I competed in Optima Ultimate Street Car at Pitt Race

"SnapUndersteer, Italian Spiderman" (dasborgen)
10/07/2014 at 10:07 • Filed to: Optima Batteries, E36 M3, BMW, Ultimate Street Car, because streetcar

A week ago, I was at an autocross with a coworker and I saw stickers on his car for this series. I had forgotten about it so I talked to him. I found out the next round was the following weekend (oct 4th and 5th) at Pittsburgh International Raceway (formerly BeaveRun Motorsports Complex) just 3hrs away.... I registered and prepped

There are 5 events over a weekend... autocross, speed stop (short autocross with a stop box), a design judging, a road rally and a road course. There are 3 official classes: over 3k lbs, under 3k lbs and AWD. Rules are pretty open. Car must be legally registered in any state, must have valid insurance, and must be on 200 treadwear tires minimum. In theory a Dauer Le Mans Porsche 962 would be legal

An unofficial class is the Exhibition class. I ran in that class, and apparently I won it!

Results are here

http://driveusca.com/wp-content/upl…

It was a great time running against (mostly) muscle cars of the Pro Touring persuasion. They were mostly surprised how well I was wheeling my M3. They were all very welcoming and nice. The competition was hardlly fought, sure, but the people made it a supremely good time. There were about 60 cars, which was a very high number!

Saturday rained a bit for the autocross and speed stop events. Rain was on and off. My autocross experience let me clock in my fastest time on my 2nd run, before rain could mess up any chance of improving. I was 1st in class, and about 7th or 8th overall... I could have been higher up if it didn't start sprinkling on my fastest run. See the results above!

Speed Stop was a killer for me. this course emphasized POWER. Aside from a GTI (maybe) I was the most underpowered car there at ~205whp. See the Results above!

The road rally was probably the most relaxed event. The organizers emphasized all you need to do is finish without being caught breaking the law and you get max points. It basically was a procession over 21 miles of gorgeous leaf covered back PA roads. It wasn't a hardcore TSD rally. My co-driver put together this awesome video from over 3,000 photos with his Go Pro

The road course was pretty fun. I had never driven this track before but it's tougher than it looks.

One car was a victim of running out of talent.

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these photos were taken by (old veteran of oppo ) Jakebonz.

DISCUSSION (23)

Brian Silvestro > SnapUndersteer, Italian Spiderman
10/07/2014 at 10:10

That's pretty damn awesome. Nice job.

SnapUndersteer, Italian Spiderman > Brian Silvestro
10/07/2014 at 10:38

Thanks dude

Twism > SnapUndersteer, Italian Spiderman
10/07/2014 at 10:47

Kinja'd!!!

If that's his trailer, it's not the first time he ate a wall, from what I can see...

Sweet trailer design, though

nermal > SnapUndersteer, Italian Spiderman
10/07/2014 at 10:51

PRC / BeaveRun is a great track, I'm glad they seem to be doing well holding events there. I've done a ton of track days there on a bike, and it's definitely a fun course.

T7 and T9 are terrifying though. I hope they either move the wall back in T9, or get some airfence put up there, as it is wayyyyy too close to the track for how fast you can get moving through there.

When I was there this summer there was a ton of construction equipment around moving dirt, which is hopefully for the extension to the track that they've been working on forever. Can't wait until that's finished!

K!NCH > SnapUndersteer, Italian Spiderman
10/07/2014 at 10:51

Looks like an awesome event. PittRace is my home track, and I miss being able to go up there on the weekends since I moved out of state. Glad to see it getting some love on opppo.

frogberg > SnapUndersteer, Italian Spiderman
10/07/2014 at 10:55

I love this story. I can't wait for the Hollywood movie.

ACESandEIGHTS > SnapUndersteer, Italian Spiderman
10/07/2014 at 11:01

Nice pics. Looks fun.

SnapUndersteer, Italian Spiderman > Twism
10/07/2014 at 11:31

true. Earlier this year at the Road America event. Same car too.

His caption on the trailer says "I fought the wall and the wall won"

No joke

SnapUndersteer, Italian Spiderman > frogberg
10/07/2014 at 11:32

thanks toadberg

Twism > SnapUndersteer, Italian Spiderman
10/07/2014 at 11:35

At least he's laughing about it

DocWalt > SnapUndersteer, Italian Spiderman
10/07/2014 at 13:13

Pitt Race / BeaveRun is a ton of fun! Congrats on the win!

briannutter1 > SnapUndersteer, Italian Spiderman
10/07/2014 at 15:41

Nice to meet you out there. Looking forward to running some events with you next year.

SnapUndersteer, Italian Spiderman > briannutter1
10/07/2014 at 15:47

same here!

ddavidn > SnapUndersteer, Italian Spiderman
10/11/2014 at 12:55

Awesome! I'm sure the M3 was the best looking car out there.

SnapUndersteer, Italian Spiderman > ddavidn
10/11/2014 at 17:48

It was assuredly the yellowest!

Satoshi "Zipang" Katsura > SnapUndersteer, Italian Spiderman
10/14/2014 at 19:56

Kinja'd!!!

wat

SnapUndersteer, Italian Spiderman > Satoshi "Zipang" Katsura
10/14/2014 at 20:05

exactly dude

Satoshi "Zipang" Katsura > SnapUndersteer, Italian Spiderman
10/14/2014 at 20:34

What's the device, though?

SnapUndersteer, Italian Spiderman > Satoshi "Zipang" Katsura
10/14/2014 at 22:13

it's a microphone, from Olympus

http://www.amazon.com/dp/B000BTAH62/…

I don't know which wind sock it is on it

!!! UNKNOWN CONTENT TYPE !!!

707Miata > SnapUndersteer, Italian Spiderman
10/15/2014 at 01:18

Ugh, that inline 6 rasp <3

gettingoldercarguy > SnapUndersteer, Italian Spiderman
01/03/2018 at 12:23

Nice driving and nice track etiquette. Oh, great sounding car! Can’t beat a straight six.

SnapUndersteer, Italian Spiderman > gettingoldercarguy
01/03/2018 at 13:28

Thanks! It was a lot of fun. I entered the event I remember in their “exhibition” class, so I wasn’t in the running for any trophies or anything, but I seem to recall there being 9 or 10 of us.... I won the class lol

hedbutter > SnapUndersteer, Italian Spiderman
01/03/2018 at 13:48

I was a corner worker at this track in 2013 (i think) for the Pittsburgh Vintage Grand Prix. I’m hoping to take the time off again this year to be able to do it.