posted 08-11-2007 04:02 PM                  

I haven't got mine posted anywhere for people to see them yet as I am waiting for friends from around the world to send me copies. Anyone interested in seeing all my pics once I get them, give a reply to this and I will keep you posted.

The Great American Run by Scott of Team #06.

My friend Eric (www.teamsrt8.com) from Dallas decided to ship his car (a Dodge Charger SRT8 with 715 hp) out to Florida to do the Rally with me. Personally, I don’t think he could bear to do a 3,000 miles run in my Prowler, it is a great car for me but he’s a little (maybe a lot) bigger than me so I don’t blame him. Plus, with two people there isn’t room for any necessity items such as food and water.

Eric and the car got to the Hard Rock Hotel & Casino in Hollywood, FL on Thursday, July 26th; I met up with him the next day. Eric had dropped the car off the previous day at Speed & Truck World to have the after market air-ride suspension looked over and have a new air tank put in. We spent Friday hanging out playing pool waiting for the shop to finish. Once it got late in the day, we drove to the shop to figure out what was taking so long, ends up they were just slow. Of course they didn’t finish even with us pushing, so we left it with them over night. Before we left we asked them to put new tires all around. We went to pick it up Saturday at 2:00 (they close at 3:00) and they had not done the tires, as they did not have the lug nut key needed to remove the wheels, (it had been lost). Of course they never called us to tell us this. It was now up to me and Eric to run around town looking for four 18mm deep-dish thin wall sockets that could be hammered onto each of the locking-lug-nuts, one on each wheel. Once firmly stuck onto the lug nut we would be able to remove them. At 2:30 we found them at Sears, but when we got back to the shop they wouldn’t do the tires because they were ready to leave for the day. So we loaded the new tires into the rental car and took them and the Charger to the tire shop down the road. Of course after they did the tires they wouldn’t do the oil because they wanted to close by 4:00. We then returned the rental car and headed back to the Hard Rock Hotel to get ready for the kick-off party at the Pangaea Club, which is on the grounds of the Hard Rock Hotel.

It was about 5:00 and a bunch of us went to Hooters to get a bite to eat and a beer. Des and HeCe had never been to Hooters so I got all the girls from the staff to pose for a picture with them. HeCe handed each to the girls his business card (a condom on the stick with his name printed on it), I think they all first thought it was a lollipop and as soon as they figured out what it was a couple of the young girls freaked out and ran away and wouldn’t come back for the picture.

The weather was beautiful as we lined up 8 of the Rally cars for display in front of the club. The kick-off party was to start at 10PM, but what started was thunder, lightning, and a torrential dour pour. Luckily, I had shown up 30 minutes early and was able to take cover inside the club with the staff. The whole property even lost power for a period of time. A little after 11:00, the rain slowed and the people started to show up. Pangaea is a great club with great staff, unfortunately the club was opened to the public and they started coming in droves around midnight. At that point it was hard to tell who was associated with the Rally. Chris, from Dallas, and I hung out in the VIP lounge most of the night (my thanks go out to the club manager Jamison), I ended up leaving around 5am.

Day 1 - Sunday, the day of the start. Eric and I took the car to Firestone to get the oil changed and then drove over to Wal-Mart to get a few tools for the road. We were sitting at the stop sign to exit the parking lot; I heard loud bang and the car jerked to the side. Just as it happened, a car was pulling into the parking lot and right beside us, I could swear the guy had just hit us. I kept saying “*&^%, *&^%, I can’t believe this guy just hit us”. Eric stopped me just before I jumped out of the car to cuss the guy out. It is now 3:30 and just 2 ½ hours until the start of the Rally. Eric calmly said “they didn’t hit us, we just blew an air bag on the rear suspension”. I couldn’t believe it, I was sure this car pulling in had hit us. I got out of the car and he was right, the right rear of the car was sitting on the tire.

We limped the car back to the hotel hoping not to blow the tire. We spent the next 2 ½ hours (missing the actual start of the Rally with all the other cars) tearing apart the rear suspension and making calls to everyone in the phonebook until we could find someone that may be able to help us. At about 6pm James from Trackside Road Service (954-471-6003) showed up to see if he could help. James’ company is a mobile service company that fixes semi trucks when they breakdown on the side of the road. We called he company knowing they would be familiar with air-ride suspensions on vehicles. He tried his best to help find an air bag from one of the truck service centers to replace ours, to no avail. At 7pm we came up with the solution, we would acquire/borrow a Dodge Charger and tear out its stock rear suspension and put it in the SRT. The next day I would call a dealership from the road, pay for the parts, have them shipped to James and he would come back to the Hard Rock put the parts in and then return the car for me. Easier said then done, but more on that at the end of the story. I arrived back at the Hard Rock shortly after 7pm with the borrowed car and we (mostly, if not all James with me trying not to drop the car on him – I almost crushed him twice) spent the next 5 ½ hours tearing apart the borrowed car and installing the parts on our car. We got the SRT car back together and on the road at 1am, a full 7 hours after everyone else and headed for New Orleans, our first checkpoint.

