[mitchntx]

After this weekend's carnage with my F-Buds, I am giving serious consideration to just quitting.

It seems most are caught up in FTD and willing to spend what it takes to get internet bragging rights. I just can't do that.

The costs associated with it, the time required to create it and the effort put forth into it is so great that it appears daunting ... and especially no fun.

When I first began doing this with Chuck, it was a blast. We hung out, laughed, joked, did a little maintenance ... it was fun.

Now, we all seem to work so hard at keeping these damn cars running, that the fun part is gone.

Don't misunderstand ... I cherish my friendship with all those I run with. But looking back at the last few times we have run together ... we always seem to be thrashing on someone's car.

If I were racing, then the expectation set would be differnet. But this is just OT. There is no prize for first.

I guess it's time for me to decide on what my priorities are.

[Dave B]

Mitch, sorry to hear you are having serious second thoughts.

Do you have any "Time trial" type events in Texas?

I know how you feel ( I think). Not enough money for full road race, Autox is just too slow and as Open tracking gets more competitive the costs skyrocket. Here in the Great White North we have a VERY competitive series of Solo 1 events which basically are time trials on race tracks with no fender to fender racing. It's alot like professional type qualifying. The series is really tight and pits cars against other cars of similar performance based on wgt/HP and a fudge factor "handling index". Any modification other than nitrous is allowed so you don't have to worry about bending the rules or building a car to fit a certain classification.

This series is basically "run what you brung" and we get everything from street driven grocery getters to fully prepped and heavily modified full out race cars. The competition is very friendly ( after all, the year end prizes are just not that big) , sanctioned by the Canadian Autosport Club (C.A.S.C.) which is the equivalent of the SCCA. The costs are generally less then 20% of road racing and vehicle damage is very rare. Although I change rotors, pads and tires at the track, my 97 LT1 has never left me stranded and is my daily driver.

From what I hear, Solo 1 in the USA is almost non existant and maybe its time for that to change. It might suit you well.

If you are interested I can forward to you a somewhat long Word document that explains the series to you. It is supposed to be on the www.casc.on.ca website but isn't yet.