Atlanta Region SOLO event this Sunday

[eastwoodsn352]

Yep, Stillbandits will be shooting this event. I cant wait!

[JohnW8]

Whoever said the afternoon session would be wrapped up around 4-5 was very wrong. I finally got away from Turner Field at about 6:30. Regardless I had a great time. CSP wasn't very well attended since Kevin and Tom were out racing the Lemons car. I got a request for a Co drive from Mikel Brooks whom I met at the Atlanta Tour since his co drive in F500 holed a piston while warming up in the paddock. So it was me and Mikel in my car and another CSP driver Pat McCartin, making the best of it with just the three of us. Mikel got passed on the last run and lost his second place spot by .08 sec and I won the class with a 49.996 sec run. It was pretty hot out there but the course was a fast one that utilized just about every square foot of space. I kept having problems getting the car to 3rd gear, ( I said it was a fast course) once I found out where it was the time got faster. I may need a motor mount or two.

Jordan made it out the event running in GS Pro with her friend Kat riding shotgun. The two of them were sitting in grid across from me taunting me with their air conditioning while I would cool myself by applying sunscreen that had been sitting in the ice chest. She was running in the 52-53sec range. Hopefully she'll chime in with how her day went.

If ever you get the chance to attend an event at Turner Field do it. The courses are fast, the club is very well organized and the surface is pretty grippy with slight elevation changes that keep you on the edge of your seat, sometimes literally. A quick MPG check on the Miata showed 24.8 mpg driving to Atlanta 8 runs on course and driving home towing a tire trailer. Not bad and much better than the truck and trailer, but the truck has muuuuccccchhhh better AC.

I also saw Nick and the StillBandits crew as I was getting my car teched. They were heading out to lunch and I didn't see them the rest of the day.

[nicktcr]

Yeah we ended up bailing...unfortunately. The place we went to for lunch took forever to get into, and I was personally less than impressed, however full and bloated (plenty of food), and I was feeling pretty crappy. We were supposed to meet someone from the area to help them with some car thing that was only supposed to take 15 min (lol yeah right), and ended up spending nearly two hours while I napped in the car. After this the guys were just ready to go home so we ended up only getting some morning shots. I wish I could have gotten some more shots to really make the trip worth while, but the guy we helped payed for our lunch and the gas to get home so at least the trip was basically free...anyway, sorry for not really having any coverage...also, their safety steward was hampering our ability to enjoy the phototaking process as he kept saying we were in dangerous places (I clearly wasn't, but I'm not going to argue as I know he's only doing his job).

Why was it that we needed another spotter and were standing in bad places when we saw some other dude just walking around on the course with no spotter and in much sketchier places? A tad hypocritical, so yet another reason we were bummed to go back and shoot more. Oh well, sorry about that...

Congrats on your placement John, sorry I don't have any shots of you, and sorry for the over lengthed post that contains nothing more than a mindless rant really...

[aufoxy]

Great time at another well-organized Atlanta Region event! Course was fast in some spots and tricky in others, but a great course as usual. Turner Field also has the added excitement of the brick walkways (in the shape of a baseball diamond) in the middle of the lot, which always makes for exciting spots in the course, haha. It was HOT too, summer's heating up quick. My friend Cat had an AWESOME time, we kept trying to convince her to drive but she said she didn't know how to drive stick (a likely excuse!!). I told her I could fix that problem but she seemed content just riding shotgun! haha. And John, we enjoyed our air conditioning very much You should try it sometime! hehehe
I have to say I like running pro class because 1. there's usually no one else in GS and 2. because hearing all the faster times and getting my ____ kicked makes me try REALLY REALLY hard to get better. Also, a lot of Atlanta's fastest drivers are in that class so it's easy to walk over and say "hey, can you come ride with me and give me pointers??". I feel like it's a good idea for those who feel like they've "hit a plateau" in their pursuit of driving excellence (ha! like my new phrase there?). I will probably start hounding all of our fast drivers in bham and atlanta alike to come ride with me, just to give y'all a heads up! haha.
Anyway, atlanta puts on great events, as do many regions in the southeast. If you've never traveled to an event, it's a good experience because you will see another region's site, how they design courses, how they run things, and different competition. Also, you can get more seat time, which is always a good thing! Traveling is one of my favorite parts of this sport!
Also - Nick, the guy that was wandering around taking pics was probably Perry Bennett. He's been their official photographer for years (I remember seeing pics he took of me when I went to an atlanta event in 2007). The safety steward was probably being really safe with you guys because he didn't know you and didn't know how much experience yall had photographing autocrosses. So, don't take it personally, they just know Perry really well and they probably know that he knows that he's taking most of those pics "at his own risk". (confusing enough statement for you? haha)

[nicktcr]

I figured it was him since I saw his coverage from the National Tour and saw some of his other work. I don't take it personally at all, and like I said, I know he was just doing his job. But it does still make it less appealing when you can only take shots from way the heck off to the side where the spectators are sitting in their chairs...I like to try and get cool action shots, not boring "Well this is what you would have seen if you were sitting there on the side" shots lol.

I signed my dang waiver at the gate, I know it's "at my own risk" dangit! Anyway, it's all good. I'm glad it was enjoyable for others.

[aufoxy]

Haha. I love taking pics too and I was so depressed/ angry when they put that catch-fencing up at Barber. I was like... you have the prettiest course in the US and you put CATCH-FENCING up ALL THE WAY around the track?!?!?! haha. I'm sure most motorsports photographers share my sentiments...

[nicktcr]

Oh my god don't get me started on that stupid debris fence. It is IMPOSSIBLE to get a shot worth a turd at Barber now. Yeah, I def agree about that madness.

[chuck schultz]

Re: Barber - you gotta keep the players on the playing field and away from the crowd. The fence makes it harder to flag, too, but it's there for a good reason.

As for Atlanta, the last time I looked, the SCCA rules clearly state that _any_ photog must shoot from an approved spectator area or have a spotter. Perry knows his stuff, but the rule should apply to him, as well.

Here it is - "1.3.2.T. Cell phones and video or still cameras are not permitted at course worker positions or other locations within the course area. Excep- tions may be granted for media relations purposes by the SSS. Per- mission for a photographer may be given only if the location is ac- ceptable to the SSS and if the photographer is accompanied by a spotter to warn of approaching vehicles."

[aufoxy]

I would imagine Perry had a spotter with him. I didn't see him walking around on Sunday, but I have heard them announce several times "Someone please come volunteer to be a spotter for Perry..." at most of the events I've been at. I dont think they let him out there without a spotter.

[aMaff]

Yeah, we always have a spotter for Perry (like, he comes to the trailer and has us announce for someone to volunteer as a spotter), so I'm not sure on that one...

It was a really fun / challenging course. There was SO much "hidden" speed in the showcase turn that it wasn't even funny. It was good to see some familiar faces from our brethren to the west

[nicktcr]

I know I saw him a few times without one...not pointing fingers, complaining, or trying to start anything...just throwing it out there. It may not have been him, as I don't know what he looks like...however, I did recognize the gear as being of high quality and I doubt some random Joe would have been out there with the same equipment he had.

I also know that the fence is totally necessary at Barber, but it still makes me sad.

[aMaff]

Regarding results: there was a file corruption issue with the file taken off of the timing computer. So, someone's going to have to head to where our trailer's physically stored to get the original files off of the timing computer. So... in case anyone's wondering, that's what's up. Sorry 'bout that.

[JohnW8]

I was wondering.

[aMaff]

There *should* be something by this evening. Hopefully. Stay tuned.

[aMaff]

Results posted, btw