Grassroots Motorsports
Encyclopedia
Grassroots Motorsports (GRM) is an American periodical devoted to low-cost performance cars, driving skill improvement, and amateur motorsports such as road racing
, autocross
and rallying
. It was established in 1984 and is published eight times a year. The magazine’s parent company, Motorsport Marketing Inc., based in Holly Hill, Florida
, also publishes Classic Motorsports
magazine.
Grassroots Motorsports focuses primarily on how enthusiasts can have fast, fun cars for very little money. It also discusses how to build a race car and participate in motorsports events, provides coverage of amateur motorsports in the United States, and is the official publication of the National Auto Sport Association
(NASA), Rally America/RallyCar, NARA and the ChumpCar World Series.
autocrosser, a MINI Cooper S race car, a Saab
99 rally car, a Volkswagen Golf
track car and a LeGrand
autocrosser. One of the most famous project cars in the magazine's history is the Ro-Spit, a 200-plus-horsepower, rotary-powered Triumph
Spitfire
.
time trial and a concours d'elegance
.
A special points system determines the final rank of each entry based on its performance in each segment of the competition. Along with first-, second- and third-place trophies, other awards are distributed to deserving competitors, including “Most Spectacular Failure,” “Challengers’ Choice,” and “Worst Attempt to Persuade Concours Judges.”
The first Challenge event was held in 1999, before the “year as the budget” policy was instituted; the budget cap for entries in that event was $1500. The second Challenge event was held in 2001 with the budget cap set at $2001. The event then became annual, with the budget cap increasing by one dollar each year.
Recent Challenge winners include Wreck Racing's
V8-powered Mazda Miata, Andrew Nelson’s home-fabricated, Chevy V8-powered Volkswagen Beetle
in 2009 and the Hong Norr team’s 1986 Honda CRX in 2008.
Thirty-six cars competed at the Virginia International Raceway
North Course in 2007. The overall winner was a Dodge Viper
Competition coupe with pro driver Tommy Archer
at the wheel. In 2008, the event moved to Buttonwillow Raceway Park
, and Bart Carter took first place overall in his Radical SR8. In 2009, the event was held at the Virginia International Raceway
Full Course; Marc Goossens
beat out a field of more than 50 cars to take the overall win in his Riley Technologies
Track Day Car. In 2010 Pirelli became the title sponsor of the Ultimate Track Car Challenge and continue as the title sponsor of the event in 2011.
Users must complete an online registration and create a username to post to the forum. The forum is moderated by magazine staff. Users gain "Dork" status as their post count raises.
The "Ignore" thread and the "Hotlink" thread have reached 200+ pages of posts by regular and new users alike. As of August 2011, the "Hotlink" thread has reached 844 pages with 21,100 posts. There are many inside jokes specific to the GRM forum that have evolved through regular postings by some of the most prolific users. Several thousand posts per user is not rare, and are often racked up in less than a year.
-E36 M3: As in "the (sh)it", a euphemism for the foul language, automatically replaced in discussion board postings, but more commonly inserted manually by forum regulars.
-Berkley: A euphemism for the "F" word. See above.
-Bob Costas: A euphemism for the "P" word in the context of the female anatomy. See above.
-Canoe: used to label spam posts inserted by bots or other non-regular post methods.
-Shiny Happy Person: A euphemism for a slang term for the rectal sphincter
-Flounder: a person or post that pushes a political ideology, but doesnt necessarily add to the thread or topic - a type of political rhetoric spam. Based loosely on the National Lampoon's Animal House character
Road racing
Road racing is a general term for most forms of motor racing held on paved, purpose-built race tracks , as opposed to oval tracks and off-road racing...
, autocross
Autocross
Autocross is a form of motorsports that emphasizes safe competition and active participation. An autocross is a timed competition where drivers navigate one at a time through a defined course on either sealed or unsealed surfaces...
and rallying
Rallying
Rallying, also known as rally racing, is a form of auto racing that takes place on public or private roads with modified production or specially built road-legal cars...
. It was established in 1984 and is published eight times a year. The magazine’s parent company, Motorsport Marketing Inc., based in Holly Hill, Florida
Holly Hill, Florida
Holly Hill is a city in Volusia County, Florida, United States. The population was 12,119 at the 2000 census. As of 2004, the population recorded by the U.S. Census Bureau is 12,586...
, also publishes Classic Motorsports
Classic motorsports
Classic Motorsports is an American periodical devoted to classic cars, classic car restoration and vintage racing. It was established in 1986 and is published six times a year...
magazine.
