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I subscribe to and support the following forums and is where I found the group members for this great SRT TE weekend.
http://www.300cforums.com/ - http://www.dodgeforum.com/ - http://www.lxforums.com - http://www.dodgetalk.com - http://www.mylxinfo.com/ - http://www.srt8oc.com
November 18th, 19th, & 20th, 2005, 20+ forum members attended the last weekend of 2005 of the SRT Driving Experience. It was held at Laguna Seca Raceway in Monterey, CA. Following are some photos from that weekend that were supplied by the participants. It was a group effort here. And there!
This picture is for all of my/our forum pals that just may be seeing a little winter weather setting it where they live. I always stop at the Cliff House, just south of Santa Barbara, to stretch, take a wizz and grab a quick, cold one, whenever I drive up north. (Just another typical November day here in Southern California) Life's a beach! Now onward and upward to Monterey, CA. Another 250 miles, or so, north of here. This photo is looking back towards my house to the south. About 100 miles from here. Not quite this pretty, but Huntington Beach is still real nice.
Same spot but looking north towards Monterey. I think that that is Anacapa Island in the distance. Only another 250 miles to go to Laguna Seca!
The majority of the group stayed at the Embassy Suites in Seaside, CA. right on Monterey Bay. It was a beautiful spot and management really went out of their way to accommodate us.
They reserved 25 private parking spots for us right in front of the Embassy Suites Hotel for all of the SRT8s.
We did not discriminate either! A couple of the group members showed up in a "non-SRT" vehicles, yet were welcomed with open arms. (We made them park towards the back though. Lol!)
On Friday night I hosted a Meet-n-Greet party in my suite. The Embassy Suites provided me with a conference room right of my suite for the party, free of charge. We had about 40 people show up. Laid out on the conference table above are the ID badges I had made up. (see below) And I would like to thank Tom Gifford (TMagnum) for donating his time and resources in making up the ID tags for me.
We had some camera problems that evening and did not get a lot of usable photos. Here is David Guidry "Magnumus" and his date. They're also from Huntington Beach. And on the right is Brian "the animal" Hanable "rexdog" from Redondo Beach with yours truly (qzking) Brian's dad, Hal, is on the left. Brian actually attended both Saturday and Sunday's sessions at Laguna Seca. Thus "the animal" handle.
We had an extra special guest from the Brampton Assembly Plant, up in Ontario, Canada too. Most of you know him as "speckler". Ralph Martens and his wife Denise, flew over 3000 miles to attend our little get together. Ralph was going to simply be a spectator at Laguna Seca but I was having no part of that! With a little whining, begging and guilt tripping, I was able to convince Jeff Wygal, who is in charge of the whole SRT TE, to let Ralph participate too. And I really want to thank Jeff for that and for all of his and Kathy's assistance in helping me organize this great weekend for our forum members group.
I was trying to show off my "Dodge Spider-Man'" racing gloves. They were a very special gift from new/old friends of mine. Ralph "speckler" and Denise "mrs. speckler" brought me these gloves. I don't really think this picture does them justice so look below.!
Ralph also donated T-shirts for everyone that attended. This is his new web site. where you can still track your cars build.
Some "Commercial Members" from several of the LX related forums donated some nice stuff for me to give away in a drawing held later that night. Gary Kouba, owner of Perfect Auto Finish www.perfectautofinish.com donated a denim hat and discount coupons for everyone in attendance. Matt Robertson won the hat. And Joshua from www.HighHorsePerformance.com stepped up with 3 beautiful hats and two $25.00 discount certificates. Ron Janzing and Dave Kurash won the certificates and David Guidry, Bill Heidenreich and Richard Anderson walked away with the hats. LXforum member Dennis Crago "dacbeth" kicked in 4 "iron-on" SRT8 logos. Brian Hanable won them. You can reach Dennis @ dcrago@thslaw.com if your interested. I personally donated a SRT8 custom made key chain that Walter, from Canada, made for me. Our grand prize was donated by Ron and Frank @ .Zoomers. exhaust systems. www.zoomersexhaust.com The 50% off certificate was actually won by 2 or 3 members that had already purchased Zoomers and were kind enough to kick it back in so that Ron Janzing, who has a SRT8 on order, can get a set of, what I personally consider, the "creme de la creme" exhaust system available in the marketplace today. Of course I am also the "poster child" for Zoomers exhaust systems too!
We also raffled off a Brampton Assembly jacket for Ralph "speckler" to help offset some of his and Denise's travel expenses. As you can see it was a "very special" jacket that any of us SRT guys would love to add to our collection of memorabilia. (Even if it was too small to wear!) The winner was Hal Hanable. Who's son owns a SRT8! But Hal does not. Perhaps another raffle at a future get together? Or it goes into Hal's will. I know Brian couldn't fit into it any more than I could!
Saturday morning about 18 SRT8s cruised over to Laguna Seca Raceway from the Embassy Suites for the SRT TE.
Now! Is that a sweet picture or what? That's about 20+ SRTs in one frame!
