Silver State Classic Challenge September 2002

This was our eighth Silver State event; we finally did it right and came in first. Not only first in our 110 MPH class, but also most accurate overall. We are proud of our achievement, but the reader should understand that lady luck was also smiling upon us.

There were fewer participants this time, thanks to the problems with the economy. Most who participate do so with "discretionary money", and almost everyone's pot of discretionary money took a big hit in the past year. The SSCC wasn't affected by the economy, however; the event was well managed, and we certainly had a great time. The Sunday dinner at Ely's Hotel Nevada had 39 attendees, up from 33 in May. Note that most of the participants attend the "official" Sunday Banquet in Las Vegas, but a few of us opt to stay in Ely, one of the friendliest Cities in the world. Click here for more information on the award winners at the Ely dinner.

We had a very good run. The only exception was near the end of the run when another car passed us and cut back in only a car length or two in front of us. I could hear small particles hitting the windshield, so I had to slow down. The second car that passed us stayed in the left lane long enough to avoid any such problems. I'm sure the driver of the first car wasn't aware that she caused any problems; it was obvious, however, that the driver of the second car was concerned about how his actions affected me.

How to win at the Silver State?

It seems that everyone who participates in this event has a slightly different slant on how to win. None of these approaches are "wrong".

Here's a link to Pete Marshall's excellent "Winning at the Silver State", our first exposure to the fine art of timing. Paul Kraght has perfected the use of a "Walkman" for solo drivers; here's a link to a discussion of his method. Pete won the 110 MPH trophy in September 1997, and Paul won it in September 1998.

Here's our refinements (no secrets here, sorry!):

We use "count down" stopwatches, presetting the "perfect" time for the run into the timepieces. See our September 2000 web page for more information on our stopwatches.
We train with a mock-up starting light "christmas tree", working to start the stopwatches at a consistent time after power is applied to the green (start) light. See our timing web page for more information. We apply this consistent time as a correction to the time preset into the stopwatches. We each have different corrections that are applied to our stopwatches. Click here for the SCCC information on Timing and Scoring.
We have identified each mile marker on the course, and we have a spread sheet detailing the distance from each marker to the finish line, and the calculated correct time from each marker to the finish line. Distances between the last ten mile markers have been refined beyond our initial GPS locations, thanks to data we obtained that was established by walking the last ten miles of the course with a surveyor's wheel.
When a marker is passed, the split function on the stopwatch gives the time to the end of the "perfect time", when we should be crossing the finish. The time on the stopwatch is compared to the spreadsheet time and the navigator (Jan) reports the error to the driver (Jay) for corrective action.
We use the cruise control to set our speed, using the speed reported by our GPS. We must correct the cruise control setting to compensate for tire expansion as the tires warm up during the first 50 miles or so.
We program in a "correction" before the narrows, planning to slow down a bit in the narrows just in case the road may be wet. If we are five seconds ahead when we enter the narrows, slowing down from 110 MPH to about 103 MPH in the narrows uses up the five seconds. Our plan is to be "right on" when we exit the narrows.

All of this is still not enough! Our inconsistency in starting the stopwatches can be as much as 250 MS (0.25 seconds). Often first and second places are separated by only 20 MS; our error in this September 22, 2002 event was reported as 18.5 MS. We just aren't that accurate! It seems to us that we can reliably stay within 250MS, and doing better than that requires some Nevada gambler's luck. In effect, those who finish within a quarter second (250MS) are given a "roll of the dice" to determine the winner. Our work to be as accurate as possible only serves to reduce the amount of "necessary luck" to a minimum. Lady luck (and the timing team, thanks Rod and crew!) smiled on us this time.

We are dedicating our win to our good friend Kathy Kennel, who passed away a few hours after Sunday's race. Kathy was President of the Mercedes Benz Club of America (MBCA) from 1994 to 1996, and was one of the very best mailing-list "List Moms", encouraging Mercedes enthusiasts to enjoy their cars and the camaraderie with other MB owners. Kathy died after a valiant ten-year battle with cancer. God speed, Kathy.

Jay and Jan O'Brien

Some of this year's pictures are below for your enjoyment.