hey fellas!

i've been keeping mum about this for about a month now; i applied for the TV reality race show 'Robin Hood Rally' about a month ago: http://www.robinhoodrally.com i filled out the application and sent in the deposit. i spoke to many of the people in charge; exchanged emails and phone calls concerning my credentials and driving experience and vehicles, etc. on went the process, and this last tues and wed i drove to stamford, CT (i had been invited as one of the finalists to be screened in an interview by a panel of specialists). i proceeded up to the Marriot in stamford and was placed in a staging room with some of the other folks; that was cool all on its own, they had a top flight driving simulator system for us to play with (super cool machine; about 1000x cooler than a video game; and about $30k to start, without all the options (they had sales reps there!)). after waiting a bit, i was ushered off to the interview room. wow; not what i expected! room was full of cameras, lights, sound mic booms -- really intimidating. you sat down in a race seat, and had a huge camera right in your face, with several other cameras circulating around while the interview proceeded. at the table in front of me were the panelists, and they asked tons of questions (mostly racing oriented, but some personal character stuff). i breezed through that stuff, and was told it was over -- and i was in! the next day was a nice cocktail party where we chatted with the other participants and met the producer, Michael Noval; he produces the Amazing Race and Pinks All Out. it was a nice time (John Fitch was a scheduled guest speaker, but it seems that he might have been feeling ill and couldnt make it). i had a great time, but left a little early cause i had to drive back late at night and be up early the next morning for work!!!

so, i'm in this crazy race now. the way it works is that i'll be racing at ten different venues, in different states all over the east coast (only your five top finishes count towards the final tally). all are to be on closed public roads, very twisty back country roads, with the courses ranging in size. there will be no practice allowed on the courses; we get to make 6 timed runs; they'll be starting us in staggered intervals. it sounds very similar to the 'targa newfoundland' way of running things (run in any weather, too. come on rain!!!!). drive flat out, as fast as you dare, but don't crash out! the cars are all to be handicapped by power to weight. they are dynoing us out, and then will weigh us. thus, a slower, weaker car can still 'win' even if its raw time is slower than a big bad honking fast car (and most of the entrants are big and bad; lots of vipers, STIs, 911s, Ferraris, Vettes, Camaros, Mustangs, BMW M cars, etc etc). i am certainly the underdog entrant in this field; the Probe is really gonna stand out like a sore thumb.

out of my stable of three, the PERFECT choice would be the ex H1 Honda Civic K20A2 Turbo; unfortunately it's still crunched on the drivers side to the tune of about $3k-$4k (plus it needs to be retuned and set up again). no way i am going to risk the Lotus Super Seven in this race (way too big a chance of a wreck to risk my 'nice vintage' car). that leaves the old Probenstein; i plan on having it's body straightened out (it only needs about $1200 worth of fixin'). then change the fluids and put on a nice set of good Toyos and fresh brake pads, set the suspension up higher and softer, and good to go!

i am thinking of trying to find a local business in the area to sponsor my honda civic; help me get it fixed up and ready to race, and i'll in turn give them the real estate on the front fenders and the hood for advertising purposes.... this program should reach millions of viewers -- i figure that should be some very inexpensive promotional expense for such good exposure? i plan on trying it out on some of the local honda/acura dealerships, and maybe some local bodyshops/parts houses. if any of you have any good ideas on who else to try, can you please pass them on to me? i have to make haste, as the certification/dyno day is in mid april in NY; and the week after that is a mandatory track day at NJMP (originally scheduled for Monticello, but they are moving it to NJMP).

i think i've got a really good shot at running up front, even in the Probe, if the handicap index is reasonable. i think i'd have a really good chance to run up front on raw time alone in the honda!!!!! its tailor made for an event like this; nimble, very light, great brakes, good suspension, and big power! i am diverting all my 'normal' yearlong race funding into running this one special series of races, and therefore i am deferring all other racing activities til i see this race through.

 

kick ***!

 

Goodluck, what do yo get if you win?

 

1st place = Ferrari F430
2nd place = Porsche 911 Turbo
3rd place = Corvette Z51

 

Good Deal make us all proud!

 

Wow Todd, SWEET!!

sent you a PM.

 

http://www.nbcconnecticut.com/news/l..._Hartford.html


___________


email from Skip Barber Racing:

ALERT: Robin Hood Rally

You may have heard about a "Robin Hood Rally" through email, internet forums or because you recently received a post card or two in the mail soliciting participants for a reality TV show apparently being offered to various channels for airing this fall.

