well as most of you know NASA is having their first Nationals event the week of Sept 11-17. at this time, i'm planning to make this event. the drive is 1150 miles for me. my plan is to leave a few days early to ensure i'll have plenty of time to get there just in case i have a mechanical issue w/ the trailer or truck.
would any of you guys be willing to allow me to park my rig and offer a place to crash @ your place for my trip up and possibly a place to look over the car the couple days prior to getting into the track (if i have a couple days to kill!)?
how many of you guys are planning to attend? @ this time, i have 4 crew slots and none are spoken for. i'm sure we could get a few of you guys in on those slots.

a quick look @ the route has me taking I-30 from Dallas TX to I-40 in Little Rock to I-65 in Nashville to I-71 in Louisville w/ I-71 taking me thru Cincinatti and Columbus to Lexington.
if you know of a better route, i'm open to it, and i'll venture a short distance from the route to crash.

thoughts, feedback???

Glenn,

The last few times I have been that way pulling a trailer I went a bit farther north. I40 is heavily traveled and all that truck traffic just exhausts me

Turnpike to Tulsa
I44 to St Louis
I70 east to Coulmbus

FWIW

Andy

From Nashville to Ohio, your route sounds reasonable. 71 and 75 run together for a few miles in Northern KY before splitting again in South Cinci.

I'm a little off your path. Instead of getting on 71 in Louisville, you'd have to take 64E toward Lexington, KY. I'm near exit 69, a little west of Lexington. From here, you'd continue east for a few miles on 64 then turn north on 75. I'm about one hour from Louisville and 1.5~2 hours from Cinci.

Fair disclosure: I have a two-year-old, and she's very two

My "poor man's lift" is two stacks of three 2x12s in the garage.

Glenn,

I'm about 70 miles south of the track (in Columbus and right off of the beltway). I have a reasonably well stocked garage (4 floor jacks, electric impact, torque wrenches and a fair amount of tools....we can get most things done). There is a new queen sized pull out couch in the spare room (air mattress/mattress hybrid so that big guys don't feel the bars in your back) and we can usually park a trailer out front. I'm sure you'd be welcome to drop in and check over the car and get some rest if needed. Just let me know the dates that you'll need lodging and I'll see what I can do (I'm out of vacation time, or nearly so, but I can probably come up and crew, depending on when the race is).

You'll be joining a long list of frrax'ers who have stayed here (I hate to say "crashed") already.

Let me know if I can help. And, are you bringing Mitch along?

Im also in Columbus, North side off of 71. Although I don't have a place to put a trailer here, or even an extra bed for that matter, I would be glad to lend a hand if I am here. (what are the dates?)

I will send you a PM later this week with some more details as I probably live the closest to Mid-Ohio (15 minutes driving). Plenty of parking space for the trailer and a decent sized garage.

thanks guys. starting to work out the details w/ the other TX racers who are planning to go. starting to look like sunday will be the departure day for sure, possibly saturday. thinking of doing the practice days monday or tuesday. if i do those, i'll need a place close to by to stay.
you guys are great.

Which airport is closer to the track? I'll be flying in Monday. Bro-in-law pit crew is driving the rig, he'll arrive late Sunday or early Monday.

Closest private charter airport is Mansfield Lahm. You should see the aircraft that park here (my office overlooks the runways) when the ALMS and Grand Am is in town. BTW, the ALMS teams win that contest by far. Closest commercial would be Columbus. Cleveland or Akron would only be 10-20 miles further though.

Thanks Neil, I will be flying cheapwest or Delta most likely.

You guys (and ladies) better stop in and say hello while you're in town (or find a way for us to catch up). I'm only 70 miles from the track .

sounds like you need to get your ass to the track then.

True, I can probably arrange that. However, we have a couple grills on my back patio (I'm on a very small lot though) and everyone is welcome to gather for a cookout if there is any interest.

Not sure what the difference in rates would be between the airports, but I find Columbus to be a much better airport to fly in and out of.

guys, i'm bringing this back to the top as we are @ 30 days till i/we pull out for this event. if you want to offer up a place to crash for myself or as many that can sleep on your floor and shower @ your place, or you would like to offer you place up for tow vehicle repairs if it comes to that, shoot me an email w/ your contact info.
input on the route from here in Dallas to Mid Ohio would be welcomed. i've never driven that route (never driven farther north than Tulsa, OK!!!) and could use the advice. sounds like St. Louis is the way to go.

You're always welcome. There's a queen sized pull out in the spare bedroom, 2 couches downstairs and a garage out back (with a decent compliment of tools).

I'll PM you.

Kevin

I just finalized my plans, bro-in-law pit crew is driving my rig out from California - will be there in time to pick me up from Columbus airport Monday pm. Tues I'll be out on track testing! Hope to see the local crew at the track!

My sister and her husband live in Dallas, and they always drive the Memphis - Nashville - Columbus route. I don't know what it would be like, hauling a trailer though.

All,

Team 309 will be coming to the NASA National with (3) 3rd gen American Iron Firebirds from Central Illinois. Everyone is welcome at our paddock to stop by and say HI or whatever. We won't have a crew and could always use help bleeding brakes and such. We're pretty low maintenance unless something breaks. Will be bringing a back up rear axle assembly, T-5, and other spares we hope to not need!

As we are the only F-bodies currently registered in AI, we can use all the support we can get to beat the Mustangs!

Sidney Franklin
Bloomington, IL
AI #64

Ladies and Gents. I'm pretty low on vacation time, so depending on when you run, I might be able to come up and help out a bit. I'm probably good on the weekend, but I don't have any idea what the race schedule is, so I'm not sure how much help I can provide. Let me know the schedule, or send me a link to it and I'll see what I can do.

http://nasachampionships.com/

We'll be coming in Wednesday evening sometime before the mandatory drivers meeting at 7:00 p.m.! Thursday is practice, Friday is the first qualifying race, Saturday the second, and Sunday the Championships.

Again, stop by anytime during the weekend and don't feel obligated to grab a wrench. Most of our hanger arounders sit under the canopy and drink our Pepsi!

Sidney
AI #64

What fun is it if you don't get dirty?

I have a business trip that I am scheduled for 9/11 through 9/14 in Indianapolis.

Is there any way I can beg a ride in order to get from Indianapolis to the mid-Ohio track?

I can probably get a ride to say, Ft. Wayne, but I'm not hip on thumbing the remaining 150 miles ...

I can snag a ride and help drive some of my Texas bretheren back. It's just the hop from Indy to the track that is the snag.

I can probably work something out. You're done on Thursday and not Friday? Or does it run through the 15th?

Give me a call Mitch.

I was scheduled to fly out on Friday. The seminar finishes Thursday afternoon.

Kevin, I no longer have your number <hangs head in shame>

Geez, it should be on your caller ID as often as you hear from me.....

I'll PM you.......

Sidney,

I've decided not to go broke trying to get the new car ready for a shakedown at RA, so I'm 90% sure I'll be at the Championships on Saturday and Sunday. If I had vacation days, I'd be there the whole time

Check your PM's.

Mitch, throw your stuff in with us (cot,sleeping bag, etc).
Someone can prolly run out and pick you up.
We'll figger something out!

jb

I think we got it handled, but plan b is always good. It's Mitch's call.....

Wow ... lots of kind offers.

It looks like this might happen.

I knew last night that it was going to happen one way or another.....

Have faith brother. We'll get it handled. (as long as I can get Friday off, I'll let you know as soon as I do).

My time off is approved, we'll plan for Thursday night (14th) as we discussed (and will discuss again before then).