Y2K5SRT
Enthusiast
Well gang, I must first apologize for the tardiness in this. As you know, I desperately try to post everything "live" so you can get a feel for what is happening. Unfortunately, there are two big differences at this VOI for me that have pretty much wiped out my few remaining minutes: I have brought both of my teenage sons with me this time and want to make sure they have as much fun as I do. Rest assured, they are and you will see why below. My other deal this time around is as a regional VCA president. Besides the long meeting on Thursday (almost four hours), I have a responsibility to the Kansas City members to make sure they are also having a ball. Many of our members are experiencing their very first VOI and I want them to continue to go to them and enjoy them for many years to come. Rest assured that if you are ever on the fence about another brand of sports car, the Viper Owners Invitational will make it hard to leave your Dodge.
Okay, enough yacking - here you go! Friday was our group's track day. As always, it starts out with the panoramic photo. We briefly contemplated getting up at 4:30 AM for a better spot in the photo, but were pretty wiped out from the night before. We arrived around 6:15 for the 7:15 photo and sure enough, got the last row. Oh well. Of course some people still managed to slip in nice and close even with late arrivals. No big deal. Here is what the set up looked like:
Yeah, I "knitted" some photos together, but you get the idea. Here is a bigger pic if you want it:
http://kansascityvca.com/voi8/panam.jpg
And did I tell you about the jerseys we had done for VOI? We figured we would get some nice jerseys for this and future events. Not cheap, everything is embroidered with the member's name and year of their Viper on the back, Sneaky Pete on one shoulder and Fangs on the other, and Kansas City Viper Club on the front. And with the new coupe just announced, blue and white seemed like perfect timing. Gee, how about that!
We had almost 40 people here from Kansas City, but we were all over the place at any given time. Most of us changed out of the jerseys after the picture and got them back out for Billy Bob's that night. Pretty fun! And even though my favorite car color is black, I have to say that the yellow is growing on me. And that babe leaning on it ain't so bad either!
It was
Okay, so the group picture was done and our first event was the Viper autocross. They had us all park on the sides while we got instruction. I arrived just in time to get this wonderful spot:
I assume I got parked there in order to inspire those using the can. Always a pleasure! So I make a run on the autocross and it was pretty fun. I took my 17 year old son wth me and he thought it was pretty slick. We got finished and I turned to him and said, "You want to give it a shot?" Mind you, this kid just turned 17 and this brand-new '05 Viper has less han 100 miles on it. He was stunned and was both excited and terrified. Works for me. So we went out and he did great. Beat my time too. So then I let him take his younger brother out (age 13) for a little bonding on the track. Here is what a 17 year old kid looks like as he is about to get a new Viper on the autocross:
He is still smiling as he gets instruction at the start. Hell, he is still smiling in his sleep!:
And here is what he looks like on the first turn:
Needless to say, he had a BLAST and we are heading out to the track for one last shot in a few minutes (this post may get cut short - will resume later). Next up wasthe Neon SRT-4 autocross. I have never driven one of these forced induction babies and it was a blast! This time the wife, son, and Dad all took turns driving with my younger son riding shotgun. Awesome!
So we wrapped that up and it was time for lunch. Great catered buffet meal right in the garages. Definitely blew my diet on this trip!
And the Vipers in our group were parked right outside:
Of course more than a few folks wanted to check out that nifty yellow SRT-10, and it definitely caught their eye:
Next up? The road course! Everybody staged here:
And yep, I once again tempted the fates and handed my keys to my elder son. I admonished the Skip Barber instructor to take good care of my baby - both of them! And here he is getting ready to go out on the track (far car, tall kid):
Now unlike what we were told on the VOI preview in June, we actually did use a big part of the oval - pretty much all of it fed into the road course. First time the kid has driven over 100 mph.
Needs to work on his shifting according to the instructor, but drives a great line. Of course that stock shift knob can mess with anybody, so MGW is on the very first list of mods! Here is a red GTS on one of those famous banked turns of the Texas Motor Speedway:
So we finished that up and then got to line up to drive some of the Dodge product line: SRT-10 Ram, SRT-10 Quad Cab Ram (automatic tranny!), duallies, Magnum RT's, SRT-6 Crossfire (both coupes and convertibles), Durangos, and even a minivan (which didn't get much road time). I will get more pictures of the quad cab today, but here is one of the duallies:
So then one of our KC members asks if Skip Barber has any cars that they can use. This owner had alreadt scheduled his VCA SRT (yellow '05) to get a roll bar and do Viper Days this week. Until he got here and saw that he has #50 of 50 cars made. So it was already on a trailer and destined for a garage. Knowing he is a good driver I threw him the keys to my SRT. He was almost as shocked as my kid was! And here he is out on the road course with my car:
Yep, that yellow really is starting to grow on me! So we finally wrapped up a long and exhausting day at the track. As we made our way back to the hotel, we noticed all of these buses parked outside:
Yep, time to head off to Billy Bob's Texas for a night of partying! Did I mention those cool Kansas City jerseys? Yep, we were stylin'...
And the food was awesome - a BBQ buffet!
Of course they have a live rodeo, and the main "clown" was pretty entertaining. That is good, because the obnoxious drunk behind us (female) was horrible. More on that ***** later.
