{"id":5992,"date":"2009-11-07T00:06:14","date_gmt":"2009-11-07T07:06:14","guid":{"rendered":"http:\/\/www.myrideisme.com\/Blog\/?p=5992"},"modified":"2013-10-10T23:30:42","modified_gmt":"2013-10-11T06:30:42","slug":"on-the-racetrack-at-sema-2009","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/www.myrideisme.com\/Blog\/on-the-racetrack-at-sema-2009\/","title":{"rendered":"On the Racetrack at SEMA 2009!"},"content":{"rendered":"<div class=\"mr_social_sharing_wrapper\">\n\t\t\t\t<!-- Social Sharing Toolkit v2.2 --><span class=\"mr_social_sharing\"><a href=\"http:\/\/pinterest.com\/pin\/create\/button\/?url=https%3A%2F%2Fwww.myrideisme.com%2FBlog%2Fon-the-racetrack-at-sema-2009%2F&amp;media=http%3A%2F%2Fwww.myrideisme.com%2FBlog%2Fwp-content%2Fuploads%2F2009%2F11%2Fsema.racing.radicalcarfull-300x170.jpg&amp;description=On+the+Racetrack+at+SEMA+2009%21\" class=\"pin-it-button\" count-layout=\"none\" rel=\"lightbox[5992]\"><img border=\"0\" src=\"\/\/assets.pinterest.com\/images\/PinExt.png\" title=\"Pin It\" \/><\/a><\/span><span class=\"mr_social_sharing\"><fb:share-button type=\"button_count\" href=\"https:\/\/www.myrideisme.com\/Blog\/on-the-racetrack-at-sema-2009\/\"><\/fb:share-button><\/span><span class=\"mr_social_sharing\"><a href=\"https:\/\/twitter.com\/share\" class=\"twitter-share-button\" data-count=\"horizontal\" data-url=\"https:\/\/www.myrideisme.com\/Blog\/on-the-racetrack-at-sema-2009\/\" data-via=\"myrideisme\" data-text=\"On the Racetrack at SEMA 2009!\"><\/a><\/span><span class=\"mr_social_sharing\"><div class=\"g-plusone\" data-size=\"medium\" data-annotation=\"none\" data-href=\"https:\/\/www.myrideisme.com\/Blog\/on-the-racetrack-at-sema-2009\/\"><\/div><\/span><span class=\"mr_social_sharing\"><a class=\"mr_social_share_email\" href=\"mailto:?subject=On the Racetrack at SEMA 2009!&amp;body=https:\/\/www.myrideisme.com\/Blog\/on-the-racetrack-at-sema-2009\/\" target=\"_blank\"><img src=\"https:\/\/www.myrideisme.com\/Blog\/wp-content\/plugins\/social-sharing-toolkit\/images\/icons_small\/email.png\" class=\"nopin\" alt=\"Email\" title=\"Email\"\/><span class=\"mr_small_icon\">Email<\/span><\/a><\/a><\/span><span class=\"mr_social_sharing\"><a rel=\"nofollow\" class=\"linksalpha_button linksalpha_link\" href=\"\/\/www.linksalpha.com\/social\/mobile\" data-url=\"https:\/\/www.myrideisme.com\/Blog\/on-the-racetrack-at-sema-2009\/\" data-text=\"On the Racetrack at SEMA 2009!\" data-desc=\"http:\/\/www.youtube.com\/watch?v=waYyhfRUosM Today I left the hub-bub of Las Vegas and SEMA to head out to Spring Mountain Ranch racecourse. In preparation for Saturday's Optima Invitational, myself and the others from the auto-blogging crew got a chance to get behind the wheel ourselves. Spring\" data-image=\"http:\/\/www.myrideisme.com\/Blog\/wp-content\/uploads\/2009\/11\/sema.racing.radicalcarfull-300x170.jpg\" data-button=\"\">\n\t\t\t\t\t<img src=\"\/\/www.linksalpha.com\/images\/social_share_button.png\" alt=\"Share\" class=\"linksalpha_image\" \/>\n\t\t\t\t\t<\/a><script type=\"text\/javascript\" src=\"\/\/www.linksalpha.com\/scripts\/loader_iconbox.js?v=2.4\"><\/script><\/span><\/div><p><a class=\"highslide\" onclick=\"return vz.expand(this)\" href=\"http:\/\/www.myrideisme.com\/Blog\/wp-content\/uploads\/2009\/11\/sema.racing.flowerhelmet.jpg\" rel=\"lightbox[5992]\"><\/a><span class=\"vvqbox vvqyoutube\" style=\"width:320px;height:265px;\"><span id=\"vvq-5992-youtube-1\"><a href=\"http:\/\/www.youtube.com\/watch?v=waYyhfRUosM\"><img src=\"http:\/\/img.youtube.com\/vi\/waYyhfRUosM\/0.jpg\" alt=\"YouTube Preview Image\" \/><\/a><\/span><\/span><\/p>\n<p>Today I left the hub-bub of Las Vegas and SEMA to head out to Spring Mountain Ranch racecourse. In preparation for Saturday&#8217;s Optima Invitational, myself and the others from the auto-blogging crew got a chance to get behind the wheel ourselves. Spring Mountain Ranch is almost like a country-club for speed seekers. People who are members get use of the track. In addition, they have certified race-driver training programs. While we didn&#8217;t get the whole training program in one day, we did get the opportunity to go very fast in a few different situations.