^^ Whoa, you misread me by a mile.

PM sent. I don't have any answers. No one except the organizers do. Hopefully you will still consider attending.

I apologize for the misunderstanding. Peace my friend.



Regarding the Rally: I am registered and payment has been sent.

 

registration is still open until next mid next week!!

 

Looks awesome. Maybe next year once I have all weekends off!

 

BUMP for last minute registrations ...

 

I registered yesterday and he still took it. Got my confirmation and starting point same day. See you all tomorrow.

 

more of a "poker run" than a rally. None the less, sounds awesome.

 

Got back last night from the Jawbreaker. I was increadibly impressed! Everything was extremely well organized and well... professionally done.

I will have to post pictures later and tell the stories. Thanks to Brian, Lee, Clay and (I forgot your GF's name) for coming. It was great to have a couple 350's and a 370Z representing! Sorry for taking off on you guys at the start! The excitement got the best of me.

 

Rally was the most fun I've ever had in a car. I'm still working on sorting out the pictures and videos... here is the raw gallery straight off of the camera.

I've watched the three in car videos but I didn't realize I took a couple in the bar. They are loud and very dark. I'm sure something stupid was said in each of the videos!
Jawbreaker 2009 Gallery

Brian left us in the dust. Just completely blew us out. I think he was over 30 minutes ahead of us at lunch. I started off a little too conservative. After lunch we followed some BMWs and I improved the pace a lot (if only we hadn't spent an hour going the wrong way).

 

so sick!

I know i helped promote this and i still didnt make it out there haha. but im glad you guys had a good time. My buddy Trevor did an awesome job with this, and you can only expect a bigger deal for next year.

Plus, two Z's with RPF1's would be to much! haha

 

Can never have enough RPF1's lol... Yeah Brian, damn on the 1st leg... After that though I wasnt about to let you leave me again lol.

Great time and the way this was all setup was AMAZING. Professional indeed. One thing I would change and I voiced this maybe too much, but the roads were horrid. One lane roads with great corners, but you had to keep speed down a lot in case a car was coming the other way. That and they were terribly bumpy. To told Trevor I should plan the Ohio leg of it next year. Hocking Hills here we come.

 

I have 7 foot aluminum wing on my G, do you think they will accept me???

 

LOL - I think they were expecting more entries than they had. So the "acceptance" criteria was loosened a bit to help pay for the event.

Hopefully next year will bring in more cars and the general level of cars stepped up a bit. (So long as it doesn't go elite level.)

I'll post up my photos and general summary of the run. It was a lot of fun. Forgive my poetic license on the next few posts. Enjoy.

 

I do want to say one thing ... Tact (my navigator) has become a legend at this rally. He had his A Game out and did his homework in the minutes before the rally.

I'll explain in a few ... but here are some pics in storyboard format.

Washing the car at Tact's house






Headed to the Rally








The Cannonball Run always had goofy teams dressed up with some theme. So there were a couple teams that coordinated. LOL




There was a team of professional photographers on site to shoot each team headed out.




There were some POS cars attending (as a joke) and some nice rides.
(Next year, I hope they limit the POS cars out.)


The Mustang did OK for a classic car ...




The organizer's FJ Cruiser


Just a little dirty ... no time to wash.






Bad *** Suby! (This was used in Promo video #1)

 

More cars roll in ....







These guys were comic relief ... He spent a lot of time trying to get his car to look rusty. He gets the ugliest car award.


Another Bad *** Ride. One of the EVOs


And another ...




The meet location was at a hotel / convention center. The registration was in the lobby and driver's meeting in one of the conference halls.

At registration, we get the following:
2x t-shirts, Wristbands for entry into the afterparty, vinyl decals for the car (including car number), a clip board with printed turn by turn directions, a highlighter, a couple bottles of water, snacks and emergency phone numbers.







The Jawbreaker Staff pose for photos:




This guy is a professional videographer. He'll roll around and try to capture what he can for a single cameraman. He shot and edited the first two promo videos. Nice work!!


On to placing the decals on the cars and the photoshoots....

 

Tact and I are car number 747. Just like the jet, I may be big but I'm fast.
























A brand new 370Z that also came down from Michigan ....






Yet another EVO


OK, these guys took the costume thing too far.


The only motorcycle to enter. He was brave since some of these roads had loose gravel and debris. Since he couldn't read the directions and ride, he teamed up with 2 guys in a Lexus SC400 and followed them.




A pair of VW GTIs arrive...




This Talon AWD Turbo was actually pretty fast. Later they would get the first speeding ticket before lunch. 114mph in a 55 zone. Ouch! :x









This was a bad **** Porsche 993. He had lowered suspension, wicked sounding exhaust, roll bars, harnesses and racing seats. Who knows what was done under the hood. Anyway, sweet ride none the less ...


Another member of the BMW group ...


Clay's 350Z


WTF on the Infinity M30???




Lee's 370Z heads to the photoshoot...

 

Right after the registration ... Tact (my navigator) gets right to work. He picks up an Ohio road atlas and starts plotting the route from the directions he just received.



Oops! The Ohio road atlas won't help when the route heads into Kentucky!