And here's a SRT10 vehicle parked next to a SRT8 that was probably parked next to a SRT4........... that were out of frame. It was a freaking SRT party!
Of course I had to show off my CAI and Gas shock hood struts. And my new Charger SRT grill badge. And the SRT8 badged Ultimate pedals I had installed for this meet. And the new "custom" sound system I had installed the day before I rolled to Laguna Seca.
They served us a little continental breakfast and then we sat through an indoctrination seminar about what we would be doing and what we could do to maximize our experience. It was very informational but everyone was just aching to get out there and drive the cars.
Station 1 - The Drag Strip
They broke all of the participants into 3 groups. Jeff Wygal allowed our group to be exclusively made up of the forum members that had signed up with me for the weekend. We had all partied together the night before so it was a real relaxed and friendly atmosphere. There were a few members that were unable to make the Meet-n-Greet that met us at the track but it did not take long for them to meld in with the others. We started out in the "Drag Racing" leg of the program. Our instructor is giving us the do's and don'ts in this photo.
Lots of SRT's waiting to be drag raced!
Lots!
There were three lines of cars. SRT8's (1-CSRT8 & 2 MSRT8s), 3- SRT6's (Crossfire), and 3 SRT10 pick-ups. You chose a partner and then you and your partner took turns driving a vehicle from each line. The rider logged in the drivers times for each leg.
Here is Steve Helms "great8" getting ready to take this SRT10 truck on the 1/8 mile drag track. (Does Steve look small or does the monster SRT10 just look big?) Take it from a REAL BIG guy. It's the SRT10! These things weren't the fastest SRT but they were a blast to run. Everyone almost scraped the chin spoiler when you braked these monster trucks at the end of the 1/8 mile run and they were really a "handful" on the slalom course we ran on the way back to the starting point (Look in the background two photos below and you'll see a SRT10 ready o do the slalom run!
There was a x-mas tree light, as you can see here, but your time actually started when you broke the light just in front of the Crossfire there in the staring gate. It was an honor system thing where you were supposed to pull the vehicle up until the rear view mirror was next to a green flag. I'll tell you more about that deal later!
We started out in the Crossfire SRT6. As it turned out, these things were the fastest of all of the cars in the 1/8 mile drag! I turned a 6.97 time on my first run in this blue one and that held up for awhile as the fastest time. Then someone ran 6.76 and I believe that was the fastest time overall for any vehicle.
Jettisoning a 300C SRT8.
My partner and I got to run the Magnum a second time and by that time we realized that almost everyone, especially Dan from Phoenix, was not pulling all the way up to where the rear view mirror was adjacent to the green flag, therefore getting a longer rolling start. Needless to say, I was the first SRT8 to break 7 seconds in our group. I ran a 6.96 for the 1/8 mile on my last run. Then my partner ran a 6.97 using the same strategy. I really felt bad when I won "Fastest SRT8" for our group. But then I talked to the winners of the "fastest" SRT6 and 10 and they both did the same thing! It was all in fun and we all had a bunch of that!
Station 2 - The Track
Up next. Run the track at Laguna Seca! Here are the cars lined up. We had taken a break for lunch so all of the SRT's engines and brakes had cooled down, so we were going to be able to drive them at their optimum performance levels. At least those of us that got in the cold cars first. You can see the Vipers on the left. Magnums in the middle and the 300Cs on the outside.
Here's pit row. Nobody's home today except us.
The SRTs are waiting for us.
The SRT4s were our pace cars. Our spectator/guests were invited to ride along with the pro drivers as were we. Seemed like the pace car was going a lot faster than the cars following! IMHO!
It was pretty casual during the on-track experience. I mean, they explained to us the dos and don'ts and we all knew what we were supposed to do, and not do. But it was definitely a "group" deal and everyone was involved. Standing on the wall and/or near the wall on the track was OK.
They broke us up into groups of three, with a pro driver leading the way and showing the rest of us novices the line. (Or as they said, "Pretend you're following someone in the snow. Follow our tracks!"" They told us up front that, basically, it was up to the pro driver to set the pace, and based on what he saw in his mirrors he would drive accordingly. So if you had three people that could really drive hard, the pro would drive accordingly. I got into a pretty quick group and it was a fricking ball. (Well. I won't go into the "time-out" one of our "expert" drivers had to take!)
My first drive was in a red Viper. 6 speed manual but I rarely got it out of 2nd. There was really only one spot on the track that allowed you to get to 3rd gear. A lot of tight turns and, of course, the cork screw. I lost the rear end of the Viper on a turn but was able to save it and kept going. My heart was beating a little faster though. And when that rear end got loose. So did my stomach.
It was pretty awesome driving these SRT cars around this track and especially under these famous overpasses.
Here's what it looked like form the other side.
This is where we drove over the track. And another great overpass!
Diving into these corners was a real rush. The more laps you did, the more you found yourself on the black & white areas where the real drivers run on the track.
Straight away. Heading for turn 1.
Turn 1
Turn 2 approach.
Turn 2
Turn 4 exit.
Turn 5
Turn 6
Turn 6 exit.
Approaching turn 7 and "the corkscrew".