And live bull riding with free beers brought to your seats. It don't get no better than this!
Whew! That was it for Friday, now we are off to the track. More very soon!
Okay, enough yacking - here you go! Friday was our group's track day. As always, it starts out with the panoramic photo. We briefly contemplated getting up at 4:30 AM for a better spot in the photo, but were pretty wiped out from the night before. We arrived around 6:15 for the 7:15 photo and sure enough, got the last row. Oh well. Of course some people still managed to slip in nice and close even with late arrivals. No big deal. Here is what the set up looked like:
You must be registered for see images
Yeah, I "knitted" some photos together, but you get the idea. Here is a bigger pic if you want it:
http://kansascityvca.com/voi8/panam.jpg
And did I tell you about the jerseys we had done for VOI? We figured we would get some nice jerseys for this and future events. Not cheap, everything is embroidered with the member's name and year of their Viper on the back, Sneaky Pete on one shoulder and Fangs on the other, and Kansas City Viper Club on the front. And with the new coupe just announced, blue and white seemed like perfect timing. Gee, how about that!
You must be registered for see images
We had almost 40 people here from Kansas City, but we were all over the place at any given time. Most of us changed out of the jerseys after the picture and got them back out for Billy Bob's that night. Pretty fun! And even though my favorite car color is black, I have to say that the yellow is growing on me. And that babe leaning on it ain't so bad either!
You must be registered for see images
It was
Okay, so the group picture was done and our first event was the Viper autocross. They had us all park on the sides while we got instruction. I arrived just in time to get this wonderful spot:
You must be registered for see images
I assume I got parked there in order to inspire those using the can. Always a pleasure! So I make a run on the autocross and it was pretty fun. I took my 17 year old son wth me and he thought it was pretty slick. We got finished and I turned to him and said, "You want to give it a shot?" Mind you, this kid just turned 17 and this brand-new '05 Viper has less han 100 miles on it. He was stunned and was both excited and terrified. Works for me. So we went out and he did great. Beat my time too. So then I let him take his younger brother out (age 13) for a little bonding on the track. Here is what a 17 year old kid looks like as he is about to get a new Viper on the autocross:
You must be registered for see images
He is still smiling as he gets instruction at the start. Hell, he is still smiling in his sleep!:
You must be registered for see images
And here is what he looks like on the first turn:
You must be registered for see images
Needless to say, he had a BLAST and we are heading out to the track for one last shot in a few minutes (this post may get cut short - will resume later). Next up wasthe Neon SRT-4 autocross. I have never driven one of these forced induction babies and it was a blast! This time the wife, son, and Dad all took turns driving with my younger son riding shotgun. Awesome!
You must be registered for see images
So we wrapped that up and it was time for lunch. Great catered buffet meal right in the garages. Definitely blew my diet on this trip!
You must be registered for see images
And the Vipers in our group were parked right outside:
You must be registered for see images
Of course more than a few folks wanted to check out that nifty yellow SRT-10, and it definitely caught their eye:
You must be registered for see images
Next up? The road course! Everybody staged here:
You must be registered for see images
And yep, I once again tempted the fates and handed my keys to my elder son. I admonished the Skip Barber instructor to take good care of my baby - both of them! And here he is getting ready to go out on the track (far car, tall kid):
You must be registered for see images
Now unlike what we were told on the VOI preview in June, we actually did use a big part of the oval - pretty much all of it fed into the road course. First time the kid has driven over 100 mph.
You must be registered for see images
Needs to work on his shifting according to the instructor, but drives a great line. Of course that stock shift knob can mess with anybody, so MGW is on the very first list of mods! Here is a red GTS on one of those famous banked turns of the Texas Motor Speedway:
You must be registered for see images
So we finished that up and then got to line up to drive some of the Dodge product line: SRT-10 Ram, SRT-10 Quad Cab Ram (automatic tranny!), duallies, Magnum RT's, SRT-6 Crossfire (both coupes and convertibles), Durangos, and even a minivan (which didn't get much road time). I will get more pictures of the quad cab today, but here is one of the duallies:
You must be registered for see images
So then one of our KC members asks if Skip Barber has any cars that they can use. This owner had alreadt scheduled his VCA SRT (yellow '05) to get a roll bar and do Viper Days this week. Until he got here and saw that he has #50 of 50 cars made. So it was already on a trailer and destined for a garage. Knowing he is a good driver I threw him the keys to my SRT. He was almost as shocked as my kid was! And here he is out on the road course with my car:
You must be registered for see images
Yep, that yellow really is starting to grow on me! So we finally wrapped up a long and exhausting day at the track. As we made our way back to the hotel, we noticed all of these buses parked outside:
You must be registered for see images
Yep, time to head off to Billy Bob's Texas for a night of partying! Did I mention those cool Kansas City jerseys? Yep, we were stylin'...
You must be registered for see images
And the food was awesome - a BBQ buffet!
You must be registered for see images
Of course they have a live rodeo, and the main "clown" was pretty entertaining. That is good, because the obnoxious drunk behind us (female) was horrible. More on that ***** later.
You must be registered for see images
And live bull riding with free beers brought to your seats. It don't get no better than this!
You must be registered for see images
Whew! That was it for Friday, now we are off to the track. More very soon!