Clay and his GF / Navigator (Silver 350Z)


The Zs line up ...














More on the 993...






Lining up for the timed launch...










The launch starts at 12:00pm with 4-5 minute intervals between pairs of cars. We launch at 12:30

 

We take off at 12:30 with my 350Z leading a pack that included the red 370Z and the silver 350Z. I get to the second turn and look in the rearview mirror ... where the heck is Lee in hist 370Z??? LOL Did he make a wrong turn already ... did I do something wrong? I wouldn't see him again till the lunch stop.

Here are some of the roads. There are 5 check points and the finish. Like a normal poker run, at each check point you get a playing card. The best poker hand at the end of the day wins a nice handfull of cash. (Around a couple hundred bucks)

These roads are nice and easy to open up on. No one has pictures of the crazy roads because both the driver and navigator are working their butts off and have no time for pictures. Tact and I had 2 digital SLRs and a HD video camera and we managed only a couple shots.









Within 20 minutes of launch, we roll into the first town. We hit a stop light and see a bunch of the leading cars heading the opposite direction to make a right turn. (Oops, the directions were not so clear there but Tact figured it out) So we catch up to some of the pack but there are still a lot of cars in front. Yes, we are running against the clock but it's hard to speed in traffic.

Tact keeps feeding me directions and spotting for hazards ahead. "Loose gravel on right ... hard right ahead ... right turn in 1/4 mile." He'd keep the map handy and check off the printed turns with the highlighter.

Tact keeps me alert on each turn. A pair of BMWs ahead are not as well prepared. They notice the next turn just a second too late and have to stop halfway through an intersection. There's just enough room to scoot past and make the right. Two more down.

The Motorcycle and Lexus SC400 are ahead. The road has patches of loose gravel and I know this is my best chance. The bike is unsure of his footing so he slows down. One the next major straight, the bike waves us by and so does the Lexus.

We follow the Porsche 993 for a while until we get to a closed road. For Christ's sake, ODOT decides to do rural road repairs today. Our route is shut down ahead. The Porsche and I pull side by side in the center median of a divided highway and try to plot a new course around the closed road. Tact looks at the map and I search the Navigation system. Tact finds that we can get around in a few miles. The Porsche lets us lead the way.

The rest of Leg 1 was starting to get challenging. The hilly roads twist and turn in the forest and backroads. Tact keeps me alert to road conditions and upcoming turns. I glance at the nav to see the shape of the next 4-5 turns. Nothing sharp ... good. Keep the hammer down.

We are barrelling down a straightaway with rolling dips and hills when I see 4 large birds in the road. Some kind of dead animal covered in buzzard-like birds. The ****ers won't move. I am doing slightly over 105mph as I approach in seconds. I flash the lights and hit the horn... little effect. Now they stand and look at me. 65 ... 50 ... 40mph ... these bastards will make a mess of my car! I look for oncoming traffic beyond the road buffet and it is clear. I hit the gas to pass while still honking. The Porsche has already dropped back partly due to my speed and partly due to my little road aviary which he could see ahead. The bird take off as I try to pass. The growl of the induction must have sealed the deal. No sooner than I clear, they swarm back to their lunch and impeade the Porsche. I hit the gas. Every man for themselves! LOL.

 

We take the Peach Mountain Road turn and .... fresh gravel. Damnit! It's one lane wide and no room to turn around. The Porsche 993 is right behind and he's not thrilled either. A quick look at the Navigation says the road is about a mile long and links to another road then a major road. Fine! Deal with it. I do a solid 20 mph down I'm-gonna-kick-someone's-***-road only to find the next road is gravel too. Who the **** runs the ODOT? Larry the Cable Guy? 3 miles of total Hell and we're back on civilized pavement. That was a good ten minutes lost.

It's been a couple hours and we're hoping lunch is not far away. The course is wearing me out and the car could use a rest. Last turn and then proceed 12 miles to Aggies Restaurant. Woo-hoo!

As with each turn, I reset the trip odometer and keep the hammer down (somewhat.) We're in a 55 zone but lots of oncoming cars. I suspect this is not a good road for speeding so I keep it at 85-90. The Porsche has already caught up and is doing the same. 12 miles comes and goes and no Aggies. We're in a tiny riverfront downtown checking the name of every business there. I'd rather slow than miss it. No other Jawbreakers and no sign of Aggies. On the other side of town, somewhere around 14 miles from the last way point we find Aggies and roll in to sign in our time. We are signed in and free to spend downtime at lunch. This time is subtracted from our overall.



















We hang out at Aggies for a great lunch. (Included with the entry fee.) I run the car up to town to refill the tank. Leg 1 burned 2/3 of a tank.
I get back and then we hear the war stories. Cars are still coming in. Still no sign of the two Zs that started with me.

The white Talon rolls in and says he was pulled over for 114mph in a 55 zone. We are all surprised that he is not currently enjoying a body cavity search prior to being handed an orange jumpsuit. He looks whipped. They are talking about leaving the race and heading straight to the finish and skipping the next two checkpoints. We pass around an empty pitcher and take up a collection for his ticket. I figure he got a couple hundred. I heard a couple 50's were put in.

