Houston Viper Club http://www.houstonvca.com United by Vipers. Defined by horsepower. Tue, 15 May 2012 17:05:24 +0000 en hourly 1 http://wordpress.org/?v=3.3.2 124 Hours of Road Atlanta with B&R http://www.houstonvca.com/124-hours-of-road-atlanta-with-br/ http://www.houstonvca.com/124-hours-of-road-atlanta-with-br/#comments Sun, 29 Apr 2012 18:34:19 +0000 Houston VCA http://www.houstonvca.com/?p=432 Over the past 3 years we have contentedly been having a lot of fun while learning how to better drive our cars, Ruby Begonia (’08 Viper ‘vert) and Dusty (’08 Viper coupe) at high speeds on area road course tracks.  Richard says this is the most fun you can have with your clothes on!  About a year ago we decided it was time to graduate ourselves to slicks which necessitated buying 2 new sets of wheels and a 1 car trailer.  We swap my tires the night before we leave and setup the car’s suspension for track duty, load Richard’s slicks and my car on our open 1 car trailer and the Suburban can tow it to the track.  Richard always drives his . . .  he says it’s to reduce the number of miles on my “high mileage” Viper but I say it’s so the chicks can look at him!  Well, this set up worked quite nicely and we think we’re hot stuff until . . .
Our friend Tim, who is much more of a racer than we are, bought himself a new 50’ enclosed car hauler with living quarters to tow behind his Ford F350 duelly diesel crew cab and we thought that was big!  Then our “his n hers” Viper owner friends, Mike (he’s fast like Tim) and Karin (she’s a newbie to the sport), bought a 48’ enclosed car hauler to tow both of their cars in along with an F350 duelly diesel crew cab pickup truck.  The plan for Tim and Mike are to go to tracks around the country and either race or run in the time trial series.  Now that we’re empty nesters gone wild (last kid in college) we figure we should join in on the fun now that the gauntlet has been thrown down!  We decided it was time to “keep up with the Jones”, buy a truck and trailer to help us expand our horizons and visit various road course tracks around the country.  In true B&R style, we out did them all when we bought a used 53’ enclosed 2 car carrier with living quarters from Bruce, a professional car hauler and of course, a Ford F350 duelly diesel crew cab pick-em-up truck.  One little drawback with this trailer is that the quarters had been lived in by a gnarly guy on the road so the first thing I did was tell Bruce to yank the bathroom out – no way on earth am I gonna use a trailer potty or shower nor go to a dump station!  Instead we put brand new Moduline cabinets and a tool chest in the vacated space.  Wow, are they ever nice but for that price they ought to be J.
We decided our maiden voyage would be to drive Road Atlanta with the North American Road Racing Association (NARRA) folks.  Why not use 950 miles of interstate to learn how to tow a monster trailer that’s as long as a big rig?  Bruce and Robert managed to get the first phase of repairs completed late the day before we are supposed to leave.
Bruce spent a couple months fixing various things on the trailer (Phase 1) so I went to his shop and picked it up Wednesday afternoon.   While I waited for them to finish the last items they were working on, I put stencils on the front and back of both sides that state “Private Not For Hire” so neither of us would be required to get a Commercial Driver’s License which is a good thing because I’m not sure either of us would pass the physical!  Time dragged on and it took Bruce and Robert about 4 hours to finish the basics and when we hooked the trailer up to our brand new 5th wheel hitch we tested the tail lights.  Lo and behold, the left turn signal and brake lights were out and being 8:15 p.m. I was pretty much out of time and needed to leave since the drive would be about 45 minutes to get home pulling a giant box that I had no experience with but hey, I knew I could handle it!
So I’m leaving in the dark driving on a really twisty street meeting oncoming cars at just about every turn!  I managed to get out of that neighborhood and pulled onto a larger street and then the toll road and cruised along “easy peasy” thinking this isn’t so bad  . . . until I reached our street which is rather small and U-shaped.  I was able to make the right turn onto our street with no problem and parked in front of the house – it was about 9 p.m.  Richard was pissed off that it was late plus he hadn’t had dinner and when he goes un-fed for any length of time he’s got a very bad attitude!  Always have to remember to feed the Bear!
We tried to use the 12 volt lighting while plugged into the idling truck but that didn’t work so we fired up the generator and had plenty of light.  So far, so good eh?  We decided to winch the ‘vert in first and then pull the coupe in behind it.  The winch worked beautifully for the first car but the 2nd one, well . . . not so much.  The cable lifted up too high and was rubbing on the under panel of the ‘vert so as we learned many times on this adventure through doing, we backed the coupe back down and pulled the ‘vert out.  We decided to winch the coupe in and then I would drop the top of the ‘vert, drive it in and then crawl out.  That worked out ok so now we’re ready to secure them with our brand new tie downs.  Remember the Bear?  Well, he’s getting even madder!
D-ring tie downs are awesome when you know what you’re doing but when you don’t, have a grouchy Bear snarling and growling while trying to figure them out, your generator runs out of gas and the trailer goes dark.  It’s time to run and hide!  We decided to add gasoline to the generator to keep going but the new gas filler didn’t work properly with more gas backwashing onto the street than went into the generator tank.  To add insult to the situation, the filler connection to the generator leaked and gasoline ran all over our new Honda generator.  By that point in time the Bear was irrational, said he was cancelling the trip and going to work the next day.  I told him I was going anyway so he then very reluctantly said he’d go too but only if we could get the cars tied down.  He stated he thought this was a harbinger of more bad things to come.
We threw in the towel at midnight and decided to get up early and start again.  I pulled the rig around to the other side of our yard so the neighbors across the street didn’t get pissed off – they’ve already been mad at us with the 1 car trailer blocking their driveway!  Their entire front yard is parking lot so it’s not like they can’t enter the street going forward!  So instead, I blocked the other side when I parked directly across from the neighbor’s mailbox.  Cars could get through but the neighbor just to the east of the mailbox has small children picked up by a school bus every morning but it couldn’t get through because of where I parked.  Oops didn’t think about that til the next morning!  She did walk them to the corner so it wasn’t a problem after all!
Thursday dawned bright and early and we attacked the tie downs with gusto. The Bear stated that he knew the tie downs were useless and we wouldn’t be able to make them work so there was no point in proceeding.  Once I figured out how they worked, I could get a tire secured in less than 5 minutes in cramped space.  The Bear is too big so he could only work on his front tires and Ruby’s rear tires where there was space.  Within 45 minutes all cars were secured so we then loaded the trailer with tools, jacks, ramps, extra tires etc. and by 9 a.m. we were ready to roll!  The Bear’s empty stomach (mine too) needed to be filled so we stopped at the donut shop up the street and while I sat in the right lane of the street while he ran in to buy us something to eat and then we’re off like a herd of screaming turtles!  After his first feeding of the day, the Bear resumed the human shape and normal temperament of Richard!
I tend to do most of the driving because I get car sick easily, cannot read anything in a moving vehicle and can’t navigate my way out of a paper bag but he, on the other hand, can read in a car with no problems and assumed the navigator’s role.  I merge onto I-10 and we’re east bound and down in Houston morning rush hour traffic which wasn’t too bad and folks gave me room to move over when I needed to . . .  well, I sort of forced the issue by moving over and making them slow down or change lanes to get out of my way!
We roll along for a few hours and soon it was time to buy some go go juice (aka diesel) for Thor, our trusty F350.  On top of that, Thor’s computer told me he was 500 miles away from needing more DEF.  I’m looking at that in the dash wondering what the hell DEF is so Richard whipped out the handy dandy owner’s manual, looked it up and proclaimed it to be Diesel Emissions Fluid.   He also found that if DEF wasn’t added within the prescribed amount of miles, the truck would cease to move which would be a really bad thing to happen on an Interstate pulling our batwagon.  I guess folks don’t like the idea that they’re putting urea in their motor so the name was changed to DEF . . . nothing like putting peepee juice in your engine to make it run cleanerJ.  We pulled in to buy fuel and I went inside and bought a big container of peepee juice. There’s a small cap next to the fuel cap where you pour this stuff in so Richard poured and poured then we began to wonder how we’d know it was full.  About the time I verbalized it we figured it out when it backwashed onto his shoes!  Now he has peepee juice on his fancy Puma driving shoes!  He cleaned them up and we rolled on.
A little while later I’m very hungry with my stomach just about gnawing on my back bone so we pull into another truck stop with plenty of pull through parking because I’m not about to try and back that sucker up.  I lose focus, forget I’m not towing our 20’ trailer and I learn firsthand about right hand turns when I clipped the corner of a car carrier!
I cut the turn too short and the middle of our trailer right where the doors are hit the other trailer and peeled the metal back like a banana skin.  My stomach sinks and I’m thinking the worst.  I back up, swing around wider and then park while dreading the first contact with the trucker.  His wife gets out first and had this look on her face that made me worry about my personal safety while wishing I had my 9 mm in my waistband instead of my purse but then she sees the damage and her face lights up!  She was happy I crushed their left rear turn signal because it had been acting up and now they get a new one!  We chat and then Richard gets out and looks the back of their rig over and points something else out.  The crapped out awning we plan on replacing cushioned the blow but I also managed to scrape the bumper of a dad gum 2010 Mercedes on the top deck!  If there had been anything in my stomach I definitely would have puked it up L.  We trade information and the guy and his wife were just as nice as you could hope for and told me basically “shit happens”.  We get our lunch and I cautiously pull out and we’re on the road again.  Maybe that’s why I don’t like Hardee burgers – associating it with bashing a trailer!
We had planned to drive to Tuscaloosa, Alabama the first day and the 2nd day to Braselton, Georgia (NE suburb of Atlanta) making the second day of driving shorter.  I had googled hotels in Tuscaloosa along I-20 to find a place to stay and then I called to find out what the parking lots were like.  I selected a Hilton Garden Inn that was next to a movie theater which would give us ample space to park our massive rig.  Richard grabbed my IPad and pulled up the Google Maps satellite photo to try and figure out the best way into the parking lot.  He obsessed for 45 minutes about how small the lot was with all the concrete islands, which entry would be best, was very worried and knew we wouldn’t be able to get into it.  I kept reminding him satellite pictures tended to look smaller than in reality but what do I know, right?  I just kept driving knowing one way or another we’d get into the lot! Richard did find a straight way into the theater lot since we ouldn’t have made it through the Hilton Garden Inn ‘s parking lot.  Another lesson learned, Satellite Google the parking lot of the place you are staying advance to validate parking availability!
In the meantime our friend Troy from Houston, who had originally planned to drive further than Tuscaloosa towing his Corvette Z06 behind his Ford F250 called Richard while we were still a couple hours from Tuscaloosa to ask where we were staying because he was close to done for the day!  He had decided to convoy with us the rest of the way to Road Atlanta the next morning.
We turned into the theater parking lot and lo and behold, it was larger than what Mr. Obsessive thought and we had enough room that I even did donuts with the trailer!  We found just the right spot to park which unfortunately required me to back that sucker up.  It took me about 3 attempts but I finally got it mostly parallel with the curb and we trundled into the hotel with our bags ready for a scotch and then bed.
We got up about 7 Friday morning and had breakfast at the hotel.  We’re in “Bama-Lama” so the grits and biscuits and gravy were awesome! The chef came out and when we commented on the grits he said “my mama would have my backside if they weren’t right” so now we know we are definitely in the deep south!  Now we’re ready to face day 2 of the adventure so we load up and pull out about 9:45 thinking we had roughly 2.5 hours left.  I have no idea how Richard came up with that but, well, not so much . . . we had named the GPS Bitching Betty and that bitch said it was more like 4 hours!  We hit Atlanta mid-afternoon Friday to find rush hour had started.  Troy did his best to block for us and was really good at guessing where I wanted to go given I had no left turn signal!  We hit the worst interchange I think I’ve ever seen where there are 3 roads converging and then splitting back into 3 more roads with drivers switching lanes like crazy. Traffic came to a halt and here we sit trying to figure out which of the 3 roads we needed to be on.  Of course we’re in the right land and it would have to be the one to the left but Troy figured it out and helped us maneuver over to it!
Amazing how stupid people can  be – every time I left a bit of space in front of us someone just has to zip into it and I’m about to punt the car in front of us while trying to stop without smacking them!  By this time I’ve had enough and decide to get aggressive so the next one to attempt to stick a nose into a 3 foot hole is a bimbo in a Mustang!  I say no and force her to stay in her lane (of course Thor is huge compared to her so she slinks back).  She was then doubly screwed because Troy snugged up to our trailer and didn’t let her in so she had to wait for about 125 feet of trucks and trailers before she can change lanes so take that ‘stang driver!
We finally arrive at Road Atlanta around 4:30 p.m. to find the main parking lot was full so we’re thinking we are so screwed . . . last thing we want to do is park on an incline and I gotta tell you, that terrain is rolling.  We drive very slowly looking around and we got lucky. We found just the perfect spot in the lower parking lot on the skid pad with lots of room.  We decided that we would leave space between the 2 rigs for cars and places to sit.  We pull the cars out and manage to get ours tech’d but Troy was in piddle mode, missed out and had to wait til the next morning.   We’re now thinking, despite all the problems, this new trailer is the cat’s pajamas but as they say on TV, “but wait, there’s more”!   We disconnect Thor and toodle into town to our hotel, get checked in, cleaned up and then went in search of dinner.  We had a great dinner, returned to the hotel for a night cap in the lobby and chatted quite awhile with folks.
We get up bright and early Saturday morning excited as little kids on Christmas morning!  We get to the track, pull the cars out (no dew to worry about) and get ready to rumble.  Then comes our first session.  Remember we’re from Texas and we’re used to flat tracks . . . holy moly this track has more ups and downs than a damn roller coaster . . . and I hate roller coasters!
I’m so screwed.
Turn 12 just about had me messing my pants because if you do it right, your accelerator foot is planted and you’re climbing up looking at the sky.  Your logic knows there’s a road on the other side but your emotional common sense is screaming SSSSTTTTTOOOOOPPPPPP!  You have to trust that no one moved the road between the last lap and this lap as you come flying over the top to barrel downhill and then around a 45 degree right turn to blast down the front straight . . . in front of spectators taking pictures!  Thank God I have a full coverage helmet and they can’t look inside to see my face!
In the meantime, my Harry’s Laptimer on my IPhone kept dumping the track and refused to cooperate so I have no idea what sort of times I was getting but Richard said he was turning times around 1:47 minutes per lap.
By the 3rd session on Saturday I’m starting to get comfortable with the track and now looking for targets of opportunity!  Before I continue, let me explain our run group.  There were a lot a track virgins signed up along with folks like us who have a pretty good level of experience and then quite a few more experienced drivers signed up for Time Trials (TT).  Since we had never been to this track we figured we would not sign up for TT and just stay with the DE group (Driver’s Education).  NARRA ended up splitting the 3 types into 2 run groups so there was an interesting mix of neophytes, moderately decent drivers and pseudo racers.  Richard and I quickly became the top dogs (other than the TTs) in our group.  We were told if we got bored, we could move to the other group but we decided to stay put because it was such a rush and ego boost to pass 95% of the other cars like they were standing still!!!!  What made it even sweeter is that a “mere female” was passing those machismo types!  There was one guy who refused to let me by even though I was crawling in his trunk, dancing in his left mirror, dancing in his right mirror and flashing my lights!  After 3 laps he finally let me by and I went on about my business.  After that he let me by every time I came up to him!  We ended the day content with our decision to run Road Atlanta and were looking forward to another day of fun and frolic. Troy was kicking ass in his group, took 3rd place on Saturday, has a “cute little trophy” to show for it and was looking forward to continuing a strong run on Sunday.
We attended the Saturday night NARRA banquet for the first time in quite awhile and were very impressed by the growth and changes since the first ones we attended.  SRT sent most of their design team including the head design engineer to Road Atlanta and they were at the banquet as well.  We’re wowed and amazed by the way SRT is listening to the Viper Nation as they build the Gen 5 Viper which, by the way, is totally awesome and I want one! We discussed this contrasting rapport with Troy regarding GM’s lack of relations with the Corvette owners.  Seems Government Motors could learn quite a bit here.
We returned to the hotel and had a night cap while we fought Harry’s Laptimer on my IPhone and finally deleted it and reloaded it.  I then loaded the car details and the proper track so it looked like I was ready to go the next morning and we crashed.
We got up Sunday morning, packed up and checked out of the hotel because all rigs had to be out of the track by 7 p.m. that night so we figured we would drive back to Tuscaloosa and avoid Atlanta’s Monday morning rush hour.
During our 2nd session on Sunday both Richard and I got black flagged.  For those of you who don’t track a car, this means you get to come in and talk to the track steward because you just did something very wrong.  Basically it’s a slap on the wrist for being a bad kid.  I’m figuratively scratching my head (had my helmet on) and can’t come up with anything I did wrong.  I pull into the hot pit right behind Richard and a GTR in front of him and the track steward walks to my car with his finger against his lip going “shhhh”!  I’m thinking what the hell are you talking about????  We both have new exhaust that is louder than stock and I personally think it sounds fabulous!  Remember we’re in the deep south bible belt . . . there was mandatory quiet time from 10 a.m. to 12 a.m. for church and we were being too loud and disrupting a nearby church service!  What a way to screw up a session – having to short shift and avoid lower gears.  I had been running 2nd up to 6000 rpm, then 3rd up to 6000 rpm and then 4th and Ruby was “screaming” J.  Silly us – we didn’t read the schedule close enough to see quiet time on it – if we had, we could have changed groups and run at a different time.  As they say, reading is fundamental!
We had 3 absolutely fantastic sessions but my Harry’s Laptimer crapped out once again – no idea what is going on with that so it’s a problem solving issue for another day but suffice it to say I stayed on Richard’s tail the whole time so I figure my times are about even with his.  Some turns I took faster and almost crawled into his trunk and others he pulled a little away from me but I always caught up . . . unless a slow poke got in between us!  We decided to skip the 4th session, get loaded up and hit the road since we now know it’s about 4 hours back to Tuscaloosa. Another successful track weekend with no injuries to “the kids” or ourselves!
Troy, on the other hand, had a huge problem as he started his 2nd session.  He had just installed a new racing clutch but something blew out and he had NO clutch and leaking fluid.  Boy was he pissed and I definitely would not want to be the shop owner on the receiving end of his ire.  He has no winch (soon to be rectified) on his trailer which meant someone had to push the car up the ramps.  I sat in the driver’s seat (which had been bolted to the floor so I felt like I was a small child) and did the best I could to see over the steering wheel to guide the car but Richard and Troy weren’t enough to push it up the ramp so we had to find 3 more guys to help and it finally rolled up to where it needed to be.
Being the responsible trailer owners we are, we decided to check the trailer tire pressure before we hit the road which proved to be a good thing . . . so we thought at the time.  5 of the 6 tires had 70 lbs in them but should be rolling with 80 so we were ready to pump ‘em up but the 6thtire (of course the front one on the left side) had 20 lbs in it so we tried to add 60 more lbs. Somewhere along the way I guess I clipped a curb during a left turn because the rim was bent enough to not allow it to hold more than about 20 lbs. of air.  Never fear, we have a spare and remember I referenced ramps in the first part of this story?  The way you change a triple axel trailer tire is to roll the back tire on the side in question up a ramp to lift all 3 tires off the ground and then change the flat.  Remember I mentioned skid pad?  The pavement was very smooth and each time I tried to back up the ramp just moved!  Troy had a tent stake for some odd reason and Richard found a crack in the pavement to hammer it into as a wedge to keep the ramp from moving and then I was able to back it up like a charm. We changed the tire, made sure it had 80 lbs and then noticed another little issue.  The 6 wheel hub dust covers disappeared somewhere along the way!  Oh well, not much we could do about it so we’re once again off like a screaming herd of turtles!
We’re driving south on I-85 and didn’t get more than about 10 miles down the road when we hear a noise that sounded like something fell on the floor of the trailer.  We both scratch our heads because we thought we had taken everything off the shelves but figured we would take the next exit and stop to look inside.  Well, that’s not what happened . . . someone pulled up next to us waving their hands like they were not worthy, we shrugged not understanding, then a second car pulled alongside, rolled down their window and yelled that we had a flat tire!  Having never had a blow out in my life I am pleased to report the trailer continued to pull steadily with the cruise control set on 65 mph on 5 wheels with the 6th one’s rubber flapping and beating up the fender well!  We pulled over on the side of the road (with lots of traffic flying by), looked it over, called Bruce (our resident trailer expert) and decided we could make it down the road a mile to get to a parking lot to change tires again.  We decided that since we pulled it all the way from Tuscaloosa on the bent rim with a low tire we could probably make it back.  I took the next exit and turned right to go to the gas station (50/50 chance of getting the right one) and found that its parking lot was too small so here we are traveling down a rolling 2 lane road looking for some place to park in or at least turn around in.  We found an Ace Hardware Store parking lot and managed to squeeze into it to change the tire.  The exit on the other hand was incredibly tiny and we ended up very slowly rolling over the center median just like many others ahead of us and got back on the road.  We managed to get back to Tuscaloosa just fine, checked into the hotel and crashed for the night.
We got up early Monday morning, ate breakfast (yep, more grits, biscuits and gravy), packed and loaded our stuff but did not check out of the hotel.  We checked the weather forecast and saw a high probability of rain so we figured we better find some hub dust covers to protect the bearings and add more grease.  We disconnected the trailer removed the blown spare tire, threw it in the back of Thor and took off in search of stuff.  We stopped at an auto parts store to buy a grease gun, 3 tubes of grease, silicone disposable gloves and shop paper towels so now we’re ready to find the caps and grease the hubs for the trip home to H-town.  We got really lucky when we noticed there was a B.F. Goodrich truck tire store near the auto parts store and they just happened to have a tire like our other new ones so we bought a tire and had it mounted on the spare wheel.  We found a trailer parts store and bought 6 dust caps so we’re ready to git ‘er put together and hit the road.
In the meantime, I got a text from our house sitter who said Clyde, our giant Weimeraner, had bad diarrhea.  Great . . . I just had the carpet cleaned.  She had no idea what he ate but he was really sick.  Younger Princess (YP) found the evidence – Elder Princess (EP) and her Prince left their Easter chocolate at our house and Clyde found it.  Guess he has his father’s really bad sweet tooth!  The next day Clyde managed to find a box of candy, ate it and had a continued problem with diarrhea.  Ugh.  Just what I wanted to come home to!
Richard changed the tire and I got the glorious job of greasing the hubs (thank GOD for silicone gloves) and then putting the dust covers on.  We could only buy 2 moon shaped ones which fit perfectly and the other 4 were more squared off with a rubber cap insert so I did the best I could with a hammer but it didn’t work and we lost those 4 somewhere between Tuscaloosa and H-town!
Richard decided that since it was supposed to rain most of the way he did not want to try and learn how to drive the rig so I got to drive all the way home while he navigated!  Guess he’ll get to try on our trip to Texas World Speedway in June unless he comes up with another reason not to!
Good news is we were able to “thread the needle” and missed most of the rain.  We left Tuscaloosa about 10:15 a.m. and pulled onto our street about 9:00 p.m., got the cars unloaded, had YP and her beau help unload the truck and then I pulled it around and this time I Ieft enough room for the school bus to go by most likely to the detriment of several sprinkler heads in our yard!
We decided it’d be easier to unload the trailer if I pulled around the block and stopped in front of the driveway so we could walk everything into the garage instead of hiking across the front yard.  So, here comes not one but two dreaded right turns!  I made the first one ok and when I was setting up for the second one (the trick is to swing as wide to the left as possible) a moron in a minivan decided to pass me on my right and dang near t-boned Thor . . . but he missed!  I wish I had my air horn installed so I could scare that moron but I don’t!  I have come to the conclusion that minivan drivers are the worst and cannot be trusted!  I made it around the corner and we unloaded everything with no problems so now it’s time to return the trailer to Bruce to fix what I tore up plus finish Phase 2 items.    We were dog tired and remember I mentioned Clyde earlier? He had to go outside every hour for the next 2 nights so we got very little rest.  I’m happy to report he’s just fine now and we’ll be sure to keep candy up really high.
I want to put a wrap on the trailer and the current design floating around in my head are red transitioning to yellow flames with the 3 Viper logos tumbling through them (you may have seen skulls tumbling through flames which is where I got the idea) and a great big A&M logo on the back door!  We are NOT putting words on it because we don’t want to turn into a commercial vehicle!
We both decided it’s a good thing we bought a used trailer because if we were learning on a new one and I tore it up we both would have been pissed and possibly in divorce court!  We got the trailer back to Bruce but there was no way I was going to back it into his driveway next to 2 other trailers so I asked him to handle and since he’s a pro he made it look really easy!
All in all it was quite the adventure and we learned a ton while having a blast on the track . . . we now have a better idea what we got ourselves into and that big ol’ trailer was a great find!  Stay tuned for the 2nd chapter in the B&R Racing Team’s adventures.
]]> http://www.houstonvca.com/124-hours-of-road-atlanta-with-br/feed/ 0 From the President – February, 2012 http://www.houstonvca.com/from-the-president-february-2012/ http://www.houstonvca.com/from-the-president-february-2012/#comments Sun, 26 Feb 2012 23:02:44 +0000 Houston VCA http://www.houstonvca.com/?p=410 Rain was the theme early February.  Coffee and Cars was a washout and leaving the snakes in their pits was the order of the day.  We had a fruitful board meeting afterwards though!  The club has placed twice the events we held in 2011 on the 2012 calendar.  From cruises to tech days, from winery tours to track days, from detail days to a Ronald McDonald house car show, from Keels and Wheels to Autorama to the Viper Owner’s Invitational 12 we have a jam packed schedule.  We wanted to everyone to have the chance to participate in at least one event a month.

We managed to sneak in a dyno day at Serious HP between the storms on Sunday, February 19th.  We had a great turn out and appreciate all the members that made the drive out.  Serious HP did a dyno on 25 Vipers, 1 STR-10 Truck, and a rogue member’s new coyote powered Mustang.  They identified an issue with two cars and were able to diagnose and fix them the same day.  They even did a dyno pull for one member ‘after hours’ while I was packing up the cooler and grill.  That is some serious customer service from Serious HP!  Thank you Serious HP for being such awesome and accommodating hosts.  We hope to set up events with them again in the future.  The battle for the hardware was heated!  Congratulations to the winning members Miguel (Gen 1/2 NA) with his stroked motor, Andres (Gen 3/4 NA) with his heads and cam setup and Greg Good on hand to enjoy his handy work, and Wayne (Supercharged SRT-10) for his total horsepower win.  The burgers were great, the company was awesome, and the day turned out to be beautiful after all the recent rain!  We even had the pleasure of Bernie Katz stopping by, even if it was in an Audi R8.  (Come on Bernie, a Viper salesman showing up the a Viper event in an Audi?)  I heard the word,”Epic,” several times toward the end of the day.

I am looking forward to the lunch, cruise and Circle S Winery tour scheduled for the 10th and hope we see another big turnout.  The end of March will bring us the Viper Round Up in Austin.  The Round Up is an event to make a point of attending if you haven’t made the trip before.  From 50 plus Vipers tearing through the hill country to Harris Hill Road course fun it is a blast.  If you’ve attended previously I don’t have to sell you on it.  Be on the look out for plans regarding convoys headed to the Round Up.

Hope to see you in March,

Mike Gerdts
Houston VCA President

]]> http://www.houstonvca.com/from-the-president-february-2012/feed/ 0 Dyno Day Wrap Up http://www.houstonvca.com/dyno-day-wrap-up/ http://www.houstonvca.com/dyno-day-wrap-up/#comments Tue, 21 Feb 2012 15:42:29 +0000 Houston VCA http://www.houstonvca.com/?p=406 Ok Viper Gang,

The Serious HP Dyno Day was a huge success.  We had a ton of Vipers show up to find out what their snakes can pull.  At one point, there was roughly 20+ Vipers on site.  Pictures, videos and details coming soon.  Thanks to Tim Palmer and Mike Gerdts for putting that all together.  And a big thanks to Serious HP for allowing us to come in on Sunday to full run of their shop.

So that leaves us with our next great event.  The next Houston VCA event will be held on March 10.  We will be meeting at Cafe Adobe for some lunch and mingling. Then we will head out to the Circle S Winery in Sugarand, TX for a tour of their establishment.  If you plan on joining us, we need to get your head count in asap.  We need to have the final count in no later than 3/6.  So if you are planning on joining us, please RSVP right away.

Click here for details.

]]> http://www.houstonvca.com/dyno-day-wrap-up/feed/ 0 Texas Drought Quenched http://www.houstonvca.com/texas-drought-quenched/ http://www.houstonvca.com/texas-drought-quenched/#comments Fri, 10 Feb 2012 15:29:05 +0000 Speedy http://www.houstonvca.com/?p=388 The Texas Department of Parks and Wildlife issued an advisory to all Texas residents related to the continuing drought conditions. The department’s head herpetologist had noted a rather significant increase in the movement of rattlesnakes throughout the state, especially in southeast Texas.  These movements were categorized as very aggressive with the snakes appearing to be striking at any and all things in their path.  Caution was advised!

My fellow Viper aficionados, it is with a light heart I say to you that those snakes were not Texas rattlesnakes, those snakes were “made in Detroit” venomous snakes of the family Dodge, species Viper.

With the misunderstanding laid to rest, the Houston Region, VCA, proudly takes the claim, blame and fame for hosting its Second Annual Track Event at Motor Sport Ranch, Houston.  Attendance was up 15% and the 35 “track rats” were divided 1/3 novice and 2/3 experienced.   Region President, Ivan Wood, performed his tried and tested skills as Chief Instructor with Tim Palmer, Jamie Wood, W.K. Gonzalez and Eric Hamanga functioning as ride and drive on track instructors in their respective Vipers.

Drivers, instructors and observers unanimously agreed on several facts:

  • Every Snake Pilot improved as time on track (4 hrs.) accumulated
  • Despite the occasional spin, no snakes lost any skin
  • The Viper esprit de corps among all on hand grew by the hour
  • Appreciation of VCA membership and one’s Viper climbed equally
  • Drivers of other makes extended compliments on the club’s effort and style
  • Vipers took fastest times over all in each division

The final checkered flag ended an excellent track day outing and the camaraderie continued over bountiful BBQ, and concluded with an etched in stone decision to do it again next year. With a great MSR road race track and staff just minutes from downtown Houston, it’s another green flag for Houston Region’s 2012 event calendar.

Submitted by W.K. Gonzalez

Photo by Mayra Mernies

]]> http://www.houstonvca.com/texas-drought-quenched/feed/ 0 Track Days 040 http://www.houstonvca.com/track-days-040/ http://www.houstonvca.com/track-days-040/#comments Thu, 02 Feb 2012 22:58:11 +0000 SpeedyBugs http://www.houstonvca.com/?p=343 http://www.houstonvca.com/track-days-040/feed/ 0 Track Days 039 http://www.houstonvca.com/track-days-039/ http://www.houstonvca.com/track-days-039/#comments Thu, 02 Feb 2012 22:57:39 +0000 Houston VCA http://www.houstonvca.com/?p=341 http://www.houstonvca.com/track-days-039/feed/ 3 Track Days 038 http://www.houstonvca.com/track-days-038/ http://www.houstonvca.com/track-days-038/#comments Thu, 02 Feb 2012 22:57:08 +0000 Houston VCA http://www.houstonvca.com/?p=339 http://www.houstonvca.com/track-days-038/feed/ 0 Track Days 037 http://www.houstonvca.com/track-days-037/ http://www.houstonvca.com/track-days-037/#comments Thu, 02 Feb 2012 22:56:36 +0000 Houston VCA http://www.houstonvca.com/?p=337 http://www.houstonvca.com/track-days-037/feed/ 0 Track Days 036 http://www.houstonvca.com/track-days-036/ http://www.houstonvca.com/track-days-036/#comments Thu, 02 Feb 2012 22:56:01 +0000 Houston VCA http://www.houstonvca.com/?p=335 http://www.houstonvca.com/track-days-036/feed/ 0 Track Days 035 http://www.houstonvca.com/track-days-035/ http://www.houstonvca.com/track-days-035/#comments Thu, 02 Feb 2012 22:55:24 +0000 Houston VCA http://www.houstonvca.com/?p=333 http://www.houstonvca.com/track-days-035/feed/ 0