CMP School 2004 - Experience Report, A Blast!

[Ron Earp]

Hi,

I thought I’d write here my experience with my driver’s school just in case some of my online friends I’ve met or some newbies are interested in how things went.

I attended the Carolina Motorsports Park double school held on the 17th weekend. I think this school is new and offers folks an alternative to the huge Roebling double school that is in one to two weeks. At any rate I felt the CMP was a first rate school and a perfect experience and introduction to the SCCA. The school was run on time, from classrooms to run sessions, which I have to say was something of a first in my short experience with SCCA events. Fantastic!

I arrived at the track on Friday before the event started on Saturday, only to find the track and paddock closed due to a NASCAR team having rented the track for testing. The track opened at 5pm and I was through tech and clear to setup and go by 6pm – very fast and efficient.

Class started at 8AM on Saturday morning and ran a little long; basically the only time I saw something off schedule during the school. Drivers sessions started after lunch and ran till dusk. The drive arounds and the instructors were top notch and I found the experience very worthwhile.

Unfortunately, I could not run my Jensen Healey at the school so I rented a spec Miata from RTP Racing and Restorations. The Miata I rented is the same one that I crewed for during the 13 hr Enduro “Charge of the Headlight Brigade” at VIR back in October and I think it finished 6th overall in that race. The car is black and silver, number 39, and is prepped very well therefore I offer a hand to Mark Whight and Jeff Young, the RTP principals who put the car together.

The driving sessions at CMP were a real blast!! I loved the track and the size of it; it seemed that for the beginner it was a perfect place to learn to race. I’d never driven a “race” car before, nothing SCCA sanctioned, and had never attended a driver’s instructional school. However, the amount of track time you get in the drivers school will certainly get you started. I think we had 6.5 hours of track time for the weekend if you made all the sessions and that is a lot – one is tried at the end of the day! It was mighty cold at CMP, but still lots of fun.

I loved every minute of it and I cannot express my greatest appreciation for Jeff Young’s support throughout the school. Before I went down to school I was saying things like “yeah, when we’re sitting around with nothing to do we should cut and rivet some aluminum over the roll bar entry points in the back of the car”. Jeff just laughed. I figured we’d have lots of down time. Wrong!!! Basically the sessions are only spread apart by 40 mins and that is just enough time to get out of the car, pee, help some poor fellow with a busted car for 10 minutes, and get back in the car to race again.

I met a lot of good people and drivers and had a lot of good competitions during the practice sessions and the school “races”. I wasn’t fast by any means, starting out 2:04-2:05 on the first few sessions, but by the time we started on the second day I was getting consistent 2:01s-2:00. By the third day I had my fastest laps at 1:59:6X with 2:00s being a consistent norm. Still far off the “race” laptimes at CMP but fast enough for me to win both of my SM class races with first place and take 3rd overall in the field. So, I’m happy and at least I showed improvement.

In summary the race school was one of the most memorable events I’ve had in my life, ranks up there will passing my check ride for my pilots license and I highly recommend it for the experience – even if you never want to race. And, if you need a car for school or race I’d highly recommend old 39 – I had a memorable time with that car and won’t soon forget it.

Sean, Neil, and Ron, shoot me an email, I’d like to hear from you guys and learn how you’re making out with getting into IT!

Best,
Ron

PS-I still like the best line I’ve heard in awhile at the local Camden watering hole. I was chatting up some “older” lady down at the Brew and Cue when she turned to me and said “Son, I’ve got underwear older than you are!” At which point I really couldn’t come up with any other lines. Had to throw in the towel on that one.



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Ron Earp
http://www.gt40s.com
Ford Lightning
RF GT40 Replica
Jensen-Healey ITS
My electrons don't care if they flow through OEM wires, do yours?

