10 years

Long ago in the early days of F2000.com I read a post by EYERACE in which he talked about a driver’s school he attended in which the instructor frankly told the students very few, if any, of them would be racing in five years. Damn harsh. But real.

I have now managed to have reached my tenth year anniversary in sanctioned roadracing. Way back in the early 70s I was pretty serious about autocrossing and solos. I retired from that scene in 1977. In 1989 I took a 3 day Skippy school to see if I was still interested, I was. It was in June of 1998 that I ventured up to Plover Wisconsin and purchased an ’84 Reynard FC. As they say, the rest was history, and for most of that history, you the readers of Apexspeed have had to read. :o

Ten years ago there wasn’t much, if any, info on the Internet. Most cars were sold through ads in Sportscar. Learning the ‘how’ of racing a FC was tough. One basically travelled the road of hard knocks, learning by trial and error, or if you were real lucky you found folks at the track that would give some advice, many times of questionable value. In the late 90s there was the “Blue Site”, the first FC forum. FC on that site stood for Flaming Constantly. Whew, it was virtually violent. :redflag: That site was the reason so many of us old timers had to create monikers instead of using our real names. Fortunately, along came the Carters and revolutionized car racer forums. They created not a chatty place for spectators, but a place for real participants to communicate sanely with each other. :checkered: :trophy: I can easily say that F2000.com, and Apexspeed, have had more to do with me being able to enjoy racing for ten years than any other single thing. :thumbsup:

My humble racing statistics for the last decade are pretty plain; 66 races completed, four different chassis purchased, $108K spent. Nothing really spectacular. Many have raced more, and I now realize many spend my decade’s worth each year. One SARRC championship, and one ARRC championship also won’t create much of a stir among racing historians. Yet it seems in ten short years I already have a lifetime of great stories, and many friends… yes, the folks I can now call friends are the biggest win over the last 10 years. Mrs. Frog’s, and my holiday racing card mailing list is starting to look bigger than our local phone book.

Hundreds of racing friends all over the world. Yes, that’s the best thing about the last 10 years.

On to the next decade!

Seems longer than 10 years i've been beating your ***. Good Times,Good Friends. ten years ago at roebling there was some weirdo with purple color in his hair all weekend. Told the kid go bother the new guy.

Jim,
You had that "cheater" car then, and you still have it. :D :p ... and you're still beating me. :beer: Your front wing, I swear it was/is built out of steal sheet. Other wings would have collapsed. A dent in it for every FM or FC that you thought needed a "lift" in the braking zone.
Yeah... Cole was sort of young back then. Hell, he is still sort of young. :rolleyes: I think he had more money back then...

no I had more $ back then, that wing technology is still available

It all goes by so quickly...

I started racing as a Senior in college. My dad offered a trip through driver's school (Summit Point, F440 October 1987) as a graduation present. Now, nearly 21 years later I am still suffering from this addiction.

I am not sure what keeps me at this, but I can never seem to step away too long,,,

Sean

Wow, ten years already?

In September of this year, ApexSpeed will be 10 years old. We started out of selfish reasons with formulacontinental.com, to get rid of the "blue site" so we could actually learn something ourselves. We've progressed through MANY iterations here, with multiple child sites and finally one great big community we have today.

We're going to celebrate our 10th with some big changes here behind the scenes at ApexSpeed this year. This will only get better from here on out...




Thanks for being one of the forum "elders," Mike. :D

:beer:

Doug, I've got to say that your efforts with this board have been a tremendous asset to racing--not just formula cars, but all racing! Whether newbie or old hack, we've all learned on this board, and it has certainly helped us to view each other as more than just a competitor.

My sincere thanks and appreciation for your efforts!
Larry Oliver
International Racing Products

Mr. Frog,
In the short span of 10 years you have earned the adoration, love and respect of hundreds of formula car racers.

Congratulations.

You have brought a lot of friends together, and that old SF84 wasn't to shabby of a car either!!

Quote:

---

Originally Posted by Doug Carter

Wow, ten years already?

In September of this year, ApexSpeed will be 10 years old. We started out of selfish reasons with formulacontinental.com, to get rid of the "blue site" so we could actually learn something ourselves. We've progressed through MANY iterations here, with multiple child sites and finally one great big community we have today.

We're going to celebrate our 10th with some big changes here behind the scenes at ApexSpeed this year. This will only get better from here on out...