Grassroots Motorsports focuses primarily on how enthusiasts can have fast, fun cars for very little money. It also discusses how to build a race car and participate in motorsports events, provides coverage of amateur motorsports in the United States, and is the official publication of the National Auto Sport Association
National Auto Sport Association
The National Auto Sport Association is an American motorsports organization promoting road racing and high-performance driver education....
(NASA), Rally America/RallyCar, NARA and the ChumpCar World Series.
Project cars
The editorial focuses on a wide variety of staff-owned cars, usually with a very hands-on, do-it-yourself point of view. Recent GRM project cars have included a Mazda MX-5Mazda MX-5
The MX-5, also known as Miata in North America and Eunos Roadster in Japan, is a lightweight two-seater roadster, of front-engine, rear-wheel drive layout, built by Mazda in Hiroshima, Japan. The model was introduced in 1989 at the Chicago Auto Show...
autocrosser, a MINI Cooper S race car, a Saab
Saab
Saab AB is a Swedish aerospace and defence company, founded in 1937. From 1947 to 1990 it was the parent company of automobile manufacturer Saab Automobile, and between 1968 and 1995 the company was in a merger with commercial vehicle manufacturer Scania, known as Saab-Scania.-History:"Svenska...
99 rally car, a Volkswagen Golf
Volkswagen Golf
The Volkswagen Golf is a small family car manufactured by Volkswagen since 1974 and marketed worldwide across six generations, in various body configurations and under various nameplates – as the Volkswagen Rabbit in the United States and Canada , and as the Volkswagen Caribe in Mexico .The...
track car and a LeGrand
LeGrand
Legrand is a Swedish band from Malmö.The band was formed in Lund 1999 under the name Hype by the members Anders Tillaeus, Sinisa Krnjaic, Martin Lundgren and Mats Wallander. The following year, Anders' older brother Fredrik Tillaeus became a member and the band moved to Malmö...
autocrosser. One of the most famous project cars in the magazine's history is the Ro-Spit, a 200-plus-horsepower, rotary-powered Triumph
Triumph Motor Company
The Triumph Motor Company was a British car and motor manufacturing company. The Triumph marque is owned currently by BMW. The marque had its origins in 1885 when Siegfried Bettmann of Nuremberg initiated S. Bettmann & Co and started importing bicycles from Europe and selling them with his own...
Spitfire
Triumph Spitfire
The Triumph Spitfire is a small English two-seat sports car, introduced at the London Motor Show in 1962. The vehicle was based on a design produced for Standard-Triumph in 1957 by Italian designer Giovanni Michelotti...
.
Grassroots Motorsports $20XX Challenge
The magazine holds an annual competition called the $20XX Challenge. The main goal of the Challenge is to demonstrate that fun, capable and attractive cars do not have to be expensive. The total budget for entries cannot cost more than the year in dollars (i.e., $2005 in 2005). The competition consists of an autocross competition, a quarter-mile (0.4 km) drag stripDrag strip
Drag strip may refer to:*Dragstrip, track used for drag racing*Drag Strip , Transformer character who is one of the Stunticons*Videocart-9: Drag Strip, drag racing videogame released in 1976-See also:*Dover Drag Strip...
time trial and a concours d'elegance
Concours d'Elegance
A Concours d'Elegance dates back to 17th Century French aristocracy, who paraded horse-drawn carriages in the parks of Paris during Summer weekends and holidays...
.
A special points system determines the final rank of each entry based on its performance in each segment of the competition. Along with first-, second- and third-place trophies, other awards are distributed to deserving competitors, including “Most Spectacular Failure,” “Challengers’ Choice,” and “Worst Attempt to Persuade Concours Judges.”
The first Challenge event was held in 1999, before the “year as the budget” policy was instituted; the budget cap for entries in that event was $1500. The second Challenge event was held in 2001 with the budget cap set at $2001. The event then became annual, with the budget cap increasing by one dollar each year.
Recent Challenge winners include Wreck Racing's
Wreck Racing
Wreck Racing is a Georgia Tech automotive competition team, based in the Woodruff School of Mechanical Engineering. The team is composed of undergraduate and graduate students from the various schools within GA Tech and is based in the Student Competition Center on the North edge of Tech's Atlanta...
V8-powered Mazda Miata, Andrew Nelson’s home-fabricated, Chevy V8-powered Volkswagen Beetle
Volkswagen Beetle
The Volkswagen Type 1, widely known as the Volkswagen Beetle or Volkswagen Bug, is an economy car produced by the German auto maker Volkswagen from 1938 until 2003...
in 2009 and the Hong Norr team’s 1986 Honda CRX in 2008.
