Time to start the annual "Who from the NE is going to the ARRC?" thread.
First off, let me clarify that I'm not certain in any shape or form to be going. However, I have had a sucky year and I want to race, so I'm gaining momentum. Second, I know we're all getting hammered with travel costs this year, so I have a plan that may allow more to go while saving money/sharing costs.
Best I can figure, the round-trip will be about 2000 miles. I tow with a V-10 (tows most excellently) so you can imagine I'm facing some daunting fuel costs. Same goes for you, no doubt, regardless what your tow beast is. Well, I spoke to Richard Hunter last night; as you may know he's got a three-car trailer. He's going down there for the ARRC, and has two slots available. Like us, he's looking at some serious fuel costs and is interesting in taking two others cars with him to reduce out-of-pocket expenses, and I'm talking to him about taking my car and some limited equipment to Atlanta. The answer to your next question is: I do not know what a slot will cost, he's got to get back to me on that.
So then lies the next logistical problem: how to get myself down to Atlanta? I have a few options: I could take a commercial flight down there, flights into Hartsfield are running about $400 R/T (but I'd have to rent a car and deal with commercial aviation!). I could fly down in my small airplane, but I'd spend ~$450 in fuel costs and still have to rent a car (but get there in 6-ish hours). I could drive my street car down there (~$275 in gas), spending about half the fuel costs as the airplane, but taking 2-3 times as long.
The other option I'm thinking about is my tow vehicle. It's a one-ton 15-passenger Ford extended van. When I use it for towing I can stuff just about my entire racing life in there. If I put in all the seats I can stuff in my extended family! So here's what I'm thinking: if there are several of us that are going down there, how about we share expenses and driving responsibilities in the van? I'm figuring it'll take about ~$450-500 in fuel round-trip and I've got space for up to 15 people-who-like-each-other-a-lot, or any combination less than that with space for elbows and stuff. We can coordinate amongst ourselves multi-car trailers to get the vehicles down there, have to deal with less vehicles in the paddock, and save everyone money in the process.
A seed of an idea, looking for comment and feedback. - GA
First off, let me clarify that I'm not certain in any shape or form to be going. However, I have had a sucky year and I want to race, so I'm gaining momentum. Second, I know we're all getting hammered with travel costs this year, so I have a plan that may allow more to go while saving money/sharing costs.
Best I can figure, the round-trip will be about 2000 miles. I tow with a V-10 (tows most excellently) so you can imagine I'm facing some daunting fuel costs. Same goes for you, no doubt, regardless what your tow beast is. Well, I spoke to Richard Hunter last night; as you may know he's got a three-car trailer. He's going down there for the ARRC, and has two slots available. Like us, he's looking at some serious fuel costs and is interesting in taking two others cars with him to reduce out-of-pocket expenses, and I'm talking to him about taking my car and some limited equipment to Atlanta. The answer to your next question is: I do not know what a slot will cost, he's got to get back to me on that.
So then lies the next logistical problem: how to get myself down to Atlanta? I have a few options: I could take a commercial flight down there, flights into Hartsfield are running about $400 R/T (but I'd have to rent a car and deal with commercial aviation!). I could fly down in my small airplane, but I'd spend ~$450 in fuel costs and still have to rent a car (but get there in 6-ish hours). I could drive my street car down there (~$275 in gas), spending about half the fuel costs as the airplane, but taking 2-3 times as long.
The other option I'm thinking about is my tow vehicle. It's a one-ton 15-passenger Ford extended van. When I use it for towing I can stuff just about my entire racing life in there. If I put in all the seats I can stuff in my extended family! So here's what I'm thinking: if there are several of us that are going down there, how about we share expenses and driving responsibilities in the van? I'm figuring it'll take about ~$450-500 in fuel round-trip and I've got space for up to 15 people-who-like-each-other-a-lot, or any combination less than that with space for elbows and stuff. We can coordinate amongst ourselves multi-car trailers to get the vehicles down there, have to deal with less vehicles in the paddock, and save everyone money in the process.
A seed of an idea, looking for comment and feedback. - GA