<a class=\"highslide\" title=\"Lotus sportscar\" onclick=\"return vz.expand(this)\" href=\"http:\/\/www.myrideisme.com\/Blog\/wp-content\/uploads\/2009\/11\/sema.racing.radicalcarfull.jpg\" rel=\"lightbox[5992]\"><img loading=\"lazy\" class=\"alignright size-medium wp-image-5995\" style=\"border: 2px solid black; margin: 4px;\" title=\"At Spring Ranch racing a Lotus sportscar\" src=\"http:\/\/www.myrideisme.com\/Blog\/wp-content\/uploads\/2009\/11\/sema.racing.radicalcarfull-300x170.jpg\" alt=\"SEMA show fun: Racing at Spring Mountain Motorsports\" width=\"300\" height=\"170\" srcset=\"https:\/\/www.myrideisme.com\/Blog\/wp-content\/uploads\/2009\/11\/sema.racing.radicalcarfull-300x170.jpg 300w, https:\/\/www.myrideisme.com\/Blog\/wp-content\/uploads\/2009\/11\/sema.racing.radicalcarfull-150x85.jpg 150w, https:\/\/www.myrideisme.com\/Blog\/wp-content\/uploads\/2009\/11\/sema.racing.radicalcarfull-400x227.jpg 400w, https:\/\/www.myrideisme.com\/Blog\/wp-content\/uploads\/2009\/11\/sema.racing.radicalcarfull.jpg 1000w\" sizes=\"(max-width: 300px) 100vw, 300px\" \/><\/a><\/p>\n<p>The day started out with\u00a0the road course. If you&#8217;re not familiar with racing (like me) think of the\u00a0video game &#8220;Grand Prix&#8221;. After a short orientation we headed out to\u00a0driving machine #1:\u00a0the Lotus. Although I may have been a little jittery that I would do something\u00a0wrong &#8211; it was surprisingly easy! As we followed our guide, Rick, around the racetrack things got faster and faster. After the first few 1.5 mile laps I began feeling comfortable with the car and trusting of the squealing tires as I\u00a0rounded a turn between 40 and 60 mph.<\/p>\n<span class=\"vvqbox vvqyoutube\" style=\"width:575px;height:355px;\"><span id=\"vvq-5992-youtube-2\"><a href=\"http:\/\/www.youtube.com\/watch?v=GamJhz2-TIk\"><img src=\"http:\/\/img.youtube.com\/vi\/GamJhz2-TIk\/0.jpg\" alt=\"YouTube Preview Image\" \/><\/a><\/span><\/span>\n<p>It wasn&#8217;t until my second time out that I encountered a little issue. As I was preparing to turn out of the main straightaway, my car did a full 180 degree spin! At first I was stunned at what was happening, then I had a slight second of fear, and then I realized everything would be fine. For the most part my Lotus stayed on the track and I just readjusted and kept on going. The spin really cemented the feeling that this race course was really just an adult go-cart track&#8230; and I say that to mean that it was really, really, really fun!<\/p>\n<p><a class=\"highslide\" title=\"Radical Sportscar and Grease Girl\" onclick=\"return vz.expand(this)\" href=\"http:\/\/www.myrideisme.com\/Blog\/wp-content\/uploads\/2009\/11\/sema.racing.radicalcar.jpg\" rel=\"lightbox[5992]\"><img loading=\"lazy\" class=\"alignleft size-medium wp-image-5994\" style=\"border: 2px solid black; margin: 4px;\" title=\"SEMA Fun! GreaseGirl with a Radical Sportscar racecar\" src=\"http:\/\/www.myrideisme.com\/Blog\/wp-content\/uploads\/2009\/11\/sema.racing.radicalcar-300x198.jpg\" alt=\"SEMA show fun: Racing at Spring Mountain Motorsports\" width=\"300\" height=\"198\" srcset=\"https:\/\/www.myrideisme.com\/Blog\/wp-content\/uploads\/2009\/11\/sema.racing.radicalcar-300x198.jpg 300w, https:\/\/www.myrideisme.com\/Blog\/wp-content\/uploads\/2009\/11\/sema.racing.radicalcar-150x99.jpg 150w, https:\/\/www.myrideisme.com\/Blog\/wp-content\/uploads\/2009\/11\/sema.racing.radicalcar-400x265.jpg 400w, https:\/\/www.myrideisme.com\/Blog\/wp-content\/uploads\/2009\/11\/sema.racing.radicalcar.jpg 1000w\" sizes=\"(max-width: 300px) 100vw, 300px\" \/><\/a>Once we had the Lotus&#8217; parked it was on to the <a title=\"Radical Sportscar\" href=\"http:\/\/www.radicalsportscars.com\/\" target=\"_blank\">Radical Sportscar<\/a>. These aren&#8217;t as user-friendly as the Lotus, so these we didn&#8217;t drive we just rode in. With your butt practically on the ground and no windshield, speed can really be felt in these babies. Reaching\u00a0 130mph only added to the speed-bug I caught while at <a title=\"Bonneville 2009 article\" href=\"http:\/\/www.myrideisme.com\/Blog\/the-61st-bonneville-speed-weekbut-my-first-visit\/\" target=\"_blank\">2009 Bonneville Speed Week<\/a> this year.