At this past weekend’s Louisville NSRA Nationals, RideTech alumni and customers took home nearly all of the top spots! The autocross action started on Thursday, where the fast time of the day in the Hot Rod class was held by RideTech customer Mike King with a 35.490, and second went to Chris Smith and the 48-Hour Corvette with a 35.854.
Some of the other RideTech-equipped contenders were:
Britt Marolf, 48-Hour Camaro: 36.667
Ryan Buck, 1963 Nova: 36.998
Tom McBride, 1964 Corvette: 37.361
Dan Ballard, 1972 Nova: 37.435
Roger Burman, 1963 Dart: 37.780
Jimmy Matthews, 1972 Nova: 38.832
On Friday, Chris & the Corvette were moved to the Vendor class, where he again brought in the second fastest time of the day at 35.794; 0.06 seconds faster than Thursday! Dan Ballard and his ’72 Nova overtook Mike King for the fast time of the day in the Hot Rod class by only 0.033 seconds; it was an extremely exciting (if excessively hot and humid) day for everyone! Times from some of the RideTech-equipped contenders on Friday are:
Dan Ballard, 1972 Nova: 36.976
Mike King, 1967 Corvette: 37.009
Roger Burman, 1963 Dart: 37.553
Nathan Johnson, 1968 Camaro: 38.168
Mark Greenisen, 1974 Gremlin: 38.201
Jimmy Matthews, 1972 Nova: 39.674
Chris Smith, 1972 Corvette: 35.794
Britt Marolf, 1967 Camaro: 36.535
Rob MacGregor, 1969 C10: 36.833
Ryan Buck, 1963 Nova: 37.569
Tom McBride, 1964 Corvette: 37.661
The heat and track surface started taking their toll on Saturday and more cones started coming down, but that didn’t stop everyone from getting out there and giving it their best shot! The day’s class times had Mike King again in 2nd place in the Hot Rod class with a 36.761, and Chris in 3rd in the Vendor class with a 35.903. We got to see some extremely impressing driving from everyone; from those who have been running courses for years, to those who are just starting out!
Mike King, 1967 Corvette: 36.761
Nathan Johnson, 1968 Camaro: 37.721
Dan Ballard, 1972 Nova: 37.299
Roger Burman, 1963 Dart: 37.320
Tom McBride, 1964 Corvette: 37.358
Andy Voelkel, 1971 Camaro: 40.968
Tom McBride, 1972 Chevelle: 41.258
Chris Smith, 1972 Corvette: 35.903
Britt Marolf, 1967 Camaro: 36.485
Rob MacGregor, 1969 C10: 36.622
Ryan Buck, 1963 Nova: 36.963
Mark Greenisen, 1974 Gremlin: 37.954
Jimmy Matthews, 1972 Nova: 38.294
At the end of the day on Saturday, they held a Manufacturer/Sponsor shootout with the top 8 entries, with only the Fast Five advancing. The final competition consisted of three laps, with the cumulative score from all 3 laps plus 2-second-per-cone penalties. And at the end of the shootout, RideTech held four of the top five spots!!! The win, with three clean low-37 second laps for a total of 111.712 points, went to RideTech’s own Britt Marolf in the 48-Hour Camaro! Ryan Buck’s 1963 Nova took 2nd place with three clean laps totalling 111.936; and the only truck to make the cut, Rob MacGregor’s No Limit Hellboy C10 ran three solid mid-36 second laps plus one cone for a total of 112.253 and a 3rd place finish. Detroit Speed’s Ryan Mathews took 4th place. Chris and the 48-Hour Corvette set the fastest laps of the weekend in the low 34’s, but the ultra-fast Corvette got loose and incurred a few cones (and one spectacular spinout/smoking donut), which knocked his score to a 122.731 and a 5th place finish.
We’re really looking forward to attending this event again next year, and hoping that they integrate the autocross as a yearly feature. The competition was fun, but the amount of new people introduced to the sport this weekend was phenomenal!!
