DerekFSU
05-15-2007, 09:54 PM
Well it's over. As folks know, we nearly lost an engine the first day after finishing 5th and 6th overall so we were out of the running. Not to let such a fun week go by without our participation, we rented this:
http://www.whitisconsulting.com/photos/EscaladeDeeratMidOhioLR.jpg
http://www.whitisconsulting.com/photos/EscaladeDeeratHallettLR.jpg
http://www.whitisconsulting.com/photos/EscaladeDeeratMidOhioLR2.jpg
While not nearly as competitive as the Noble, it was infinitely more comfortable. We even beat a few car every day at the tracks. You'll notice Rudy in the shots either out the sunroof or the rear window. We found him walking out of an "alternative" bar somewhere in Western Nebraska and brought him along for the ride. FYI, these photos are from Alex who, all by himself, shots hundreds of photos and recorded over 2 TB's (YES, TERAbytes) of video off of 5 bullet cams and 3 HD handheld cams. He did the work of 3 people without nary a word.
Here's Betty getting ready to run on the final day. Paul has had very little track experience and hung with folks who've had a whole lot more. Kudos to him for doing such a consistent job.
http://www.whitisconsulting.com/photos/Betty@TirerackLR.jpg
Riding along with Troy,
http://www.whitisconsulting.com/photos/OnlyAMotherCouldLoveLR.jpg, was Tom Long. Tom is a pro driver in the Grand Am series and also instructs at the BMW School and Skip Barber. He's a car control master who put a 4,000lb car in the top 10 ahead of Porsches, Vipers, and Vettes. Here's Tom on the final day putting on a small drifting exhibition.
http://www.whitisconsulting.com/photos/DriftingM6LR.jpg
Now, as if driving 4,000 miles and doing 19 races in only 8 days is not enough, then imagine doing it in this car for the second year in a row:
http://www.whitisconsulting.com/photos/LotusLR.jpg
The factory Mopar team showed up and brought this beast of a car. Paulie can add quite a bit more about this mean machine that won the luxury class:
http://www.whitisconsulting.com/photos/MoparHemiDriftingLR.jpg
This E46 M3 was truly done with this set of tires after placing well for the week.
http://www.whitisconsulting.com/photos/M3BurnoutLR.jpg
10 BMW's showed up for the race and made it to the end. That's over 10% of the total teams. Here we are at MidOhio, another Alex Shot.
http://www.whitisconsulting.com/photos/BMW'sUpperWPeopleLR.jpg
My brother in law is a major in the USMC and flies one of these. His unit flew in two of their 53's for the final day. He ships back to Iraq in the fall.
http://www.whitisconsulting.com/photos/53LandingLR.jpg
Some folks already know that we had some interesting and varying levels of car issues with which we had to deal. First, a close friend of mine had raised a significant amount of money for charity only to have his ride back out of the One Lap the week before it started. Not wanting to lose out on the charity, he found this to race:
http://www.whitisconsulting.com/photos/hertz.pdf
Yes, to the observant ones who see what it is, you're exactly right. Nothing was going to hold this guy back. We had a little work done by a local shop and tuner to get the most out of our rental. The good news is the car made it 5 days into the race before the rental agency asked for it to be returned. We arranged for an amicable surrender of the vehicle and while on the way, found this one on Ebay in Nebraska:
http://www.whitisconsulting.com/photos/ambulance.jpg
They drove it to Kansas City, Missouri where they dropped off the Mustang and jumped in the ambulance with the lights rolling. 300 miles later the ambulance was dead from a coolant leak and due to a SEVERE gas leak right under the engine, Troy recommended it not be started again. He couldn't believe it hadn't caught fire yet. So much for the "EXCELLENT CONDITION" from the Ebay description. We had to push the ambulance into the grass at IRP in Indianapolis and move on.
We piled them into the Escalade and started our 3 hour trip west to Lexington, OH. On the way, we happened across ANOTHER Buy It Now on Ebay and even in light of our experience just that day, could not pass it up. It was gorgeous and had to be bought. This became our newest addition to the Tallahassee Muscle Car scene:
http://www.whitisconsulting.com/photos/TransAm.jpg
http://www.whitisconsulting.com/photos/TransAm2.jpg
I split this and the ambulance with my buddy driving the Shelby. So finally, after being on TMCA for a few years, I actually own one. It's gorgeous and I never new just how cool T-tops were. Now it's time to get the mullet going again!
So in the end, two car entries turned into 5 different vehicles. The Noble became the Escalade. And the Shelby GT became an ambulance and then a 1980 Trans Am Firebird. It was quite the experience.
