The Kumho Tires $2004 Challenge Information and Rules



Proposed (updated 6/17/03)



Event Information:



The premise is similar to previous GRM Challenges, in that contestants must build their vehicles within the specified budget (see rules below). Each vehicle then competes in an automotive triathlon that includes a 1/4-mile drag race, an autocross and a concours judging. The top finishing car will have the highest score that is based upon the lowest drag time, lowest autocross time and the highest concours score.



The event will be held in Gainesville, Florida at the Gainesville Raceway, a NHRA-owned track. The dates will be announced shortly.



Check-in for registered entrants will be held Thursday evening, A welcome party will be held. Taunting is welcome.



The drag portion of the event will be held on Friday. Gates open at 8 a.m. Tech inspection will be held to insure that all cars are safe and legal.



Drag racing will start at approximately 10:30 a.m and procede in a "Test and Tune" format, with drivers getting as many runs as possible before the track closes at 5 p.m.



Saturday activities will be broken into heats, with half of the competitors autocrossing in the morning, and being judged for the concours in the afternoon and the other half of the competitors autocrossing in the afternoon and being concours judged in the morning. If you do not have a preference of which heat you will be in, your heat will be assigned for you.



The autocross portion will be held at the Gainesville Raceway Test Track, a mini-roadcourse that can be configured for a typical SCCA Solo II legal event. The Buccaneer region of the SCCA will be helping GRM run the autocross portion of the event.



The concours portion of $2004 Challenge will be judged by the a panel of four judges (see 2004 scoring). All cars must be judged before 4 p.m. to be scored in the overall standings.



All cars must be inspected before they are allowed to run the drags. There will probably be several staging lines for cars. Cars that have not taken any runs will be in staging line 1, cars that have taken more than one run will be in the next staging line, or something to that effect.



People will be allowed to voluntarily be judged for the concours on Friday. There will be an area set up in the pits for this purpose.



Those who don't want to be judged on Friday will therefore be judged on Saturday. We will randomly assign your entry to either Heat 1 or Heat 2. Heat 1 will autocross in the morning (9-12) and get concours judged in the afternoon. Heat 2 will autocross in the afternoon (1-4pm) and get concours judged in the morning.



We will be limiting the number of autocross runs to five runs per car. There will be an "expert" driver on hand if you'd like to have someone else drive your car. All drivers, except the designated "expert drivers," should be a part of the car building teams. In other words, flying in your own ringer driver is in bad taste. See the first paragraph of the $2004 rules.



Trophies shall be presented to the following:

First, second and third overall

First, second and third fastest drag times

First, second and third best autocross time

First, second and third best concours score

Most spectacular failure

Best engineered

Phil Kime Memorial Spirit of the event

Highest finishing car under $1000

Highest finishing classic car

Editors' choice

First "perfect" reaction time at the drags

Best underhood detailing

Best visual package

Best attempt to persuade concours judges

Worst attempt persuade concours judges



There will be a Locost Class for exhibition only, it will be scored independently from the rest of the competitors. The cars must be homebuilt Lotus7-type vehicle that meet all Challenge rules and safety regulations. The Locost competitors will only be eligible for the Locost trophies, unless one of them explodes spectacularly, then we might reconsider.



A longest drive award will be presented to the team that travels the farthest to the event in their Challenge car (competitor must drive entire way in their car, not tow it).

A special Team Trophy will be presented to the highest-placing car prepared and entered by a bona fide car club.



The GRM office staff may enter a car. If it does, teams that finish ahead of the GRM team will receive a special prize.



There will be no "RSVP" system this year. Entry forms will be posted online and the first 100 paid entrants will be accepted.



The entry frees will be announced shortly. That fee includes all track fees, commemorative T-shirt and event dinner. Additional drivers, crew or guests may purchase entry tickets.



Wristbands will be administered to all paid entrants and banquet attendees. These wristbands must be worn at all times. No exceptions.



Note: The GRM staff will not be able to supply event photographs to participants.

$2004 Rules and Budgets:



This Challenge is designed and run as an editorial event for a privately owned magazine. As such, the rules and event should be taken with a certain spirit in mind. In other words, all entrants should play well with others. It will make the event much more pleasant for all of those involved.



Production-based passenger cars only. No kit cars, dune-buggies or formula-type cars will be allowed. The exception to this is Zambonis, which will be allowed to enter.



Cars must be road-worthy, meaning basic street equipment must be present: functioning headlights, uncracked windshields, working brake lights, working horn and DOT-approved tires. Non-DOT-legal slicks are allowed at the drag strip, but must be replaced by DOT-legal tires for the autocross competition due to safety reasons. All major body panels must be present. Interiors may be gutted, although the basic dashboard must remain (or dashpad). Windows may be replaced with clear plastic.



Cars do not have to be built for any recognized sanctioned race class. Nitrous oxide, forced induction and radical engine swaps are permitted. (As per SCCA rules, nitrous oxide may not be used at the autocross event.)



