I have been doing some research on north central locations. I could not find a road course near St. Louis, but I hit gold near Chicago. In Joliet, IL (43 miles from Chicago) there is a race track/road course facility called Autobahn Country Club. They have a North 1.46 mile course, a South 2.10 mile course and a combined 3.56 mile course. They are similar to Motorsport Ranch here in TX. In the same city there is also Route 66 Raceway, a NHRA legal 1/4 drag racing track. There is a Dave & Busters in Chicago that could be a location for the opening ice breaker. Just need to now find a dyno and a couple cool restaurants and it could be the full package. Opinions?


Loren

 

I might look into having something at VIR or CMP. Either way, it's only going to boil down to who actually sets the thing up moreso than who just talks about it. Chicago seems like a pretty good idea but you know there will be dozens of posts from people who want it in their own backyard who won't do any legwork or even attend.

And so it begins.

 

Sounds good to me. A closer location to me is appreciated as well Maybe by next year my car will actually be worth taking Still mad I missed it this year...

 

I guess I shouldn't complain if it were that north, but once again it takes someone to actually organize the thing before a location can really be set. St. Louis always did sound good to me, but without a track or person to set it up it goes no where.

To me location didn't seem to the biggest limiting factor for most people there. There were plently of people close that didn't come, and there were plenty of people from across the country who came.

 

All the suggestions to go north Central came from the people in Texas who are local, but would be traveling next year. There was a good consensus to keep it off either coast because the people from the West Coast aren't going to travel to the East Coast and vice versa. This will also be easier on those in the NE than Texas.

 

The NY/NJ people aren't going to leave their front porches unless you host it in NY or NJ, so rule them out from the start. The same goes for the CA and Washington people as well.


You could take a poll on who would be willing to fly or drive to where and how far, then divide the results by 5. And once you actually set the thing up you take a list on who will attend and divid that list by 3 to get the results.


And as far as the coast thing is concerned, IIRC, Brook was the ONLY person to drive in from west of Texas. And the year before that it was Brian Catts.

 

I wanted to see if Florida could handle it next year, we have several tracks avaliable, lots of restaurants(beach front if necessary), and numerous drag tracks.

 

Unless Blehm decides to set this up again next near in Dallas, which I'm not going to argue with because I know he'll follow through if he decides, it seems logical to me that each year it should move closer to the people that actually show up. But that's easy for me to say because I am within 1000 miles of just about everything on the east coast and midwest.

 

If it were closer to the north a few from Canada might actually consider coming down.. Chicago is about 8 hrs from me for example...

 

Another suggestion:

Pocono Raceway in Pennsylvania.

 

Autobahn Country Club is out of the question, its MEMBERS only and good luck trying to set something up. I've tried to get on that track for a while now with no results.

I would have to talk to the local crew to see if anyone would be interested in hosting the Chicago location Maxus. We do have very large meets in the summer about once a month that bring in approx 60-70 cars - all Nissans but mostly Maximas.

I recomend BlackHawk Farms for road racing- its a smaller track, but it could be rented out for a fee - unlike AutoBahn. It would give people a idea on what its like to do road racing.

We have 3 decent drag strips in the area- One is in Joliet- aka Route 66, other one is Byron Raceway by Rockford, and third is Great Lakes Drag-a-way in southern Wisconsin- approx 1-2 hours away from the city.

I know of a few places we could get a great deal on dyno testing. I know of Dyna Pack, Mustang, and DynoJet facilities. Most people would want DynoJet I am sure, and we should be able to secure something for approx 30-40 bux for 2-3 runs.

As far as sight seeing, there is a bit to see around the city if you are into doing that type of thing. There are plenty of hotels around and I'm sure I could make a few calls to set up a "Maxus 07" logging deal.

I've been to a few SE-R conventions, and it takes alot of time and patience to prepare for a such big event. I dunno how big Maxus is - I tend to stay local as I hate driving far + it costs me valuable down time from work/side jobs, but the SE-R conventions brought people in from all around the country.

If you guys wanna think bout it, let me know I will talk with the local Chicago group of guys and we can start planing ahead...

 

It boils down to someone getting involved and working on it from what ever area it is going to be set-up. We are always going to get people to complain and not everyone can be made happy.
My only concern is if too many people complain then nothing happes and we end up going another 4 or 5 years before anything is done again.

I know that us in Texas are not the only ones that can put something like this together, so lets get someone to step up to the plate and get planning.

 

off topic but what does MAXUS mean ? is it a spin off of Maxima United States where everyone in the USA is invited ? to bad im a world away. I would drive to Alaska for a Maxus Meet !

 

If anyone sets Maxus up anywhere else besides Texas then I HIGHLY recommend they talk to Matt Blehm for awhile and get as much input as possible.

With 2 years of Maxus planning under his belt there isn't anyone else I would go to.

Just my 2 cents...


Aside from the advice, I'd drive for Maxus...road trips are more fun than having it in my backyard again.

 

You guys plan it and I'll be there. I'm stepping down from the planning part of this stuff.. I did it the last two years and feel it's someone else's turn to take this over. I'll help out with support how I can, but I'm not goign to run the show again for a good long while.

