Event Recap IC Airport Points Event #1 Iowa Region SCCA
Iowa Region SCCA and our 65 drivers descended into the Iowa City Airport on Sunday AM to see who could have the most fun in the heavy winds. Registration Check in ended at 9am with a great turn out and nearly over flowing Paddock! IC Airport has its struggles with logistics but we made it work. Big thank you to the team that helped with Registration check in and Paddock organization. Everyone got their cars tech inspected and then walked the course. After course walks and tech inspection was completed we hosted the Driver’s Meeting. We had a great number of novices and newbies participate in the Novice walk after the driver’s meeting. It is awesome to see newer drivers come out and experience AutoX for their first times. The smiles ear to ear and the massive drops in time proved they enjoyed it!!
After the novice walk was complete, workers assigned to their positions, and a grid full of warmed up cars of all types we were ready to rock. 1st heat went great, lots of fast cars and drivers. They got to come back to grid following the newly repaired finish area shut down, much less gravel getting thrown around. The First Heat got 3 runs in the warming temps, initial reports were very positive on the course design. We aimed for a fast but technical course, I think we got it right. The fastest driver in heat 1 was Andrew in their EVX Tesla with a 32.7, but it was dirty giving the top time for heat 1 to XA driver Matthew in their BMW with a clean 33.2!
Second Heat began after the workers came in and got their cars warmed up and Heat 1 drivers got their work assignments. Heat 2 was ready for battle with both the Novice Group and Pro Class in the mix. Every one got their 3 runs in. Pro Class only gets 3 runs to get it right similar to Nationals and other big events, after these 3 runs Pro Class Results were locked in. Brent in their BST Evo took 1st with a 28.001 Pax time, edging out 2nd place Drew in Jade’s XA STI by .052 seconds in Pax. Top Novice time in heat 1 was Austin “Peg Leg” in their Mustang GT with a 39.997, cracking into the 39s! 4 other novices would crack into the 39s today. Fastest open class car in heat 2 was Jim in their FMod with a 32.0! flying.
After very short lunch period (Quick note: we try to give time for lunch but it is rare there is time to leave site and grab lunch. Always suggested to bring your own lunch.) we started heat 3 which is the same drivers and workers from heat 1, the drivers get a chance to better their morning runs in the warming conditions. Its amazing how a little warmer track temp and sunshine can make the times drop! A lot of people dropped time in the afternoon session, some people worked hard to clean up dirty morning runs. Top time for the day in Street Class 34.2 from Mike in their Lotus, followed closely by Tim in their C8 Corvette with a 34.8. Top Time in X class was Andrew in their Tesla with a blistering 32.6 which was good enough for 2nd in PAX for the day.
Heat 4, final heat of the day was ready to kick off with the drivers from Heat 3 checked into their Heat 4 work assignments and Heat 4 drivers patiently waiting in Grid. The Pro Class having finished runs for pro class championship points was set and ready to battle for Top Time of Day and Top Pax Time of the Day, throwing caution to the wind and staying as fast as possible through the cross over and turn around at the backside of the course. It paid off, Brent clicked off a flying 32.2 that no other car with doors could catch in Raw or Pax. There were 4 cars cracked into the 32s after finish of heat 4, but Brent took top spot in PAX. Top Raw was dominated by the Mod Cars, Jim in FM with a 32.0, Bryan in DM with a 31.6 and Jeff in DM with the fasted time of the day (FTD) with a 31.3!! Novice class ended up with 15 drivers today! One driver dropped nearly 20 seconds from their first to their last run, most got quicker by 4 to 7 seconds between their slowest clear run and their fastest clean run. That is awesome improvements. Great job novices, can’t wait to see you racing more with us during the year and competing for top novice trophy spots! All first year autoxers can compete in the Novice class for the full year, driver (who is also a SCCA Member) with the highest points at the end of the year will get a sweet trophy. 2nd and 3rd year autoxers are allowed in Novice as well assuming you didn’t win Novice previously and have under 15 events under your belt.