---

A BIG thank you from me !!! :D

This site is awesome :thumbsup:

As Frog has indicated as well, I have also found an entire new family of friends through this site. I have always made it a practice to meet ApexSpeed members when I have made it to new tracks, and I have always walked away with a great feeling. Here's to all of you for being so helpful and open :beer: :beer:

It is a breath of fresh air that we have available to us THE best internet forum I have had the pleasure of coming across for sharing and learning my racing hobby.

Thanks ApexSpeed for all you do!!! :D

Although I've only known you for eight years, I can only say it seems like a lot longer. :D

Seriously, I can honestly say I've enjoyed most of it. :D

No, seriously this time. You guys, and this site, have been something I am lucky to have.

Amen! This forum is amazing. What a resource.

Frog, if you think the first ten years went by fast, get ready for the second ten. I can't believe I've been flogging the old Titan for twenty years now.

www.teamterrificracing.com

Bob Alder

:thumbsup:

Mike, it sounds like you've had fun :rolleyes:

Hey, Thanks for giving back to the sport!

P.S. I'd like to add that you are a great driving instructor!:checkered:

when your having a good time.....My driving school was in 1987 also and it took a while to be able to get a car....Caught VD in 2000, (racing is a disease isn't it). Did 30 events with it, until back surgery ended that fun. But as most of the comments here have stated, I've come away poorer financially, but extremely rich in memories of having the pleasure and honor of meeting some of the VERY finest men and women on the planet....And for that I am extremely grateful....no worries, no regrets.

TO: your Purpleness
1. I am flattered that anyone would read what I post much less remember it.....I think it was Mike VanSteenburg that said the '5 yr.' quote thing.....I look around years later and find his statement very true. The other nice extremely helpful thing was the very first Central Florida Regional Year-End Banquet I attended where Dorsey Schrader was the Guest Speaker.....he spoke at length about how he raised money in his early days - with great humor of course 'cuz it was Dorsey....but if anyone was reading between the lines and not merely being entertained, he delivered two messages loud and clear without ever even saying them > 'if you want to race, it's going to take some money' and 'if you want to race, get involved in any way you can, develop your talent and don't give up'

2. Halfway through reading your initial post in this thread I was thinking....Wow!...Frog must have been drinking a little more than usual;) but maybe it's just that you're nostalgic.....
.....and drinking the usual amount:beer: :ha:

Stanley,
Explain to me how Frog can drink a little more than usual? Time for you to come on the pro circuit with us>

[FONT=Arial]Congratulations to Purple for ten years in the seat and congrats to APEX for ten years as well. As a DSR guy I tend to post mostly on the SRx forum but I read this one on average more than once a day and find the information invaluable. [/FONT]
[FONT=Arial]David[/FONT]

How about I make all of you guys feel really old.

I'm an 11 year SCCA member, and have 4 years behind the wheel.

I'm sure Frog and some of you remember me on my Dyno BMX bike being sent around the paddock to be a royal pain in the a$$ courtesy of my dad. I just thought I'd let all you old guys know and being you just a step closer to a mid-life crisis. :D

I hate to break it to you, Cole, but I'm (mentally) younger than you-otherwise why would I still be pursuing this addiction. In fact, I would go so far as to say a large number of us are probably your junior:D

This site, and the Carters, have done more than they know to help advance knowledge and participation in the amateur side of the sport, not to mention bring a geographically diverse group of people together who might otherwise never have met or communicated.

Bob makes a good point. Some of us started out as fans of racing back in the days when the Indy 500 was only on RADIO!:o and Formula 1 results were read in Road & Track 3 months after the race was run!:rolleyes:
If you bought a Race Car you had a hard time connecting with other racers away from the track.:(
The modern age of instant communication and shared knowledge on sites like ApexSpeed is taken for granted by the younger generation. You don't know how lucky you (We) are.:thumbsup:

I road raced formula cars back in the 70's, then got out of it to raise my family. Along the way I somehow got heavily involved in rc scale helicopters and worked in special effects, kit design/production, competition, and so on. Over time as the internet provided opportunities for instant communication like this one, I participated in several forums, all of which managed to degenerate into name-calling, arguing, accusing, and so on...you get the picture, right?
THEN, a buddy involved in F500 got me involved after painting a few helmets for him and low and behold, I'm now back in it, driving an older F500 in solo (FM). I've made the same kind of great friends I left behind back in the 70's and now have back one of the best parts of racing, one I've sorely missed. I'll be at Sebring this weekend with new friends..enjoying the whole scene and wondering how I could have left it to begin with.
jerry:thumbsup: :D

