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bowtie


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OPTIMA Faceoff last weekend
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Scott-quick question, at those events (Road America or the SEMA one in particular) is there a lot for spectators to see, or is the road course too spread out to really see much more than them go by every minute or two?

Specifically, I'm interested in maybe hitting the one right after SEMA this year, but between the extra full day there and hotel, renting a car and the hour drive out, etc will it be worth it versus still being able to see the cars themselves in Vegas?



-- Edited by bowtie on Thursday 27th of June 2013 02:58:20 PM

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Bryan-NW 'burbs
1972 Malibu
Vaguely stock appearing, and the opposite of restored.
1999 std bore 5.7, Vortec heads, Holley Stealth Ram, GM cam
700R4, Viking coilovers, 12 bolt 4.10 posi, and a whole bunch more
Scott Parkhurst


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My pal Scott and I dragged the wagon out to its first event this year- the OPTIMA Faceoff at Road America.

What a weekend!

The good news/bad news is that I had to work. I work for Optima's PR agency as the Optima account supervisor, so I have to be on duty at their big events. My job this weekend was to accompany the group of brand ambassadors I'd put together, and get them through a solid training schedule in addition to helping them enjoy the event.

My pal Scott was tasked with driving my wagon in the various competitive events. He's never driven it competitively, and he has a much higher level wagon of his own going together. Since his car will have more power, more tire, and more suspension, it makes sense that he get some seat time in my lower powered, smalled tired version first.

So, we had a plan. My group of brand ambassadors included representatives from all across the automotive enthusiast world. They included Troy Ladd (Hollywood Hot Rods), Art Tuason (Hoppos Hydraulics), Phil Palmer (NHRDA World Champion Diesel truck driver), Tom Bostic (Champion audio system designer/builder and winner at the dB Drags), Mary Pozzi (11 time SCCA Solo II Champion), and Warren Johnson (NHRA Pro Stock 'Professor' and winningest driver in NHRA history).

Quite a group! Most of them had never been to a Pro Touring event before, so it was really cool.

The car was doing fine, and Scott was learning a lot until one of the side brackets that holds the master cylinder to the firewall broke. It was left dangling by the other bracket- so our day was done. Unfortunately Scott didn't get the chance to drive the road course at 10/10ths before the bracket broke. He did accomplish the autocross and made one pass at the Speed/Stop before it let go. He did get to tour the road course at relatively low speed, which was still pretty cool for him.

Overall, it was a cool weekend. Warren Johnson tells some great stories and he was intrigued by the street car handling thing. Scott had a good time behind the wheel, although it was cut short.

The car is fixed already- with new gusseted brackets that will never break. He also fabricated a true harness bar and bolted in bucket seats for this event. It was cool, but I like my old bench seat better. The harness bar is a good move, though. It's safer and it looks cool. It's a bolt-in deal so we can remove it anytime.

There were some leaks we fixed that were keeping me from driving the car. I'm glad they're gone. Also, the clutch was about shot, and now there's a fresh new one in there. So I think the ol' girl is ready to enjoy some summer miles. As usual...I'm a bit late to the party, but I always bring the strong stuff when I finally show up. LOL!!

 

See you guys soon. It's been too long.



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Scott Parkhurst

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Cool. Would love to do that event some day.

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Keith - Rochester, MN

1970 El Camino SS 396 L78

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Scott Parkhurst


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Here's a cool video of the road course portion.

Next time for sure!

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=_GzNNLr52LU



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Scott Parkhurst

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Scott Parkhurst


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Bryan- The event in Vegas is a great one to watch. It's not as spread out as Road America is, and because its Nevada there aren't any trees. It's a blast to watch and there are some really exciting vantage points. I'd recommend Vegas over the Road America event for a spectator.

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Derek69SS


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I am so missing out on everything fun. :(

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Derek Kiefer - Mantorville, MN

69 Malibu Pro-Touring stroker LS1-383/T56 - 69 SS396-325/3spd project
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Derek69SS wrote:

I am so missing out on everything fun. :(

 bth_whip-smiley.gif



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Mitch D.   River Falls, WI

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Chris R


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Scott Parkhurst wrote:

 

Here's a cool video of the road course portion.

