Texas Autocross Weekend 2004

On Saturday July 24, eight Formula SAE teams converged on the campus of the University of Texas at Arlington to practice driving, to compete with each other, and to share ideas of design and driving of these unique racecars that are designed and built from scratch by universities in a time period of one year. The universities represented were the University of Texas at Arlington (UTA), the University of Texas at Austin (UT), the University of Texas at San Antonio (UTSA), Texas A & M University (TAMU), the University of New Mexico (UNM), the University of Oklahoma (OU), the University of Kansas (KU), and the University of Cincinnati (UC). UTA brought out 8 cars (2 more cars were left in the garage due to lack of drivers), UC brought 3 cars, and TAMU, UNM, and KU each brought 2 cars for a total of 20 cars and 53 drivers.

The morning session used a track from the Formula SAE endurance event that was representative of the specifications for the Formula SAE cars. In the afternoon, a second track was setup that was more open and faster representative of a Sports Car Club of America (SCCA) autocross course.

Morning track, FSAE endurance 1998

Afternoon track, SCCA style track

In the morning session, Jordan Mussler TAMU took the fastest time of the day (FTD) in the 04 car (no wings) with a time of 50.240 seconds around the 0.504 mile course with an average speed of 36.1 mph. In second place was Ken Hassler UTA with 51.535 in the 99 250 cc car reving to 20,000 rpm. Erick Kohler UTA placed third in the winged 04 car with a lap time of 50.128 plus a 2 second penalty for a cone he hit. Rounding out the top ten were Chris Vogt TAMU with 52.491, Ken Hassler UTA with a lap time of 50.703 plus a 2 second penalty for 1 cone, Carl King UNM with 52.726, Ryan Reineck TAMU with 53.305, Jon Huddleson UTA with 53.748 in the 04 car, James Lawrence UNM with 53.994, John Burford UTA with 54.491 in the 98 250 cc car, and Pavan Dendi UT with 54.631. Erick Kohler UTA set the fastest lap time of 50.079, but he hit 4 cones dropping him out of first place.

In the afternoon session the cars with wings got a better workout around the 0.555 mile course. Erick Kohler took FTD with a 48.749 in the 04 winged car with an average speed of 41.0 mph. The car recorded a turn at over 1.6 g’s on the asphalt parking lot. Ken Hassler UTA took second with 49.470 in the 99 250 cc car without wings. Rounding out the top ten were Jon Huddleson UTA with 50.007 in the 04 car, Chris Harrington TAMU with 50.159, John Burford UTA with 52.094 in the 99 car, Scott Schmidt KU with 52.250, B.J. Stoney UC with 53.424, Vincent Shepherd TAMU with 51.978 plus a 2 second penalty for 1 cone, Pavan Dendi UT with 54.434, and Jeff Stroh TAMU with 52.976 plus a 2 second penalty for 1 cone. Dr. Woods UTA would have placed in the top ten in the 1988 car but there was a timing error. Jane Willis who took first place at SCCA Nationals in FSAEL last year in UTA’s 03 car ran 51.768 in her first drive in the 04 UTA car.

On Sunday July 25, the FSAE cars gathered for the Texas Region SCCA regional autocross for the largest AM (or FSAE) class ever held. There were 15 cars and 41 drivers entered. Erick Kohler UTA took the top time of 36.007 driving the 04 car with wings. Jordan Musser TAMU took second with 36.365 in the 04 car without wings; wow what a spectacular display of driving of a car that had handling issues. Dr. Bob Woods UTA placed third with a 36.702 in the 03 winged car. The two UTA cars with wings recorded 1.7 and 1.8 g’s respectively on a high-speed sweeper on the concrete parking lot. In fourth place was Jeff Stroh TAMU with 37.244. Rounding out the top ten were Jon Huddleson UTA with 37.583 in the 04 car, Ken Hassler UTA with 37.721 in the screaming 250 cc 99 car reving to 20,000 rpm, Chris Herrington TAMU with 37.952, James Lawrence UNM with 38.665, Chris Vogt TAMU with a single run of 38.867, and Denver Stone UTA with 39.282.

This was a weekend filled with socializing, exchanging of ideas, and true FSAE competing. I think everyone had a great time.

-Dr. Bob Woods, faculty advisor UTA
  woods@mae.uta.edu