OK, well it was a 20+ hour drive home from Norwalk and I'm just now
getting back into my routine. Yesterday, I was completely out of it,
as I imagine Will and Diego were, and everybody that went.
So this is my take on this Shootout weekend, which was my first.
When it became clear that Sunday was going to be a washout, I became
very disappointed to say the least. And then there were other things
that started to get me a little irritated. But I'm more about positivity, I
always try to find some good in whatever situation I'm in.
I had alot time to reflect on the way home because you don't want
to think: I drove all the way up here for nothing.
So this was my weekend(more or less), I left early thursday morning to
avoid WPB traffic. Car was great for the first 600-700 miles, gas prices
improved along the way as well. Somewhere in South or North Carolina,
I noticed the temps climbing just a little bit and I thought
it's got to be a fan issue. I drove for a little bit then pulled over and
found a spot behind a restaurant(in the shade) and I could here
my a/c fan rubbing something. (Long story,short)
I fix the fan issue, get lunch and I'm back on the road. West Virgina
kick my ass a little bit because it was essentially the biggest/longest
road rally course in the world. At one moment I was doing 55 going
around a mile long L turn and the next I'm going down a hill
(off the gas)doing 95. About 3/4 of the way, it started raining hard.
So I decided safety first and stopped for a nap. That was a tough road
to sustain any speed on, I'm glad there was no traffic.
Finally, get to Ohio and it was a beautiful morning to drive. Ohio is just
so different from south florida in many ways. I wish I could've stopped
to get some pics of what I'm trying to say about Ohio.
I never been to Ohio or West Virgina ever before this trip.
Finally I'm here, roll into Norwalk early, before everyone else.
I drove around downtown for awhile and made my way back to the track.
I'm tired, hungry and I want to relax. So, I park and eat lunch and
watch some racing. Everybody shows up later on, picks a spot and
they set up a huge camp site. We're hanging out and Will spots Hal Landry.
Then, We got stuck outside of the track with our cars inside.
Another confusing story but while we were waiting to get back in
myself, Will and Diego start chatting it up with Hal.
What a cool guy Hal is and full of knowledge of so many different things
besides DSM's. And his car is fuckin sick, in so many different ways.
It goes 11s too(so far) and he let me and Will drive it around the pits.
Later on in the day we're all hanging out and a few more people come by.
Including a my buddy Brent from JMFab, with his sick 1g.
He started the car and there was a wrapping sound so he took off the
t-belt cover and began looking around.
I noticed the belt had a mark on it, like something was rubbing it.
After that, a mad dash/scramble began to get the cover off and
examine the problem. So we spent quiet a bit of time on that. Cole
and a few people went into town to get some pizza for everybody.
Brent gets the car back together and the battery is dead. It just wasn't
his day that day. Finally he says fuck it and goes for a pass but the
staging lanes close.
While all this is happening, Erik goes and runs 9.xxx @ 142.9 without
us noticing
. Somebody else noticed and came over and
said he saw a 1g go 9's and we all thought it has to be Erik.
He came back and no fire suit on, half the roll cage missing no pants,
short sleeve shirt and maybe had a few drinks. He was fired up all night
and I got a little bit of it on film.
One issue came up though, which was the time slip, it read 1.0 60ft,
which is impossible. So the rest of the slip is under some discrepancy
but the mph should be right.
The track closes and were all hanging out once again, time to get the
party started. And who bitches out first and goes to sleep, no one other
Spoolin himself and most of the SFR crew.
LET IT BE KNOWN: Me, Will, Hal and some MI DSMers were good to go
and stayed up for a while.
I'll get to part two in a little while...