Thanks...OCC...one and all...!

[Flyin_Freddie]

0630 came early for most of us. Those of us from Memphis had been fairly sane the night before...had to...it rained cats-n-dogs just as we made it to the golf course clubhouse on the hill above the Comfort Inn. (By the way...save your money, it wasn't THAT good!) But, there we were...up early and on our way to Mid-Ohio. We parked the trailers and unloaded to have our cars teched. Went to the first session where they split us up into Advanced, Intermediate, and Novice drivers. Novices went off to the skid pad, Intermediates and Advanced drivefrs went off to the track for cornering drills. Very informative...safe, well designed to let you learn the line through a particular set of corners. These were instructor led lines of cars of about 8-10 vehicles...you followed the exact paths of the instructor cars, silver Honda S2000's. If you started to push the instructor, he forced you to slow down and learn the lines better....good choice, we needed it later. I'll let someone from the Novice group comment on their sessions Tuesday.

After lunch, some more cornering drills. Then, due to a previous commitment with Mid-Ohio, we had to stand down from 2:00-6:00 PM while some driver coaching sessions were going on. One of the race teams coming in for the Rolex Sports Car series that weekend had rented the track to help coach one of their drivers on passing and cornering techiques before the race. No problem, as this gave us time to put on our track tires.

At 6:00 PM, we were back on the track for some more high speed instructor led lapping. Each line followed their instructor around trying to stay exactly in the same tires lines as the instructors were laying down. I managed to get some great video from my in-car lipstick camera...sometimes reaching 120+ before I had to back off to avoid the guy in front of me. Suffice it to say, I managed to put about 140 miles on my SPF...ran it almost out of gas, and it was FULL when I unloaded that morning. I was worn out, but major happy...!

So...back to the hotel, and we went to KC Steakhouse for a well deserved steak and salad.

Okay...and maybe a few drinks...you know how we are...

[Flyin_Freddie]

The 0730 driver's meeting again came way too early for most of us. But, there we were ... ready, eager, and hungry for some speed runs. Again we split up, but since I had watched the Doppler radar in the hotel room, I wondered just how much driving we were going to get in...turns out I was more optimistic than was warranted.

We had just spilt out to our run groups, and were on our way back to the garage area when the first lightening bolts lit up the skies....KE-RACCCCK! Man, I thought, that was close. Closer than I realized, as it turned out. Within 20 minutes the skies had turned from grey ominous looking clouds to dark blue skies with bolts of lightening flashing all around us.

And then the rains came.

...and came.

...and came.

...and came.

At one time, the paddock area had at least 20-24 inches of water in it all trying to get down one of the storm sewers....it looked like a geyser...water shooting up from the sewer grate about 3-4 feet in the air. Water...lots of it...Oh, look...here comes some more!

Luckily, I was secure in garage #20, down near the exit from the hot pit area. I had already began to swap back to my street tires when the monsoon season began. One of the Rolex teams had already started to unload into the garage area when the dam burst. I waded out to talk to them...all I needed was about 30-40 minutes and I'd be out of their way. No problem, they replied, take your time, we're not in the garage area officially until 1200 noon. Nice buncha guys... Besides...it was raining cats-n-dogs and coming down so fast they didn't want to be out in it either. So, I was able to change my tires, put my street tires back on, and make sure I was ready for the LCS.

It finally slowed down a bit, so I got my trailer and backed it up to the door of the garage. I was able to load up without taking my SPF out in the rain. Lucky...I know it. Back to the hotel we headed to watch some in-car video I had taken from my lip-stick camera during Tuesday evening's track time sessions...

...maybe have a few drinks...you know how we are....

That evening, we headed off to a local bar-n-grill where we met up with Kumpy and more OCC folks for some bench racing and dinner.

Okay....and maybe have a few drinks....you know how we are....

[Flyin_Freddie]

We left Lexington, Ohio, for the 60 mile, or so, trip down to Columbus at about 0900 local. It was an easy drive, and we got to the Best Value before some of our rooms were ready. But, we got checked in early, and we thought about unloading our cars. But, it was still supposed to rain heavily in the area before the evening was upon us. So, we held an impromptu meeting in the parking lot and decided to take a more prudent course of action.