All cars must pass a SCCA Solo II safety inspection. Items checked will include throttle return spring, battery tie down, lug nuts, seat belts, brake pedal pressure and the overall soundness of the car. (Stock components in good working order will pass.)



Cars must also meet all NHRA safety regulations. This includes, in addition to the items required by the Solo II rules, the presence of front, side and rear windows. Open-top cars may run if the driver is wearing arm restraints and approved seat belts. All cars capable of running 11.99 or better must have a NHRA legal rollcage, while open cars capable of running 13.99 or better must have a NHRA legal cage. All cars must also feature a working tail light.



All builders shall spend no more than $2004 on their cars. The purchase price of the car must be equal to, or less than $2004. All parts used at the event (including multiple sets of tires) shall be part of that $2004 budget. Parts that are not used may be sold up to the initial cost of the car. In other words, if you buy a $500 challenge car, you can recoup up to $500 of your budget by selling parts. (If you do turn a profit on selling parts off the car, we suggest you take your significant other out to dinner to compensate them for having a $2004 car hanging around the house.).



The maximum amount of money that can be "recouped" in a budget is $1002. This includes parts cars, parts deals and the challenge car itself.



Entrants must show up to the competition with complete documentation totaling, at most, $2004. Entrants must bring receipts or verifiable proof for each item on the car, including the car itself. This information will be available at registration for all entrants to view.



If parts or vehicles are already owned by the competitor, they must be figured into the budget at fair market value at today's prices.



Cars that are purchased at non-public, dealer-only auctions must be valued at fair market pricing.



Parts that are given to the competitor by a company or person must be figured into the budget at fair market value. Sponsorships are allowed, but any product or service that is used in building the car must be figured into the $2004 budget.



Any car may be protested by another entrant. The entrant who is questioning the budgetary legality of another car shall present their case and a protest fee of $50 to the Independent Council. The Independent Council will rule on the car. If the Council says the car is legal, then the protest is dropped and the protest fee is forfeited. If the Council says the car is not legal, then the owner has two choices: run for exhibition only or go home. In this case, the protest fee would be returned.



The ruling of the Independent Council shall be binding and is not open to dispute. The Independent Council will be selected by the GRM office staff before the event. All protest intentions must be presented to the Independent Council by the end of the first day of competition.



Broken parts may be replaced at the event on an emergency basis, but penalty points may be awarded if the total value exceeds the limit of $2004.



Past Challenge cars may be entered. Past winners will automatically be evaluated by the Independent Council.



Past Challenge cars and their parts cannot be sold and repurchased in an effort to depreciate their value for budget purposes.



If parts are sold off the past Challenge car, the amount "credited" to the budget cannot exceed A) fair market value at today's prices AND B) must meet all other challenge rules (ie, if you sold $300 worth of parts off of your $300 car for the last challenge, you can't credit yourself $200 for a bumper that you took off for the upcoming challenge...as you've already credited yourself the maximum amount per previous challenge budgeting).



Tires and brake pads, if they are worn out, can be replaced up to the value that they were originally listed at for the previous challenge (ie: $200 tires can be replaced with up to $200 tires)



Front license plates and holders should be removed. Hint: We think these are ugly and will reduce the likelihood that we'll use your car, if so equipped, in any large shots in our coverage of the Challenge.



The GRM staff reserves the right to make any changes, additions or adjustments to these rules at any time.



points system

$2004 Challenge Scoring



First place in the drag race or autocross is worth 100 points. Points for second and subsequent places are

determined by dividing the winning time by each other time, then multipled by 100.



For example, if the winning drag race time is 14.2 seconds, and second place is 15.0 seconds, the 14.2 driver receives 100 points while second place gets 94.6 points (14.2/15.0=.946 x 100 = 94.6).



Concours scoring is based upon the car's score in one of 4 categories: Engine, Interior, Exterior and Overall Appearance. Each category has a maximum of 25 points, for a total concours score of 100. The concours is worth 1/2 of the other categories in the total scoring and is divided by 2 before being added to the other scores. The "overall appearance" portion of the total concours score is used to judge effort and creativity.



Adding the car's drag, autocross and concours score/2 will give the competitor their total score. A maximum of 250 points is available.



Engine Interior Exterior Overall Total Concours/2 Drag Time Drag Points Autocross Time Autocross Points Total Points

Max Points 25 25 25 25 50 100 100 250

Krazy Klown 23 20 24 20 43.5 14.12 91.65 39.016 91.63 226.7

Dog Boyz 25 25 24 25 49.5 15.271 87.74 37.674 94.90 232.14

MicroMouse 22 20 20 20 41 13.40 100 35.753 100 241









In the above example, MicroMouse has a third place, but decent concours score, and has the fastest drag and autocross score. They wind up first overall.



The Dog Boyz are tops in the concours, but second in the autocross and third at the drag. They wind up second overall.



Krazy Klown finishes a close second in the concours and the drag, but winds up much slower in the autocross. The Klown winds up third overall.



*All names and times have been changed to protect the innocent*