  Couldn't imagine more cars, on a shorter course.

That Kind of Street stock racing was VERY popular In the 80's. up North. I Thought It should be Illegal.

Here's a link to their FB post withe some more conversation.  The track is trying to emphasize that this isn't a demo derby...  Sure.

https://www.facebook.com/BaerFieldSpeedway/posts/1366955410115508

Sounds like a 24 hour Enduro.  The most I’ve seen start was 100 cars on a 1/4 mile and it was very congested, like 3-4 wide all the time.  That did help to keep the heavy hits to a minimum since you were always to close to something to build up much speed.

Those rules read like typical oval track rules.  Clear as mud.

Seems like a safety nightmare.  And it will only get worse as the event goes on.  A few big pileups and some mechanical failures are going to knock out 1/2 the participants early on, leaving room to build up speed for some more spectacular crashes with zero safety protection.

I'm all about safety -- firesuit, fire bottle and coolshirt are a must.  Self-preservation is a helluva thing.  Stay out of the way and let the hard chargers go.  I think speeds will be in check.  This isn't THAT much more dangerous that any given HPDE.

Late September in Indiana.  Should be plenty sultry.  Speed and handling don't matter.  You want the car that can go the longest without stopping for fuel.  With that many cars, any time off-track is going to be a E36 M3show.  

You want to gut it as light as possible.  You'll need plenty of cooling capacity, as airflow will be nil.  

It's asphalt....tires?  You want something that will go the distance, but grip isn't a big deal.  Slime them?  

Strategy:  coast/conserve fuel for the majority of the race.  Later, after attrition, you might change to a speed-driven strategy?

Something light with a lot of stock fuel capacity.  I'm thinking manual transmission to keep the revs low.  Something that doesn't burn oil, or put a big kick-out in the stock pan so that it holds 8 quarts?  Return-style fuel system with redundant fuel pumps.  Beef up the water capacity somehow.  

This is the VW TDi cup.

They have run this type of class before. They even have a windshield class some weekends!

MadScientistMatt said:

APEowner said:

500 cars.  No licensing requirement, 24 hours, no safety gear...what could go wrong?

Edited to add: Checked the website, and it appears to be that they're running this on a 3/8 mile oval track. This would have been bonkers enough on a track the size of Road Atlanta. 500 cars on a 3/8 mile oval would call for running the cars packed nose to tail, three or four abreast, over the entire track!

How the hell are they going to keep track of positions and laps? Nose to tail sounds like danger to the manifold, yo!

In reply to Trackmouse :

My assumption is they will hand out transponders at the beginning of the event. But you know assumptions...