The Z's roll in when Tact and I are about ready to go. We must have been at lunch about 1 hour.

 

LEG 2 is next....

The black Porsche heads out before us. We were going to ride together again but Clay wanted to follow us in his silver 350Z. Brian and Lee (red 370Z) were still working on lunch. Clay was wanting to put the hammer down and go a little faster than he did with Lee. (Lee's 370Z is brand F'in new so he's still breaking it in. What a great event to do so.)

I pull out and the silver EVO camera car follows. The passenger is shooting video for his next promo or highlight reel. We take advantage of a straightaway rolling shot and I'm happy. I look forward to seeing his next film short.

Clay catches up as we cross the narrow steel bridge crossing into Kentucky. No more road map now. Sure, we could stop and get a Kentucky road map, but we'd never understand the landmarks on it. (Cooter's old Barn ... O're yonder where Uncle Jessie's still done blowed up ... follow the sign to Billy Bob John Boy's Animal Dating Services...) So we skipped buying the local road maps even though they were hand drawn in crayon and ventured forth on our original directions and NAV.

Two check points left and the finish. As usual, we're flying with the top down and the sky is not looking too good. Occasional sprinkles come down here and there. Clay and his GF are wondering if we are going to stop and put the top up. ...... Nope! We just keep driving.

Tact's warning are now changing. Where he used to call out "loose gravel on right or left ..." he's now calling out "chicken's on left" , "watch the pack of dogs on the right." Yup! We're in Kentucky!

The roads are really getting hilly now. A few times the hill crests with no indication that it will go left or right. All I can see is a hill and a Cedar tree straight after the hill. A few times my *** puckered as I'd crest the hill and see nothing but valley ahead and a hard Phuckin right turn. I know I locked the fronts and kicked the *** end left. Tact never said a word. He went right back to his list of directions and watched the 1.5 car wide road for oncoming traffic. Nerves of Phreaking steel! I would have barfed as a passenger. :honda:

The clouds ahead are REALLY dark now. I turn to Tact ... "Should we stop and put the top up? ..... Nah, let's keep rolling!"

Apparently there have been a few cars ahead of me making a spectacle screaming through these backwoods roads. People are starting to gather on porches and along barns waiting for the next car to come through. You can hear my Greddy exhaust for half a mile so they new we're coming. It was kind of like a road rally in that one house had people taking pictures of the two Z's flying by. Way phuckin cool! My head is getting so big I don't notice the rain ahead.

The road gets tighter and adds hills and twists. One hill is a 180 with a steep incline. I go around while spinning my rear tires to keep the car moving at a decent speed. Clay is right there behind. Despite his GF puking twice (in a plastic bag) before lunch, he keeps going hard and sticks close to me. She is just relieved that Clay is following me and she no longer has to navigate. What a good sport! Had I brought my wife, she'd be bitchin long before puking. :boss:

Remember the rain? It decided to all come down at once. The kind of rain that stings when you stand in it. The interior was getting soaked. No good place to stop so I keep the hammer down (somewhat.) We find a straight in a couple minutes and pull over. With the top up, we are sitting there absolutely soaked.

The rear tires are acting a little unstable in the rain so I slow it down from 60-70 to 45-50. I'm still not comfortable as I know time is ticking. After the incident with the gravel road, I assumed our time was way off from the lead.

We approach the final check point near the interstate. Clay is behind me and we're speeding through town and approaching a red light. Tact looks left and says "COP!" I take my foot off a second and see the lights on the white sedan are red. "It's the Fire Chief, not a cop!" I hammered it down and whisked through the red light. Clay is stuck at the intersection.

We pull in to the check point and get our last poker card. We have a King, two Queens, a jack and a damn two. A pair of queens King high is not so bad for one hand. We hit the interstate and try to make some time.

The area around Erlanger, KY (where Toyota's HQ is located) is filled with cops. I know this. My last ticket in Kentucky was in this area. The radar detector is not going off so we take our chances. Clipping along through traffic the radar detector goes solid! 95-80-70-60 .... damn! It's one of those signs that tells you your speed. I get back on it again. I remember that there are 3 or 4 more of these between us and the bridge crossing into Ohio.

It's not very relaxing to speed while the detector is going Ape-$hit.
Last stop is 5th avenue in Cincinnati where the finish is at the Mainstay Bar!

 

(continued)

We never saw the black Porsche after we left Aggies. I assumed these guys cleaned up and were waiting at the finish. We arrived and ... no Porsche. Where the heck are they? We didn't pass them! Only a few cars were already there. Several left lunch ahead of us.

About 10 minutes after we arrive, here comes the Porsche!


I seem to have picked up some grass between the body and the CF underwing.


Mike (the Porsche driver says they took a wrong turn. It cost them about 20 or so minutes.)




His navigator is glad to have finished well.


Everyone hangs around to share war stories and see who comes in next.




Clay says everything in his trunk got shifted around. Note the trunk mat is on top of the stuff. LMAO!!


This is an $84K Cadillac STS-V. It's supposed to have over 400Hp. It must be fast, I never saw it out there.








This Subaru has a video camera mounted in his hood scoop. Cool!