<\/p>\n<p>As if all this speed wasn&#8217;t enough, the group then headed to the autocross track.\u00a0Autocross is the track full of cones that you navigate in a competitive time. Looking at the course I had no faith in my driving abilities. But once I sat in the seat of\u00a0my supercharged Mini Cooper I felt ready to tackle the road ahead. I felt that this course was like practice to be a really slick, kick-ass driver on the everyday road &#8211; and I loved that it was timed, bringing out that competitive edge in all of us. Running the track twice, I improved upon my time by over 2 seconds on the second run &#8211; leaving my time just above 50 seconds.<\/p>\n<span class=\"vvqbox vvqyoutube\" style=\"width:320px;height:265px;\"><span id=\"vvq-5992-youtube-3\"><a href=\"http:\/\/www.youtube.com\/watch?v=x6doaYgTIWg\"><img src=\"http:\/\/img.youtube.com\/vi\/x6doaYgTIWg\/0.jpg\" alt=\"YouTube Preview Image\" \/><\/a><\/span><\/span>\n<p>(<a title=\"Autocross training\" href=\"http:\/\/www.youtube.com\/watch?v=_B_f71ywuww\" target=\"_blank\">You can also watch the instructor doing a lap along with some directional commentary here<\/a>)<\/p>\n<p>Getting a chance to drive the course today makes me all the more excited about tomorrow&#8230;theOptima Ultimate Street Car Invitational. Cars from the SEMA show will get to prove their stuff out on the track at Spring Mountain<a class=\"highslide\" title=\"Girl Racing helmet\" onclick=\"return vz.expand(this)\" href=\"http:\/\/www.myrideisme.com\/Blog\/wp-content\/uploads\/2009\/11\/sema.racing.flowerhelmet.jpg\" rel=\"lightbox[5992]\"><img loading=\"lazy\" class=\"alignright size-medium wp-image-5993\" style=\"margin: 4px; border: black 2px solid;\" title=\"sema.racing.flowerhelmet\" src=\"http:\/\/www.myrideisme.com\/Blog\/wp-content\/uploads\/2009\/11\/sema.racing.flowerhelmet-300x198.jpg\" alt=\"sema.racing.flowerhelmet\" width=\"300\" height=\"198\" srcset=\"https:\/\/www.myrideisme.com\/Blog\/wp-content\/uploads\/2009\/11\/sema.racing.flowerhelmet-300x198.jpg 300w, https:\/\/www.myrideisme.com\/Blog\/wp-content\/uploads\/2009\/11\/sema.racing.flowerhelmet-150x99.jpg 150w, https:\/\/www.myrideisme.com\/Blog\/wp-content\/uploads\/2009\/11\/sema.racing.flowerhelmet-400x264.jpg 400w, https:\/\/www.myrideisme.com\/Blog\/wp-content\/uploads\/2009\/11\/sema.racing.flowerhelmet.jpg 600w\" sizes=\"(max-width: 300px) 100vw, 300px\" \/><\/a> Ranch&#8230; the same tracks I was on today. Part of me is a little curious how my own 1955 Studebaker would handle on that autocross track. With a little more work it could be a fun and interesting experiment. Who knows, with all the info I&#8217;ve learned at SEMA maybe Stude&#8217;s ready to raise to a higher level of driving. Only time will tell.<\/p>\n<p>Don&#8217;t miss our coverage of the Optima Ultimate Street Car Invitation Race! What car would you love to take out on the autocross???<\/p>\n<p>Please leave your comments below.<\/p>","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"\n\t\t\t\t<div class=\"mr_social_sharing_wrapper\">\n\t\t\t\t<!