39 replies to this topic

[Bob Riebe]

Pace car laps are boring bull **** .

Trans-Am cars are interesting, NASCAR/ARCA cars are boring same crap, same pile.

NASCAR car race was actually interesting after they stoped crashing and continually bringing out the pace car for the first half of the race.

Clements lost the ARCA race on the second to last lap but won the NASCAR race in  manner reminiscent of both the 1974 Road America TA and the 1970 Donnybrooke TA.

Made up multiple seconds over five laps and won by recovering first after bump, spin and first back on track in the final corner.

 

Trans-Am TA class sounds and looks fast.

Score one for ex-NASCAR engines that are based on production engines. The new ones designed just for racing are not allowed.

I never did find the paddock area with the Vipers but at least one of them did not sound like a V-10.

From speaking to the TA drivers the series is growing but starting the races at 8:00 A.M. Sunday morning is bs on the part of Road America.

I have no love for tubies but the all out TA class is more interesting than the contrived competition TA2 cars even if the TA2 cars look more like the production cars they are based on, while the TA3 and 4 cars are still the real deal.

Dodge won and it was interesting to have Ford- Chevy-Dodge running 1-2-3 for some time.

 

If you attended just Sunday, you no longer have the option of not buying  paddock pass, you pay for one whether you want it or not.

The food ain't what it used to be  the Lions Club stand, which is now by the tunnel, was no longer a Lions Club stand. I stopped there anyway to get a burger and brat before lunch. They told me they had no food as they no longer had the ability to cook any thing, it had to be hauled down from the stand in the paddock, not Lions Club and none would be there for another one half hour.

I walked over to the stand that is located by the entrance that comes in where the bridge used to be.

Brat was luke warm, burger was luke warm and fries were edible but far from tasty.

After a long hike I finally stopped at the Lions Club on the hill and had a schnitzel, pork, burger. NOT impressed.

So much for the great food at Road America.

Trees I always parked under by Billy M. bridge are still there but they put a mound in front of them for viewing. Probably a good idea as now the track is lined from end to end with concrete barrier and bs catch fencing.

I probably will go back to finally catch an IMSA race next year for the first time in near thirty years but the anticipation of going to Road America and its great food ain't gonna be there any more.

Edited by Bob Riebe, 30 August 2017 - 00:33.

[Magoo]

That's just a crime you can't get a good brat at Road America. I mean come on. 

[E1pix]

Place is not the same in fifty ways since Bruggenthies took the throne. The man has no clue that road racing fans aren't all rich.

I was born and raised there since 1963, but haven't been back in 15 years and may be on permanent boycott. When I can camp at Mid-Ohio for $50, or same at Road Atlanta, or $60 for ELEVEN days at the Indy Runoffs next week, Road America just seems to be wanting into my pants far too much.

Never figured out, either, why there ten cops at RA for each one elsewhere. I do nothing wrong there so it's not personal, but don't attend races to have cops everywhere like it's Milwaukee.

Edited by E1pix, 18 September 2017 - 02:46.

[Fat Boy]

If you attended just Sunday, you no longer have the option of not buying  paddock pass, you pay for one whether you want it or not.

The food ain't what it used to be  the Lions Club stand, which is now by the tunnel, was no longer a Lions Club stand. I stopped there anyway to get a burger and brat before lunch. They told me they had no food as they no longer had the ability to cook any thing, it had to be hauled down from the stand in the paddock, not Lions Club and none would be there for another one half hour.

I walked over to the stand that is located by the entrance that comes in where the bridge used to be.

Brat was luke warm, burger was luke warm and fries were edible but far from tasty.

After a long hike I finally stopped at the Lions Club on the hill and had a schnitzel, pork, burger. NOT impressed.

So much for the great food at Road America.

Trees I always parked under by Billy M. bridge are still there but they put a mound in front of them for viewing. Probably a good idea as now the track is lined from end to end with concrete barrier and bs catch fencing.

I probably will go back to finally catch an IMSA race next year for the first time in near thirty years but the anticipation of going to Road America and its great food ain't gonna be there any more.

 

The best place is on the outside of turn 3 (Turn 2 on the track, but called 3). Honestly, maybe you were expecting too much. They're pretty much the same as they've every been, and that's a hell of a lot better than you're likely to find _anywhere_ else.