Day 2 - The drive to New Orleans, 908 miles, was uneventful with no cops or traffic so we were able to make good time. We checked into the checkpoint around 11:30, showered and took a much-needed nap. After the group dinner we headed out to Bourbon Street for a bit of celebration. After a long night bar hopping and escorting a few fellow drivers back to the hotel, Des (of www.gtspirit.com) and I were still pumped for adventure so the two of us headed back to Rick’s Cabaret to continue the party. After several hours and several dozen more drinks, we and a couple of locals headed back out to do the tourist thing, taking time to see some of the architecture, walk a local college campus, and do a bit of rope swinging over the Mississippi River; I still have Mississippi mud on my shoes that I can’t get off.

Day 3 - Des and I got back to the hotel at 7:30am, just in time for the 8:00am departure to San Antonio. Eric and I got into San Antonio, TX that afternoon with no problems. The group dinner was good, much better then the crap they had served the night before in New Orleans. Dinner was the start of a pattern, as HeCe and I ended up buying a bottle of Gray Goose Vodka and wine from the bar for our table. This would be the first of many to come over the course of the trip.

Day 4 - off to Tucson, AZ, 872 miles. Eric and I stopped on the way for gas and picked some surprises for our friends. On a long and desolate road we pulled over, lit a smoke bomb, and threw it under our car. When we saw our friends Des and HeCe come over the hill we waived them down. Showing concern for our well being they pulled over and hopped out of their car to make sure we were okay. As they took pictures and video we told them to get-back as something might be dripping and catch fire, we then jumped in our car and drove off leaving them in them in a hail of dust and gravel with the smoke bomb sitting at their feet. I am sure they were a little dumb founded.

Sometime after the smoke bomb and before Tucson, Eric was pulled over for 93mph in an 80mph zone. Arriving in Tucson we missed our exit to the hotel and we continued down the highway but every exit we came to was barricaded. We weren’t sure why as it appeared all the construction was done and someone just forgot to remove the gates. We were now 15 miles past our exit and we still could not find an exit, with our frustration growing we finally decide enough was enough. Eric squeezed the car through the cones and pulled up to the first set of barricades, I jumped out and pulled them down and jumped back in. We drove up the exit ramp to the second set of barricades and did it all again. I was so nervous, I just knew a cop was going to pull up and ask me what the hell I was thinking.

In the parking lot at the hotel in Tucson my laptop slid off the back of the car fell to the ground and severely damaged the case, little would we know how bad the damage was for several days. Dinner that night was great but I had too much to drink and my frustrations showed about not understanding exactly how the times were being calculated, I may of made a bit of an ass of myself.

Day 5 - destination Las Vegas. After clocking in at the checkpoint we went the Venetian Hotel to get our room. Nice hotel but you have to take two different elevators and walk a mile just to get to the room. Dinner was planned for the group at 9:30pm at the Stratosphere Restaurant but after not eating all day HeCe and I headed to the Rhino for a couple of drinks and a bite to eat. We got to the Stratosphere around 9:00 and headed atop to go on a ride. We ended up going on “The Big Shot”, a hydraulic freefall drop tower, similar to many found at theme parks--except this one is on top of the tower, a 1,000 feet up. After, we headed to the lounge to meet the rest of the crew. The restaurant didn’t seat us until 10:30 a full hour after everyone expected, good thing HeCe and I had grabbed a sub at the club earlier. This place could be a very romantic spot to eat if you are on a date; the whole thing rotates and provides spectacular views, hard to appreciate it when you’re sitting with a bunch of guys. On the second rotation past the dessert cart I stuck one of HeCe’s business cards J in a piece of cake sitting on the cart. One of the waiters later told me it almost made it a full circle before someone pointed it out to them. As neat of a place as it is, the food was horrible. After dinner it was back to the Venetian, Club Tao and the casino for a little gambling and people watching. HeCe and I didn’t stay at Tao too long and it’s probably a good thing as Des and few of the other guys run up a $20,000 bar tab.

Day 6 – Final Leg – destination Willow Springs Racetrack, CA.

I spent the first 2 hours of the 4 hour drive hacking away at the excel spreadsheet Eric had created on my laptop, going through every equation making sure they were right. This was our final leg and we needed to be right on the money with our check-in time. This Rally was not about who got to the end first but who was able to average the closest to 61mph over the entire route. Easier said then done, highway speeds put you over; cities, weather and traffic put you under. You have to calculate your drive time with the mileage that was predetermined for you. Of coarse with all the different information we were given over the previous five days, we weren’t sure of this until this last leg.