38 years of SCCA membership for me. Started with driver school in April of 70 at Riverside CA while a senior at Cal Poly Pomona. I had been crewing for Jerry Weeks first on a Bugeye and then on FF and FB. The Bugeye was just sitting and I made a deal with Jerry to buy the car on payments which I would start making when I graduated and found a job. He said I might as well go to DS and run the regional at RS on Memorial Day. I borrowed $200 from Cal Poly to buy clothes to interview and start a job and instead used the money to get started. All my gear was borrowed, helmet and goggles from Jerry, he also got me a cotton driver suit from Sprint/Indy car driver George Snyder who I never met. While I was paying him he was the beneficiary on my SCCA and work life insurance.
By Memorial Day I had a job lined up and the rest is history.

People are the greatest reward; there are so many great friendships and acquaintances
that far out weigh the less pleasurable ones. This past Monday a guy who saw that my brother Ted and I live in San Jose contacted us because he was going to be in town on work. He my brother, Bob Fox and I got together with him in my shop and spent the evening bench racing; another friend made.

David

Quote:

---

Originally Posted by Purple Frog

Long ago in the early days of F2000.com I read a post by EYERACE in which he talked about a driver’s school he attended in which the instructor frankly told the students very few, if any, of them would be racing in five years. Damn harsh. But real.

I have now managed to have reached my tenth year anniversary in sanctioned roadracing. Way back in the early 70s I was pretty serious about autocrossing and solos. I retired from that scene in 1977. In 1989 I took a 3 day Skippy school to see if I was still interested, I was. It was in June of 1998 that I ventured up to Plover Wisconsin and purchased an ’84 Reynard FC. As they say, the rest was history, and for most of that history, you the readers of Apexspeed have had to read. :o

Ten years ago there wasn’t much, if any, info on the Internet. Most cars were sold through ads in Sportscar. Learning the ‘how’ of racing a FC was tough. One basically travelled the road of hard knocks, learning by trial and error, or if you were real lucky you found folks at the track that would give some advice, many times of questionable value. In the late 90s there was the “Blue Site”, the first FC forum. FC on that site stood for Flaming Constantly. Whew, it was virtually violent. :redflag: That site was the reason so many of us old timers had to create monikers instead of using our real names. Fortunately, along came the Carters and revolutionized car racer forums. They created not a chatty place for spectators, but a place for real participants to communicate sanely with each other. :checkered: :trophy: I can easily say that F2000.com, and Apexspeed, have had more to do with me being able to enjoy racing for ten years than any other single thing. :thumbsup:

My humble racing statistics for the last decade are pretty plain; 66 races completed, four different chassis purchased, $108K spent. Nothing really spectacular. Many have raced more, and I now realize many spend my decade’s worth each year. One SARRC championship, and one ARRC championship also won’t create much of a stir among racing historians. Yet it seems in ten short years I already have a lifetime of great stories, and many friends… yes, the folks I can now call friends are the biggest win over the last 10 years. Mrs. Frog’s, and my holiday racing card mailing list is starting to look bigger than our local phone book.

Hundreds of racing friends all over the world. Yes, that’s the best thing about the last 10 years.

On to the next decade!

---

Your Purpleness, the fact that you are man enough to keep track of how much you have spent on racing in these last 10 years means you are one tough hombre. I would never have the balls to do it.

Keep on keeping on.

Here is to ten more great ones. :beer:

I haven't even started off in the open wheel world and I can already say how glad I am that this site exists. This 'lowly autocrosser' (referencing the pyramid of speed) has only been in the auto racing scene for 2 years and despite this, I can appreciate how close everyone gets. At any given time, I'm confident I can give one of my auto X buddies a call and get both a great conversation and any advice I may need. The Lotus community has proven to be just as supportive, treating me like a long time friend on my first drive with them.

From what I've seen on this site, from the random explorations of the sub forums to the few posts I've made, I've gotten the feeling that you guys are just as good. I can't think of a topic that I've read so far that hasn't impressed me with how you all respond to different scenarios/questions. It's been completely respectful, but more importantly, it's been real advice rather than sugar coated explanations.

So thanks. I guess that's all I really wanted to say.