[Bob Riebe]

The best place is on the outside of turn 3 (Turn 2 on the track, but called 3). Honestly, maybe you were expecting too much. They're pretty much the same as they've every been, and that's a hell of a lot better than you're likely to find _anywhere_ else.

This is a second try the first went pffft.

When I was there the year before the removed the bridge, it was just as good as it was in 1970.

When I spoke to a Lions Club lady at the stand on top of the hill, she said the track was screwing with the food stands.

The lady at the stand with no food apologized and said they would cook it there, if they were allowed.

 

Food at Mid-Ohio will, at least when I was there, Road America a good run for the money.

[E1pix]

The best place is on the outside of turn 3 (Turn 2 on the track, but called 3). Honestly, maybe you were expecting too much. They're pretty much the same as they've every been, and that's a hell of a lot better than you're likely to find _anywhere_ else.

Can I ask how many road courses you've been to?

[Marc Sproule]

sorry to hear that elkhart is no longer a great go-to venue.

 

'twas one of my favorites despite the heat and humidity.

 

first time i went there i flew to chicago and then rode/drove up there with b. rahal in his dad's winnebago.

 

drove in accompanied by the smells of brats and corn on the cob being cooked.

 

then we did a lap of the circuit in the winnebago.

 

not quite 40 years ago.

 

the world is definitely a different place these days.

 

 

[E1pix]

You'd be tickled that Mid-Ohio hasn't changed a lick, Marc!

Road Atlanta, also similar beyond circuit changes, and hear the same about the Glen.

Laguna Seca's also about the same. Going there's expensive, too, but it's Monterey and nothing's cheap as you know.

Road America isn't in an expensive area so just comes off as damned greedy, and that's really sad. And their brat of choice is loaded with corn syrup and triple-fat for that extra, farm-fresh goodness.

[Marc Sproule]

Laguna Seca's also about the same. Going there's expensive, too, but it's Monterey and nothing's cheap as you know.
 

 

on a good traffic day laguna is only about an hour away from my place.. 

 

it has been emasculated photographically though .

 

some snaps that no longer exist...

 

https://www.flickr.c...57633184376288/

 

https://www.flickr.c...57633184376288/

 

https://www.flickr.c...57633184376288/

 

https://www.flickr.c...57633184376288/

 

my days at any circuit are over anyway.

 

a heart attack, triple bypass and replacement of both hips have seen to that.

 

no big deal as imho.the only real racing series left in the world is motogp.

 

and yes, i'm a crusty old fart.

Edited by Marc Sproule, 19 September 2017 - 07:33.

[E1pix]

Sorry for OT, but do you know Andrew Wheeler, Marc?

Great MotoGP shooter from Capitola, and widower of a dear friend...

And sorry to hear of your struggles. :-(

Edited by E1pix, 19 September 2017 - 17:15.

[Marc Sproule]

Sorry for OT, but do you know Andrew Wheeler, Marc?

 

 

i may have met him in passing one day,  not sure

[JacnGille]

 

 

first time i went there i flew to chicago and then rode/drove up there with b. rahal in his dad's winnebago.

 

drove in accompanied by the smells of brats and corn on the cob being cooked.

 

 

My first, and only so far, visit was a nonstop drive from Atlanta in '89. It was well worth the drive for the track and brats alone but to have Mikey Andretti run dry on the last lap while leading was icing on the cake!

[E1pix]

We were there, Jac. Then and 1992 were our only two IndyCar appearances at RA.

Give your RA a hug from us, Petit's calling us and we *might* just yield.

[Bob Riebe]

Not the fault of the track but I miss Miller's Campground. It was on Racetrack Road.

Early years amenities were a genuine outhouse, for bathing you boiled a pot of water on a campstove.   Later there was a toilet with a cold shower.

One year a couple of dude were not good at starting camping stoves and set the stubble, it was a field also on fire. We helped them stamp it out and they were grateful.

Lordy I miss the true good old days.

[E1pix]

I was there for that fire! It had to be a FIB. ;-)

Thinking harder, that may have been us!!!

