[trackbird]

I just spent an hour or so on the phone with Ken Rahaim (in Belgium?) getting a crash course in "F-body Events". We had suggestions to "piggyback" onto a NASA or similar event. Ken and I thought it might be a good idea (for the first year at least) to set up an FRRAX section within the National F-Body Motorsports Event that he runs every year. This would give us a chance to get together, meet other owners, enthuiasts, and have a little fun. This will also give me a chance to "follow Ken around" and learn how to pull this off as a seperate event in the future. At this point, it seems like it could be an excellent idea to get started and we can see where it leads in the future. This event has road course, autocross, and drag racing, so there is something for everyone.

So, how many people would road trip to Memphis in May or June for an event?

Discussion?

[Ken Rahaim]

just spent an hour or so on the phone with Ken Rahaim (in Belgium?) getting a crash course in "F-body Events".

Yup, had a good time discussing one of my favorite subjects: F-body Motorsports (IMG:http://www.frrax.com/rrforum/style_emoticons/default/smile.gif) .

Anyway, as I mentioned to Kevin, I'm more than happy to help out either way: with a standalone frrax event or inviting you guys (I'm pretty sure some of you have already been) to stake out your own frrax claim in the NFME paddock. As I mentioned to Kevin, we want f-body clubs to use us for the very thing you guys are after. We'll do the logistics, etc. You guys come and enjoy the motorsports. Just to be clear for those that haven't heard of us before, we're not in it for profit and never have been. We turn every penny back into the event itself.

As far as when and where, we alternate between May (for the relatively cooler weather) and June (for the folks who have to wait till schools out). Last year we did June so this year it'll be May, probably early to mid May. We've predominantly held our events over the years in Memphis, but have also been to Gateway Intl Raceway in St Louis and, as Racer X mentioned, we've been in Indy the past two years. This year, our 10th annual NFME, we'll be heading back to Memphis where it all started. For future events we'll likely alternate back and forth between Memphis and Indy. We'd love to go back to St. Louis eventually, but their prices are much too high for now.

Memphis is about a 7-8 hour drive for our TX contingent and about a 14 hour drive for our Mid-Atlantic contingent. Indy is vice versa; hence another reason why we alternate venues. Either way, we usually get a healthy group of folks from either of those regions, the northeast, the midwest, the upper midwest, the south, the southeast and a few other regions (including Canada).

Jeff94ta, you can see details of how the road course portion of the event is structured here:

http://www.fbody-event.org/bin/roadcourse.cgi

Be aware though that the above link and all the rest of the website still shows info for 2004's event as the info has not been updated for 2005 yet (we're just in the beginning phase of planning for 2005). Nevertheless, the above page should give you the general idea of how we structure the road course portion of the event. Basically you get six 20 minute sessions over the course of 2 days. Its not non-stop track time, but then again this is as much a social event as a motorsports event. And remember, we fill the 3 days of the NFME with autox and drag racing also.

In terms of cost, it depends on what you register to do. Depending on the venue, the cost for the road course portion of the event is anywhere from $130 to $160 plus misc costs. For details on last years costs you can go here:

http://www.fbody-event.org/bin/faq.cgi#5

In terms of signing up today, registration is closed right now as we've only just begun contract negotiation with the venue. Our aim is to have registration open before Christmas though (that way you can push the event as a Christmas gift (IMG:http://www.frrax.com/rrforum/style_emoticons/default/wink.gif) ).

P.S. Racer X, we call those lunatics who attempt all three events Ironmen. There are a few each year who try it. My hats are defintely off to them. I tried it once several years ago. It was brutal but I did it (IMG:http://www.frrax.com/rrforum/style_emoticons/default/smile.gif) .