I promised a BIG meeting this month and I think you will be pleased when you hear the speaker's topic. Our meeting will be held Thursday, May 13th at Quaker Steak and Lube on Chrome Dr. next to Harley Davidson dealer near Woodruff Road in Greenville, SC We will eat from 6 to 7, meet from 7 to 8:30. We will have a parking area boxed off to the side so polish up your ride and show it! The manager there told me customers always like looking through the lot at our cars on meeting nights!
We will get an update on recent events in Autocross, Time trials and Road Races. A few special reports are planned. We'll try to keep the meeting short to save time for our guest speakers.
If you have not read or heard about it recently... there is a new race track being planned to be built in South Carolina near Gaffney. It may well be the longest road course in North America. Matt Mullins and Bill Conger will be presenting to our group their plans for Racers Paradise. THIS is BIG news for all of us... and I am very appreciative to Matt and Bill for choosing to release this information to the motorsport's community through our SWCCCR chapter meeting. You can expect a crowd so come EARLY. Hope to see you there.
More information about the track can be found on
http://www.thesoutherndriver.com
Ted
tedagmar at juno.com
I'm planning to come down for this. I'll try to get off work soon enough to be there for the socialization before the meeting.
To add to the festivities... looks like we running karts at Frankies fun park afterwards....
and 65+ year old John Finger will probably whip all of us!
Wish I were closer to the upstate to come. I'll try to come down in the next coming months on a 3 day weekend and come to a meeting.
I got the Miata fixed yesterday so I will definitely eb there tonight.
how much are karts at frankie's now? I'm prob gonna come with keegan, and karts would be great fun.
Ironic that I have been wishing of a country club style track in the area for a while...guess its finally going to happen! Maybe a good time to get involved in SWCCCR finally.
Chris and I will be there, not sure what time though because of my maymester class...
(05-12-2010 11:09 AM)RHennin Wrote: [ -> ]Wish I were closer to the upstate to come. I'll try to come down in the next coming months on a 3 day weekend and come to a meeting.
Bah, I'm driving ~2.5 hrs from work for this. Can't be that much further from Aiken. Besides, I know who you're working for; unless they've changed much in the last 3 years I don't think they'd mind you leaving 30 min early.
Edit: they don't do the 4x10 schedule thing anymore? Guess they have changed...
great meeting and wonderful news! I can't wait to see this project take shape. Also, Frankie's was a blast, they had just sealed the slick track, so we were practically driving on ice!!
Ted,
I haven't missed a single SWCCCR meeting since moving to Greenville and I enjoy attending each one. Racer's Paradise was one of the best presentations I've heard in a long time. This will keep me up at night thinking about all the possibilities, but still many questions are unanswered.
How much of the financing has been secured? When do they begin construction? Have any businesses expressed interest in locating on-site? Are there opportunities for volunteering now for track time later? Would the owners like to adopt a Mechanical Engineer with 19 years experience and an F500 car??
Please pass along my thoughts on working with a major racing video game company (e.g., Gran Turismo) including Racer's Paradise full course in a game now. This would be unheard of publicity by allowing drivers to experience the track before construction even begins. This would be win-win-win for the enthusiast, the video game company and Racer's Paradise.
BTW: With the exception of not having open wheels, I liked Steve's DSR. The experimental plane motors were well hidden under the bodywork.
Cheers,
Steven
Hey Steven,
Thanks for coming. I wish I could deliver a topic like that for every meeting...
These guys are really amazing... both have unusual backgrounds and some great resources they are bringing in on this project. They have done their homework and are following a good business plan.
There are several people that told them it was premature to release the information on the track to me for an article or to the SWCCCR group. They told me they did it anyway because "this is our people and we want them to know what's going on. " I really appreciate them doing that for us. That said, there is a lot that is not finalized and still being filled in. Every time they say one thing and decide next week to change it after doing more research, it makes them appear wishy washy and could make people uncomfortable with them as managers. So...they are trying to be careful not to say anything they can't back up or deliver on. I respect that.
To answer your questions... they are already partially funded but still need more investors. They plan to begin construction on both tracks this year.. subject to change of course. Two businesses have approached them. No not yet. They might be interested in the ME if he had a Corvette or two and was willing to let them use the vettes for testing and "research."
I did ask about a video game and they talked to a firm last week that can do just that.
As far as Steve's DSR... It's a beautiful car. I'm looking forward to having him in specials class with me. The experimental plane motors are strong but if they break, I have spares for him ...
![[Image: prod_det_55.jpg]](http://www.guillow.com/kitimages/700/prod_det_55.jpg)
Tell him to bring it...