We unloaded the margarita machine.

Yeah...screw the cars...we can drink in the rooms and watch it rain if worse comes to worse.

It did. Rain...lots of it...came that night. I actually felt sorry for some of the poor schmucks with their cars out in the open without tops or tonneau covers. Well...okay...not THAT sorry. Maybe somewhere between the seventh and ninth margarita I felt sorry. Okay....maybe not for the car owners...for their cars. Wait...who am I kiddin'....? I felt sorry because the margarita machine ran out of mix and we had to stop it to add some more. Yeah...THAT'S what I felt sorry for....

Hey look...here comes Jay....Hey, let's go to Salvi's for dinner. Good idea. Tortellini Gratenelli...Caeser salad...More drinks... Good food, good times, good friends....can it get any better?

...oh, and maybe we had a few more cocktails...you know how we are....

More later..gotta go...it's Happy Hour here....

[rdorman]

Great recap Freddie! Can't wait to read the rest. I know what you are saying about a long week. It took me several days to catch up. Up every morning no later then 7, one morning before the first day at Mid-Ohio, up at 4:30. Down no earlier then 1am every night. To much fun being had at all the tailgating activities. It was hard to turn in every evening. My only wish is that I could go without sleep for a week so the fun would never end! Not as young as I once was!

[Godzila]

Freddie
great storyline..Iwuz runnin on about 4 hours sleep each nite all week, am still trying to catch up, everytime I sit down I fall asleep, but what fun,,,,it's probably good we do this only once a year!...........Hmmmmn?

[Flyin_Freddie]

Sorry to take so long to get back to this thread, but I've been off on vacation and what with servicing my SPF after Mid-Ohio and LCS, together with working on transcribing the digital video I took during the events to the computer, I've been more'n a little busy. But....back to the recap...

Friday morning looked a little rough...I'll admit some of it was from the gallons of margaritas we consumed Thursday night, but some of the roughness was from the weather, too. It looked like it was going to rain any second, and although I was scheduled to lead a tour group to the Air Force Museum in Dayton, about 60 miles West of us, I decided to not pull my SPF from the trailer. Turns out this was a wise choice. The rains came while we were at the Museum, and I was grateful I made the decision I did.

We managed to get a pretty thorough tour of the Museum...now called The Museum of the United States Air Force, I believe. We didn't get a chance to see their annex, nor their newly completed missile gallery, but saw pretty much all three big buildings. All in all, a very good time. I even managed to find a 105 on display that I may have loaded while I was in Thailand...! Talk about a weird feeling...!!! The history of the aircraft showed it was at Tahkli and Korat while I was stationed there with the 355th TFS. I can't be sure, but there was a distinct possibility that I hung ordnance on that very aircraft. It brought back a lot of memories for me...some I had purposely forgotten.

Following the drive back to Columbus, we again decided not to take the cars to the QS&L. Turns out THAT was a bad decision, as the weather really cooperated and it was beautiful that evening. Who knew? So, wings and cocktails with old friends were the order of the evening.

We left earlier than normal as we wanted to get back to the "Red Dot Inn" to unload our cars and clean off some of the Mid-Ohio brake dust, grime, and what not. The weather was perfect as I unloaded SPF #770 and prepared to clean it up a little. I noticed another attendee was about to use the hose at the hotel (Best Value) to wash his car. I walked over there and was about to ask him the particulars of using the hose...was this okay? did the manager approve of our using it? etc. That's when "Punjab"...either the hotel manager, or owner...told me using the hose was "Ten dollars for ten minutes..."

"What....?", I asked. "Ten dollars for ten minutes of using the hose!" answered Punjab. Needless to say, I was less than enthusiastic over Punjab's pricing schedule. So, I told him..."Tell ya what, Punjab, I'll beat you at your own game...and use YOUR towels in the process!" I still don't think he understood me. But, I'll bet he noticed the then black (formerly white) towel that was laying in his parking lot the next morning! Damn, I don't mind paying for something, but I hate to be blatantly taken advantage of...especially with a little "Mona Lisa" smile on his face! (If I had to make one criticism of the event, this would be it! I mean, hell, here we were filling up almost all his hotel rooms and bringing in MUCH more money that he would have normally made that weekend, and he had the nerve to try and stick it to us even more!!!)

