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Archives for January 2008

Something in the air….

January 27, 2008 by Will Faules 3 Comments

There is always a different mindset whenever I wake up on a race morning. It feels like there is something different in the air. Especially at a high profile event.

I got up on Saturday morning and knew I was in for something exciting, but I had no idea….
Just driving to the track, what has seemed like normal suburban/industrial streets turned into what seemed like rush hour in New York City. I knew if I waited in line I would never get to the pits in time to see the cars grid before the race, so I devised a plan. I passed all the cars turning into the speedway and pulled to the left of the car in the very front of the line, a new, very modified black Corvette. I rolled my window down and told him if he let me in front of him I would give him my extra infield parking pass and he replied “ I park in the pits, I have better passes than that”. I laughed as I made the same offer to the next car and they let me in and I was off. As I drove into the garage area I saw the guy getting out of the black Vette in the standard grass parking lot, now with mud all over his recently polished wheels, tires and fenders. I rolled my window down and yelled to him with a devilish grin “Hey mister, the pits are this way, want a ride?” He and his wife declined as they proceed to walk along outside of the gate to the ticket stand as I drove into the garage area. Some people!!!

Once I was in the garage area I felt like I was inside my television that I watch every race on. Now while HDTV is awesome, there is absolutely nothing like being there and actually feeling the rumble of the cars warming up in the garages and the smell of the SUNOCO 260 race fuel burning, and almost getting run over by golf carts driven by names like, Chip Ganassi, Boris Said, Max Papis, Jimmie Johnson, Juan Montoya, Kurt Busch, and the list goes on. It is fun to be able to walk right into the pits at the Daytona 24 Hour, with camera in hand snapping away. I watched as the teams pushed their cars out with the drivers in full suit following their car like a NASA Shuttle launch prep. The machines meticulously prepped, everyone’s morale was high. Press was everywhere. About the time I was wishing my friend Ken Dobson good luck the police came through and got everybody out of the pits and off the grass, so I decided the infield would be a good place to watch the start.

As expected somebody was in a hurry to end their race on the first lap of a 24 hour race. The GT cars came through and a Porsche already had a flat apparently from contact with another car. As the race sorted out I made my way around the infield carnival area and got some cool souvenirs. After that I decided to go back to the garage area.

In the Fanzone there was a big stage set up with a DJ and while I was ordering food at the NASCAR Bistro thinking about Ricky Bobby and NASCAR going French I overheard the DJ mention that SUM 41, one of my favorite bands, would be playing a concert!

I walked through the garages where there was already 3 cars broken, 2 terminal and one being worked on. The spares each team has amazes me every time I see it. There only one rule for the DP cars for changing parts during a race; no engine swaps. That means that every team has every other spare part ready to go in their garage including an assembled cockpit.

Before I knew it I could hear the concert starting so I made my way back to the Fanzone to watch SUM 41 perform. As I walked up as close as I could to the stage I was nailed with an empty beer can flung from the mosh pit. I decided the typical viewing area wasn’t cutting it for me. So I proceeded to walk into the backstage area where I was confronted by a security guard asking me what I was doing. I flashed him my Grand-Am credential which say in big letters CREW as I said “I’m with the band” and walked backstage where I watched the rest of the show. The whole time I was thinking “I have always wanted to say that.”

After the concert ,as the skies turned black, there was a huge fireworks show. By now the race was pretty sorted out, but rain was on the radar. SO on the next pit cycle all the teams put in their rain hot shoe.

About this time I decided to drive over to the main grandstands because there was dry seating and I had been walking around all day. The view was awesome from the grandstands. It looks like 4 Candlestick Parks could fit inside the speedway. After watching for a couple hours with my cameras 1G memory card full it was time to call it a day.

It was definitely an week I will never forget.
Boy I can’t wait to come back as a driver!!!

I am at the Orlando Airport on a slow Internet connection so I will post all the pictures when I get home tonight.

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Are you a flasher?

January 26, 2008 by Gary Grant Leave a Comment

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Have you ever flashed your high beams to warn oncoming drivers of a radar trap? Like many of us, it is likely that you have.

In essence, the job of police is “To Serve & Protect”. That should mean that slowing speeders down is the goal of radar traps. Unfortunately, most police departments are under funded so the radar trap becomes a much needed source of revenue. What happens when Joe Citizen warns a fellow motorist of a speed trap? Well, that really ticks off the guys who have been given a sales target for the day’s shift and they respond with a ticket for the unsuspecting good Samaritan. But is it legal?
[Read more…]

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Danica Patrick’s Go Daddy beaver will not be appearing on Superbowl Sunday

January 25, 2008 by Gary Grant 2 Comments

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It seems that references to Canada’s National rodent animal are too controversial for football fans. The beaver reference in question was part of GoDaddy.com’s proposed Super Bowl ad. Rather than risk worrying the bible belt, Fox told Go Daddy it was no go for the clip.