Ultimate Track Car Challenge
In 2007, Grassroots Motorsports added another competition to their lineup with the Ultimate Track Car Challenge. The goal of the UTCC is to discover the fastest track car in a field governed by minimal classifications, and the event is run under the National Auto Sport Association's Time Trial Rules.Thirty-six cars competed at the Virginia International Raceway
Virginia International Raceway
The Virginia International Raceway is a road course located in the community of Alton, Virginia near Danville, Virginia. It is found less than a half-mile from the North Carolina/Virginia border just outside Milton, North Carolina on the banks of the Dan River...
North Course in 2007. The overall winner was a Dodge Viper
Dodge Viper
The first prototype was tested in January 1989. It debuted in 1991 with two pre-production models as the pace car for the Indianapolis 500 when Dodge was forced to substitute it in place of the Japanese-built Stealth because of complaints from the United Auto Workers, and went on sale in January...
Competition coupe with pro driver Tommy Archer
Tommy Archer
Tommy Archer is a race car driver born in the USA. Tommy Archer’s racing experience spans 33 years. He has played a part in 38 racing championships over the last 26 years. Archer has been a part of the Chrysler Group’s racing and development programs for the past 18 years...
at the wheel. In 2008, the event moved to Buttonwillow Raceway Park
Buttonwillow Raceway Park
Buttonwillow Raceway Park is a motorsports park in Kern County, California, north of the town of Buttonwillow and northwest of Bakersfield. Owned and operated by the California Sports Car Club, a region of SCCA, Buttonwillow is the "flagship" track of Cal Club, and is also the location of the...
, and Bart Carter took first place overall in his Radical SR8. In 2009, the event was held at the Virginia International Raceway
Virginia International Raceway
The Virginia International Raceway is a road course located in the community of Alton, Virginia near Danville, Virginia. It is found less than a half-mile from the North Carolina/Virginia border just outside Milton, North Carolina on the banks of the Dan River...
Full Course; Marc Goossens
Marc Goossens
Marc Goossens nicknamed The Goose is a Belgian racecar driver who drove in Formula 3000 from 1994 to 1996 and part-time from 1999 to 2001. In between he drove in endurance races and is a veteran of the 24 Hours of Le Mans. From 2002 to 2005 he then raced in FIA GT...
beat out a field of more than 50 cars to take the overall win in his Riley Technologies
Riley Technologies
Riley Technologies LLC is an auto racing constructor and team which specializes in the design and manufacture of complete race cars, as well as prototype development for racing and manufacturing applications.-Grand Am:...
Track Day Car. In 2010 Pirelli became the title sponsor of the Ultimate Track Car Challenge and continue as the title sponsor of the event in 2011.
Internet forum
The Grassroots Motorsports online forum is a section of the magazine's website which allows discussion on almost any topic - Automotive or other. There are multiple sections designated as Grassroots Motorsports - discussion of all things automotive, Sprockets - bicycles, motorcycles etc., The 200x classifieds - a for sale section for tools, parts, or whole cars, An Advertisers section - an area for GRM advertisers to post about there wares or receive feedback from customers, and also an off topic section - discussions that do not fit anywhere else. Posters can also schedule gatherings of forum users, information about race dates, or other events on the forum.Users must complete an online registration and create a username to post to the forum. The forum is moderated by magazine staff. Users gain "Dork" status as their post count raises.
The "Ignore" thread and the "Hotlink" thread have reached 200+ pages of posts by regular and new users alike. As of August 2011, the "Hotlink" thread has reached 844 pages with 21,100 posts. There are many inside jokes specific to the GRM forum that have evolved through regular postings by some of the most prolific users. Several thousand posts per user is not rare, and are often racked up in less than a year.
Memes
There are several Anagrams used for common phrases in the website. YMMV means Your Mileage May Vary, or "your experience may be different than mine", SWMBO means She Who Must Be Obeyed, or "your significant other", IIRC means If I Remember Correctly.-E36 M3: As in "the (sh)it", a euphemism for the foul language, automatically replaced in discussion board postings, but more commonly inserted manually by forum regulars.
-Berkley: A euphemism for the "F" word. See above.
-Bob Costas: A euphemism for the "P" word in the context of the female anatomy. See above.
-Canoe: used to label spam posts inserted by bots or other non-regular post methods.
-Shiny Happy Person: A euphemism for a slang term for the rectal sphincter
-Flounder: a person or post that pushes a political ideology, but doesnt necessarily add to the thread or topic - a type of political rhetoric spam. Based loosely on the National Lampoon's Animal House character