[zooracer]

hey ron, I remember the silver and black miata as I was on track with you in a black suzuki swift.
Dont remember doing much dicing with you though. I had just put it together and it isnt really set up or developed yet. You were setting faster lap times then me.
I also enjoyed the track layout and the surface was nice as it is somewhat new. There was always someone to compete against, and with the newbies it was pretty exciting at times. Wished I had an onboard camera for all of the off track excursions I saw.
Some pretty close racing too, with very little contact.
Just wished I had more power at times, as I couldnt even stay in the draft of a lot of the cars in the group!
I had planned to attend the national at CMP in Feb, as there is supposed to be Carolina Cup race thing for IT and spec miatas. Unfortunately I cant find anything about it. I even emailed the executive director of Carolina SCCA, but he hasnt got back with me yet.
If it happens, maybe I'll see you there.
matt

[Ron Earp]

Hi Matt,

I remember your Suzuki and I was thinking it had pretty good power. Is that car in ITB?

It was a good time out there and everyone I met was first rate. I'm planning on racing there on Feb 20th, www.ccrscca.com (http://www.ccrscca.com), hope to see you there too!

Ron




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Ron Earp
http://www.gt40s.com
Ford Lightning
RF GT40 Replica
Jensen-Healey ITS
My electrons don't care if they flow through OEM wires, do yours?

[racer14itc]

Matt,

The Carolina Cup Race is part of the national weekend entry form. Go to http://www.ccrscca.com and click on the national race info.

You can see the schedule here:

http://www.fingroup.com/CcrReg/schedule.pdf

I'll see you there!

MC

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Mark Coffin
#14 GP BSI Racing/Airborn Coatings/Krispy Kreme/Tristram's Garage VW Scirocco
http://pages.prodigy.net/Scirocco14gp

[This message has been edited by racer14itc (edited January 24, 2005).]

[zooracer]

Hey ron, I had also thought the swift had good power after the first school at Moroso in Florida. I seemed to have little problem hanging with the spec miata's, ITB, and even the ITA cars. But at CMP it was pretty obvious I still need a lot of work on the swift.
Now with amatuers like ourselves it can be easy to confuse power with corner exit speed. I may have carried better exit speed out of some of the important corners (high-speed onto straights) on some laps then other cars that had more hp.
Especially at say, the carousel, where I noticed no one seemed to be taking the proper line through there (be patient, run along the far left side, then do your late apex to carry speed all the way down the straight). So, I was able to keep up with some faster guys as a result.
But with no LSD and some understeer problems, I was struggling for speed all weekend.
The car has so much more. Just a matter of time.
I tried to register for the event, but it asks for logbook number, which I dont have (novice permit)
Calling SCCA to figure it out.
Any idea how much the entry fees are for IT guys?
matt

[racer14itc]

Originally posted by zooracer:
Hey ron, I had also thought the swift had good power after the first school at Moroso in Florida. I seemed to have little problem hanging with the spec miata's, ITB, and even the ITA cars. But at CMP it was pretty obvious I still need a lot of work on the swift.
Now with amatuers like ourselves it can be easy to confuse power with corner exit speed. I may have carried better exit speed out of some of the important corners (high-speed onto straights) on some laps then other cars that had more hp.
Especially at say, the carousel, where I noticed no one seemed to be taking the proper line through there (be patient, run along the far left side, then do your late apex to carry speed all the way down the straight). So, I was able to keep up with some faster guys as a result.
But with no LSD and some understeer problems, I was struggling for speed all weekend.
The car has so much more. Just a matter of time.
I tried to register for the event, but it asks for logbook number, which I dont have (novice permit)
Calling SCCA to figure it out.
Any idea how much the entry fees are for IT guys?
matt

Logbook = car logbook. The number should be printed on the front cover of the blue logbook you present at tech inspection.

I couldn't find the entry fees, until I registered. Then it told me how much!

MC

------------------
Mark Coffin
#14 GP BSI Racing/Airborn Coatings/Krispy Kreme/Tristram's Garage VW Scirocco
http://pages.prodigy.net/Scirocco14gp


[This message has been edited by racer14itc (edited January 24, 2005).]

[Ron Earp]

I definitely had the Carosuel down well - I always stayed far, far, left with the pedal to the mat through the whole thing. It really allowed me to pick up speed and pass people in there or on the straight it dumps to. Got a few spec Miata passes through there and is one of my favorite places on that track.

