Night Autocross?

trucke wrote: Central Carolinas Region SCCA used to run a 24 hour autocross (noon to noon). First three (3) runs were for points. It got goofy from there. You would have only 2 or 3 cars running at 3:00am. Okay, sometimes none. You would be lucky to have one course worker then too. Things would pick-up after 8:00am. If you have a chance to autocross at night, jump at the chance, just to say you did it.

they still run it … but now instead of Labor Day weekend (Nationals date move screwed them for that weekend)

this yr it's Aug 22 - 23 9pm to 9pm … at Dixie Fairgrounds Winston Salem NC

http://ccrscca.proboards.com/thread/6482/24-ccr-dixie-classic-fairgrounds

you can sign up for 24 hr or either 12 hr … work one 2 hr shift and drive to your hearts content … make a run, get back in line and run again … swap cars with anyone that's willing, use runs for test-n-tune … run as many laps as you can squeeze in … lot of fun … camping at the site

A 24 hour event is one of a dozen "bucket events" once I get a car (and the time) again.

hobiercr wrote: When I was in college the Charlotte SCCA would put on their "24 hours of LeMall" autocross. The parking lot was fairly well lit so it wasn't too hard to see the course at night. They ran from noon Saturday to noon Sunday and changed the course at midnight. To trophy you had to run both courses and work the course for both sessions. Good times.

They have another one coming up somewhere in the Salem area.....friday night-saturday night at a fairground or something. A SHO friend mentioned it. $70 for 24 hours of unlimited runs, with 4 declared as scoring runs

Edit: WBJones is on top of that one......Sam(C-Prepared SHO) is also a member here IIRC.

This looks pretty awesome but I've got to do my first day time auto-x before I try anything at night.

stafford1500 wrote: 20 years ago, in Orlando, Martin Sport Car Club did an AX that carried from day into night and the results were interesting. The fastest night run was a BIG truck with a massive amount of wattage on the light bar. The slowest night run was a formula V with a flashlight taped to the bodywork. Tim, JG and company may remember the event...

Yeah, that was cool. It was at one of the downtown Orlando performing arts centers if I recall correctly. There were lights, but not good ones.

Buccaneer Region SCCA also used to do summer night events in Jacksonville at the old Duval County courthouse right on the waterfront in downtown Jax. Actually, the courthouse itself was built right up to the seawall, and the parking lot was actually over the river, built on pilings. When a big car ran you could feel the whole parking lot sway a little bit.

yamaha wrote:

hobiercr wrote: When I was in college the Charlotte SCCA would put on their "24 hours of LeMall" autocross. The parking lot was fairly well lit so it wasn't too hard to see the course at night. They ran from noon Saturday to noon Sunday and changed the course at midnight. To trophy you had to run both courses and work the course for both sessions. Good times.

They have another one coming up somewhere in the Salem area.....friday night-saturday night at a fairground or something. A SHO friend mentioned it. $70 for 24 hours of unlimited runs, with 4 declared as scoring runs Edit: WBJones is on top of that one......Sam(C-Prepared SHO) is also a member here IIRC.

if anyone is interested … don't diddle-daddle … if they don't get enough entrants to man the work shifts (80 min) they'll have to cancel the event

e46potenza wrote: This looks pretty awesome but I've got to do my first day time auto-x before I try anything at night.

if you can undertake the drive distance .. the 24 hr is an incredible way to get your feet wet as it were

you can sign up for work sessions during the night portions if you don't want to drive then (but you won't really have any problem talking yourself into a few night runs …

make friends, codge rides with some that do run at night … Norfolk isn't all that far

e46potenza wrote: This looks pretty awesome but I've got to do my first day time auto-x before I try anything at night.

My 1st autox was at night. I did a school the following Saturday and my 2nd autox the next day. I miss having local day events - city and county planning require green space in parking lots so we no longer have large, obstacle free lots.

We used to run them back in the day in Jacksonville, Florida. It was fun and relaxed--cooler, too.

JG Pasterjak wrote:

stafford1500 wrote: 20 years ago, in Orlando, Martin Sport Car Club did an AX that carried from day into night and the results were interesting. The fastest night run was a BIG truck with a massive amount of wattage on the light bar. The slowest night run was a formula V with a flashlight taped to the bodywork. Tim, JG and company may remember the event...

Yeah, that was cool. It was at one of the downtown Orlando performing arts centers if I recall correctly. There were lights, but not good ones. Buccaneer Region SCCA also used to do summer night events in Jacksonville at the old Duval County courthouse right on the waterfront in downtown Jax. Actually, the courthouse itself was built right up to the seawall, and the parking lot was actually over the river, built on pilings. When a big car ran you could feel the whole parking lot sway a little bit.

JG the event you recall was a different event than what Steve described. That was a joint event for a charity and iirc it was a 12hr autocross in the former "O-Rena" parking lot. I think the course needs to be designed with a night event in mind. MSCC did a night autox practice a few years ago at the convention center and imo it didn't work well because it was a hard course to follow in the dark. If we ever do one again I would consider putting glow sticks in/on the cones ;-)

I've done night 'wheeling in my old CJ. It was a blast. Front marker lights only, no headlights, rock lights, brake or tail lights. We even turned our dash lights off. Once your eyes adjusted, it was amazing. One guy didn't pull his rear bulbs out. When he hit the brakes everyone behind him was blind for 5 minutes!

I could see this working out at a venue with a ton of lighting to begin with, like a sports stadium.

I don't even remotely like the idea of driving a course where manslaughter targets are only marked by a glowstick. I don't trust any form of pedestrians, even at a race event. Course workers are bad enough in the daylight.

In general I am fine with blasting around an empty parking lot at night, but funnily enough once you put course workers on it it seems less safe to me.

Here's my video from the first Washington DC region night Autocross:

http://youtu.be/zVoWKmI2Z-Q

We're having our second one this Saturday. It wasn't as brightly lit at FedEx Field as you might have thought!

When you watch the video, turn it up!

JG Pasterjak wrote:

stafford1500 wrote: 20 years ago, in Orlando, Martin Sport Car Club did an AX that carried from day into night and the results were interesting. The fastest night run was a BIG truck with a massive amount of wattage on the light bar. The slowest night run was a formula V with a flashlight taped to the bodywork. Tim, JG and company may remember the event...

Yeah, that was cool. It was at one of the downtown Orlando performing arts centers if I recall correctly. There were lights, but not good ones. Buccaneer Region SCCA also used to do summer night events in Jacksonville at the old Duval County courthouse right on the waterfront in downtown Jax. Actually, the courthouse itself was built right up to the seawall, and the parking lot was actually over the river, built on pilings. When a big car ran you could feel the whole parking lot sway a little bit.

Those were fun events. True bit of trivia: The autocross lot was located across the street from the paddock, so technically cars that weren't street legal were driving on the street for a few seconds.

Think about the children.