My neighbor asked me if I wanted to do the Silver State Classic with him this fall. After researching it a bit, it looks like a blast. He said he'd use his truck and trailer to haul my car and pay for fuel. All I have to do is provide the car and drive it, he'd be my navigator.

If you've done this event before, is there any advice you can give? We are considering the 105 or 110 mph class since that the fastest class they allow first timers in.

After watching the videos on the website, 110 mph on that course will seem like a Sunday drive, maybe with the exception of the short twisties near the end.

Off the top of my head, Alan Blaine and Andy J here (among others) have run it. I was supposed to do an event with Andy a couple years ago and we had to cancel. Unfortunately I still haven't made it out to run one of these.

Do not take these events lightly, high speed for prolong times causes other factors that your car is not used to seeing. Last year two people were killed at this event in a Camaro due to a tire blow-out from what they could tell. It is not like a HPDE event where safety crews are less than a minute away. Tires are the major concern and can blow even after a good inspection. I have never run one of these events but know two people who participate in the SSCC events every year and this is serious stuff. Check the requirements for your group and double check your car and safety gear. if something happens at high speed due to the raised 2 lane road the odds of you rolling are increased.

Do not want to stop you, and the event needs every participant to keep this type of racing going, just be overly safe on this one. We do not need to loose any more Camaro drivers!

Do some open road racing and do it now. We havent' been out to Silverstate yet, but we do Big Bend down in Texas. Represent ye ole f-body cars man!

Here is a 30 minute documentary from our race last year. This should convince you to go to one.

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=QJ1ILhFyhxw

Kyle,
Hello. Glad to see you are still around.

--Chuck

Kyle ... I had never seen that video.

Very well done ... one of a few YT vids that can be watched start to finish.

And congrats on a podium finish. Not an easy accomplishment.

The Silver State is the Grand daddy of ORR, but the road is rather boring at less than 150mph. The Big Bend race, and the Elko Gamblers Run (hasn't been run for a while) are far more interesting, challenging roads. I've not participated in a Sand Hills race, but have driven the roads and that one is highly recommended too.

Tires - new, no patches, properly inflated with a straight up alignment.

Brakes get used only at the finish, good street pads.

The mental aspect of an ORR is the timed rally part - it takes a good plan, well executed, and some luck, to get a trophy in the Touring classes. My closest finish was as a navigator in the 140mph class: we were +.008mph, and that was only good for third place.

FWIW, my ORR history - I love yakking about this lunatic fringe stuff:

1994 Camaro Z28 #138
Driver: Alan Blaine


Date Event Class AVG speed +/- mph Place Navigator
June 95 Pony Express 125 125.040 +.040 1st Nick Durben
Sept 95 Pony Express 125 125.052 +.052 3rd Nick Durben

June 96 Pony Express 135 135.172 +.172 2nd Nick Durben
Sept 96 Pony Express 145 145.059 +.059 1st Nick Durben

June 97 Pony Express 145 144.914 - .086 2nd Nick Durben
Sept 97 Gamblers Run 145 144.940 - .060 1st Nick Durben

June 98 Pony Express 145 144.966 - .034 1st Nick Durben
July 98 Big Bend 145 145.100 +.100 1st Nick Durben
Sept 98 Gamblers Run 145 144.983 - .017 2nd Nick Durben

April 99 Big Bend 150 DQ - tech speed Nick Durben
June 99 Pony Express 150 149.954 -.046 1st Nick Durben
Sept 99 Silver State Super Street 155.8419 2nd solo
Sept 99 Pony Express 2 125 DNF - fire nav for Joe Gervais

April 00 Big Bend Unlimited 150.423 5th solo
May 00 Nv Open Road Chall Super Street 159.4325 3rd solo
June 00 Gamblers Run Unlimited 161.545 4th solo
Sept 00 Silver State Super Street 167.0026 4th solo
Sept 00 Pony Express 2 Unlimited 170.063 3rd Jeff Creech

May 01 Silver State Unlimited 170.6523 3rd Jeff Creech
June 01 Gamblers Run 105 104.972 -.028 1st codrive with Eric Pettersen
Aug 01 Pony Express 2 140 139.992 -.008 3rd nav for Bud Ridenour
Sept 01 Gold Rush 135 135.1042 +.1042 3rd codrive with Joe Gervais

Thanks for the advice guys. New tires are definitely on the "to do" list, as is all the normal pre-event maintenance. I was thinking I'd get a set of the Continental DW tires. The price is decent compared to other tires in the catagory and I've been VERY happy with the DWS tires I put on the Caddy so far. I had to change the Caddy tires due to a nail near the sidewall of one tire that couldn't be repaired. My neighbor has a set of DW on his '04 Cobra and is also very pleased with them.

Blaine, it looks like you've done the SSC at some pretty high speeds. Most of the course looks pretty tame at Touring Class speeds, but how tight are the turns in the narrows? What speed would you expect to be able to do that section at on good street tires in what is basically an ESP 4th Gen F-body?

Some things that the ORR tech guys would check on the tires:

Same or higher speed rating (letter) as what the OEM put on the car

Same or higher load rating (pounds) as what the OEM put on the car - watch out for this one if you are going to a lower profile tire.

2 yrs max age - check the date codes before they get mounted or shaved

No plugs or patches or odd wear

Some general info: http://www.sscc.us/tire_safety.aspx Tire Rack has a bunch of good general tire info - if you buy from them, let them know what you are using them for and that you want fresh date codes. They always seemed to be accommodating for me, but it's been a while since I bought a non truck tire from them.

The narrows have an advisory speed of 45 or 50, I don't recall exactly. My rule of thumb for sporting driving is to double the advisory, but YMMV. I was on Hoosiers, and used the whole roadway, and it was too fast for 4th, so about 130mph, with a long uphill grade exiting it so I'd just slow down for the first couple of turns, then it opens up, and at that elevation the car would pick up speed slowly so I'd have to get back on the gas ASAP.

This event is on my bucket list.

It looks like a lot of fun. Make sure and take some pictures/video if you do it!