Once you get the car sorted and some suspension stuff going I bet it'll be fast!

[manny]

i just moved to the area and i was down there watching the drivers school that weekend.CMP looks like a fun track to race at and yes the CCPS series sounds awesome. i will be running in the ITB class with a very bright yellow mustang, hope to meet some of you guys at the track and have some fun racing with you. see you there.

[zooracer]

I will be there for the semi-enduro.
Ron, if you were working the proper lines consistently, then that explains your placing first in your class.
I hope to have some improvements on the swift in time for the race, including a welded diff., so maybe you will see more of me on track!
Manny, I look forward to meeting you at the track. I have a black swift. I will look for both of you guys there.
matt

[zooracer]

oh, and by the way mark, it wasnt the logbook number I was having difficulty with (sorry long day), but my member number. I put in my SCCA member number, to no avail. It says the number should have a prefix of two numbers afterwards?
I couldnt find anything with a different member number...
Waiting to hear from the SCCA..
matt

[racer14itc]

Originally posted by zooracer:
oh, and by the way mark, it wasnt the logbook number I was having difficulty with (sorry long day), but my member number. I put in my SCCA member number, to no avail. It says the number should have a prefix of two numbers afterwards?
I couldnt find anything with a different member number...
Waiting to hear from the SCCA..
matt

You're probably not in the SCCA data base yet. Just call/fax your entry in to the registrar. Her name and address is in the supps.

MC


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Mark Coffin
#14 GP BSI Racing/Airborn Coatings/Krispy Kreme/Tristram's Garage VW Scirocco
http://pages.prodigy.net/Scirocco14gp

[JeffYoung]

After spending the weekend down there, I would highly recommend the CMP school. I attend Roebling in 03, which was a blast but was also a ZOO because of the number of participants. Very little individualized instruction. Cars in the trees, rolling down the fronstretch, etc -- in part because of the size of the run groups.

At CMP, the groups for closed wheel cars were about perfect -- 10-15 cars. Enough to race others, but also enough room to get a breather and learn the track.

In comparison to Roebling, in which 4-5 cars were totalled and another 6-7 suffered significant body damage, the CMP school was very clean even with the cold and slippery track.

Hats off to CCR.

[ITANorm]

Originally posted by zooracer:
oh, and by the way mark, it wasnt the logbook number I was having difficulty with (sorry long day), but my member number. I put in my SCCA member number, to no avail. It says the number should have a prefix of two numbers afterwards?

Prefix afterwards? Sorry, oxymoron. http://Forum.ImprovedTouring.com/it/wink.gif

Full member numbers are a 2 or 3 digit number followed by an "R", then a 6 digit number. Currently there is a dash and a 2 number suffix, but that is only on "family" memberships. It's my understanding that the SCCA, in its infinite wisdom, is considering going to a uniform system and the word was that "everybody's number would change". That invoked the ire of a bunch of us who are proud of our 30 year-old numbers. I THINK the current solution is: 3 digits, R, 6 digits, dash, 2 digits (with the last 2 being "00" on a single membership).

In that case my current number, 77R058883, would become 077R058883-00.

[zooracer]

Ah, I meant suffix...
My member number on my SCCA card is 335603 (same on novice permit).
No big deal, I will fix with SCCA.
matt

[Catch22]

My buddy Karl was using my ITC car for the school, and I have to say that after seeing several double schools at Roebling, this one went very well.

Its no that Buccaneer does anything *wrong* at Roebling. Its just that its so damned crowded. Not as crowded as an actual race weekend, but pretty damned crowded in terms of everyone out there being rookies. I think Renee (my girlfriend) had 40 cars in her group at Roebling in '03. At CMP, Karl had 15 cars in his group. MUCH better for a learning experience.
Also, the instructors tended to have 1 or 2 students. I've seen instructors with 5 or more at Roebling.

It'd be great if some folks will start migrating from the Roebling double to the CMP double. That way each school will be well attended without being crowded.

And the seat time was amazing. My car showed over 300 miles on the odo at the end of the weekend.