I think some place farther north would be a good idea simply due to the temperatures. Also need to remember that most of the people that drive Maximas fall into one of these categories:
1. Currently in school (high school or college)
2. have kids in school
3. Teach school.

So whatever you plan, make sure it's not during the school year or you're going to alienate about 80% of the people.

That said, I'll go anywhere in the country as long as there's a roadcourse nearby.

 

Florida and Pennsylvania are both interesting, but not very central. How many ae going to drive from CA to FL or PA? I would suggest starting with pole for location. For Dallas, we could have also done the Texas Motorplex 1.4 mile NHRA track or the 1/8 mile Denton Dragway.

 

How many people are going to drive from CA at all? Zero.

 

Lauren, I have had a maxus literally planned for 3 years now but have let the dallas guys do their thing. Brian Catts and I have started the planning already for 07 and can give you guys more info soon.

And yes there is a road corse there!!


My Credentials- No one has EVER thrown a bigger Maxima meet than me!!!

 

Get it going, lets do something at VIR. I can help set that up too.

I also know a guy who owns a trophy shop.

 

Taked to Autobahn Country Club about track rental. They do not have shared club days like MSR, but do track rentals. Unless you are looking at doing a full weekend event, it will be either a Friday or Monday. The north course is $7K for a day and the South course is $8K for a day. The combined course is only available on Mondays for $8.5K a day. Obviously we would need a lot of people prepayed to do this or look at a local club to host and share it.

As another plus, there are 2 casinos in Joliet, IL.

 

Not totally true, If the meet is going to be huge, they will come. NY'ers have done the 4 hour drive to DC for meets before, and turn around the same day and have gone home. Same for DC, We make trips up north for the same. The issue is that the large groups will travel for a large meet.
I had a great time at Maxus this year, but I have bigger meets at my house on a whim. Redline is haveing a grand opening meet on sunday which I planned last week and we are expecting 60+ cars. Maxus , being a national meet should have no less than 400+ cars from around the country. Can it be pulled off? YES!!!! At that size, Is a road course practical? Maybe not! should people be talking about maxus all year becaus ethey can't wait for the fun again till next year? YES!!!! Right now only 30 people can say it was cool!!! That is Not Cool.

 

Four hours isn't much of a drive.

But either way, I would love to see a 400+ car Maxus.

 

Loren, Ennis was closed to the public (yet again) this weekend, otherwise I would have planned a drag event on Fri or Sat night. They had a Super Chevy show or something there all weekend.

RedMax, SR20DEN... You guys have at it! Let me know if you need some help on anything..

 

I can work with PrinzII and Hectorc on making this happen but diffinitely let me know if people are interested and the planning will begin.

 

As long as i can be there in under say 12 hours i'll be there,... more than than and i would want to ride w/ or someone ride w/ me (so it can go non-stop)

Chicago i say sounds good to me,... it'll give more people (members and Sponsors) from the North the opportunity to go, which would also increase the number of people willing to drive from the south equaling out to a big *** meet.

Redline --- after seeing the "event" that you can whip up in a few moments on Sunday,... a whole Maxus would be a blast. hahaha

 

I would love to see 400+ cars but I doubt it would be possible. I'd have to see it to believe it.

200 cars seems more realistic.
No offense...but if you can do it then props. I'll be there.

-Jeff

 

For the biggest turnouts you're gonna need the cooperation of the Sentra and probably Z communities no matter the location. That'll quadruple the numbers.

I agree Blackhawk Farms might be a good road course (1.95mi) site. It's great for gatherings and they just repaved last year or so. It's hard to get a summer weekend up there unless you book way in advance though. SCCA and MCSCC alone run like 12 times up there. It's somewhat close to GLD dragstrip.

I've got multiple friends who own and work at the Autobahn track but like it was said, it's private and expensive.

 

Glad you liked our maxus event sunday night, Also Happy to see you made it home safely!!

 

So I take it ya'll found the place Sunday night?

 

"event"

 

Niiiice. How'd you like not having a 6ft rule?

 

it was "very nice"

 

Yeah we found the "clubhouse" !! All I have to say is OMFG!!!!

 

Hehehe,,,glad you had fun. Wish I had the funds to join you guys.

 

Chicago doesn't sound too bad. Ride share anyone? I'd hate to drive there solo since most of my close buds don't care about maximas.

 

There is also Topeka KS (!) Drags, road courses, entire track newly remodeled, SCCA headquarters, etc:

http://hpt.com/store/catalog/

And Kansas City for twice-a week Test-n-Tunes:
http://www.kcir.net/

 

And i would drive to Cali in a heartbeat.

Too many people people think about the distance but long haul driving is not bad at all as long as you get rest. Heck, when I head out to the midwest, I drive from sun up to sun down and then some. when i want to sleep, I hit up the rest areas and lock the doors

 

Mudbutt

 

I would be down if we could do something on the east coast
alot of Maxima owners in the NY/CT/MA/NJ/PA area. Even GA has Quite a bit.

 

Chicago... I'd be there!