It's time for some of you'uns to buck up and come along for the ride. You'll never experience anything like it and you'll never forget it. Many thanks to all of you for your support and to Troy, Alex, Paulie, Rhett, James, Tim, and Tom for adding so much to the adventure. Most importantly, we raised $10,000 for the Wounded Support Fund for the Second Division Marines and Sailers.
http://www.whitisconsulting.com/photos/EscaladeDeeratMidOhioLR.jpg
http://www.whitisconsulting.com/photos/EscaladeDeeratHallettLR.jpg
http://www.whitisconsulting.com/photos/EscaladeDeeratMidOhioLR2.jpg
While not nearly as competitive as the Noble, it was infinitely more comfortable. We even beat a few car every day at the tracks. You'll notice Rudy in the shots either out the sunroof or the rear window. We found him walking out of an "alternative" bar somewhere in Western Nebraska and brought him along for the ride. FYI, these photos are from Alex who, all by himself, shots hundreds of photos and recorded over 2 TB's (YES, TERAbytes) of video off of 5 bullet cams and 3 HD handheld cams. He did the work of 3 people without nary a word.
Here's Betty getting ready to run on the final day. Paul has had very little track experience and hung with folks who've had a whole lot more. Kudos to him for doing such a consistent job.
http://www.whitisconsulting.com/photos/Betty@TirerackLR.jpg
Riding along with Troy,
http://www.whitisconsulting.com/photos/OnlyAMotherCouldLoveLR.jpg, was Tom Long. Tom is a pro driver in the Grand Am series and also instructs at the BMW School and Skip Barber. He's a car control master who put a 4,000lb car in the top 10 ahead of Porsches, Vipers, and Vettes. Here's Tom on the final day putting on a small drifting exhibition.
http://www.whitisconsulting.com/photos/DriftingM6LR.jpg
Now, as if driving 4,000 miles and doing 19 races in only 8 days is not enough, then imagine doing it in this car for the second year in a row:
http://www.whitisconsulting.com/photos/LotusLR.jpg
The factory Mopar team showed up and brought this beast of a car. Paulie can add quite a bit more about this mean machine that won the luxury class:
http://www.whitisconsulting.com/photos/MoparHemiDriftingLR.jpg
This E46 M3 was truly done with this set of tires after placing well for the week.
http://www.whitisconsulting.com/photos/M3BurnoutLR.jpg
10 BMW's showed up for the race and made it to the end. That's over 10% of the total teams. Here we are at MidOhio, another Alex Shot.
http://www.whitisconsulting.com/photos/BMW'sUpperWPeopleLR.jpg
My brother in law is a major in the USMC and flies one of these. His unit flew in two of their 53's for the final day. He ships back to Iraq in the fall.
http://www.whitisconsulting.com/photos/53LandingLR.jpg
Some folks already know that we had some interesting and varying levels of car issues with which we had to deal. First, a close friend of mine had raised a significant amount of money for charity only to have his ride back out of the One Lap the week before it started. Not wanting to lose out on the charity, he found this to race:
http://www.whitisconsulting.com/photos/hertz.pdf
Yes, to the observant ones who see what it is, you're exactly right. Nothing was going to hold this guy back. We had a little work done by a local shop and tuner to get the most out of our rental. The good news is the car made it 5 days into the race before the rental agency asked for it to be returned. We arranged for an amicable surrender of the vehicle and while on the way, found this one on Ebay in Nebraska:
http://www.whitisconsulting.com/photos/ambulance.jpg
They drove it to Kansas City, Missouri where they dropped off the Mustang and jumped in the ambulance with the lights rolling. 300 miles later the ambulance was dead from a coolant leak and due to a SEVERE gas leak right under the engine, Troy recommended it not be started again. He couldn't believe it hadn't caught fire yet. So much for the "EXCELLENT CONDITION" from the Ebay description. We had to push the ambulance into the grass at IRP in Indianapolis and move on.
We piled them into the Escalade and started our 3 hour trip west to Lexington, OH. On the way, we happened across ANOTHER Buy It Now on Ebay and even in light of our experience just that day, could not pass it up. It was gorgeous and had to be bought. This became our newest addition to the Tallahassee Muscle Car scene:
http://www.whitisconsulting.com/photos/TransAm.jpg
http://www.whitisconsulting.com/photos/TransAm2.jpg
I split this and the ambulance with my buddy driving the Shelby. So finally, after being on TMCA for a few years, I actually own one. It's gorgeous and I never new just how cool T-tops were. Now it's time to get the mullet going again!
So in the end, two car entries turned into 5 different vehicles. The Noble became the Escalade. And the Shelby GT became an ambulance and then a 1980 Trans Am Firebird. It was quite the experience.
It's time for some of you'uns to buck up and come along for the ride. You'll never experience anything like it and you'll never forget it. Many thanks to all of you for your support and to Troy, Alex, Paulie, Rhett, James, Tim, and Tom for adding so much to the adventure. Most importantly, we raised $10,000 for the Wounded Support Fund for the Second Division Marines and Sailers.