PS - Matt, you need a LSD in that little Suzuki. The in-car from my Civic shows that Karl was killing you on corner exit in the 11 through 14 turn complex and in the carousel. Your line looked good, you just weren't getting any power to the ground. An LSD will solve that pretty quickly.

------------------
#22 ITC Honda Civic
3rd Place 2004 ARRC
1st Place 2004 ARRC Enduro

[zooracer]

ah, the red civic ITC car, I had fun with your friend driving your car, as we were pretty close in lap times.
Yes, I am in the process now of get a welded differential. I'm hoping this will do the trick.
Do you record your in-car video onto VHS or DVD? How do you store the footage? I would be more then happy to pay you a 20 or something for a copy.
No pressure, if no time to do this, I wont fret...
matt

[krshultz]

The school was one of the funner weekend's I've had at the racetrack. I'm the guy who was driving the red ITC #2 Civic. Took a few sessions to shake off the rust but left the weekend happy with my lap times (fastest was a 2:03.5 or so).

LOTS of seat time and it wasn't overcrowded, yet there was always someone close by to race with. With Adam's (and Scott's) help I learned a great deal.

Hats off to CCR. I hope the relatively low turnout doesn't mean this is the first and last year of them doing this school. I also hope that some of the Roebling folks will migrate to the CMP school to even things out just a bit.

--Karl

[zooracer]

hey karl, I had fun running with you, although I think you were a little faster then me...
We had some close, yet clean racing, which taught me where I was fast and where I was slow.
What are you going to be driving in the future?
matt

[Mike Spencer]

Originally posted by JeffYoung:
After spending the weekend down there, I would highly recommend the CMP school. I attend Roebling in 03, which was a blast but was also a ZOO because of the number of participants. Very little individualized instruction. Cars in the trees, rolling down the fronstretch, etc -- in part because of the size of the run groups.

<snip>

Jeff -

For what it's worth, I am signed up for the Roebling school next month. (Georgia in February just sounded warmer than Carolina in January! http://Forum.ImprovedTouring.com/it/wink.gif

In my very back of the packet they sent me was a request. If I decide NOT to attend for any reason, PLEASE notify them. There is a waiting list.

I don't know if this is the same or different than they've done in the past. I just might be they've decided to limit the size of the school this year.

I'll be sure to write a post-mortem..... um, maybe I should call it something else. Anyway, I'll write something when I get back.

------------------
Mike Spencer
NC Region
ITA/7 RX-7 #60
1990 RX-7 Convertible (street car)

[JeffYoung]

Mike, good luck with school -- always love to have another NC driver out there with us.

Don't mean to unnecessarily scare anyone about Roebling, and I echo one of the comments above -- I think it is the size of the school that is the issue, not anything Bucaneer does (they run a good school).

But, you put 50 rookies on track together on a 2 mile track, and things happen.

Mike, just take it easy, and you will be fine.

Will you be at VIR in March?

[Ron Earp]

Seems everyone know about the Roebling school and nobody knew about the CMP school. Since the CMP school is new they really need to advertise for it. I felt it was a great experience with lots of attention to the students and a noticable absence of attitude, which I'm told was highly present in the Roebling schools - both from students jockeying to be the next F1 driver from instructors looking for a ego boost and some brown nosing from students. Just what I was told from a few that have been recently, mind you, and I'm just passing information (or misinformation as the case might be).

At any rate, I really like the CMP school - it was safe, good racing, and a good leraning enviroment. My run group was the largest and it was only about 18 cars or so, a nice field without being too crowded.

Only thing I would have changed involved me - I wish I could have raced my own car there. But, on the other hand, it was nice to have a solid rental too that I had no worries about when the call to the false grid was made. Some folks were not that fortunate and had to fight learning to drive as well as learning to keep a race car running.

Best,
Ron

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Ron Earp
http://www.gt40s.com
Ford Lightning
RF GT40 Replica
Jensen-Healey ITS
My electrons don't care if they flow through OEM wires, do yours?

