I was flying out to Salt Lake City to meet Hooman and the rest of the rally crew. When I got on the plane in Atlanta... Hooman called me and told me he was running late, and wouldn't get to Salt Lake City in time to pick me up. He gave me his buddy Nick's number so I could meet up with him. He was driving a new e60 M5:
He was with a lot of the other drivers in a parking garage putting graphics on all the cars:
After we left the garage, we headed to Wendover, which is a few miles from Bonneville Speedway. I wasn't even off the plane an hour, and I was going 170mph in the Nick's e60.
The next day we hit Bonneville Speedway. It was AMAZING. Very very surreal. We didn't get to run a top-speed run, because Hooman had a torn motor mount in the Evo... but just being there was incredible!
We left the speedway to head back to SLC to get the motor mount swapped at a local Mitsu dealer. Leaving the speedway... we snapped one of my favorite pictures:
We got the motor mount changed at a Mitsubishi dealer that probably had one service writer, and one technician. Once we left the dealer, we hit a K-Mart next door for some sweet pictures.
At that K-mart, I stumbled across a 1:24 scale that has been on the shelf since 2004...
and it cost me $2.13!
The next day was the official start. Everyone was gathered outside our hotel in SLC. The entire group was ready to hit the road. We almost stopped traffic out in front of the hotel with all the cars.
After hours of anticipation, we hit the road with force. All the pent up energy waiting to leave showed... because when the rally hit the road, people were running 150mph, passing on the shoulder, passing between lanes, cutting people off... it was MADNESS!
We were running in the front with the Infamous crew, and Chris... the founder of AKA (e39 M5).
Apparently, all the ruckus got the entire rally behind us pulled over at once. We managed to elude the stop.
Once we crossed the state line into Idaho, we stopped at a gas station. We were soon followed by an Idaho state trooper. He told us he knew what we were doing in Utah... and not to do it in Idaho. He said they would have troopers every 10-15 miles. Sure enough - he was right.
After getting pulled over (sorry... no pix), having the car searched for NOS and drugs, we decided to take a back road that would take us up through Yellowstone Nat'l Park.
Oops.
And 85.5?
This Sunfire was sweet.
Hooman's windsheild cracked... as did most of the other cars.
This was our playbook. All our stops, the entire schedule, and all names/phone numbers. A cop in Idaho confiscated one of these books from a rallier... so they knew exactly where we were headed.
The guy who's playbook got nabbed, got porn put on his Cayenne.
Misc cool pics as we headed east:
A piece of plywood came flying up off the road, and lodged itself into Hooman's intercooler.
Once we hit Indianapolis, we raced at a two-level go-kart track. 9HP karts, on 10-minute heats... it was gnarl. There were two championship heats... I placed 3rd in the 1st heat... but only 1st/2nd advanced to the 2nd heat. I was so exhausted after the race, I was actually glad I didn't make the cut, lol. It was SO much fun!
Dale (white Vette) got a police radio, and when headed to Columbus he picked up a call about a group of highway racers excessively speeding. We made a fast-break for the hotel in Columbus, and barely made it.
The next morning we went to the ALMS race at Mid-Ohio.
Hahaha.
This guitar was sweet.
After a week of mayhem... we finally made it to Atlantic City.
We had a final dinner at the casino, an awards ceremony in Chris' suite, and just as fast as the rally began... it ended.
I stickered like... EVERYTHING along the way. The last thing I stickered on the trip... and thus, my last picture as well.
The AKA Rally was an amazing week. A tad on the stressful side for a "vacation"... but it was a riot. I was barely able to squeeze enough time between drift event to run it, but it was definitely worth it! I hope I can rock it out with Hooman again next year!!!
