Unfortunately, due to the outbreak of novel coronavirus, aka “COVID-19”, racing events around the country (Indy, NASCAR, IMSA, etc) were all forced to suspend their events. All of the March-May F1 events were canned. Even in the mountains of Argentina… WRC was forced to halt. This also impacted our local area with all the major tracks closing down for the 2nd quarter of this season. SCCA Race & Instructor Schools were cancelled along with many HPDE events. In other news, COTA *IS* open!
Virtual Happy Hours / IndyCar iRacing
Credit where credit is due, Sam H came up with a great idea for us to get together virtually. A viewing party for the NTT IndyCar iRacing Challenge series + Happy Hour. It was awesome to stay connected with members from all over the country, and satisfy that need for racing in our lives. In total, we held 8 virtual happy hours over the course of Q2. And we’ll probably hold more in the future, so stay tuned to our calendar of events.
#parkinglotgold – On Hold
With everyone at home, one of our highest trending hashtags on Instagram #parkinglotgold had to go on hiatus. Maybe we should have started #drivewaygold as an alternative. Now that more and more people are returning to “normalcy” – be sure to keep an eye on #parkinglotgold for updates every week.
Porsche Al, Porsche no-more
Mixed feelings… after many years of building up his ’77 911 Targa, “Porsche Al” decided it was time to move on. That’s not to say he’s getting out of the car craziness, but he is shifting his attention to a new project, and returning to his roots with a “Z-car” – You can get a glimpse of his car during the dyno day review, but be on the look out this summer for its debut track event and be sure to follow Al’s progress.
BTW – Just because the car is gone, the nickname stays … We’re still going to call you Porsche Al.
So much TV!
While everyone else was binge watching Tiger King and McMillions, were we using our time to catch up on movies and shows like: Framing John Delorean, Shelby American, A life of speed: the Juan Manuel Fangio story, Alaskan Offroad Warriors, Uppity!, Rust Valley Restorers (Season 2) and Car Masters: Upgrade & Trade. Check out all the reviews you might have missed.
We temporarily changed our named to : Make-shift Motorsports!
For many of us, we weren’t trapped at home alone. That gave us an opportunity to come up with creative ways to teach our kids about Motorsports. My girls were very pleased with our make-shift AutoCross and Drag Racing events!
As they say “idle hands are the devils workshop”; so it was only fair we evened up the playing field between the Audi and the ATV by upgrading it with an 18v Ryobi battery. #howhardcanitbe? #powwaaaaaaa
French Appreciation Week
First you get a little bored, then you stay up too late and then you finish half a bottle (or more) of Merlot and realize “French Appreciation Week” is a great idea! #challengeaccepted. A week long social media campaign where we paid homage to a bunch of cars many of us have never heard of. I don’t think we were successful in convincing anyone to rush out and add a Citroen to their collections, but hey… it helped pass the time.
Project cars – makin’ Progress.
Many of us used our extra time to continue making Progress on all of our various projects. #gtmproject914 as seen (right) with Eric M sitting in the engine compartment; Sam H rebuilt and prepped his Formula Enterprise. Matt Y continued to work on his Lotus 7. Even Kerwin W turned some wrenches on the Kiata. Progress was made all around… except if you’re Brett S. because…
VRL Series 12 – Spec Racing!
If you missed all of the Virtual Racing League action, no worries catch up with the recap article, or the video below pretty much sums it up. Congrats to Jordan F for winning his 2nd VRL championship. Special thanks to the VRL committee for putting this together. Great work!
Stay safe out there! #socialdistance #togetheragainsoon
Member Kris W modeling the custom GTM face masks.
Each mask came with a letter: “GTM leadership cares about you and your families. In an effort to help you combat this pandemic and stay safe during these unprecedented times, we are giving each member a face mask to help protect themselves and their loved ones as they start to go out into the world again. Please accept these masks as a sign of our gratitude for your continued membership and passion for our little group of motorsports misfits. We love you all and can’t wait to see you (safe and sound) at a track event or social gathering really soon!” – If you didn’t get yours please reach out, we have one waiting for you.
The gang buys a Lotus
Almost as if it was scripted for an episode of “It’s Always Sunny in Philadelphia” … Sweet B buys a Lotus. Of late, Andrew B is shuffling the cars in his garage quite a bit, but #nospoilers. Owning a Lotus Elise has been a dream of Andrew’s since these cars came out. Despite not being the color he wanted, this 72D special edition was not something he could easily pass up. We look forward to getting more feedback from Andrew about the car after his first Track day.
> I FITS, I SITS <
… is Crew Chief Brad N’s mantra. Cramming his 6’4″ frame into a Lotus Elise, gives him the opportunity to drive one of his bucket list cars. You go, bruh! #bigmanlittlecar.
Off-road Adventuring
Once we started to emerge from our extended hibernation, the Mountain Region of GTM hosted the first ever Mt. Stauffer Hillclimb. Open to ATVs, Dirt Bikes, SXS and off-road capable vehicles, we spent about 6+ hours exploring the great outdoors. And what a better way to social distance than on the back of an ATV. Check our youtube channel for some behind the scenes videos from the event.
Local Racing Starts Back Up!
As things “started to return to normal” local dirt track events were some of the first Motorsports venues to re-open. Mountain Man Dan S captured this video at Lincoln Speedway at the start of a World of Outlaws race.
Gotta get your laps on…
It goes without saying, but everyone we know has been itching to return to the track. Tracks began reopening in June, and all sorts of cars began to surface. Like this Alfa Romeo powered Lancia Stratos (below), seen at the HOD event at Shenandoah Circuit. Special thanks to members Matt W, Brian S and Jordan F for the pixs and videos.
We ditch VMC in favor of Patreon
Do you like what you’ve seen, heard and read? – Don’t forget, GTM is fueled by volunteers and remains a no-annual-fee organization, but we still need to pay to keep the lights on… For as little as $3/month – you can help us keep the momentum going so we can continue to record, write, edit and broadcast your favorite content. Support GTM today!
The PODCAST is COMING … finally!
It’s only taken 2 years and a pandemic for us to find the time to start recording our much anticipated Podcast. Many members have been asking for this, and we’re really excited to begin releasing episodes of GTM’s podcast BREAK/FIX during the second half of 2020. You can listen to us using your favorite podcast app, or by visiting https://gtmotorsports.podbean.com/ – In the meantime, if you have a story to share, an idea for a podcast episode, or would like to be interviewed, please reach out to Brad N for details.
Because at GTM, we always adapt and overcome!
More photos available in the Vault!
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Do you like what you've seen, heard and read? - Don't forget, GTM is fueled by volunteers and remains a no-annual-fee organization, but we still need help to pay to keep the lights on... For as little as $2.50/month you can help us keep the momentum going so we can continue to record, write, edit and broadcast your favorite content. Support GTM today! or make a One Time Donation.
