We attended the Texas Mile in Goliad last year with a buddy who brought his '05 Ford GT w/Whipple upgrade. What a blast that was. The GT didnt fair quite as well as the pulley on the Whipple snapped off at 175. Day was over early but we did get to see some 200mph + runs.
The Big Bend Open Road Race was attended by 4 members of the HCC in two cars (LSC and Backdraft). As Jim said, more fun than I've had in a long time with my clothes on. Practice days (Wed/Thur) were tons of fun, different route, 6-8 passes per day on 9 mile stretch of closed road. They encourage you to get up to your tech (not to exceed) speed. Race day was spoiled by a Mad Cow on the course, shortened to only Ft. Stockton to Sanderson leg of the race. Jim and I came in second in our division (105 mph and 126 tech speed) with an average speed of 105.019 mph over 59 miles. Not bad for first time out, one stop watch and an unexpected shutdown of my fuel pump at 110
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Registration for this years (2011) event opens Jan 2nd and we have around 5 cars from the HCC going. I'm going to attempt to move up in class to the 115 mph division and 140 mph tech speed after some more safety mods to BDR 621. If you like to drive fast, there is no better venue than BBORR. Driving south to Sanderson on a closed road at 120 was like a ride in the park. Street tires and I never needed to lift in any turns. Parties on Thursday in Sanderson put on by the town, followed by the "Wild Hat" party at the Best Western in Ft. Stockton. Parade, car show, fund raisers on Friday lead into a hectic Saturday.
The most memorable event for me was our trip to the elementary school in Sanderson on Thursday morning. I can't recall the statistics but way over 50% of the childrens families live below the poverty level. To see the smiles on their faces when we arrived, let them sit in our cars, put on our helmets and the revving of engines on departure was priceless. And those same families and many others rolled out the red carpet for all race entrants on Thursday evening where everyone in the town brings a covered dish and we get an awesome meal.
Anyone that would like to join us in April '11 at the BBORR, please pm me and we'll get you on our group email list. Having done this once doesn't make me or any of the others experts but we can put you on to some good points to make the event more enjoyable. Merry Christmas and a very Happy New Year to everyone.