Big Bend Open Road Race
 

BBORR summary> 3 trailer tire blowouts on the way there, boiling gas in our carbs (Damn Ethanol), added phenolic spacers, changing plugs in a parking lot, midnight alternator change, Haul A** to Sanderson, picnic in the park, Haul A** back to Ft Stockton, one car fire, new land speed record for me piloting a Ford GT to 165 mph, witnessed a Tower Fly By on I-10 in the rain at 150, big big smiles and stories for months. More fun than human beings should be allowed to have. Made lots of new friends, Al brought Larry Ornduff (Ornduff Hot Rods) with him, Gary (Bwana Snake) brought Jack, Jody brought Ted Eaton (FE Guru), Doug and Randy from Colorado (they drive their FFR from Denver 750 miles every year).
Tony's FD friend Jerry Randolph navigated for me, could not have been .229 off target without him.

Three team members of Team Cobra winning trophies.
Al Richards & Larry: 1st place 95mph
Jim Jr & Jim Sr: 3rd place 105 mph
Doug and Randy: 1st place 110 mph
I ran in the 110 mph group (29 cars out of 160), top eight finishers <0.500 mph off target. I hit 109.771 and didn't get in the $$. Tough tough class.

*NOTE* If you have a Hallmark trailer, know someone that has a Hallmark trailer or is thinking of buying one BEWARE. Standard issue tires are Hi-Run made in China. We blew out three, changed 5 just on the way there. After this event we researched and found 100's of complaints against Hallmark, Airstream and other trailer manufacturers using Hi-Run tires. They're crap. Luckily no damage done to the trailer, damages were $700 and three roadside tire changes (3 hrs lost). Luckily we had a Nascar proven pit crew following us the entire way. Kudo's to Larry, Tony, Jim Jr & Jim Sr for all their help.

PS: and yes, the "Official Timer" clocked BDR #156 doing 159.8 mph on a practice run. Dont have any idea who was driving it, but he claims its offical. Not to get too biblical but "Let it be written, let it be done".

Ian, my new signature line is>>>>
"Friends don't let friends apex early"

Sorry to hear about all your problems, but it sounds like y'all had a blast! Did you get any video or pictures? You know we love them.

Video
 

Only one posted so far is from Ian Powell in his '65 Coupe before it turned into a BBQ pit. Not really that bad, still investigating the source of the problem. I'm traveling this week on business and will upload some when I return.
Thanks Ian for the YouTube
On course video which can be found at
YouTube - 2011 BBORR to Sanderson-01.mp4

YouTube - Bborr 2011 Daytona Coupe Kit

Here are a few clips from the race in 720p HD, shot with my GoPro HD camera mounted just in front of the windshield. The first clip is the start of the southbound leg. We had a target speed of 105mph and a tech speed (do not exceed) of 124. The goal is to run up past 105 at the start and then settle in at that and average it the entire run. But there are radar guns along the course and if you exceed your tech speed you are DQ'd. With a 3.50 rear axle and the .64 5th in the TKO 600, we were turning 3k rpms at 105:



Here is a clip mid-course southbound as the terrain starts to get hilly:



Another clip headed north. For you purists, you'll notice my speedo is waving right at 100 mph...turns out its off 5 mph at that speed:



And lastly, the northbound finish line. Notice my navigator is working the stopwatch against total elapsed time at that speed (33:43) and I have a countdown timer in the center of the steering wheel working down to zero. I had to hit the binders as we crossed the line to try and burn off the last couple of seconds. We finished the race .919 seconds fast against 105.000. Third place.

Big Bend Open Road Race 2011

A short pictorial story line of the Big Bend Open Road Race 2011 Fort Stockton / Sanderson, TX. Please don’ feel you have to comment on any grammar or spelling errors because no one really cares.

Nice pics Gary. I am still laughing at the dead bird in the grill and the look on those little blonde kids' faces. Priceless.

If you haven't figured it out, neither spelling nor grammar are requisite skills on Club Cobra.
:LOL:

Jim

Found this poking around on YT:

YouTube - BBORR cobras of 2010