I have 3 car buddies, who I met thru various car shows and friends of friends. What we all have in common is that we drive various Dodge Challengers. That’s why we hit it off so well with each other. It’s the same, but slightly different, since we all have different uses for our muscle machines. The main goal, obviously, is to have fun with them.
You see, me, I like to show off my cool Dodge Challenger at the local car shows.
Fred, he does quarter mile drag racing with his (and runs low 10s).
Then there’s Scott, who’s big time into autocross racing.
Finally, an older guy named Bill, who’s very old school, and races his subtle, but very modified Dodge Challenger on the street. Against other street racers who possess low 9, high 8 second rides. It’s not too often that Bill loses a race. That should tell you how fast his Hellcat is! But you’ll never hear him say what’s exactly under the hood though. That’s how some street racers are. You know the type, “it’s only got a few bolt-on mods.”
On one long holiday weekend, we decided to spend the entire Friday thru Monday adventure actually checking out what it is that all of us do at our own selected events.
One full day for each persons automobile passion, seeing how these different, yet somewhat relatable activities, really go down. And what’s involved to get the cars ready for said event.
Fridays entertainment, which would be held starting at “around 11 PM,” involved Bill’s street racing association. Not so much an organized event as just a bunch of other car dudes getting together to smack talk, then make some heavily wagered bets on who would cross the finish line first. I’m sure you’ve seen television shows themed around this type of congregating. That’s more or less what it’s like.
Prep for this affair, involved doing a once over on the vehicle. Hours before we’d head out to “the area.” Make sure new spark plugs were installed, run thru computer settings to maximize output, and similar tuning of the Dodge Hellcat.
When we got to the spot, a dozen assorted autos were ready to run.
Not much jibber jabber as expected.
Spectators placed bets right along with the racers.
Then they’d go at it, heads up, to a predetermined quarter mile that was marked with another vehicle, who’s emergency flashers were on.
1 by 1, these race cars battled each other, with some owners combatting multiple others 1 right after the other.
Bill finally struct a deal with a guy who had a ’68 Camaro. Must have been a new guy to the area, as no one really knew him, nor seen him around before tonight. $2500 was put up by both parties. This of course, was separate from all the other bets that were taking place on these 2 cars. The local guy who stages all these activities holds onto the cash until the winner is determined.
For this race, the Camaro pulled Bill direct out of the hole by 3 car lengths! By the halfway mark however, it was all over for the stranger. The Hellcat released its fury and kept pulling and pulling, all the way past the finish line. Winner!
We watched several others do their thing, and at almost 4 AM, Bill decided it was time to wrap things up and head home. He only ran his car once, but that was enough for this weekend. A profitable day for him, and an interesting experience for us.
On Saturday, Fred’s local hangout at the dragstrip was where we were headed.
Racing officially starts at 1 o’clock in the afternoon, but drivers need to be there with their vehicles by 11:30 AM to check in and do what they do before the speed contest begins.
No car prep work was needed.
Fred’s car is really consistent, and he basically takes a quick look under the hood, and that’s it.
He’s ready to rock.
We watched Fred make some time trials, then participate in the bracket racing action.
Now to some, brackets are much more boring than the heads up style, but since this is our friend, we had someone to root for.
And besides, none of us besides Fred had ever been to a drag track before, so it was all kind of interesting to see.
He went 3 rounds before redlighting.
No triumph here.
Normally Fred heads home once he’s done, but since this was a group outing, we stayed until the end.
Then for Sunday festivities, a special and new autocross race was being thrown.
Scott was super pumped up to be able to participate.
And why wouldn’t he, he’s been autocrossing for a few years now, has entered many events and won quite a few already to boot.
This specific show however, was a brand new challenge, the first annual of its kind here, and the competition was very tight.
A bunch of well known racers were involved.
The top prize of ten grand wasn’t a bad motivator either.
In these type of road track experiences, your car has to handle well, and you need to really know how to drive your vehicle.
Both of which Scott was excellent at.
1-2-3-4 rounds of action and Scott is well in the lead.
It finally comes down to our buddy, and a guy in a Chevy Monte Carlo SS.
You wouldn’t think this boxy GM G-body would roll and turn well thru the slalom course, but man, we were impressed how good this car looked and drove.
Disappointment time.
Something on Scott’s car broke during the run, ending his chances for the #1 spot.
He finished second, netting him $3500 for his efforts.
Not a bad day with all things considered.
That’s racing, as they say.
When Monday finally rolled around, it was my turn.
The annual Memorial Day car show was being held, an event I haven’t missed for the last 6 years in a row. I haven’t taken the top honors… yet. This year, I’m definitely aiming for #1!
My normal prep procedure was to spend about 6 hours prepping the car for show time. Wash, wax, detail the exterior, interior, engine compartment, wheels, etc.
I was glad to have help today, and we managed to get it all done in 2 hours.
We headed off to the arena after grabbing a quick breakfast.
392 participants were entered today, with me being the last.
Seemed like a lucky number since that’s the V8 engine in my Scat Pack!
It’s not that quick of a car, but boy is it sure pretty with all the things I’ve done to it.
We browsed the competition and there seemed to be a few other contenders competing against me. All I could do was hope for the best outcome. My friends assured me I had nothing to worry about. Of course, this wasn’t their area of expertise, so while I thanked them for their encouragement, I still had my doubts.
When the judging annoucements came in, I didn’t win “Best of Show.”
But I did take 2 others: “People’s Choice” and “Best in Class” trophies.
So that’s cool. 2 is more than 1, right? haha.
Well, there’s always other shows and next years extravaganza to hope for.
Monday night, my friends parted ways until the next time we could do something fun like this.
A pretty great weekend if I do say so myself!
I got 2 awards, Bill won $2500, Scott took $3500, and poor Fred got nothing but a weekend of memories, but sometimes that’s enough.
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