It has come to our attention that the operators of Robin Hood Rally may have obtained unauthorized access to a Skip Barber Racing School mailing list from a third party and have been using it in connection with these mailings. Robin Hood Rally was never provided with any mailing list by SBRS nor did SBRS authorize them to contact our customers in any way.

SKIP BARBER RACING SCHOOL IS NOT INVOLVED IN ANY WAY WITH ROBIN HOOD RALLY, nor do we endorse, promote or support this event, or any of its mailings.

Robin Hood Rally has been the subject of a story from the NBC affiliate here in Connecticut refuting the rally organizer's original claim that the reality show being produced would air this fall on NBC, see http://www.nbcconnecticut.com/statio..._Hartford.html

We apologize for any inconvenience and we are taking steps to ensure that this does not happen again in the future. For more information on Skip Barber Racing School's Privacy Policy, please visit http://www.skipbarber.com/company/privacy/

Jim Altemus
Marketing Manager,
Skip Barber Racing School

 

Show em what the Probe can do. Good luck Todd.

 

oh no. sander+todd's k-turbo=instant win!

 

GL! Sounds like a blast.

 

sounds like a fake to me

and john fitch the racecar driver see him all the time

 

awesome Todd, I hope you can still make it out to some nasa events

 

good morning!

karl, i'll be at a bunch of NASA events this year, but most likely not driving (doing quite a bit of coaching race support for a few clients); i'll look forward to seeing you!

and to SR20S13 -- if this was a 'fake', it was the most elaborate fake i've ever heard of! amongst the panelists who questioned me, one was editor of a major automotive magazine (which also has its own TV show too) and the other was a host of a popular current TV reality show (i had to sign a confidentiality agreement when i first arrived, and it was very involved, and i'm not sure if i am allowed to disclose their names, so i'm not going to on this forum). the amount of equipment and cameras and sound stage and staff and crew were huge; i can't imagine even trying to 'fake' that. they had sponsors on board at the hotel with big displays set up (Apex Performance was one of them; the GT driver simulation was another; there were some others that i can't remember).

the dustup concerning the mailing list of names? i really know nothing about that. how one's name gets on a mailing list (or hundreds of mailing lists) in this day and age? who knows. and the NBC thing -- again, i had heard that it was leaked by someone, and it snowballed (like things seem bound to do out on the internet); there is nothing on their website to indicate anything about NBC. i can say this -- they are actively shooting alot of footage (they of course shot everone's screening interview; they shot most of the entire cocktail party; and they spent half a day taking out several of the 'very cool high end participant cars' and shot them on the move, from adjacent camera cars). i am sure that the television show will air, and that it will be popular (just the caliber of cars that were in the upper parking lot was incredible; there were the usual porsches and bmw m cars and pony cars and vettes, but there were ferraris and new viper acrs and even one of those sexy new alfa sports cars! who wouldnt like to watch cars like that running flat out on a twisty public road?

those of you that know me KNOW that i don't spend my money frivalously; i am VERY careful with how i spend it ('frugal' is my middle name)! before i spent a dime on this, i researched and made phonecalls and considered everything; this event is going to happen, and i personally think it'll be a hit, and that the show will become a series (or at least more than one season). just my personal feelings and thoughts after being involved in the process so far.

now, off to work on an early monday morning.... blah.

 

Wooo, go Todd! Can I go for a ride in the Ferrari when you win?

 

Sounds like a cool gig. Have fun...and best of luck.

 

i think its a fake, my mom got one of these in the mail, just wait and see they will go "under" no one will pick up the show and your out 1k and all those other people

 

wait, you have to pony up a grand up front?

 

If you read the website, you'd see the entry is actually $5k, not $1k.
It says they accepted 58 drivers. If they all pay up, that's getting close to the money they'll need to produce the thing. With sponsors, getting it on TV shouldn't be all that difficult if they know what they are doing.


Todd, good luck with it. My biggest concern is the pathetic rules currently being proposed.
Power to weight with no other rules will never be an "even" playing field.

A properly setup 300-400hp car with lots of tire in a RWD or AWD config should be the fastest car period. Something with lots of development should be the winning car as long as it finishes and doesn't crash out.
Should be interesting to follow though..