-- Social Sharing Toolkit v2.2 --><span class=\"mr_social_sharing\"><a href=\"http:\/\/pinterest.com\/pin\/create\/button\/?url=https%3A%2F%2Fwww.myrideisme.com%2FBlog%2Fon-the-racetrack-at-sema-2009%2F&amp;media=&amp;description=On+the+Racetrack+at+SEMA+2009%21\" class=\"pin-it-button\" count-layout=\"none\"><img border=\"0\" src=\"\/\/assets.pinterest.com\/images\/PinExt.png\" title=\"Pin It\" \/><\/a><\/span><span class=\"mr_social_sharing\"><fb:share-button type=\"button_count\" href=\"https:\/\/www.myrideisme.com\/Blog\/on-the-racetrack-at-sema-2009\/\"><\/fb:share-button><\/span><span class=\"mr_social_sharing\"><a href=\"https:\/\/twitter.com\/share\" class=\"twitter-share-button\" data-count=\"horizontal\" data-url=\"https:\/\/www.myrideisme.com\/Blog\/on-the-racetrack-at-sema-2009\/\" data-via=\"myrideisme\" data-text=\"On the Racetrack at SEMA 2009!\"><\/a><\/span><span class=\"mr_social_sharing\"><div class=\"g-plusone\" data-size=\"medium\" data-annotation=\"none\" data-href=\"https:\/\/www.myrideisme.com\/Blog\/on-the-racetrack-at-sema-2009\/\"><\/div><\/span><span class=\"mr_social_sharing\"><a class=\"mr_social_share_email\" href=\"mailto:?subject=On the Racetrack at SEMA 2009!&amp;body=https:\/\/www.myrideisme.com\/Blog\/on-the-racetrack-at-sema-2009\/\" target=\"_blank\"><img src=\"https:\/\/www.myrideisme.com\/Blog\/wp-content\/plugins\/social-sharing-toolkit\/images\/icons_small\/email.png\" class=\"nopin\" alt=\"Email\" title=\"Email\"\/><span class=\"mr_small_icon\">Email<\/span><\/a><\/a><\/span><span class=\"mr_social_sharing\"><a rel=\"nofollow\" class=\"linksalpha_button linksalpha_link\" href=\"\/\/www.linksalpha.com\/social\/mobile\" data-url=\"https:\/\/www.myrideisme.com\/Blog\/on-the-racetrack-at-sema-2009\/\" data-text=\"On the Racetrack at SEMA 2009!\" data-desc=\"http:\/\/www.youtube.com\/watch?v=waYyhfRUosM Today I left the hub-bub of Las Vegas and SEMA to head out to Spring Mountain Ranch racecourse. In preparation for Saturday's Optima Invitational, myself and the others from the auto-blogging crew got a chance to get behind the wheel ourselves. Spring\" data-image=\"\" data-button=\"\">\n\t\t\t\t\t<img src=\"\/\/www.linksalpha.com\/images\/social_share_button.png\" alt=\"Share\" class=\"linksalpha_image\" \/>\n\t\t\t\t\t<\/a><script type=\"text\/javascript\" src=\"\/\/www.linksalpha.com\/scripts\/loader_iconbox.js?v=2.4\"><\/script><\/span><\/div><p>Email Today I left the hub-bub of Las Vegas and SEMA to head out to Spring Mountain Ranch racecourse. In preparation for Saturday&#8217;s Optima Invitational, myself and the others from the auto-blogging crew got a chance to get behind the wheel ourselves. Spring Mountain Ranch is almost like a country-club for speed seekers. People who [&hellip;]<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":12,"featured_media":0,"comment_status":"open","ping_status":"open","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"ngg_post_thumbnail":0},"categories":[19],"tags":[1450,544,2105,1800,2509,1637],"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.myrideisme.com\/Blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/5992"}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.myrideisme.com\/Blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.myrideisme.com\/Blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.myrideisme.com\/Blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/12"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.myrideisme.com\/Blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=5992"}],"version-history":[{"count":11,"href":"https:\/\/www.myrideisme.com\/Blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/5992\/revisions"}],"predecessor-version":[{"id":11566,"href":"https:\/\/www.myrideisme.com\/Blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/5992\/revisions\/11566"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.myrideisme.com\/Blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=5992"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.myrideisme.com\/Blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=5992"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.myrideisme.com\/Blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=5992"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}