Old Man Miller was awesome. We were always the first to get there, always camped in the far-right corner.

One year on Thursday afternoon the Porta-johns hadn't yet arrived. I think it was the first year he opened, 1977 June Sprints. We asked what to do, he said "Ah, do what you have to at the back of your camp..."

What he failed to add was that he hadn't yet turned off the electric fence. I think the famed term "Riding the lightning," from "The Green Mile," was infringed from this shocking experience.

You may recall the truck cruising around morning and night... "Sweet rolls, orange juice, milk and ice!!!"

At I think the Can-Am in '79, a drunken Chicagoan crawled between the fly and tent of our brand-new JanSport mountain tent. We "knew" not to bring it but were really dying to use it. Next thing I knew, while we drifted off to sleep during its maiden night, our tent proved itself non-FIBproof.

I ran outside to see only his calves and feet sticking out from the fly, and yanked him out like he was on fire.

He was like, "What's your prob, Cheesehead?" Surely, I dissed Da Bears in reply.

Was that You, Bob??? ;-)


You may recall you used to be able to camp across 67 from the main gate. We never did, until our two most-recent races there on both Wednesday nights before the 2001 and '02 vintage races -- ONLY because RA hasn't figured out that people don't want to set up camp and miss morning sessions in doing so on arrival instead of the night before. We had nowhere else to go and the lady running the camp was a sweetheart. Didn't charge us a nickel, either.

That camping option stopped shortly after. Apparently, the house burned down in about 2004, and took this lady's mom with it. With that camping option now forever gone, I was told by local friends that RA's response was to jack camp fees up. If that's true, there's simply no class left at RA.

Adding insult to injury, I pitched a past driver article to RA about this time, and was told it'd be presented and I'd hear back in a day or two. Never did, so I left a couple voicemails. I skipped the race and my dad told me they instead took the idea and had their guy write it.

Thanks a Million for my forty years of patronage, RA.

Edited by E1pix, 20 September 2017 - 03:01.

[Fat Boy]

Can I ask how many road courses you've been to?

 

To be completely honest, I don't have a clue. Pretty much if it's been raced by professional series with any regularity in the US, I've been there. Beyond that, a ton of dumpy little test tracks.

[Fat Boy]

You may recall you used to be able to camp across 67 from the main gate. We never did, until our two most-recent races there on both Wednesday nights before the 2001 and '02 vintage races -- ONLY because RA hasn't figured out that people don't want to set up camp and miss morning sessions in doing so on arrival instead of the night before. We had nowhere else to go and the lady running the camp was a sweetheart. Didn't charge us a nickel, either.

 

 

I had a similar experience in that same campground in '95.

[Bob Riebe]

I was there for that fire! It had to be a FIB. ;-)

Thinking harder, that may have been us!!!

Old Man Miller was awesome. We were always the first to get there, always camped in the far-right corner.

One year on Thursday afternoon the Porta-johns hadn't yet arrived. I think it was the first year he opened, 1977 June Sprints. We asked what to do, he said "Ah, do what you have to at the back of your camp..."

What he failed to add was that he hadn't yet turned off the electric fence. I think the famed term "Riding the lightning," from "The Green Mile," was infringed from this shocking experience.

You may recall the truck cruising around morning and night... "Sweet rolls, orange juice, milk and ice!!!"

At I think the Can-Am in '79, a drunken Chicagoan crawled between the fly and tent of our brand-new JanSport mountain tent. We "knew" not to bring it but were really dying to use it. Next thing I knew, while we drifted off to sleep during its maiden night, our tent proved itself non-FIBproof.

I ran outside to see only his calves and feet sticking out from the fly, and yanked him out like he was on fire.

He was like, "What's your prob, Cheesehead?" Surely, I dissed Da Bears in reply.

Was that You, Bob??? ;-)


 

NO, but I wish it had been.LOL    

 

That was also back when most little country stores each sold a different brand of paper quart chocolate milk.

Believe me, I tried every brand on each trip.

The stuff sold at Miller's was a real good one too.

[Marc Sproule]

and then there were the days when you got a speeding ticket on way to the circuit on race day you had to accompany the gendarme to one of the local lockups and pay the fine in cash.

 

not that it ever happened to me or anyone else i knew.

