Ron Earp
Admin
This past weekend I finally got to run a sprint race at Roebling Road. I have been to this track FIVE times in attempts to race. However, all I have ever managed to do was break, catch fire, oil something down, and drink a lot in Savannah after doing all the aforementioned. But this weekend I got to race!
The race was the Southeast Invitational Challenge, the SIC. Sounds classy doesn’t it? And I got an invitation! Truth is, anybody with a running car that has competing in three points races gets and invite. I’ve finished dead last in two and sixth in one, so I got an invite. Woo whee!
I have always been apprehensive of Roebling. I’ve been down crewing for Jeff Young in the TR8 many times and each time down I always saw a car totaled. In fact, I always saw a few cars totaled. In 2005 Jeff was driving the 260Z I now owned (we co-owned it then) and one fellow took the 260Z out along with four other cars, two of them totaled. The Z was down for many months. I have never had a good feeling about the track.
The track layout is simple. It is also extremely fast. With long sweepers and a long straight the average speed here is higher than any other track we race on. 90+mph is the average race pace for the ITS class (ITS cars 160-190 rwhp, 2400 to 2700 lbs, limited engine mods, moderate/high suspension mods) I race in, compared to 78-80 mph for the same class at VIR. Couple that speed with a sandy lose topsoil run offs and rollovers are common. There isn’t a lot of runoff either. And temperatures are always hot in Georgia. The weekend temps were in the low-mid 90s and this is September. Summer highs are almost always 95-105F and it makes the track surface slick.
The race was the Southeast Invitational Challenge, the SIC. Sounds classy doesn’t it? And I got an invitation! Truth is, anybody with a running car that has competing in three points races gets and invite. I’ve finished dead last in two and sixth in one, so I got an invite. Woo whee!
I have always been apprehensive of Roebling. I’ve been down crewing for Jeff Young in the TR8 many times and each time down I always saw a car totaled. In fact, I always saw a few cars totaled. In 2005 Jeff was driving the 260Z I now owned (we co-owned it then) and one fellow took the 260Z out along with four other cars, two of them totaled. The Z was down for many months. I have never had a good feeling about the track.
The track layout is simple. It is also extremely fast. With long sweepers and a long straight the average speed here is higher than any other track we race on. 90+mph is the average race pace for the ITS class (ITS cars 160-190 rwhp, 2400 to 2700 lbs, limited engine mods, moderate/high suspension mods) I race in, compared to 78-80 mph for the same class at VIR. Couple that speed with a sandy lose topsoil run offs and rollovers are common. There isn’t a lot of runoff either. And temperatures are always hot in Georgia. The weekend temps were in the low-mid 90s and this is September. Summer highs are almost always 95-105F and it makes the track surface slick.