300s going through turn 8 - Entering "the corkscrew" .
Vipers in turn 8.
And the Magnums doing the same deal.
And here is, in my personal opinion, a professional quality photo of the SRT8 Magnum in "the corkscrew"! This photo was taken by Brian "the animal" Hanable! I would buy a poster of this shot, as I am a Brilliant Black Magnum SRT8 owner and this shot is unbelievable! What do you all think? The only thing that could make this picture any better would be if it was my Magnum SRT8 in the foreground. Or the background!
And another great Magnum photo by Brian.
And his 300 photos ain't bad either!
A Magnum exiting turn 8 of "the corkscrew." (My shot!)
Turn 9 and midway thru "the corkscrew".
And then turn 10. The end of "the corkscrew".
More turn 10. Bill took this shot while we were walking back down from turns 8 & 9 on Sunday before we left for Lompoc.
Turn 11 ( To the left, inside those tires, was our pit lane/stop. There was a real hard left there, so the pace car really had to make sure that we had slowed down by then.) And then the straight away. This is where they had us switch spots. The pace car would turn on his left turn signal and the person following the pace car would pull out to the left and then drop back to third. This gave everyone a chance to follow in the pace car's line. (Actually it kept us from running these cars up to 100+ MPH on the only straight away!)
Station 3 - The Auto Cross
For our third station we went to the third station where we ran through a closed course and learned about how to use the brakes and the gas pedal for cornering and I have to say that it was enlightening. I realized that I was not nearly as good/great a driver than I thought I was when we watched the pros run the same course after we did it.
We ran the SRT4s. Then the Crossfire SRT6s and then the SRT10 Vipers.
The put 3 of us out at a time on the course.
Here I am trying to duck into a SRT6. Great car!
I finally go a convertible so my head didn't hit the roof.
Here's the instructors putting one of the Vipers through it's paces!
The Post Meeting and Drawing
After the Auto Cross they called everyone back into the meeting/dining area where they explained that we would all be going back out to the track and would be able to take two laps in either the SRT6, SRT8 or Viper with an instructor driving at full speed. Hot laps is what they called this portion. And then they announced that they would draw two names from the 90 or so participants and those two people would be taking two laps in the Comp. Coupe pictured next.
We're talking serious race car here folks. 250 MPH plus top end and brakes that you would not believe. They picked two names and both were from our group. Steve Harris and Kenny King. (That would be me!)
By the time Steve Harris returned and "extricated" himself from the Comp Coup I had already taken my hot laps in a Viper and a SRT6 Crossfire and was ready to go. I'm standing there trying to figure out how I'm going to get my fat arse in that little tin can if Steve is having this much trouble just getting out of the damn thing!
It wasn't pretty but I finally stuffed myself in there. Knees under my chin. Feet on what I think was a fuel cell. Strapped in as tight as I could get the belts.
And off we went. And I mean off!!!! What a ride! This thing would go from 140 MPH to 5 MPH in about 100 feet. And then right back up to speed. And then back on the binders. It was like this for all 11 turns. This guys drove this thing like it was stolen. I'm talking a lot of G force.
This is a long shot but as we came out of the second turn of the corkscrew we came right up on a 300C that was doing hot laps and the guy in the 300 hit the brakes just as we we going to go around him and we almost hit him. Things happen real fast at those speeds! This 300 was running as hard as he could and we just swallowed him up.
On the straight away and back up to 140 MPH and then the hairpin left at the end of the straight. Felt like I was being put through a strainer when he got on the binders! Even though I thought I had cinched myself in pretty good, I guess I was actually being thrown around a bit as I discovered when I walked by a mirror the next morning
Sorry about this picture but I don't think anyone would believe what I meant about being thrown around without it! Ouch! And I would do it again in a New York minute.
Dan Peterson "DanRealtor" got a big kick out of my extraction. I had to take the helmet off to get out of the damn thing!
Well that is the SRT Track Experience through my eyes. I highly recommend it to all of you LX guys. If you don't own a SRT car yet you will probably go home and order on after a day on a major track in your area. They will be starting up again in February of 2006. You gotta do this!
The 17 Mile SRT Cruise
On Sunday morning we met up with Phil Cates, his buddy Gene Douglas, Craig Raymond and Jennifer Tachella in the lobby of the Embassy Suites and took the "17 Mile Drive" through Pebble Beach. We had hoped for more of the group to participate and we ended up missing Hal Hanable or we would have had another Magnum in the group. Regardless, we had a nice drive and then went our separate ways after. Here are a couple of photos
Her are some more photos taken by the group in no particular order. Enjoy!
And for those that attended Sunday. Here is another Hanable photo of a SRT8 Charger that those guys and gals got a "hands-on"chance to see. I actually got to lay my hands on a new Silver Charger SRT8 yesterday (Friday after Thanksgiving) at my audio guy's shop when he tweaked my system. He was putting a similar system in the Charger. And my guy told me that when the new Charger owner saw and heard my Zoomers, he was ready to step up!\
And the sun sets on our SRT TE day at Laguna Seca!
