So, I may be Officially Insane

So, the trip is starting to wind down, but I should at least update everyone on the last two days (tomorrow should be the last day... the final drive home).

I got to the site yesterday morning, quickly changed my tires, and since I was running first heat, went to grid. Here is my car and my "partner" car for the ProSolo 1st Heat:

I ran OK the first heat... I think I was 3rd of 5 at that point (or maybe just barely in 4th). There was a co-driven Audi TT that was classed with us and they were just destroying us all. I was pretty neck-and-neck with the 3rd place guy (that Acura) all along. Afterwards, in impound:

This guy ran the same heat, I'm not sure what his times were, but he was totally killing everybody in the awesome department.

I thought I'd had a fuel cut or two on my last run, so I limped to the nearest gas station on my Hoosiers to fill up.

Really only picture from today is this one:

Maybe it is just because yesterday was Independence Day, but I felt extra American to be eating lunch at a drive-in sitting in a car wearing race slicks. If Harrison Ford had pulled up in his hot rod, I would've smoked his ass.

After a poor showing through pretty much all of heats (lots of cones, really for the entire field, but I was a big contributor... it was a course with a lot of slaloms, and if you got behind, if you didn't slow down, you started poppin' cones left and right), I almost forgot to enter for the bonus challenge... and then they drew my name! Sweet!

First round was against Richard Baker, he had a black Mazda RX-8 in RT2... so it was black Mazda vs. black Mazda. He picked up two cones on the right side, so I took a 3.5 second advantage to the second half. I can't remember if I opened the gap or not on the second run, but regardless, I was through to the next round.

Next up was Olga Bogdanova, driving Alex Shipkov's DSP BMW... and honestly, I thought I was toast. Then after the first runs, I had a 2.5s cushion on Olga! On the second runs she clawed about 0.5 back, but I'd gone through the final!

This time I was up against a local region member... Kurt Janish (sp?). And I thought I was toast again, but he broke his CP car ('90s something Trans-Am) on his last run. Somebody loaned him their Camaro CP car and I figured it was either really good for me or really bad (good, because different car, cold tires; bad because, I still had to beat him, and maybe my tires were getting overheated).

I did end up with quite a bit of time (maybe 7 minutes) because of the 2 minute break and his ~5min mechanical delay. Finally we were ready to run, and somehow I smoked him by 6.5seconds! The last run I took it really lazy at the lights, only hit a .800 or so, and just tried to stay away from the cones. My plan was to be super clean and just run fast enough to keep him honest. He pulled a second back, but it wasn't nearly enough. So I won the Bonus Challenge! My first Nationalish win of any kind, so I'm quite pleased, even if it isn't a "real" trophy or anything, I did get a free entry to a future national event, and this swell hat:

Here's the cars of the three challenge champions... my Miata for the Bonus Challenge, Mark Madarash's GTA Trans-Am for the Super Challenge, and Tara John's E-Stock Miata for the Ladies Challenge. So, two out of three challenge winners drove E-Stock Miatas... just sayin'.

We got to spray cheap champagne on each other and everything!

Afterwards, I went back to the hotel and came back for the awards ceremony to watch two guys that I run against locally pick up their trophies... Rich Grunenwald won STC, and Paul MaGee finished third in the challenge (he and Rich were head-to-head for the Quarter-Final).

After the dinner, I decided to just kinda take a looping drive back to the gas station, sorta north, then east to the main road, then back to Blytheville, stop at the Shell, then Sonic for a celebratory milkshake, then hotel and sleep...

Then it got interesting, about five minutes of driving north, I realized there wasn't much to see, and decided to take this little dirt road to the east over to the main road. Figured, heck, I'm out here in rural Arkansas, I should drive on at least one dirt road while I'm here. Made it a little over a mile, and the Miata sputtered twice and just died... apparently they don't have low fuel lights. I figured I was low, but thought I had a good 25 miles of fuel left. It couldn't have been a more ridiculous place to be stuck. View to the west:

And to the east:

I just could not believe it. I shook my head and laughed, found I didn't have cell service, cursed, and decided it was probably about two miles in either direction, so I might as well get pushin'. According to the trip odo, I'd pushed it about 0.5 miles when my dad just randomly called. Somehow, that got the cellphone talking to the tower, and I was able to determine I'd pushed it about 0.5 miles the wrong way... it was 2.6miles to continue in that direction, or 1.1miles back... so started to turn the car around. And got it stuck. Twice.

