From: "Chuck McAbee" <[EMAIL PROTECTED]>
Reply-To: [email protected]
To: "F500" <[EMAIL PROTECTED]>
Subject: [F500] Solo National - Letter from Roger Johnson
Date: Sat, 17 Jun 2006 21:39:11 -0400
SCCA Solo Nationals
It is getting closer to the 2006 Tire Rack SCCA Solo Nationals - which
starting this year will be held at Heartland Park Topeka (HPT) race track.
Because it is a new venue and because it is very different from past Solo
Nationals sites, there seems to be much speculation and many wild claims
flying around the internet and Solo events around the nation. I hope to
address some of these speculations and claims in this article.
I should probably also mention that Karen Babb and Kevin Youngers, arguably
two of the nation's best Solo course designers, have been assigned as the
Course Designers for the 2006 Solo Nationals. All of us arrived a day prior
to the 2006 SCCA National Convention to visit the site for mapping and
planning purposes.
The following is taken from some excellent corre¬spondence recently
received
from Karen Babb, and I wholly agree with her observations and comments: "I
have never seen this good of a blacktop surface anywhere. Very close to
flat, very smooth.
"The HPT site is logistically completely different from Forbes,
"New-Salina", or "Old-Salina" in that the courses will in essence be
side-by
side with a "buffer zone" between them, making it somewhat conceptually
akin
to a typical Pro Solo layout, but rather larger.
"Yes, the overall square footage available to each course is not what it
was
at Forbes, particularly in compari¬son to Forbes-North. However, it must
be
remembered that only a fraction of the Forbes area was actually usable.
Typically layouts had to tiptoe among the land mines, trying to use the
best
(or least bad) of the available surface. Routes were constrained, as were
in
most cases widths and directions. The actual usable square footage was
probably less than 25% of the total area at the North end. The need for
overlap and separation had to be dealt with as the surface allowed. "At HPT
there are no such issues. No grates, poles, peaks, valleys, holes, frost
heaves, snakes, etc. So the course can be routed wherever it needs to as
the
desired elements and separation requirements dictate, not as the sur¬face
dictates. This offers considerable freedom in what ele¬ments can be used,
how they can be connected, and how they can be oriented, even within the
constraints of needing the Start and Finish on a particular end of the
available area. This type of openness makes possible the use of a variety
of
space-saving methods that can if necessary compensate for a somewhat
smaller
overall area.
"The route length on my 2003 South course was approximately 3650 feet;
available route lengths in prelimi¬nary sketches on the left side of the
HPT
pad have yielded lengths of 3500-4000 feet. It's largely a matter of being
able to make the best use of the available space. Many details (e.g. Grid
locations and ingress/egress points) have yet to be finalized, but it looks
pretty good at this point.
"It should be remembered that a very big complaint year after year from
members at the Town Meeting was about the deteriorating Forbes surface. The
move to HPT was largely driven by this input. It seems counter-productive
for members to assume the worst about getting something they asked for,
even
before they see the actual hands-on results of the change.
"At this point I'd just ask that people stay tuned and have a little faith
in the event Chairman, the course design¬ers, the Nationals event officials
team, and the National Staff to provide a Solo Nationals that won't beat
their car to death, and will offer improvements they can all appreciate.
Yes, it will be different. No, it won't be perfect. Yes, it will evolve.
That's all fine with me." - Karen Babb
I would like to add to her comments that holding the Solo Nationals at a
purpose built race facility, instead of a location designed and meant for
other uses, really makes a positive impression. Everything at the site is
about racing and competition. This means that HPT has erected buildings
designed solely to function for the needs of automotive com¬petition. For
example, the scales are permanently mounted and located inside tech/impound
building - out of the weath¬er. There are real toilets (flushies!), a
paddock wide public address system, garages for rent, a registration
building/park¬ing lot that is on the way in. There is also a beautiful
track
that surrounds the paddock and Solo course area. Who knows - there may even
be cars running the track while we are there! All of this adds greatly to
the overall competitive feeling and gives credibility to what we do. It
only seems fit¬ting that the Solo Nationals be held in a purpose built race
facility instead of a parking lot - a place where the Nation's best will
compete for a chance to earn their 2006 Solo National Championships.
If I may steal a line from Karen's correspondence above, I think it is
worth
repeating: "Yes, it will be different. No, it won't be perfect. Yes, it
will
evolve. That's all fine with me."
See you at the 2006 Solo Nationals
Roger H. Johnson (Houston, TX) Solo Nationals Event Chairperson
Chuck McAbee
SEDIV #16
The above letter was scaned from Washington DC Region 'Straighpipe"
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