Today was the official start of the 2011 Great Race. Today's course began in Chattanooga, TN at the Coker Tire World Headquarters and ended in Ashville, NC with stops in Athens, TN for lunch and Maggie Valley, NC for dinner. Today's route was the Tail of the Dragon which is considered one of the best driving roads in the US - very scenic! The only issue for the day, driving back from dinner to the hotel, the car died. Turns out the rain shorted out the fuel pump. I brought a spare fuel pump and after a little repair work in the parking lot (Thanks BUD!) we were back in action. Of course, we didn't finish until midnight - so that's the reason this post is a day late.
Here is a picture of the starting grid at Coker Tires. We started 25th, so we're way, way in the back!!
The official starting gate:
Here's a great story. These guys are high school buddies - the driver is 16 and the navigator 15. They're driving a 1920's era Ford A... AND they're dressed the part!
So we had no rain during the timed portion of the rally. But twenty seconds after we were off the clock - BOOM! It started raining cats-n-dogs. yes, we got wet. Very wet...
The rain gears works better if you put it on BEFORE you're wet....
So after the first day of competition, we were pleased:
Leg 1: 1 sec late
Leg 2: 2 sec late
Leg 3: 4 sec late
Leg 4: 5 sec late
A total raw score of 12 seconds; adjusted for age factor to 9.36 - we're 3rd in class and 3rd overall.
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