Anyway, got my car cleaned up after a fashion, and spent some "quality" time at the Margarita machine. Once again...(sigh)

[Flyin_Freddie]

Once again, Saturday morning looked rough for us. But, unlike Friday, when the weather looked so bad, Saturday morning's problem was all our fault... Well, ours and my ol' friend Pepe Lopez's ... Seems the margarita machine had no recollection of what time it was Friday night, and what time we had to be at the Speedway on Saturday morning...!

Dean Lampley's lovely wife was my passenger Saturday morning for our drive down to the speedway. We all thought we left in plenty of time to get there early enough to be in the first 25-30 Cobras in line....WRONG! We were almost "Tail End Charly"...we were way back around by the old truck scales when we finally got parked...over 3/4 of the way to the rear of the pack when we pulled out. I don't know the exact number of Cobras there, but there were more there than I think I've ever seen. It was truly a spectacle to behold! We pulled out of the Speedway precisely at 0900, when the State Police car led us out. Outstanding organization by the OCC boys...no doubt.

We pulled into London about 25 minutes later after the short drive into town. All along the route, people had come out of their houses and businesses and waved to the Cobra motorcade...we honked, threw them some pipes, and waved back. Smiles everywhere...nice folks...!

Parking along Main Street right in front of the Courthouse was easy...once again, excellent organizational effort by the OCC folks, the London Police Department, and all involved. Once parked, I had a chance to walk up and down the street to see some of the Cobras there...and there were some very nice cars on display. I'll tell ya...if you ever think you're interested in either buying a turnkey Cobra, or building a kit, there was one of pretty much every manufacturer represented there on Main Street. It was outstanding....

At lunchtime, we all took a break and watched the presentation of the Harley-Davidson Police motorcycle to the London Police Department. Their Chief of Police and the town's Safety Director (the Chief's boss) both addressed the assembled group and truly seemd grateful for the thoughtfullness of those involved in the purchase, repainting, and presentation of the bike. It was apparent that all involved with the City of London's administration wanted to maintain the ongoing relationship with the Cobra Club. The Chief spoke of the calibre and integrity of the Cobra-philes he had met just that morning, and had nothing but nice things to say about us all. It was very nice to hear his words and recognize he meant it from his heart, and these were not just some speechwriter's words...they came straight from his heart.

Following the presentation, it was time to get back to the burnouts! I didn't make a run this year, but from what I watched, there was no shortage of those who wanted to take folks for a ride down the main drag, burnin' rubber and raisin' hell the whole way. Craigy Aylsworth took it all with a 107, as best I can recollect, with Keith Craft taking second with a 106. There were several others who ran in excess of 100 mph this year! Once again, very well organized, and expertly administered by OCC and London Police representatives. We departed about 3:30 for the ride back to the hotel. And, true to form, the Margarita machine was soon humming right along...dispensing cup after cup of "...that frozen concoction that helps me hang on!" as Jimmy Buffet called it.

We continued to "hang on" until time for Saturday's dinner at the "Big Top", which featured fish-n-chips or barbeque pork by "Old Bag o' Nails" catering. Good food, but damn....they need more'n one check out person! (You listenin' Rick...?) After dinner was the auction and drawing for the Cobra. Other threads have documented all this, so I won't recap this piece of the event. I hate I got outbid for that 50 year old bottle of Scotch. It was bottled in 1968, and it was 12 year old Scotch when it was bottled...you do the math! Donated by Jay Nordstrom, it brought about $400 for Cystic Fibrosis. I can't remember who bought it, but my advice to the guy is that you'd be a fool to open it...save it! In 10 years it'll be worth 10 times what you paid for it!

Later on, back at "Margarita Central", we got a chance to meet the lucky guy who won the raffle Cobra. Again, others have documented who won the car...but Pepe helped me to forget his name. He drank a couple of margaritas with us as we welcomed him into the fraternity. Needless to say, he was more'n a little stoked! Good for him!

Turned in late again...or was it early...? Hell, guess it depends on which side of midnight you're on, huh?

Oh...and I forgot about the tequilla run we had to make Friday afternoon. HA! Imagine that....