Friday, May 1, 2009

Friday Morning Registration and Tech Inspection

Woody - May 1, 1:30 pm

After a relatively mild Thursday evening, Robin and I were both awake at 6 this morning.  We had eaten dinner with Dick and Jerry at a Lebanese restaurant when the popular Steak & Ale was found to be closed and ready for auction.  We did split two bottles of a Rosenblum Cuvee XXX Zinfandel and had lots of laughs, some at the expense of our young waitress.  The bar was lightly populated so we returned to the room by 10:30.  

This morning we met Jerry for a big breakfast at the Pancake House across from the Quality Inn and made a stop at Walmart for some necessities.  Of course we got separated in the big box and had to use cell phones to locate one another.   Next was the Water Works car wash for a good scrubbing before we continued to the Tire Rack headquarters for registration and the application of the required sponsor decals.  As usual, the large Tire Rack parking lot, quite visible from I-80, was cool and windy.

Lots of old acquaintances are here and we've met some new competitors too.  Rene Richthofen, the "Red Baron" (actually a nephew) has a new car - a Porsche 911 Twin Turbo.  With his usual humor, he said, "It has two??"  Derek Whitis, the owner of a well-heeled team has a tractor-trailer with his two One Lap cars:  a Nissan GT-R and a BMW M6.  Derek and his co-driver, Tom Long, are at New Jersey Motorsports Park where they'll be competing in the Koni Challenge race against our friends Barry Battle and Michael Dayton.  Don't ask me how they'll be allowed to meet up with their third  driver in the Nissan (it's a 2-seater) Sunday morning near Cincinnati.  I'm disappointed to learn Mark Simons from Ashburn, who was planning to drive this year with his brother in an E46 M3, has dropped out.  He figured he should stay home with his new daughter and wife KC.

I must say Robin's BMW looks very impressive with its many Project Zero sponsor and donor decals and stickers.  Robin had Brock Yates Sr sign one of the Stick It to Prostate Cancer stickers.  We'll try to get some pictures on here soon.

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