Stardust Rally

[RallySnake]

There is an exciting event coming up next month for California car nuts who REALLY like to drive. We will leave Palmdale around 10 PM and drive to Las Vegas. Not directly to Vegas, but out through the most remote desert roads in the US. We will stop for breaks and checkpoints along the way and will probably spend about 9 to 10 hours in the car. We will also stop in a very dark location to see the Leonid meteor shower at its best. The event starts on the 15th of November which usually provides the best night time temperatures in Nevada. We are planning to drive the Cobra all the way if weather permits. If you like driving and seeing incredible scenery, you should check this out. We only do these runs to Las Vegas once every few years and you don't want to miss it. The maps and instructions are very easy to follow and you get to drive whatever speed you are comfortable with.

RS

[RallySnake]

The weather is looking GREAT for Stardust, we will definitely run without a top. The following information is from our organizer:

On Friday night, Nov. 15, at 7PM, Registration will open at --
In - 'n - Out Burger
142 E. Palmdale Bl. (CA 138)
Palmdale, CA 93550
(Exit CA 14 FWY at Palmdale Bl., go about 0.5 east.)

As you may have heard, this rally will feature a meteor shower stop, before dawn in the darkest part of the desert, where the Leonid shower is predicted to peak at 80 - 100 shooting stars per hour. I've always wanted to see this, and it seems a lot of other folks have wanted to also. Here's our chance. And not only that, the comet ISON should be also near peak, and it's predicted to appear quite huge, almost as if it's trying to steal the show.

The rally course will take us through a wide assortment of terrain and conditions. Mountains, canyons, river valleys, farmland, and the wide open desert. We'll see some quaint little towns and points of geologic or historic interest flashing by outside our windows.

As another bonus, gas prices are down. At this writing, regular is under 3.50 in many places.
To heighten the drama and pay homage to the late, great Starlite rally, our Route Instructions and Official Maps will not be made available until the opening of Registration.

If you have never done a Monte Carlo style rally, fret not. We've designed the course in such a way as to introduce you to the concepts of this type of rally in a (mostly) gentle and (we hope) painless way. Remember, this is really a NAVIGATOR'S game. Drivers, you probably already know what to do. Navigators, we've arranged things so you'll be brought along step-by-step. If you can follow google directions, you can do this.

If you want to enter, just email me. Give us driver and navigator's email address and phone number and your place will be held. You can even go ahead and send in your entry fee via Paypal to carzero@aol.com. Or call 310 350 1360 and we can arrange payment almost any way you like. Entry fee is $95 and includes the rally for one car, and 2 awesome all-cotton commemorative T-shirts.

There will not be an official hotel, per se, but the rally workers who stay over Saturday night will mostly be at the South Point Casino and Hotel, whose link is Las Vegas Hotels | South Point Hotel Casino and Spa. Rooms are running $79 plus, and they allow Saturday only stays.

We sincerely hope you can join us for this epic road rally driving experience. Dollar-for-dollar, it's the best deal in motorsports.

See you at Standoff.

[750hp]

RS - you participate in some amazing rallies. This one sounds incredible. Have fun!

[RallySnake]

Thank you 750.

The mystery to me is how we can have SO MANY amazing cars in southern California and people just leave them sitting in the garage. There are probably more than 100,000 sports cars and hot rods within 100 miles of here and the owners are not interested in actually driving them. Has our society gotten so lazy that it cannot enjoy using those amazing cars for what they are designed to do? Is TV and the Internet so much more fun than having the wind in your face and the thrill of an adventure laid out for you? The beauty of a run like this is you may break down in the middle of nowhere. But, in our events, your fellow competitors will stop and help you.

I'm getting old. Like everyone, sometimes I don't feel well. It is in those times when I have the flu and stuck in bed that the memories come back. Flying down the amazing roads that skirt the edges of the mountains or twist through the valleys. The times when I almost froze to death or had my face pelted with rain or poured with sweat in the 100+ degree heat. The times when we picked the wrong road and lost, or the right road and won. The feeling of receiving the first place trophy in front of a room full of competitors who told me that I can't compete in a home built kit car.

When I get too old to do this any more, I will still have those memories.

RS

[Bernica]

Awesome event! Wish I had known about it earlier. However I can get on the early notification list for next year, I'm in. Sounds like a "Most Excellent Adventure"!