Edited by Marc Sproule, 21 September 2017 - 05:58.

[E1pix]

Marc, so sorry your "friend" had to endure such an ordeal. I normally got out of such quandaries by offering up my body to cover the fine. That's when things went terribly wrong.

Bob, nonsense, I *know* it was You. Your business card was found stuck to my tent the next morning, and that's just wrong. ;-)

Miller's milk was a nectar. I can still picture the old guy swilling it down for PR, his left eye would flutter (remember that?) and he'd call the cows by the wrong names to break their spirit. Mooey Grande.

FatBoy, Thanks. I was asking for reference to compare RA to, so am a little surprised you think their fees and such are similar to the other tracks. Our history is different than that, we'll be at Indianapolis Motor Speedway on Sunday and camp eight days for $60. No showers, granted, but everyone in that facility bends over backwards to make attendees feel welcome instead of slighted.

Edited by E1pix, 21 September 2017 - 05:14.

[Bob Riebe]

Old man Miller could have been Popeye's skinny brother.

[E1pix]

'Cept for the 'stache and DeKalb hat. ;-)

I told two fellow Miller's attendee-friends about our flashbacks. They thought it was great!

Got a Delorean?

[Marc Sproule]

sometime in the mid to late '70s a writer buddy of mine and i were interviewing a driver in the wooden hell hole they called a press room.

 

hot and frigging humid ut was,'

 

way too uncomfortable to work.

 

still in his driver's suit, the driver suggested  we get in his rent a wreck, crank up the a.c. and head out to the infield to finish the interview.

 

when we parked,,,,near turn 3 iirc...the driver pulled out a joint and we proceeded to combust it.

 

for the remainder of the driver's career and a number of years after we conducted numerous interviews with him.

 

definitely a different era it was.

Edited by Marc Sproule, 21 September 2017 - 06:37.

[E1pix]

You can't leave us hanging like that!

If FA, I guess HH, DS, or mayyybe TK. ;-)

(Hey, it's just between us guys and the entire internet)

Edited by E1pix, 21 September 2017 - 06:11.

[Marc Sproule]

sorry dude.

 

not in public.

 

i'm still at the same phone #.

[E1pix]

Of course not, 'twas a joke. ;-)

[Bob Riebe]

I wonder if the 1/3 mile dirt track down in Plymouth is still going?

One year we caught a sprint car race down there; the only time I ever saw an AMC sprint car.

Not a front runner but faster than most of the cars, there was a Dodge also which is one reason I remember it so well. Back then anything but a Chebby was a rarity.

Think I will check on that and maybe some weekend I will get hair up my butt and scratch it enough to head on over, as my cousin drives thousands (and that is not an exaggeration) of miles in Wisc. for cheese and meat trips, might get him to go.

[Marc Sproule]

a quick google says yes

 

http://www.plymouthspeedway.net/

[Bob Riebe]

That had me wondering what were all those towns I never saw around Elkhart Lake?

Then I looked closely, that was Elkhart , Indiana.

 

This should be the one I meant.

WWW.plymouthdtr.com

 

I guess it is 1/4 not 1/3.

Edited by Bob Riebe, 21 September 2017 - 20:14.

[Magoo]

Place is not the same in fifty ways since Bruggenthies took the throne. The man has no clue that road racing fans aren't all rich.

 

 

 

Ticket prices and fees are based on the hope of running somewhere in the black, which the track has had some trouble with, historically. 

[E1pix]

Thanks, Mac.

Hey, understood... and know RA was my entire childhood and I love it as much as anyone, hence my dissatisfaction.

Business is tough as we all know, in racing all the more. But inability to turn a profit may just have everything to do with not being competitive in the marketplace, and it's never good policy to charge more for less and expect success.

We're now camping on a piece of grass on a track's property. Same liability. Same deal. We got here two days early and were told it's fine to camp now. $20 for four nights. $60 for 11 nights at Indy on hugely-valuable property in a city at the greatest racetrack in the world. Similar at Mid-Ohio. Similar at Road Atlanta, and guess what? 100,000 fans at Petit Le Mans is the result.

Road America needs a wake-up call if they wish to survive. I have dozens of friends in the area and most have stopped going for the same simple reason: "Too damned expensive."

