Questions: Road Atlanta

[bushpilot]

Gonna be at Road Atlanta the end of August & I have a question for anyone familiar the track etc.

1) whats the best approach going in/out ?

Google maps is showing i should come off of 403 onto 211 and up to 53
Should i go further north on 403 and take 53 in ?

Ill be towing an additional 25 feet and wondering what the easiest approach is & if the left turn or right turn into the track is any easier (generally i prefer left turns)

2) is there ANY power near the Paddock (in particular further back, near the bank/hill) ?

3) is there (diesel) fuel close to the track ? close to 403 (remember I've got the trailer behind me too).

[Bob86ZZ4]

I have no knowledge of Road Atlanta. So, I think you should come to Brainerd International Raceway ( BIR Brainerd International Raceway Brainerd Minnesota | NHRA Lucas Oil Nationals ) . I am very familiar with it and can get you all set up. I'm also pretty familiar with Mid America ( Mid America Motorplex Home ) and can help you there too. Let's go.

[bushpilot]

Originally Posted by Bob86ZZ4

I have no knowledge of Road Atlanta. So, I think you should come to Brainerd International Raceway ( BIR Brainerd International Raceway Brainerd Minnesota | NHRA Lucas Oil Nationals ) . I am very familiar with it and can get you all set up. I'm also pretty familiar with Mid America ( Mid America Motorplex Home ) and can help you there too. Let's go.

Would love to Bob !

Ive been wrenching (and providing hotelier services) for a privateer friend that runs an Rx8 in the NASA series. If we win at RA we'll be headed to laguna secs by invitation of mazda !

[A.J.]

Don,

In the past we have run I-85 to route 53 N. When u exit there is a Pilot on the right.
Entry into R.A. is easy from both. Since you prefer left turns 85 to 53 would also work out best for you and it is a little quicker than 211 since you cover ground on 85 to 53 and your not going N. to go S.
As far as power can't help there since we have our own. Best to call ahead and c what the set up is on your days.
Good luck!

[bushpilot]

Thanks AJ -

I see the Pilot on the map/sat image now (duh!) I should have checked that 1st !

Ive got my own power (w/ the coach 10kw)...BUT if i can find an outlet i'll whore myself out for it (of course no one ever buys).

trips like these where i expect ill end up dry docked in the paddock, i haul a small 2kw w/ me and let it run during the day to keep the batteries up & the beer cold in the electric cooler.

at this track (below) - i found an outlet pretty close (on the building) but for whatever reason the GFCI (on the building) kept tripping every time my transfer switch tried to add the coach in....ive never had the problem anywhere else or since....i screwed around w/ it for a while & finally gave up & just ran our little 2kw during the day.

[Bob86ZZ4]

GFCI receptacles do fail sometimes. And they'll trip themselves off like that. If you can get to the service panel that supplies power to it and shut that breaker off you can then pull the GFCI out of the box and switch the line wire over to the load side of the GFCI. Most GFCI's have room to connect two wires to each screw. Then turn the breaker back on. Gotta do that under cover of darkness so the track people don't catch you. Then switch it back before you leave. Or, carry a new GFCI with you in your parts bin. Then when you have that problem you just install the new GFCI. Do it quick so the track people don't catch you. If they catch you tell them you're an electrician and won't charge them for fixing their broken GFCI.

[bushpilot]

i had a gfci in our basement bin go bad one camping trip, had to run into the closest town & pick one up & i grabbed an extra for my for my spares (assurance that ill never need it).

a the track lots of things happen under the cover of darkness...some are even good things
if it had dawned on me that the outlet could have been bad i most CERTAINLY would have changed it (even if it was hot...i know i know).

funny thing about the outlet at that track (they had a water softener plugged into it) was that it only tripped when my cord was plugged in - my progressive industries EMS-LCHW50 showed good wiring & power, but shortly after the PI closed the circuit to the coach the gfci would trip.

I even opened every breaker on my coach panel (to make sure there was ZERO load) and it would still trip the gfci.

[Bob86ZZ4]

Hhhmmm, interesting. I know I plug into GFCI outlets lots of times with my coach and haven't tripped any I don't think. I'm guessing you have too. That's why I would have suspected that particular receptacle of being bad. I suppose if you switched in a new (likely good) one and it still tripped then you could yank your new one back out and give up?

[bushpilot]

yeah it was a very strange scenario...i searched that whole building exterior (under the cover of darkness, w/ a beer in my hand) looking for another outlet & never could find one.

i used my little EP2500 to power the converter/charger for the outside stereo, basement beer cooler & to keep the batteries up during the day....for that i had to build a short floating ground plug/cable.

