Savannah Speed Classic, Part Deux

Yes, yes, I figured I would finally complete my post covering the 2012 Savannah Speed Classic. Well, Friday's practice, that is.

At this point in the day, I had finished my first walk-through of the pit area, so I decided to head further infield to the vendor's area. Immediately, I recognize the fascias of a couple of brand new Ferraris: a California and the -let's just say interesting- FF hatchback.

Behind this display, I spot a beautiful example of my favorite variation of 911: the Targa. And in purple, no less.

In keeping with the trend, I walked over to the Porsche of Hilton Head display, where they had a brand new black-on-red Carrera S convertible. I listened politely as one of the sales reps spewed off a bunch of facts I already knew about the car, then, once he was finished, proceeded to take a seat in the cockpit, imagining I was a wealthy Savannite.

Having seen all I desired to see in the vendor's area, I headed back to the pits in hopes of chatting it up with some more drivers. My intentions were good and soon my apparent curiosity of this Audi sparked some conversation. The man fueling up the car didn't seem too interested in talking, but his wife did, so I listened as she told of adrenaline-filled runs she's had, both as a passenger and a driver. After a while, I learned that the car used to belong to a famous American road-racer, who's name escapes me at the moment. Either way, the race-spec S4 sedan certainly looked the part of a winning machine, and I was sure to thank Dawn and her husband for letting me take some pictures of it.

Going into this event, I had the preconceived notion that all I was going to see were old MG Midgets, Autin Healeys, and Jaguars gracing the pits and subsequently the track as well. I am glad to say that this was not the case. Not that any of these cars are bad cars, far from it. It's just that I enjoy seeing a wide array of unique vehicles when at a racing event; and of course, Porsche 911s.

What I hope to have accomplished in this series of postings is to show that events like the Speed Classic are about so much more than the racing itself. Motor racing is undoubtedly an exciting culmination of sights, smells, and, most importantly, sounds. But at events like this, you can really see the passion, dedication, and camaraderie between drivers, family, and spectators by simply walking around the pits and vendor's areas. I hope these couple of posts have helped you see that if you stop and take a look behind the scenes, you'll find fascinating things and have an even better experience as a result.

Savannah Speed Classic, Part 1

Road racing has always been a spectacle that's had my partially-divided attention. I say partially-divided, because I remember my first ever trip to Road Atlanta. It was a crisp day in November and I was with my father and a couple friends from his job. The whole environment was a sensory overload to me. Sights, sounds, smells; and those were all just in the pit area. I've always been drawn to the environment of the race track, often more so than the races themselves. There's just something about seeing the crowds, the participants, and the cars, all together in a sort of automotive playground that lies behind-the-scenes.

I've since visited Road Atlanta more times than I can count, but now I'm trying to expand my horizons. Being away at a school 200 miles from Atlanta, it isn't very convenient to head up to Braselton for events held at Road Atlanta, especially since most are held during the school year. Instead, I've had to look into motorsport in south Georgia. Surprisingly, I've discovered several venues and events, and I decided to attend one this past weekend.

Many Georgians are familiar with River Street, an authentic cobblestone thoroughfare that runs alongside the vast Savannah river. What many visitors may not be familiar with, however, is what lies on the other side.

One only needs to cross the picturesque Talmadge Memorial bridge and turn right, and they will happen upon something they probably weren't expecting to find: a race track. Built in 1997, this 2 mile course consists of 10 corners that wind through the stunning marshland. This unlikely race track hosts the Savannah Speed Classic, a four-day long historic road-racing series. This year I was there to watch part of it.

I was one of the first spectators to arrive, at 9 o'clock on the dot, so I set off to explore the still-incomplete vendor's area.

Walking into the vendor area, I immediately realized this event was not what I was expecting. What I came across were many high end vehicles put on display by their respective dealerships in the area. The first one I came across was Jaguar, which I will return to more in-depth later.

It was still early in the morning, and Critz BMW only had one vehicle out on display, the eye-catchingly rare Z8. Something that's really hard for me to understand about this car is why the gauges were mounted in the center of the dashboard. Of course, the first thing that popped into my head was Toyota Echo.

Moving on, I see that Porsche of Hilton Head is at the end of the decidedly-short line. This is also a spot I will return to later, so on that note, I head to the pit area.

This is where the fun starts. Catching my eye immediately is the shape of something out of the ordinary. This, of course, turns out to be an Alfa Romeo.

Behind this Alfa, I see more of them. Naturally, I go to investigate. What I came upon were a couple of race-ready Spyders and friendly gentleman named Craig. As it turns out, Craig has been around Alfas all his life, starting out as a young boy in South Africa, watching these everyday cars monster their competition. It's now been 36 years that he's been working on Alfas at his shop in Jacksonville Florida and he says he still can't get enough of them. After about fifteen minutes of conversation I said goodbye to Craig and continued on my expedition through the pit area.

This being a classic sports car event for the fairly-affluent, it was no surprise that I quickly ran across some beautiful racing-spec Porsche 911s. Soon, I was running back and forth throughout the pits, trying to snag shots that I hoped would coincide with my artistic vision. Happily, most of them turned out the way I wanted them to.

It's also worth noting that at these events I tend to explore pretty much every area of the venue. This isn't necessarily because I'm going on some sort of twisted Where's Waldo mission, but because there always seems to be something in the background that catches my eye, whether it be the land yacht known as the CL63 Mercedes, or a Ford GT, adorned with the same Gulf dressage as its LeMans-winning predecessor. the GT40. In my opinion, the strange looks are worth it when I can come across some cool stuff.

To have some mercy on your internet connection, I've decided to break this up into two postings, so look out for part two!

Autocrossin'

My excitement is almost uncontainable. Why, you may ask? Well, I'm beside myself that you asked actually. The reason I'm so excited is because I am about to lose my virginal status in yet another car-related event: autocross!

Now, for those of you who aren't familiar, autocross is an ingenious way to get your racing thrills in a controlled and fairly low-speed environment. You can find these events all across these United States. Autocross is generally held in large parking lots that are island-free. There, a course is set up using hundreds of traffic cones. These courses are short, tight, and meant to test any car's handling characteristics to their limits.

Autocross is much like road racing in the sense that there aren't too many independent autocross events. Most are associated with clubs like the SCCA, which is sponsoring the autocross event I'm going to next week. Discovering these events is not difficult. Just search autocross and a city near you and you're sure to come up with something.

To a wannabe boy racer like myself, there are many enticing factors to autocross. First of all, it's cheap. Twenty dollars for a day consisting of six to ten runs of the course is really impossible to beat nowadays. Secondly, you can bring virtually any car, as long as it isn't extremely prone to rollover, of course. But most importantly, I feel like it is a Segway into all sorts of automotive racing. Autocross, as I've come to understand, is designed to push any car to the limits of its handling. This, in turn, teaches drivers important dynamics and, most importantly, car control.
So, ladies and gentlemen, check your oil, tighten your handbrakes, and make sure your tires are properly inflated. Then get out there and clip some cones!