Texas Autocross Weekend 2006

[Mexellent]

As our engine lead would so elquently put it...

SHAZZAM!!

But seriously, I cant wait until TAW.

[MikeDutsa]

UTSA will be there, I can't wait. I have heard stories about the '04 TAW. Sounds like a blast.

[Dr. Bob Woods]

Dear fellow FSAE autocrossers,

Sorry in advance for the long post, but this will be the last post to the FSAE.com forum. I will communicate directly by e-mail in the future. If you are not on my list, please e-mail me.

UTA is hosting its sixth annual "Texas Autocross Weekend" on 22 and 23 July 2006. This event is more open and relaxed than a competition and more opportunity to share design ideas with colleagues. And of course more driving.

As most of you know, the schedule is as follows.

Friday - UTA shop tours / repairs, bench racing, trailer parking, preparations

Friday night - Social at Dr. Woods' house. Snacks, FSAE videos, games and puzzles, race talk.

Saturday - Practice at UTA's track. Morning course will be the '98 FSAE track; afternoon course will be a SCCA-style track. Each run will be a single lap but the driver will get three runs for each seating. Practice is open to any driver as long as they are safe. BBQ lunch will be provided by one of our sponsors.

Saturday evening - Solidworks / Cosmos demonstration on campus by Texas Engineering Systems. Pizza dinner provided by Texas Engineering Systems.

Sunday - Regional SCCA autocross. The event is named the "Carroll Smith Memorial" in honor of Carroll Smith who attended several Texas Autocross events. It will be held in Mineral Wells, Texas which is a one-hour drive west from Arlington. We regret the drive, but it is not that much more time than when we had the event in town. The SCCA will allow multiple drivers per car and we will spread our runs over the four heats. I hope to get a discount on the entry fee, but expect about $15 per driver.

The following schools have said they will attend: UTA - 5 cars, U Kansas - 2 cars, U Cincinnati, UT San Antonio, U of Oklahoma - 2 cars, U New Mexico, Texas A&M, and U Texas - 2 cars.

The following schools have indicated interest: Ohio State U, U Akron, San Diego State U, Mississippi State U,

I would expect to hear from: LeTourneau University, Louisiana State U, Texas Tech, and Oklahoma State U. It seems like there were some more that have talked to me in person, but I don't have an e-mail address. Please respond soon.

The preferred motel is just across the street from the UTA track. It is Parkway Inn International, 1200 S. Cooper (or really 703 Benge Drive). The phone is 817 860 2323. It would be easier for someone trying to contact you if you registered under your school name rather than personal names.

Please respond to me with the names of everyone planning to attend. I will make souvenir name tag buttons for you (which we have to prepare well in advance). Please tell me everyone planning to drive Saturday (we will prepare a drivers list for the computer scoring). This could include anyone on your team or support. This is not necessarily the time to let someone drive for the first time, but that is up to you. Please tell me the number on the side of the cars that you intend to bring. This will most likely be the original competition number. For Saturday, we will keep track of each run by driver name and school, and car number. For Sunday, we will need to assign a unique race number for each driver. We will get these number assignments prior to the SCCA event. That is why I need to know the car number and the list of drivers. We will have to modify the numbers so AM06 could be changed to AM106, AM061, etc. I would suggest that you only enter your top drivers on Sunday. Please let me know if you plan to arrive on Friday for shop tours. I need to know how many people will attend the Friday night social so I can buy enough food. I need to know how many people would like to attend the Saturday night pizza party. We will make souvenir t-shirts, but in the past we have made too many. If you say you want a shirt, you have to buy it.

In summary I need the following:
names of everyone attending
names of drivers on Saturday
names of drivers on Sunday
the number on the side of your car (remove the number on the nose)
how many will attend the social Friday night
how many will attend the session on Saturday night
how many t-shirts you need and what size

We are looking forward to another good event for our FSAE cars.

-Dr. Bob Woods
817 996 0707 cell

[Kyle Walther]

So!, Is everyone ready?

I know one of our cars in running well, but the other one needs a little more tlc. It should be good to go by the weekend.

[raitinger]

We are still waiting for our header to come back from coating for our 05 for some reason it has been removed from the car since about detroit. huh damn sooners

[conekilr]

I thought the OU spec modifications were nice. Oh well. Hey Lawrence, did you guys send off the headers from the 06 and 05 cars to get coated? If so, that rocks. Sorry I'm not there helping put the car together right now.

[Kyle Walther]

i must also agree that our modifications kicked ass. i think you should have left it, incase we need to pass noise again

[Travis R]

Oh let's see...
I still need to top off the oil and add all the coolant since replacing the stock f4i oil cooler.
Make more camber shims
Swap tires front to rear.
Fill CO2 bottle for the shifter.
Soften front sway bar to compensate for new stiffer springs (hooray for less lateral load transfer!).
Check tire pressures in tow vehicle and trailer...
etc.
So no. I'm not quite ready. But I will be by Saturday morning!

[Wade Marcantonio]

Can someone post the final results for both Saturday courses?

[Travis R]

For all the schools that didn't come... you missed out! Yes it was hot, but it was also worth it. The courses on Saturday were a blast! And you got to take lots of runs! BBQ, pizza, race cars, bench racing... what more could you ask for!
I missed the autocross on Sunday, so someone else will have to give that recap.
I want to again thank all the people that helped put this on, specifically Dr. Woods and all the gracious hosts at UT Arlington. If you guys keep hosting I will keep coming back. It's a great time every year. I also want to thank the Kansas guys for helping me fix my CO2 shifter. It was working great until I broke a driveshaft at the launch for my 3rd run... Oh well, back to the machine shop.
Wade, I don't have the times in front of me, but I beat you Sat. afternoon by just under a tenth IIRC.
I'll try to post up my pictures this evening.