Next time for sure!

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=_GzNNLr52LU

 

Cole Quinnell's 66 is so beyond cool its insane. Plus he isnt afraid to flog the *)(^ out of it either.



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Chris - Ramsey, MN.

Dear Optimist, Pessimist, and Realist.

While you guys were busy arguing about the glass of water. I drank it!

Sincerly,

The opportunist.
Scott Parkhurst


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Performance-wise, Cole's car is right about on-par with my wagon. Similar power and suspension mods. His is a lot prettier, without question! He's got a bit wider tire, and his BFGs are a tiny bit stickier than my Nittos. He and I have known each other for awhile. He just turned 10,000 miles on his car since the rebuild just over a year ago. He certainly loves to drive it!

Derek- I post this stuff to keep you motivated. You'd be right in the mix with this crowd, and you know it. There were no other '68-'69s out there either. You and your awesome firewall need to get back on the road soon! The speed/stop challenges include cones to weave through now, and the autocross is right up your alley. I honestly think you'll get more addicted to road courses than anything, since they're just autocrosses with bigger boobs- more to play with at higher speeds. I prefer them without question.

Do you think you'll be ready to go this summer? Or are you targeting next year?

Scott's insane wagon is progressing steadily too.. you need to see it before it gets covered in sheetmetal and paint. It's going to shake things up a bit when it comes out. It won't re-write the record books anywhere, but it'll surely make a statement and anger a slew of Ponycar owners who will finish behind it.

My car isnt anywhere near competitive anymore. It's still a lot of fun though, and it's serving as a great training car for Scott to learn in.

Miss ya Derek!

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Scott Parkhurst

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bowtie


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I heard Cole's car had flames coming out at one point.

Scott, I'll have to think about it a little more, but I'm leaning that way. It's in Pahrump at the Spring Valley Motorsports Ranch right?

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Bryan-NW 'burbs
1972 Malibu
Vaguely stock appearing, and the opposite of restored.
1999 std bore 5.7, Vortec heads, Holley Stealth Ram, GM cam
700R4, Viking coilovers, 12 bolt 4.10 posi, and a whole bunch more
Scott Parkhurst


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Cole had a fuel tank vent issue. It was quickly resolved. No harm done.

Yes- it's at Spring Valley Motorsports Ranch. Quite a place and a perfect facility to host this event.

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Scott Parkhurst

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Derek69SS


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Scott Parkhurst wrote:

Derek- I post this stuff to keep you motivated. You'd be right in the mix with this crowd, and you know it. There were no other '68-'69s out there either. You and your awesome firewall need to get back on the road soon! The speed/stop challenges include cones to weave through now, and the autocross is right up your alley. I honestly think you'll get more addicted to road courses than anything, since they're just autocrosses with bigger boobs- more to play with at higher speeds. I prefer them without question.

Do you think you'll be ready to go this summer? Or are you targeting next year?

I'll be driving it this year, but there might be a lot of loose ends not quite finished on it... going to focus on just getting it running, and not worry about things like A/C yet. I've been buying a lot of stuff for it lately, so the budget might be all that holds me back for a bit. I carried a balance on my credit card for the first time in my life this month... still a lot to buy.
 
I have an optimistic goal of Car Craft, but that's sneaking up on me pretty fast.



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Derek Kiefer - Mantorville, MN

69 Malibu Pro-Touring stroker LS1-383/T56 - 69 SS396-325/3spd project
Chris R


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Scott Parkhurst wrote:
I work for Optima's PR agency as the Optima account supervisor, so I have to be on duty at their big events.

 Can I go through you for a killer deal on a yellow top then?razz



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Chris - Ramsey, MN.

Dear Optimist, Pessimist, and Realist.

While you guys were busy arguing about the glass of water. I drank it!

Sincerly,

The opportunist.
Scott Parkhurst


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I'll see what I can do!

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Scott Parkhurst

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