PurdueGuy

Meet: Saturday, June 23, 2007

So yeah... rain really puts a damper on perfectly good last minute plans. We did all meet up, and still had a fairly good time, but it was raining almost the whole time. Sorry to those who would have made it but didn't get enough notice. You didn't miss too much. Let's see...

Adam was at the track in the morning - not sure what all he was up to before we got there.

Spenser & his g/f met up with Emily (my wife) and I at the McD's in Kokomo at about 10:30 - we grabbed breakfast then headed north to Grissom (about 10-15 min drive). We were at the gate filling out waiver stuff when Adam walked out to the gate to take over checking people in & such. We hung out there at the guard shanty for a while, chatting & watching the cars race in the rain (we felt sorry for the one lone kart driver, particularly when driving through large puddles).

After a while, Adam had to go out on the track & play cone fetcher, so the rest of us sat under an awning they had set up & watched. Unfortunately not only was it rainy, but also fairly cold and windy, and most of us were wearing shorts.

Took a break after the morning runs & went to the subway down the street for lunch. It's a fun scene at a gas station/subway place when most of an SCCA event shows up all at once - many with their track cars in the parking lot/at the pumps. Eventually we got food, then headed back to the track.

The rain got better during lunch, but quickly got worse after we got back. We watched the drenched kart driver go again, then other people. A few people spun out, which was fun, but most just had to take it slower than usual, and it wasn't terribly exciting. Still, we hung out & chatted & had a good time. Adam was supposed to race a guy's heavily modded miata (his SC2 is still awaiting new engine), but the miata not only lacked a top, but also a windshield, and was on slicks. It would have been like watching "Sports Cars on Ice".

Oh, and on the way home I spotted a guy with a white '98 SC2 with some stuff done to it at a gas station, so I stopped by & talked with him for a bit, and pointed him toward 6S/STC. Guess we'll see if he shows up...

Pictures!

Grissom (from google earth):
[img]http://www.***********.com/storage/976/stc-mw_meet-grissom2007-029.jpg[/img]

The area used for racing is in the upper right, and used to be a parking area for very large bombers until the base was reduced to reserve status in '94.

Racing area:
[img]http://www.***********.com/storage/976/stc-mw_meet-grissom2007-030.jpg[/img]

[img]http://www.***********.com/storage/976/stc-mw_meet-grissom2007-015.jpg[/img]

^map of track setup - you'll have to rotate it in your mind so the right side is on the bottom.

Here's the "awesome condemned military building":
[img]http://www.***********.com/storage/976/stc-mw_meet-grissom2007-007.jpg[/img]

Apparently, this used to be a command building and ammo storage (including nuclear weapons), and goes about 6 stories underground (and who knows how large underground). It's obviously a piece of crap now, and word is that the lower levels are flooded, but it is still awesome to think about, and would be so cool to wander around inside of...

Ok, time for chronological type stuff:

At the gate:
[img]http://www.***********.com/storage/976/stc-mw_meet-grissom2007-001.jpg[/img]
[img]http://www.***********.com/storage/976/stc-mw_meet-grissom2007-002.jpg[/img]
[img]http://www.***********.com/storage/976/stc-mw_meet-grissom2007-005.jpg[/img]
[img]http://www.***********.com/storage/976/stc-mw_meet-grissom2007-008.jpg[/img]

At the race parking:
[img]http://www.***********.com/storage/976/stc-mw_meet-grissom2007-009.jpg[/img]
[img]http://www.***********.com/storage/976/stc-mw_meet-grissom2007-010.jpg[/img]
(^Spenser & g/f)
[img]http://www.***********.com/storage/976/stc-mw_meet-grissom2007-011.jpg[/img]
[img]http://www.***********.com/storage/976/stc-mw_meet-grissom2007-012.jpg[/img]

The car Adam was supposed to race with:
[img]http://www.***********.com/storage/976/stc-mw_meet-grissom2007-021.jpg[/img]
[img]http://www.***********.com/storage/976/stc-mw_meet-grissom2007-022.jpg[/img]

Adam coming back in from the track:
[img]http://www.***********.com/storage/976/stc-mw_meet-grissom2007-026.jpg[/img]

SCCA takes over subway:
[img]http://www.***********.com/storage/976/stc-mw_meet-grissom2007-027.jpg[/img]

Other odds & ends pictures, mostly random cars on the track:
http://www.***********.com/storage/9...om2007-003.jpg
http://www.***********.com/storage/9...om2007-004.jpg
http://www.***********.com/storage/9...om2007-006.jpg
http://www.***********.com/storage/9...om2007-013.jpg
http://www.***********.com/storage/9...om2007-014.jpg
http://www.***********.com/storage/9...om2007-016.jpg
http://www.***********.com/storage/9...om2007-017.jpg
http://www.***********.com/storage/9...om2007-018.jpg
http://www.***********.com/storage/9...om2007-019.jpg
http://www.***********.com/storage/9...om2007-020.jpg
http://www.***********.com/storage/9...om2007-023.jpg
http://www.***********.com/storage/9...om2007-024.jpg
http://www.***********.com/storage/9...om2007-025.jpg
http://www.***********.com/storage/9...om2007-028.jpg