[seckerich]

Glad all of you had a safe school. I worked tech Friday and Saturday and it was great to see some new faces start running IT. Hope to see you all at CMP at the national weekend.
Steve Eckerich
ITS Speedsource RX7

[Catch22]

I can make you a copy of the Monday race Matt. You are in it a couple of times. Give me a good email address and we'll work it out.
I'd also be careful before pulling the trigger on that welded diff. I've not heard great things about welded diffs in FWD cars. Mr. Eckerich there could probably build you something better.

Ron, dude, you drive a Jensen. Do you REALLY think a Jensen... ANY Jensen, could survive 300 track miles anywhere? Much less CMP.
My money would be against you, I promise you that.
I have a buddy that has struggled with a '74 for about 8 years. I haven't seen it run in about 4 of those years. He likes to say "Its extremely fast... When its not broken... Which isn't very often."



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#22 ITC Honda Civic
3rd Place 2004 ARRC
1st Place 2004 ARRC Enduro

[Ron Earp]

Well, the road less traveled and all of that....

Couldn't bring myself to build another car that everyone else has, so, I built something I liked that I care about making work. I've paid a lot of attention to detail, rebuilt the motor and paid a whole lot of attention there, and with most Brit cars the problems are in the electrics - I won't have that problem.

The Miata I used at school was very fun, but there wasn't any passion for the car there. I enjoyed it, bulletproof, reliable, etc. but not "fun". Of course, I'll tend to agree with you that breaking down isn't fun either, but that remains to be seen....I'm willing to bet this one is prepped better than a lot of the IT cars I've looked at and I hope the attention to detail will pay off when the rubber meets the track.

Remember, these things won production in the early 70s handily and the same car that Huffakaer drove then came out to win again in 1995. We've talked to Joe about getting the Jensen to work and it seems workable. Prod in the 70s was similar to IT prep now, sort of, and a lot of the advice was fitting.

http://www.gt40s.com/images/jensen/mini-prepsmall.jpg

A lot of my time recently has been going to this 260Z that we've acquired and I'll use it in my first race come Feburary, CMP. I hope the Jensen will make the first showing at VIR in March.


[This message has been edited by rlearp (edited January 26, 2005).]

[krshultz]

Originally posted by zooracer:
hey karl, I had fun running with you, although I think you were a little faster then me...
We had some close, yet clean racing, which taught me where I was fast and where I was slow.
What are you going to be driving in the future?
matt

Matt - in the ECRs this year I'll be driving Scott's ITC Civic. I am likely to make occasional appearances elsewhere in my own ITS Integra GS-R, if I can keep it bolted together.

[zooracer]

Hey Scott (catch22) my email address is [email protected]. I look forward to hearing from you. I need to look into getting an in-car camera myself.
Mr Eckerich, could you shoot me a mail too? I would be interested in talking LSD's with you. Or Scott, if you have his number that would work...
Karl, I look forward to seeing you on track in the civic. Maybe I'll be faster this time.
matt

[krshultz]

Originally posted by zooracer:

Karl, I look forward to seeing you on track in the civic. Maybe I'll be faster this time.
matt

Likewise. I enjoy nice close but clean racing very much. I'll try and stay out of your way if you're battling with another B car. BTW, was looking at the GCR today...that little Swift seems like a fine choice in B. Nice and light, and from what I remember, the motors were quite strong for what, 1300cc? I always thought those cars were neat.

I drove well the Monday race about as well as I've ever driven when I was by myself...but was impossibly slow in heavy traffic. Something for me to work on.

[zooracer]

yes, the swift has all the ingredients of an ARRC champ. I plan to develop it this year, then go to ARRC next...
I seem to actually kinda thrive on close racing in traffic. It almost seems to make me focus more, and it is certainly more fun. I like the strategy involved with passing and drafting and such.
Raced autocross since the late 80's, and running around a track with no one to play with, isnt as much fun to me.
Maybe I'll see ya at CMP
matt

[Mike Spencer]

Originally posted by JeffYoung:
Mike, good luck with school -- always love to have another NC driver out there with us....

...Will you be at VIR in March?

That's the plan. All I have to do is get signed-off and NOT bend the car!

------------------
Mike Spencer
NC Region
ITA/7 RX-7 #60
1990 RX-7 Convertible (street car)