Go Daddy has responded by filming a spot with their animated beaver characters, Jack & Dougie, watching the original ad on the GoDaddy.com website rather than actually advertising GoDaddy.

Perhaps another title for this post could have been Viral marketing takes on Danica Patrick’s beaver.

Source AZ Central via Winding Road

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Just another day at THE beach

January 24, 2008 by Will Faules 3 Comments

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Today we showed up at the track and I had some last minute stuff to do to the car before the tech Nazi would let us go out on track. Before we knew it, it was time to get the car to pre-grid for our first practice.

Rich, team owner and driver, took the car out first and after several hot laps turned the car over to hot shoe Ken Dobson while I made some tire pressure adjustments then we were off to some fast laps. While Ken was out lapping something caught my eye to the right and as I looked up I saw a black Pontiac going much faster than the pit lane speed limit, did I mention he was sliding sideways?!?! He slid into a GTI that had a mechanic adjusting tire pressures on the car and that mechanic looked as if he had just drank 3 Red Bulls as he soared through the air. Luckily he was fine and walked away, however the Pontiac was not ok. It had really bad damage. I’m not really sure how bad the GTI was but I think it went back out that session. Not long after that incident Ken radioed in that he thought we had an engine problem.
[Read more…]

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Lets go to THE Beach!

January 23, 2008 by Will Faules 4 Comments

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Beach towel:nope

Sunscreen: nope

Volleyball: Definitely not

Board shorts: won’t need those

Tools: yup!

Spare parts: Yup

Mechanix Gloves:check!

Flame suit: I’ll need that too..

Two days ago when I was getting ready to go to THE beach, in January, I wasn’t going through the usual “beach” checklist. I was getting ready to go racing at Daytona International Raceway.
[Read more…]

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Splinter Special

January 23, 2008 by Gary Grant 3 Comments

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We’ve made another new friend here in The Garage today. Dale Smith found us via Jeff Bressler’s post about board track racing on Long Island. Dale lives in Indianapolis and has some hard core enthusiasm for racing in his family. Dale and artist friend Brian Stinger have created this fabulous display of board track racing history. The Miller Splinter Special was built out of steel on a high pressure water cutting tool, while Smith built the replica track surface.
[Read more…]

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Cabin Fever in California

January 23, 2008 by Gary Faules 1 Comment

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All this talk about Will out racing in Daytona while I am stuck with the storms we have here in California not to mention the first race of the season isn’t for a few more weeks yet has got me going stir-crazy.  It reminded me of how Will and his buddies used to pass the time when there was no tracks or snow for that matter.

It was the same type of boredom that forced Will to invent MCS, better known as Muscle Car Skiing. All you need are a couple old skis,  a rear facing seat out of a friend’s Suzuki, a ski rope from dad’s ski boat and a hopped up muscle car.

Will bolted the seat to the skis and then tied the ski rope onto his 68 Mustang and then had his girlfriend take off down the street and thru and intersection with a rise where it was all about catching some air.

God only knows what he’s up to while it’s raining at Daytona! I better start figuring out how much money is left in his bail fund. 

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2008 WRX STi has arrived

January 23, 2008 by Gary Grant Leave a Comment

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As I mentioned on the weekend, the 2008 Subaru Impreza WRX STi has finally arrived in stores. I know that many folks are iffy about the switch to a hatchback format, but I think the car looks great. The only complaint I have is the front fenders end too abruptly, looking more like a homebuilt GT-3 car rather than a world class rally car.

Gallery after the break
[Read more…]

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If only there was something to do…

January 23, 2008 by Gary Faules 3 Comments

So now that Winter is here and the family insist we take them to the Lake Tahoe for the weekend where I have to sit at the bottom of some damn hill and watch them go snow boarding. For those of us who frequent such familiar road courses such as Laguna Seca, Infineon, Firebird, Sebring and others we are left with no place to go and nothing to do except to sit in our cars with anticipation. But wait… It seems there is something for all concerned!

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Striking a Cord in The Garage

January 23, 2008 by Gary Grant Leave a Comment

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It’s been a while since we’ve heard from our West coast guy, Aaron Von Minden. Well, not really. We’ve heard from the Von Fonda, we just haven’t gotten around to posting the cool pics he sends us.

The Savage Speed Garage has gotten a pretty solid rep for building super cool hot rods, but there is really more to it. Over the past weeks, Aaron & his boys have been doing paint and resto work on this really cool 37 Cord. These photos were taken just before the car was sent out for glass and interior work. Somewhere there is a very lucky owner about to enjoy a nicely restored car.

more pics after the break
[Read more…]

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