After that I decided I needed help, and called one of the guys I knew in town. By then the phone was working well enough I could send him my location. I decided to start pushing just in case... made it about 0.7ish miles (again, trip odo) before he got there. Ugh... I am tired.

Tomorrow I'm packing up and going home. Hopefully, that is the big episode of the trip... I figure I cursed myself this morning. I was sittin' there thinkin', "Y'know, I really haven't any issues at all on this trip. Not really much of an adventure if there's not adversity, right? Well, now I've had all the adversity I care to endure for now. Hopefully, I've paid off the curse...

Slept in yesterday and loaded up the car. Then got breakfast and stopped by AutoZone to get some Goo Gone. The stickers left quite a bit of residue on the car and I wanted it off before it got harder to remove. Got the car all cleaned up and then stopped by the site to say goodbye, then went back to the Hotel to wash up and hit the road.

Not many pictures. In the first 100 miles I drove in four states, Arkansas, Missouri, Tennessee and Kentucky, so that was cool. Didn't stop much, so not many pictures.

Crossing the mighty Mississippi into Tennessee.

In Kentucky I apparently made a wrong turn into a Sprint Cup Race.

He pitted early and I didn't see him again. Not sure if I won or not. Since I wasn't the one driving a Taurus, I'll assume "yes."

Rest of the drive was pretty uneventful, stopped for late lunch/early dinner at a Thai place in Elizabethtown, KY. Got an ice cream cone just out of Cincinnati and I was starting to feel the pull of home.

Got off I-270 (almost home) and driving the last mile or so the roads were pretty clear, not many cars about. Stopped at the very last light before home, less than 0.5 mile, and waiting at the light, I noticed a car pull up behind me in my rearview.

"Huh", I thought, "That looks suspiciously like a Crown Victoria...", leaned forward "Yep, that's a light bar. I wonder if he's noticed that my 96-hour temporary tag expired 7-5 and it is the 6th?"

Sure enough, as soon as the light turned green, I left as inconspicuously as possible. But as soon I was through the intersection he lit me up. Great.

I started getting my license out, and gave it to him. He asked me why my plate was expired and asked for my registration. I told him I had the title and proof of insurance in the trunk. Then remembered that my "plate" was actually the registration. He asked me to get the title from the trunk and I did. He ran the VIN to confirm it wasn't stolen, and then let me off with a warning.

He came back with the title and said "You got a heck of deal for $6500" and we talked about the car and my trip for about 10 minutes.

Whew... unbelievable trip, but I'm glad to be home.

Man, what an ordeal, glad you kept a positive outlook on it.

The car looks awesome!

You drove right past my house! I see that Taurus on an almost daily basis.

Glad the cop was nice. Awesome trip.

crankwalk wrote: Man, what an ordeal, glad you kept a positive outlook on it. The car looks awesome!

Yeah, I wouldn't use the word ordeal. Maybe "experience". I definitely stood there incredulously for a few minutes when it ran out of gas. I just could not believe I'd actually run out. But at that point... I mean, getting mad wouldn't have helped, so I tried on my own, then got help.

I guess what I'm trying to say is: Thanks, but sometimes, you just gotta do what ya gotta do, y'know?

Junkyard_Dog wrote: You drove right past my house! I see that Taurus on an almost daily basis. Glad the cop was nice. Awesome trip.

Ha! Small world!

Regarding the car... I do not understand what would possess someone to do that, but whatever. It also reminds me of just how varied "car guys" can be. I mean, that guy definitely thinks of himself as a "car guy" guarantee.

I was just thinking about that while I was driving... I saw hot rods, new Corvettes, jacked-up trucks, old classic pick-ups, old beater muscle cars, a Ferrari, a 911, a dirt track race car getting towed somewhere, a demo derby car rotting in a front yard... and it just struck me about all the different ways that people like and enjoy cars, and yet they are only related by "car."

I mean, think about how different someone building an old Duesenberg for a concours is from the guy building a crapcan racer is... but both would definitely think they're car guys and also think the other guy is nuts. I dunno... I guess I just feel that sometimes we as autocrossers/performance minded folks can be awful judgemental about what other people do with their vehicles (I'm guilty of it too), but everybody is just doing what is fun for them. As long as it's safe, I for one am gonna try to not judge from here on out.

I may have had a lot of time for mind-wandering philosophy this trip.

Judging by where I see that Taurus, I'm going to skip "Car Guy" and go right to "Beer Guy"-and crappy watery beer at that.