I used to think the EP2500 was quiet - but i think I'm gonna pick up a EU2000 for the road atlanta trip - theyre a lot more quiet and i think theyre a little more thrifty on fuel.

[hot rod]

If you have the room and the twice the money, the EU3500 is great. It is Honda's quietest, quieter than the 1000 or 2000, you can stand right next to it and talk even with an a/c unit running. With a light load like lights and battery charger it is just a whisper. And it will run an a/c in a pinch. Mine has been great. I get neighbors comment all the time on how amazingly quiet it is, and they generally refuse to believe it is running the a/c and still that quiet. I also have an EU1000, but the damn thing now sounds loud compared to the EU3500 so I rarely use it. Before I got the 3500 I would run the 1000 around the clock with a 5 gallon remote tank attached and generally go the whole 4 day weekend without having to add gas. That 1000 has to have a couple of thousand hours on it and still runs like a champ, so I went straight back to Honda when I needed a bigger one. IMHO best small generator on the market.

[bushpilot]

I'll probably take my EP2500, I'm on the fence & may yet buy some small quiet 2kw gen.

For now Ive ordered the Onan EC-30W (wireless autostart remote) - it'll solve a couple of problems,

automatically start the gen when batteries are low
automatically start the gen when interior temperature rises beyond X
permit me to start the generator from the cockpit / drivers seat

we travel with our Old English Sheep dog & the EC-30W will give us some peace of mind (if shore power fails, the ec-30w will take over & start the gen for air conditioning if needed).

[bushpilot]

as a follow up, i installed the EC-30W, took me longer to find & disconnect the factory harness than it did to connect the EC-30w harness.

its a completely uneventful install, 15 minutes tops (most of that time was crawling under the coach & trying to get the connectors apart)...the coach builder didn't leave much slack in the harness.

the remote is pretty boring really....it just works.

[nasa-rm]

Sorry Don.


All of the power at Road Atlanta is mine that weekend !!! Heberto and Brewer are SOL.

[bushpilot]

Originally Posted by nasa-rm

Sorry Don.


All of the power at Road Atlanta is mine that weekend !!! Heberto and Brewer are SOL.

well in the spirit of good competition...we shall see about THAT

when Heberto is done w/ you, and you've wiped away your tears, come over to the coach (you'll know us by the texas flag)...ill give you a beers and console you

welcome to the forum ! Whats your travel schedule - maybe we can meet up along the way. do you have a paddock slot ?

[nasa-rm]

Ummmmm beer. You guys are always well stocked. Good thing your boys are in TTD and TTF. I'm running TTE so they are safe.....

We have reserved spot, but its only 20' wide. I am going to park Optimus Prime on the open parking side so we can setup the full awning and look for a 20A outlet at a minimum.

Coming from Colorado and plan to arrive Tuesday night. I70 to St Louis, I24 and I75 to Atl. I wish I was coming from TX, be a whole lot quicker!

See you in a few weeks.


I've been lurking here for several years, just never had a reason to post!

[bushpilot]

to bad the kearn brothers won't be in attendance.

good luck w/ finding a 20a outlet, no one thinks there are any close to the paddock (ill have plenty of cord & be looking for one myself), ill have my small 2500w gen with us just incase.

we PLAN to depart EARLY thursday morning (hope to pull in before 6p). Ken will probably already be there (we're in slot B7) down past the oil dump tank

Not certain of our route yet - we'll either pick up 59 / 20 thru Birmingham or 65 / 85 thru Montgomery. I'll start investigating fuel prices along the route - which will very likely dictate our route. Richard is riding along w/ us.

We're gonna stop at Barber on the way back Monday - neither Richard nor Heberto have seen the facilities or been in the museum (and i could always use another t-shirt).

Can we stay over at the track Sunday night ? or do we need to vacate ?
Whats for dinner saturday night ?

[nasa-rm]

Slot B7 huh? I think that was the problem with the reserved spots in the pro paddock - no hookups.


There is supposed to be hookups in the "old" paddock in the non reserved parking. Def a few 30A ones down there. Since we get in early I'm hoping this wont be a problem.


I haven't seen details on Sunday night. I know at MidOhio they were adamant that we needed to be out by 7PM. Miller Motorsports didn't care.

I haven't seen anything on food dinners, etc. Usually there is a whole plan worked out in the past for dinners each night. Worst case, we will have the giant BBQ and have a big party with a keg.

[bushpilot]

we always have plenty of food & we'll have Ken's truck to run for more beer, when (not if) we need it

I'm sure the keg will end up in B7 like it usually does (although the last TWS race it floated).

Im not worried about the electrical/outlet....heberto is paying for the fuel - I'm just the driver, hotelier and cook...and wrench...and