Although I am an approved supplier, my inventory is limited and thus becoming more and more predictable. :(

Shake and Bake!
 

Magic Man and El Diablo in full effect! 1015 miles of driving and racing. :willy: Thanks to Doug Renner, Roger at Ironworks, Dave "Obi Wan Kanobi" Pozzi, and the massive Pro Touring community. Epic road trip and race weekend. Dave, you made me proud.That boy can drive!:hail: :wow: :bow: :cheers: :woot: :yes:

Abracadabra Holmes!

Not surprised Flash that you no longer hold the title of tonites episode when it comes to 'trackin' it'... :D

Very nice Dave!:cheers: :thumbsup:

My life has changed
 

Wow. What a way to spend a long weekend. I can't remember more fun with a car or more good times with a bunch of car freaks. Awesome racing and social event rolled into one. I'm hooked. Sorry if this post is going to be novel-like, but it really was the best weekend I can remember having, so bear with me, or go read Todd's epic thread. :lol:

So much to be thankful for and people to thank. My good buddy, crew chief, and wrench Rich Bermea/Road Touring Customs -- great road trip and we did what we intended to do and then some. Thanks for all that you did for me buddy. Can't wait til the next one!

My Camaro buddies Vegas Todd and Doug Fresh are the best. Great guys with awesome cars and so hospitable with their homes, tools, advice and support. I consider them great friends.

Also thanks to the Tennessee boys Bill, Yancy and Danny for all they did and continue to do for us. The volunteers were great and got to talk to many of them during the days. Many I "know" from the forums. Too many to list that's for sure! :cheers:

1010 miles of great American road trip (I called it the Half Lap of California) that started on Thurs morning and continued til Monday when we pulled back into home base in Gilroy. The car proved more than valiant and only had a few minor hiccups (some driver induced of course).

We'd had oil leaking a bit more than we liked out of the driver side valve cover breather and just got the Moroso baffles in Thurs morning. After we (Rich and I in my car and Rod towing his sweet Camaro) hooked up with the Newman boys in their sweet 55 Chivy in Paso Robles, we headed over to Ironworks in Bakersfield to meet up with that crew - Rodger, the Speedtech guys, and the Northwest guys Greg, Bob and Tim. Great BBQ spread provided by Speedtech and Rodger let us borrow Brycen for a bit to skillfully weld on the baffles, which Rich then installed. Problem solved. Thanks Rodger. :cheers:

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As temps hit 43* over the grapevine, our duct taped heater vents (no heater, remember) helped curtail the cold air and we managed to get to Doug's house around 9pm to meet up with Doug and Todd. Badmotorfinger had gotten us there safely. 1st stage completed.

http://i236.photobucket.com/albums/f...hoto_001-8.jpg

Friday cruise was money. Great route mapped out and there was just a tad of rain. RainX worked pretty good for me. Well, it kinda has to. :D
Had a great run thru the Ortego Hwy chasing Yancy in his 5th gen Camaro with Dfresh following. We broke from the pack and had some fun in the twisty canyon roads. But my GoPro was full so no vid of that. :mad:

Had lunch at Bob's Big Boy after hanging at Spectre for a bit - we were late for the food and wanted to get back to Doug's for some tuning on my car. Rich, with Todd sitting in his chair directing (not really), made some adjustments and got the car into race ready form for the weekend. My coil wasn't looking good and leaking a bunch so Doug had one on his wall (seriously) and he let me have it. Thanks Doctor Fresh. Doug also masterfully handled the Tri-tip, chicken, and brats on the BBQ. Rich and I handled the beer since Todd is no fun anymore and Doug only drinks Moonshine.

Saturday heading into El Toro and getting ready to race created a feeling in me I have not experience since high school I think -- that anxious/nervous/excited energy that one cannot put into words. You just can't buy that stuff anywhere and better than any drug I ever tried. :_paranoid

Had a good first day and laid down a decent road course time of 1:13 as we were in the first group and the wettest condition. I was :01 off Todd for our morning group of 20 cars and his 1:12 was the best of the group. Can't complain there for my first road course effort ever.

On to the autoX and conditions had improved. I got 3 or 4 runs I believe and laid down a 39.5 best for a pretty respectable time. That slot car Vette hit a low or mid 37 for best time of Saturday. We then got shut down for the Speed Stop as the timers were not working and they decided to fix it for Sunday.

http://i236.photobucket.com/albums/f..._3106317_n.jpg

As you know, it was party time at the Renner facility that night and it was great meeting more and chatting with more friends and sharing laughs... mostly at Doug's expense. I can say that apple cider moonshine tasted non-alcoholic yet was 120 proof I believe. :thumbsup: Yes I had a slight headache on Sunday morning but it didn't matter -- it was go time.

Started with 3 Speedstop efforts, but they were telling us the wrong stop box location for 2 runs so that was kinda messy. More runs later there so that was fine.

Went over to road course 10 min practice session and hit our first snag -- a janky shifter linkage had me off the track in the first half lap -- limped back to the pits in 3rd gear (that's fun with a monster solid roller cam). Rich made the adjustments and we were back in business for more AutoX and Speedstops after lunch. Bummer to miss out on the practice session on the dry road course as it woulda definitely helped me later.

Went over and nailed about the best I could do on the Speedstop on the 2nd effort so I said I'm done. Save the brakes and car for the road course and autoX. I think Todd ran like 17 times on the Speedstop after I quit. :rofl: I still don't know what my time was though.

Went over to AutoX next and spun out a couple times in the same spot trying to be a hero. We did up the rev limiter from 7000 to 7400 since I was bouncing off it way too early and it wasn't worth shifting into 2nd. Not much better sound IMO than hanging it out at 7k+ rpm for a few seconds. I was setup well for this course since I could stay in 1st gear (I top out at 70mph with my M21 and 3.55 gears) and focus with 2 hands on the wheel.

On my 10th and final run of the weekend I nailed my best time of 38.8, which should have me in the top 10 and I think top 6 or 7 based on talking to others. But for some reason I wasn't listed in the top 10 when they announced it and not sure why. Hoping it will show up as everyone there said it was a clean run. Here's that run (720HD is best)



Last was the road course and I needed to improve by several seconds to make my goal of getting into top 10. Thought I needed a 1:08 or 1:09 to get there but not sure where I ended up. Todd says he thinks he was about 1:10 for 6th, but I think his time had to be better. Again, we still don't know our times there yet. Here is my road course run. (720HD is best) I need to quit putting my damn hand on the shifter for no reason!!

Headed out on Monday from Doug's for the drive back. Gorgeous day to cruise home. 60+ and sunny. :thumbsup:

http://i236.photobucket.com/albums/f...7_990997_n.jpg

Stopped in Gorman for gas and lunch, and decided I had a Snow-Touring photo opp.

http://i236.photobucket.com/albums/f...8/DSCF3282.jpg

1010 miles later we were home. Dead tired. Ears ringing. Worth every cent, minute, and not enough sleep. I will never forget this trip.

http://i236.photobucket.com/albums/f...8/DSCF3292.jpg

Man Im so jealous! That sounds like a blast.

Glad to hear you guys had a good time. Nice times!

That's Awesome, Dave! Glad to hear it was such a great trip and experiance! I so wish I could have been there...Blake even offered to pick me up on the way down...but I had to work! Oh well, another time!

Your car looks great in race form! I bet you got a ton of looks as you blasted down the interstate! :thumbsup: