Sept 8, Texas Motor Speedway.
$30 for 3 paced laps, $10 more will get you a pic in Victory Circle.

T-Bat, keep me posted on your status. Your attendance will determine when I leave Austin.

So far, so good on my end. I don't foresee anything yet that will cause me to be unable to go.

95MPH on a banked turn with a Mustang GT chasing you FTW.

I'm in as long as nothing comes up. Perhaps we can all have clean cars and no rain this time.

Much fun to be had by all!!!

right now my game plan is to leave out on Thursday morning and hook up with RooK and NorthTnGuy that evening...the next day will be travel so my aim is to arrive in Ft Worth area late Friday evening. I want to check in and get some rest before Saturday so I'm not burnt tired from the drive. So what ever time and place you want to hook up just let me know. I dont have a problem with coming south a little ways to meet up with you guys if you want. Looking forward to it big time

(I hope I get all my mods done!)

Is Rook and NTG coming along too?

I plan on leaving Austin around noonish. That'll put me in FTW around 3:00. We should have enough time to grab a bite to eat and do any cleaning up that may be needed. There may be a couple of the DFW gang that we'll meet up with at the track. Apparently there's a GP gathering going on in Branson, Missouri on that same weekend and a few of them plan on heading that way.

I wish I could be there, but unfortunately, I have to work on Sunday.

Maybe I can do a better job on scheduling and come that way next year.

Don

no I'll just be hanging with RooK and NtnG for a while Thursday evening (I dont think either of them are planning on coming to TMS...but they sure would be welcome) I figured it was on my way pretty much and it would be cool to check out the Pink Panther in person...NorthTnGuy said he will most likely bring his CompG up to meet us in KY...I would almost like to hook up with someone else on the way back home but I'll have to see how my time frame goes.

You getting in by 3 sounds just fine...if anyone else wants to get there any earlier I'll be happy to meet up where ever they choose. Even if I sleep in I should be up and rollin by 11 at the latest

Cool.
I might even leave Austin earlier. I'm off on the Friday before, so I'll have all day on Friday to get my car cleaned up and ready for the trip.

I truly wish I could go. I have other obligations though (work/college). I'm also not 100% on my car yet. At least I got my Ptuner today.

I know you feel guys...if this hadnt fell on this vacation week for me this year I'd be sitting home wishing myself. I'mlooking forward to meeting up with you guys and seeing all the work you've done on the Panther...gonna be a great trip

Hmm...maybe I should attend. I've been looking for an excuse to spend a couple hours behind the wheel of my car, and the 5 hour drive to Dallas meets that requirement. lol

Plus, seeing some of those beautiful cars you guys have in person would be worth the trip.

you know you live in a BIG state when you can drive 5 hours and not cross a border

If you go west from Dallas, you can drive 8 hours and not cross a border. Texas is huge.

I plan on heading out there with y'all,if nothing comes up, so i'm really looking forward to it. I should be purchasing a camera soon so I can get some sweet vids of everything, again if nothing comes up. I'll keep y'all posted on that.

sounds awesome! (can you tell I'm gettin a little stoked?)

No way man I had no idea....

im going to try and make it if im off from work.

I keep hearing all these foul weather reports about tropical storms and such...I really hope this trip doesnt get snuffed on account of rain and monsoon

I really don't think any of the storms to date are going to effect anything.
Erin is due to this weekend and shouldn't do anything to the DFW area and Dean may not even do anything to us at all, but it's too early to tell what Dean is going to do.
The past proves that the ones traveling north will get rained on while we head that way, but no rain in the TMS area.

I think Felix may be the one we need to worry about, when ever he decides to form.

The DFW area is far enough northward I wouldn't worry about it. Besides, we're still three and a half weeks out.

The world might end before that. I hope not, but you never know what might happen between now and then. Who knows, maybe I'll win the lottery!

then you'll have the fender roller by then?

Impromptu fender rolling at the Texas Motor Speedway!

I'd bet we'd have a lot of people looking at us funny if we did that...

If it's Tbat's car, of course they'll be staring. :rolleyes:

If my car isnt as impressive in person as it is in pics I'm really gonna tarnish my image

You can't stay home...

It's that simple.

Whoo! Two weeks to go...

I'm finally getting off my lazy arse and getting photos uploaded to the gallery.

Here are some from pictures from May's trip.
Arcxnus\' TMS Pictures

I'm ready for it.
I'm off on Friday the 7th so I'll be spending all day Friday cleaning, so when it rains on the way up there I'll have fresh dirt on my car.

You can have some of the dirt I have right now. There's enough for everyone now that the city is working on the road next to my house! :rolleyes:

I hope that's finished before TMS, or I'll be taking the long way around.

I'm gonna have 19 hours worth of road grime and bug guts on mine...quit your whining

Waaaah, dirt!

It's just that last time, it seemed like the weather was just showing us who was boss. :rolleyes: Do you want me to bring my detail stuff, Tbat?

I've got a big butterfly or something stuck in the billet grill on my Stratus.

Pic?

he'd like a pic of big butterfly guts stuck in your Stratus grill...you guys got a strange sense of humor down that way

I wont argue with anyone bringing stuff to spiff the ride up with...I know its gonna look bad after all that hi-way hammerin. Thanks Arcx!

Sure thing.

I don't know what to tell you about it though. Depending on how bad the bugs and stuff are, we might not be able to do much about it. Some of the bugs down here are tough, and won't come off without a good wash and claybar.

Which .. takes awhile. Although, since you just had it detailed, it probably won't be as bad.

something I learned while in Bama, spray Pam or whatever on your car. the olive/canola/vegetable oils will not harm the paint, and the bugs almost melt off the car. One of my instructors claimed to do it all the time, and his car's front end was very clean, with the clear coat in one piece, and the paint in nearly immaculate condition.

PAM also works well on your front wheels too. Helps keep the brake dust off of them.

wish I had known about that some time ago...bugs stuck on my front end and mirrors have actually stained the paint...the detailer was able to get everything off but the wax in the places where bug guts acid has been is there to stay...only repainting will change that now...I'll have to keep the PAM thing in mind for future use...especially before take off somewhere on vacation.

I will be making it out there guys. I can't believe it is next weekend. I will be bringing my camera so I can get some sweet video since I won't be driving . So I can't wait its gonna be awesome!

we'll get someone to take your car around if you want...I know that aint much of a consolation prize but I'll pitch in for your trouble on the video work.

Deal...I know you wanna drive the supercharged beast t-bat!

T-bat, when are you heading out?

should be leaving early morning thursday sept 6...hooking up with RooK and NorthTnGuy in Rooks hometown of London KY...just gotta check out the Pink Panther...Friday the 7th will be a travel day, hoping to get into Ft Worth by late that evening so I can get a nights rest before hot lapping Sat night

Not sure about my return trip...I basically have Sunday and Monday to get back home...possibly Tuesday morning since I have to return to work Tuesday night at midnight for 12-8 shift.

Here comes Felix!

looking like he is planning on raining on our parade

same track as the other one, huh? the Yucatan must be hatin life right now. Yo, Alex, how is that region doin? You get much in the way of national news?

Turned out to be a huge grasshopper. I actually had about four I dislodged the other day. Probably have more by now.

looks like Felix took a bit of a southern turn hitting the Honduras border...lets hope it moves across land and fizzles out. With all the issues I've had with mods I can at least say the new intake sounds great at WOT...lookin forward to kickin it around TMS (minus the huge grasshoppers)

Yeah, It looks like we're going to be good.

It's raining here, but it's not from Felix. He seems to have opted for burritos instead of barbeque. Oh well!

There's rain forecasted for all this week, but it doesn't look like enough at this point to do anymore than get our cars dirty. Again. :rolleyes:

What's the plan for Saturday? Need to figure out when I need to leave. I wouldn't mind hanging out in DFW all day.

Rain predicted all week for here as well...

But thanks to Arcx, it shouldn't be too hard to get the car looking nice again.

Also looks like we might have a decently sized crew to hang out before the main event.

Pfft. My car is dirty as-is, with miss matched front bumper and lots of grass on it. I don't think rain would hurt much.

My plan is to leave Austin around noon-ish, maybe a little before.
The only plan I have for T-bat is that we're going to try to find somewhere for a photo shoot, I'm thinking somewhere near Alliance Airport (where you can see straight down the runway from I-35) and some time to do some cleaning of the cars (he may need more time than me) and get a bite to eat before we head up to meet what ever crew will be at TMS. I know there are a couple from CGP that will be going, most are going to Branson for a GP gathering there.

I'm planning on getting into Ft Worth late friday night...even if I sleep in the next morning I'm sure I'll be up and about by 11 at the latest...so anyone who wants to come up and show me around is more than welcome.

I would if I lived in ft.worth. Its like a 30-45 minute drive from where I live.

Ft Worth is a little more spread out than Dallas, so things aren't as closely located to each other. When I used to live up in Denton, I'd go to Dallas rather than FW just because of alot of stuff being centrally located on I35.

The Metroplex is huge. It sprawls out everywhere because of all the suburbs, so there's crap all over the place.

Lemme know where you're at, and I'll see what's nearby.

Henriette may cause us some issues.

I dunno, it might hit Big Bend and fizzle out, if it gets that far. Mountains aren't too nice to storms, but I dunno if those are big enough to give the hurricane a problem.

By the way, Bobby, what did you have in mind for dinner? Been talkin' to Tbat and trying to figure out what we're looking at here.

Hope everyone has lots of fun! Take many pics. I almost decided to go. I need to actually save money for once and do some things around here. Enjoy!!

As far as food, I'm open to just about anything.
I figured I'd let T-bat decide on what kind of food he wanted and go from there. I can go for steaks or hamburgers or anything in between.

When are ya'll planning on leaving Waco?

We're leaving earlier in the day, to get into DFW so we can spend the whole day there. You're welcome to come of course.

I thought it'd be cool to show Tbat some of Texas while he's here, and also to maybe go to a real Texas steakhouse so we can put Virginia to shame.

Give me a time on when ya'll are leaving and I'll meet up. I'm also planning on spending some time with him during the day since I won't be hanging around for too much after the festivities are over at TMS. I've got that 3 hour cruise to look forward to after it's all over.

Yeah, I factored that in when considering places to eat. Don't want to add in more hours to that drive back!

We'll probably leave about 10ish, Slick will already be here on Friday so no worries about him having to arrive from Houston. Is that alright?

I still live near I35, just a bit further down the line for you. We moved to Hewitt, which is the next town up from where you met us at the old house last time. There'll be a sign for Hewitt, and there's a Flying J gas station right there off the ramp if you want to wait for us there if you come early.

I'll plan on leaving about 9am and meeting at FJ's in Hewitt.

Awesome!

I'vemade my reservations at the Microtel in Ft Worth...I'm gonna do a little packing since the T-Bat is all nice and clean (at least I can start that way)...then I'll be crashing the bed...btw, the room I booked has a fold out sleep sofa in case anyone needs to crash for awhile before heading home...just for info sake.

So I'll be signing off for few days...see you guys soon

u guys and girl sux.. i need the time and date for next year maybe we could have a bigger turn out .. haha who wants to be part of the gp convoy??

Start planning... The first round is generally on the second Saturday in May, with the second round being the second Saturday in Sept.

I sure wish I had planned my vacation better this year ... I'd be on my way there today!

I drove to London, KY and met up with Rook and Tbat yesterday. We had a good time meeting and looking at what all Rook had done to his car and finding out what all he had planned for it. It's coming along nicely, I think! Of course, I did a lot of listening since I haven't done any mods to the Comp G, gut it was still interesting seeing learning what all they had planned for their GPs. We got a few pictures of our cars, too.

After filling our bellies at a good restaurant, Rook headed home and Tbat followed me back for the 3 hour trip to the TN/KY line and stayed there last night. We met up this morning and had breakfast and after letting him drive the CompG, he was on his way to meet up with you guys in TX. Depending on how long he stops in Memphis, he should be in Dallas/Ft. Worth around 9ish tonight. .... DO NO put Tbat in front of y'all on the track because we don't need a lot of posts talking about how slow his ride is!

Don

I've got to make a couple of stops, car wash to do a quick vacuum and the bank to get some money, then I'll be headed out.
I'll see the Waco crew at the Flying J in Hewitt. If I'm not there when you get there, I'll be there shortly.

WOW...finally made it home...3pm EST, Monday afternoon...and I feel like a piece of very burnt toast, but I knew it was going to be a tuff ride home...but the experience and the people made it all worthwhile, and then some.

There wont be any lacking of wanting to do this again...when that will be is anyones guess. I know it had been suggested many times to build a meet around this event, and I'm more certain than ever that its a great idea. I strongly urge anyone here that has ever given a thought to doing this event...MAKE THE TRIP... you will meet great peeps and get to drive your ride in a fashion you will never experience otherwise.
You'll get to see alot of other sweet rides and maybe even gain a measure of respect for NASCAR drivers you never had before (even if your not a fan of stock car racing)
"We" could have planned our other activities a little better (proof positive that technology doesnt do it all)...but those things make memories you never forget (dont sweat it Slick, it'll be someone else's turn to goof next time...as long as you realize this story will get told to death )

I also think this has been a testament to what great cars we have...20 hours of highway hammering each way, 70-80mph, lots of fun blasting around mountain roads and ripping around TMS...26-27mpg and not a single issue (that I didnt cause)...THIS CAR ROCKS!

much more to come from the "TMS road trip"...but now, some well deserved sleep.

how bout round 2 next year tbat.. we could drive out together in may or whatever.. haha

TBat,

Good to hear you made it home in one piece... Even if it was a very burnt piece of toast. :p

It was a blast hanging out with everyone and meeting a few new people and putting faces to names.

Glad you made it back in one piece T-bat.
It was just about the best time I've had at the TMS gathering. I enjoyed it and I'm ready for next year to come around.
The only thing I wished we could have done, is stayed around for that "Show-N-Shine" at the restaurant.
I would have won for cleanest engine bay.

I know I'm not the only one with pics.
Post them up (and the video too)!

I'll post mine when I get my gallery fixed...

Dunno exactly how I did it, but it broked.

Your sig is still working, so that's a good sign.

Sorry I was out of it on Saturday. I slept like crap Friday night, go figure. The one night I actually need to sleep, it doesn't want to let me. I had fun thought, drawn-out creative tale of TMS to come later, when I'm not at work.

I think they might notice if I was sitting on a block of text in Word and not doing my actual work.

Glad you got back fine, Tbat.

While on my way home Sat night/Sun morning, I was almost in Austin (between Round Rock and Austin, in Pflugerville) a newer model Mazda RX7 with a fart can entered the highway right next to me. I had the cruise set at 68 and I was just ready to be home. I noticed as soon as he got on the highway he met my speed and was just cruising right next to me. I kinda figured he was going to be up to something. Sure enough he started revving his engine at me. It was 1:30am and I just wanted to get home and I didn't want to take a chance at getting caught racing or anything, so I slammed on my brakes and dove in right behind him. I think I scared him because he headed straight for the next exit ramp and got off the highway quicker than he got on.

That's too funny! I notice I get alot of stares and strange looks when people come up to me and those who pass. With such dark windows and the GP look, people are scared.

ROFLOL... That's a good one. phew...

I had a couple people pace me on my way home Sunday. Gets a little irritating when it's a cop infested area of the highway and you just want them to go away.

Nice Bobby!!!

You won!!! Without racing, you won.......

Disclaimer: We don't condone racing or intimidation of any sort. If you feel the need to do so after reading something here, you are responsible for your own actions.

Now... Drive on before I start telling stories....

Rather than post all the pictures Arcx took, I'll just post a link to my gallery.

Enjoy!!!

TMS Sept \'07

Edit: Videos aren't up yet, but I'll get those as soon as I can edit out my overbearing exhaust. :p

sounds like you guys and gal had a blast hopefully i will be able to make it up there next time. on my way to work today i saw a blue 99 daytona GTP at a dealership so im going to stop by and check it out on my lunch break.

That would of been sweet if someone like Herc, with a blue GP, was there then you would have the colors!!

man this sucks i went to the dealership to look at it its just a normal 2 door blue GTP with 109,000 miles for $5800 with massive body and interior damage.