aenigma Posted September 19, 2023 Share Posted September 19, 2023 Just had to post. Best time ever. This race was actually with lonnie. 2 Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
roneva Posted September 19, 2023 Share Posted September 19, 2023 3 hours ago, aenigma said: Just had to post. Best time ever. This race was actually with lonnie. Very good! Keep the pics comin' Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Chameleon Posted September 19, 2023 Author Share Posted September 19, 2023 No data service at Darlington yesterday (thanks Verizon) It was an eventful day. Due to the rain the day before and the lack of Test & Tune, there was a lot of breakage. Mo & Lonnie's class got only one run as a group, so we stayed for the all run to get their second passes. Mo's first pass was a personal best of 10.79. Lonnie ran a 10.42. After the second pass, the high pressure ps line on the Vette broke. No parts available, tried to repair, that didn't work so Lonnie just disabled it. Mo drove the 175 miles in the dark through twisty backroads last night with no ps which was fine except the corners were hard. The routing sheet was like a scavager hunt with horrible directions and required checkpoints for pictures. Today we're at Rockingham, Mo just ran a 10.62. Pics from yesterday... 1 1 Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
HOXXOH Posted September 19, 2023 Share Posted September 19, 2023 OMG, first log-in since last week and I've missed the start of the great adventure. So far, it sounds like a lot of fun trying to resolve unknown and sudden challenges in strange environments with a minimum of supplies and equipment, all within a shortage of available time. Congrats on the personal best times. Keep the faith and enjoy the process, while we watch from afar. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Chameleon Posted September 19, 2023 Author Share Posted September 19, 2023 At this moment we are shut down in an Auto Zone parking lot, the Camaro has a bad fuel pump... Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Chameleon Posted September 20, 2023 Author Share Posted September 20, 2023 And.....here we are in Bristol... Mo bested her Darlington time with 10.62 today at Rockingham. We got on the road fairly early but had a delay when Lonnie's mechanical fuel pump died. No local parts, so he switched to electric fuel pump only (the car has both) and away we went. New pump will be delivered to Bristol tomorrow. We had a second delay when Mo's Vette developed an odd noise - wheel bearing was suspected. Off on the side of the road, everything checked out and the noise did not return. Pics from today... 1 Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Desertdawg Posted September 20, 2023 Share Posted September 20, 2023 Really cool pictures. Thanks! Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Chameleon Posted September 21, 2023 Author Share Posted September 21, 2023 Raced at Bristol today, what an amazing venue!!! Times were a little off from the prior two days, but despite that, at the end of the day, both cars are sitting at 5th in their respective classes. Spent the rest of the day traveling to Carolina Dragway outside Aiken, SC, via the crazy route the sadists at Hot Rod Drag Week create. Mo's Vette developed an oil pressure issue the last few miles to the hotel tonight, we'll see how that plays out tomorrow. It's 10pm here, and Lonnie is still working on the Camaro. Pics from today... 1 Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
roneva Posted September 21, 2023 Share Posted September 21, 2023 Oh, those beautiful hills! Thanks for the pics. Good luck today and hopefully the oil problem is minor. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
aenigma Posted September 21, 2023 Share Posted September 21, 2023 Donna your pictures are beautiful. 1 Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Chameleon Posted September 22, 2023 Author Share Posted September 22, 2023 Cloudy and cool at Carolina Dragway "The House of Hook" today. Mo's Vette is still thundering along, managing a 10.74 today despite some puzzling oil system issues and cranky carburetors. Lonnie's Camaro pulled in a great 10.30 today, so he didn't run a second pass. Then 180+ miles cruising today back to Florence SC for the night. Both cars are still sitting in 5th place as of tonight. We return to Darlington Dragway tomorrow for the final round of competition, then load up the cars and depart for home. We need to be back in the valley Sunday night, so we've got some serious driving ahead of us starting tomorrow. Pics from today... 1 Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
old yeller Posted September 22, 2023 Share Posted September 22, 2023 Mo is getting good at lifting that front end off the ground. 1 Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Chameleon Posted September 22, 2023 Author Share Posted September 22, 2023 4 minutes ago, old yeller said: Mo is getting good at lifting that front end off the ground. Yup!!! Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
aenigma Posted September 22, 2023 Share Posted September 22, 2023 Donna your pictures are beautiful. Nice camera. donna is a master navigator. She kept us from getting lost so many times. She could also run circles around 20 somethings. So much energy and ability and knowledge of cars. I asked her a couple general but technical questions today on the road and it’s refreshing to hear answers out of a lady’s mouth. It’s been a great and exhausting week. She made it way easier than it’s ever been. Don’t get me wrong, it was brutal and not for the faint hearted. She’s an amazing lady who never backs down from a challenge. 1 Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Chameleon Posted September 22, 2023 Author Share Posted September 22, 2023 8 hours ago, aenigma said: Donna your pictures are beautiful. Nice camera. donna is a master navigator. She kept us from getting lost so many times. She could also run circles around 20 somethings. So much energy and ability and knowledge of cars. I asked her a couple general but technical questions today on the road and it’s refreshing to hear answers out of a lady’s mouth. It’s been a great and exhausting week. She made it way easier than it’s ever been. Don’t get me wrong, it was brutal and not for the faint hearted. She’s an amazing lady who never backs down from a challenge. Thanks, Mo! Most importantly, we have survived being tired, dirty, hot, hungry, exhausted with 70+ hours so far cooped up in a vehicle together and we're still friends! Thanks for inviting me, it has been a mind-boggling experience!!!! 1 Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