At the 2-hour mark, I got everything on the spreadsheet just the way I wanted, it crashed and would not come back up. The damage from the laptop falling days earlier had caught up with us. I had spent so much time looking at, correcting, and changing the formulas I failed to see what the check-in time we needed to hit was. Toshiba tech service could do nothing for us as they stated we needed a rescue disk, which I didn’t have. I pulled up the internet on my phone and did a Google Search for Mojave Desert and computer, I got lucky. Right away I found and called Chris at Professor CPU in Rosamond, CA., just outside Willow Springs Raceway and he agreed to bring his computer and software and meet us outside the checkpoint at the track to see if he could get the laptop up and running or at least get the data off so we could see what the time was we needed to hit. Chris pulled up shortly after we arrived and went to work trying to get the laptop to fire up. Eric and I had a best guess as to the time we needed to clock-in, but it was just a guess and we knew we wouldn’t win with just a guess. As the time ticked down to what we were guessing I pressed Chris to hurry, and with only minutes left to the ‘best guess’, I left the laptop with Chris, got back into our car and started for the check point, cell phone in hand hoping Chris would call with our EXCACT time for check-in. The call never came. We punched in and knew we were out. Chris then drove up to the track and handed back the laptop; it was a sad moment as we had just lost any chance of winning the $100,000 car being given for first prize. Chris had tried his best but the hard-drive was too far-gone. I want to thank Chris for his efforts and should anyone be stuck in the Mojave Desert and need a computer technician give him a call 661-317-4348.

After a short time watching some of our fellow Rally drivers run the track, the 106-degree weather and no shade was to much so we headed to L.A. with Des & HeCe following. L.A. traffic was as bad as everyone says, we went left when we should have gone right and it took us 2 hours to go 8 miles. We checked into the Millennium Biltmore in downtown L.A., what a crap hotel with even worse service. The rooms were so small, old furniture & linens, and all the hallways and rooms were painted some deplorable color of yellow. That night everyone got dressed in his or her tuxedos and gowns for the final Gala. The food was great; they presented the awards for various things, and announced the winners. Des and HeCe were award second place in the Rally and given a nice plaque and a bottle of champagne. After dinner the crowd moved to the hotel bar, which was severely understaffed, it took 45 minutes just to get a beer. Then to everyone’s dismay, they made last call at 1:00am, everyone was a bit upset as the rest of L.A. bars close at 2:00am. A group of 12 of us, or so, scrounged around for a bottle of whatever we could find and moved to a deserted part of the hotel. The party was going well but the wine and champagne was running out. One of the guys grabbed a taxi and headed out to find more supplies, luckily they got the right driver. He took them somewhere (I think the back of someone’s trunk) as they came back with bottles of Grey Goose, Scotch, beer, wine, and all the mixings possibly needed. Around 3:30am the hotel staff came and said we needed to shut things down and move on. With the party still going strong HeCe and I (don’t remember this part but it is what I was told) grab the service cart we had made into a make-shift bar and wheeled it out of the hotel and down the street to official Great American Run touring bus that was parked on a 45 degree slope and continued the party. What a site, a group of drunks trying to stand up straight in a cocked-eyed bus and make drinks. I made it to bed around 5:30am.

Day 7 – HeCe and I drove around Hollywood doing some site seeing. That night Willy, Nelson, Des, HeCe, a guy from Britain, and myself went to the Ivy for dinner then to check out a few clubs in Hollywood. Got to bed at 5:00am.

Day 8 – Easy day hanging out and talking with the few people still left in the hotel from the Rally. Most of the people that were staying in LA for a few days had changed to better hotels. That night Des, HeCe and I grabbed a taxi to Venice Beach to meet some friends. I knew it would be a late night again and I had a 6:45am flight out of LAX, so I had checked out of the hotel and left my bags with the bellman. At 3:30am I got a taxi back to the hotel, grabbed my bags, then went to the airport, $90 bucks.

When I got back home I was beat. Back to the borrowed Charger we used to get us on the road initially. Every day I was on the phone trying to find who had the parts I needed to get the car back together and making calls to the Hard Rock Valet management telling them I was doing my best to get the car out of there. Everyday they would tell me the hotel management wanted to tow away, but they would buy me another day. Could you imagine the amount of damage they would have done if they had towed it, the car was sitting on blocks. Little did I know, no dealership stocked the parts I needed. I guess they weren’t something typically needed or replaced so no one stocked them. I ended up having to special order a couple of the parts, found the rest spread between two different dealership around the country and had everything being shipped back to James at Trackside Road Service. Everyone dropped the ball on me, things didn’t get shipped or I was told they shipped but really hadn’t. Of course I would never find this out until the next day. One dealership even gave me a tracking number but it wasn’t for my parts I found out the following day, then they lost the ‘ship to’ address, then didn’t send them again and again. James finally received the last part on Tuesday the 7th of August, and then on Wednesday he got food poisoning. Thursday still recovering, James made it to the Hard Rock Hotel, where the car was inside the valet garage still on blocks and was able to get it back together a full 11 days after I said I would return it. James then even returned the car for me. What a lifesaver James was from beginning to end. Thank you, thank you, James.

The whole thing was an adventure and one I will not forget easily. I met a lot of great people and am already ready for the next Rally.

posted 08-22-2007 04:40 PM                  

If you have a myspace account you can see a bunch from the rally there http://www.myspace.com/99prowler

if you don't you can see them by following the individual page links below, though you probably won't be able to blow any of them up.