Piss off and lose your core fans, and guess what comes next.

[E1pix]

I wonder if the 1/3 mile dirt track down in Plymouth is still going?
One year we caught a sprint car race down there; the only time I ever saw an AMC sprint car.
Not a front runner but faster than most of the cars, there was a Dodge also which is one reason I remember it so well. Back then anything but a Chebby was a rarity.
Think I will check on that and maybe some weekend I will get hair up my butt and scratch it enough to head on over, as my cousin drives thousands (and that is not an exaggeration) of miles in Wisc. for cheese and meat trips, might get him to go.

I *think* it's still open, Bob, not entirely sure, though... (Edit: Bob, a Wisco friend just told me it's still open -- Enjoy!)

To wit, for the first time in our lives we're at a Legendary dirt track: ELDORA!

On topic, the place will be packed. Wanna see cars and drivers up close, and effectively generate new, lifetime fans? Charge them $5 for a pit pass, get autographs, see the beasts up close, jump out of your skin when one fires up -- just look at any kid or rookie fan when this happens! -- and guess what?

THEY COME BACK.

The simplest way to connect fans to racing is with a handshake from a driver.

Edited by E1pix, 22 September 2017 - 16:51.

[Fat Boy]

FatBoy, Thanks. I was asking for reference to compare RA to, so am a little surprised you think their fees and such are similar to the other tracks. Our history is different than that, we'll be at Indianapolis Motor Speedway on Sunday and camp eight days for $60. No showers, granted, but everyone in that facility bends over backwards to make attendees feel welcome instead of slighted.

 

I was only commenting on the quality of the bratwurst, not the track fees. I honestly don't have the fainest clue what tracks charge for that type of thing.

[Lee Nicolle]

sorry to hear that elkhart is no longer a great go-to venue.

 

'twas one of my favorites despite the heat and humidity.

 

first time i went there i flew to chicago and then rode/drove up there with b. rahal in his dad's winnebago.

 

drove in accompanied by the smells of brats and corn on the cob being cooked.

 

then we did a lap of the circuit in the winnebago.

 

not quite 40 years ago.

 

the world is definitely a different place these days.

What was the Winnebago lap time then?

[Marc Sproule]

What was the Winnebago lap time then?

we got back into the paddock well before dark.

 

had a bit of moment on the way up there though.

 

somewhere on the way up there from chicago he decided a driver change was in order.

 

we did it on the fly and didn't crash once.

[Kelpiecross]

Sadly I haven't been to the races (in Oz) since the sixties. One of the main things I remember is the overpowering smell of beer and vomit - I wonder if things have improved?

[E1pix]

We had a group of 20 at our campfire in Indy.

This topic came up and all but one agreed with my above thoughts on our beloved Road America.

I'd love to think they're reading this thread, the staff and environment at Indy was downright awesome and welcoming. Security Yes, overzealous cops, No.

Again, camping was $60 for up to eleven nights, WITH free showers, free shuttle vans every five or so minutes, and all the freedoms of fun we Americans deserve.

Get with it, Road America.

Edited by E1pix, 02 October 2017 - 15:24.

[Fat Boy]

Sadly I haven't been to the races (in Oz) since the sixties. One of the main things I remember is the overpowering smell of beer and vomit - I wonder if things have improved?

 

Lord, I hope not!

[Lee Nicolle]

a quick google says yes

 

http://www.plymouthspeedway.net/

I hate those tracks without a proper pit gates/s. Far more dangerous.

Other than that it looks a decent basic facility.

[Lee Nicolle]

on a good traffic day laguna is only about an hour away from my place.. 

 

it has been emasculated photographically though .

 

some snaps that no longer exist...

 

https://www.flickr.c...57633184376288/

 

https://www.flickr.c...57633184376288/

 

https://www.flickr.c...57633184376288/

 

https://www.flickr.c...57633184376288/

 

my days at any circuit are over anyway.

 

a heart attack, triple bypass and replacement of both hips have seen to that.

 

no big deal as imho.the only real racing series left in the world is motogp.

 

and yes, i'm a crusty old fart.

That cant be Laguna,, there is green grass in the background!