Grassroots Motorsports $2009 Challenge - Day 1

October 10, 12:47 AMOrlando Auto ExaminerMichael Block

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Perfect Speed racing team and their turbocharged Honda Civic are ready to race

Grassroots Motorsports Magazine began its $2009 Challenge today in at the Gainesville Raceway in Gainesville, FL. Celebrating its 10th year of doing Challenges in which the competitors may only use cars that were built on a budget equal in dollars to the current year (they began in 2000 with a budget of $2000), Grassroots Motorsports Magazine has created one of the most famous low-cost races in the country. With a budget nearly everyone can afford, nearly 60 unique and well-prepared cars from all over the country are participating in this event.

The rules are straightforward: With the exception of safety equipment (brakes, seat belts, roll cages, and tires), the entire car is allowed a budget of no more than $2009, including the purchase price of the car itself. All costs must be itemized when the car is entered into the race.

This encourages participants to use ingenuity rather than money to build fast cars, and ingenuity has most definitely been used.

Razorback Racing's Chevrolet S10 pickup driven by Steve Griffiths

The cars this year range from a Honda Civic driven by "Spinout Lasota" for Team Family Guy that has been given some minor engine and suspension tuning, to a Mazda Miata with a complete drivetrain transplant from a Lexus LS400 V8 luxury sedan. That car is driven by Rich Cohen for Wreck Racing, a racing team comprised of engineering students from Georgia Tech. A group of engineering students were also representing Texas A&M University, with Sam Craven driving a turbocharged 1993 Honda Civic for them. Other entrants consist of a 74 Volkswagen Super Beetle (driven by Robert Branch for Team Milton), as well as a tube-chassis V8-powered kit car called a Zamboni, driven by Lee Graser for the Eastern Tennessee division of SCCA. Other fascinating entries are a hybrid Pontiac Fiero with the mid-mounted factory engine still in place but aided by an electric motor in the front (driven by Bryce Nash for Project Parts Bin); a deceptively fast turbocharged Dodge Aries sedan driven by Adam Moore for Sh&tbox Racing, and even a Chevy S10 compact pickup truck driven by Steve Griffiths for Razorback Racing.

The autocross and concours were held today, while the drag races will be held tomorrow. Each participant was required to complete 4 autocross runs, where simply the fastest time wins. But they also were required to have their car judged over in the concours area, where points were awarded for cleanliness and quality craftsmanship. So even a very fast car might have a difficult time winning if it looks like it was put together the night before.

Stray wheel off of Tearoff Guys' Nissan Sentra rolling away

Both events occurred nearly without incident, but early this afternoon, a Nissan Sentra driven by Tearoff Guys lost a wheel during the autocross event, and skidded to a stop on its left front brake rotor. During that incident, a fuel line was also ruptured on the vehicle, so it was not able to finish today's race, but may be fixed in time for tomorrow's drag races. Thankfully, no one was injured. Another picture of the incident is in the Slideshow.

No official results have been announced yet, but the super-powerful and super-light Zamboni kit car had posted the fastest autocross time by the end of the day at 30.562 seconds. No information is available yet on the concours winner.

Today's official results should be posted tomorrow, as the $2009 Grassroots Motorsports wraps up with a full day of punishing drag racing. Be sure to check back in tomorrow night for an article on tomorrow's events.

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