JohnU Posted September 23, 2023 Share Posted September 23, 2023 Great vacation! The rest of us can live vicariously watching this adventure and not even get our fingernails dirty! Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Chameleon Posted September 23, 2023 Author Share Posted September 23, 2023 8 hours ago, JohnU said: Great vacation! The rest of us can live vicariously watching this adventure and not even get our fingernails dirty! We were gonna stop at a White Castle too, but never saw one along our route... 1 Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Desertdawg Posted September 23, 2023 Share Posted September 23, 2023 Congrats to Lonnie and Mo, great to hear you two made the event with no major problems. I also think you two deserve a special reward for putting up with Donna the whole time. (honestly I thought she would be posting from the side of the road by now) J/K… Thanks for all the pictures and details Donna, it really was fun following along. 2 Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Chameleon Posted September 24, 2023 Author Share Posted September 24, 2023 This was an exhausting yet amazing experience. Beyond the simple "who is faster" goal, is the sheer amount of physical labor, stamina, automotive knowledge and the ability to improvise that is necessary to successfully compete, much less complete, this event. Add in the requirement to follow convoluted routes for hundreds of miles down twisty backroads in the boonies, and the challenge literally doubles. Both cars finished 5th, with Mo missing 4th by .005. She was a bit grumpy. Along the way, Lonnie kept both cars going. The Camaro had fuel pump failure, a right rear wheel/caliper with already tight clearance that decided to expand, resulting in handling issues, and the throttle pedal bracket bent out of place. The Vette had the high pressure ps line fail, weird wheel noises, vacuum line failure, bouncing oil pressure, and, on the last two days of racing, throttle response issues ranging from too-high idle to backfiring/dieseling. On our departure from Darlington on Friday, the battery in Mo's SUV tow vehicle has died, so we are jump starting it to get home. Sitting in Shamrock Texas this morning after 15 straight hours of driving yesterday, which was tiring but mostly uneventful except for a brief but violent storm east of Oklahoma City. Heading for home today. A few final pics... Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
P51tj Posted September 24, 2023 Share Posted September 24, 2023 THX Donna for this fun filled journey ... behind the keyboard! Good job to Mo and Lonnie and look forward for the next adventure! And for that storm cloud, I think I recognize it, I think it and a few of its friends made it our way last night.... sux sometimes living under a bowling alley! Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Chameleon Posted September 24, 2023 Author Share Posted September 24, 2023 There were storms all around us in eastern Oklahoma, and they were moving towards you. We had about 15 minutes of high wind, torrential rain with low visibility and then we ran out of it. Hoping for dry roads the rest of the drive home! Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
aenigma Posted September 24, 2023 Share Posted September 24, 2023 2 hours ago, Chameleon said: This was an exhausting yet amazing experience. Beyond the simple "who is faster" goal, is the sheer amount of physical labor, stamina, automotive knowledge and the ability to improvise that is necessary to successfully compete, much less complete, this event. Add in the requirement to follow convoluted routes for hundreds of miles down twisty backroads in the boonies, and the challenge literally doubles. Both cars finished 5th, with Mo missing 4th by .005. She was a bit grumpy. Along the way, Lonnie kept both cars going. The Camaro had fuel pump failure, a right rear wheel/caliper with already tight clearance that decided to expand, resulting in handling issues, and the throttle pedal bracket bent out of place. The Vette had the high pressure ps line fail, weird wheel noises, vacuum line failure, bouncing oil pressure, and, on the last two days of racing, throttle response issues ranging from too-high idle to backfiring/dieseling. On our departure from Darlington on Friday, the battery in Mo's SUV tow vehicle has died, so we are jump starting it to get home. Sitting in Shamrock Texas this morning after 15 straight hours of driving yesterday, which was tiring but mostly uneventful except for a brief but violent storm east of Oklahoma City. Heading for home today. A few final pics... 😂 Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
roneva Posted September 24, 2023 Share Posted September 24, 2023 Thanks for all the updates and progress reports. I always impressed by anyone who can "fix it" on the run. They may have been minor issues to Lonnie, but they would have been major for me! In spite of everything, sounds like you had a great time. 1 Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
aenigma Posted September 24, 2023 Share Posted September 24, 2023 5 hours ago, roneva said: Thanks for all the updates and progress reports. I always impressed by anyone who can "fix it" on the run. They may have been minor issues to Lonnie, but they would have been major for me! In spite of everything, sounds like you had a great time. I wouldn’t have changed this “vacation” for any other vacation. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
HOXXOH Posted September 25, 2023 Share Posted September 25, 2023 Greg and Julie announced they will be conducting a full verbal disposition (hopefully adding a photo requirement) from Donna at the Tuesday Geezer lunch. Don't miss the fun. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
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