The trip to Texas was off to a bumpy start…The night before we left Sherrie asked me why we were coming home on Monday night instead of Sunday night. I responded that the tickets say the 29th and Monday the 29th couldn’t be right. Oooops! What a dimwit! Somehow I selected our return flight for March 29th a month later. We got that straightened and fortunately we made it down there without incident; my wife really doesn’t like to fly and our new will should prove that.
The first people I would like to thank is Ed Csoltko and his wife Cathy (forgive me if I got your wife’s name wrong; I’m bad with names). They took their time to come to the Austin airport to pick us up and deliver us to the hotel. Thank you very much my friends.
After checking in, we headed out to the front of building where the majority of the people and Cobras were hanging out. The first thing I noticed was that there was industry support there from the likes of Superformance, Backdraft Racing, and Panoz Racing school (might be something to explore more in coming years as the event continues to grow/evolve). Immediately we found familiar faces in the likes of Tom Meadows and Jay Nordstrom. Jay introduces me to Keith Williams who so graciously offers up one of his rides with a strong 428FE to Sherrie and me. I can’t tell you how incredibly grateful we were that Keith was willing to do this for us. Thank you sooo much Keith!
After getting back from a nice little test run in Keith’s car, we mingled more and looked at most of the cars. I stood in front of 427Aggie (Matt) for a moment as he looked at me like I was nuts for just standing there staring at him, and then the bells went off. Took a moment for him to recognize me after losing 100lbs. Pretty funny.
Shortly after this, the Superformance coupe shows up and it is beautiful! Wow! Next thing I know Tom is speaking with Jim Woodard (Who now works for Superformance) asking him to give me a ride. I was incredibly stoked and I’m ready to get in when Jim says “why don’t you drive and take Sherrie with you”. I’m stunned. Tom said the look on my face was worth the price of admission, and I am certain that is the case. First thing I noticed is that it wasn’t difficult to get into, and I had suspicions that it would be. Secondly I noticed that it had a refinement that is not typical of most replica cars, but similar in quality/fit/finish to their tried and true Cobras. Doors shut solidly, electric windows, keyless entry, heat, and air conditioning, etc, etc, etc. Great car. So we pulled out of the lot, and it took me a minute to get used to the gas pedal, but once I adjusted it was a fun ride. We took off down the street and it was a stable ride and I don’t recall a lot of air noise as I got on it a bit, although I didn’t really push it much. Needless to say, I was grinning ear to ear! Thank you Jim and Superformance!
Back to socializing and carrying on around the cars…Gsharapa showed me his latest Superformance with a stroked and brutal small block built by Keith Craft. It didn’t sound like a small block and the car itself was perfect in every way…Very impressive. Then I ran into JRussell who asked me if I wanted to go for a ride in his cobra and then tossed me the keys! He’s got a superformance with a hard top and it’s really a beautiful car. The hard top cuts down on the noise and actually makes it easy to hold a conversation with someone. He’s got a 500+ hp 460 in it and it’s been a very reliable performer since the beginning. He gave me a ride a few years back and I didn’t notice a single difference in performance, and as I understand it, he beats the heck out of that thing every chance he can get. John told me to go for it and I did, although I short shifted for fear of all the bad that usually comes from me driving anything….I have the Midas touch in reverse. Thank you John, I so much appreciated that drive!
We had dinner there at the hotel and then back out to enjoy the cars and people again. It actually hurt to stop smiling at this point. JRoss and I started doing a little talking about his ride or should I say beast! Ok, I don’t recall all the specifics, but it’s a stroked genesis side-oiler pumping out a whopping 650hp and built by Keith Craft Racing. I’ve been in some fast rides, but that car was ridiculously fast and just sounded mean to the bone. I’ll post more on my experience later. Thanks for the ride…or should I say flight…
The next day we got up and everyone moved their cars into place for the big photo…Actually too many cars to fit in the pictures properly as I understand it, so we had to rearrange everything to fit the camera. Then we all cruised off to the restaurant (not remembering the name right now) and it was a great location. The parking lot was perfect for showing off the cars, and the food was great. The restaurant was closed to everyone except members of TCC, and turned out to be a great time. We then moved on to the cruise and Sherrie and I decided to stop in Wimberley (not sure if I am spelling that right) for a little shopping and then back to the hotel to hang out with the group.
After more mingling it was time for dinner at a local barbeque joing and we headed out with Gary, Gary, Alan, Tittles, Matt, and JRussell. GSharapa was already feeling good, but we all pushed to catch up. It was a great time sharing with good people and the food was great! I learned a lot about that group, and the brotherhood was strong. Once we got back, we stopped by JRussell’s room and he graciously shared his scotch with us which was a special time. We knew he only shared his good stuff with friends, and we felt privileged to be a part of his inner circle. After a while, everyone decided to go to the bar and Sherrie and I stopped by our room to drop off the Shelby Motors license plate holder that John had given us and were heading back down to the where everyone else had headed, but we ran into Keith Vincent who is also from Washington and we brainstormed on ways to duplicate the success the TCC guys have had over the years. Looking forward to working on that.
By the time we made it to the bar, the gang we went to dinner with had already gone to bed, but Jim Woodard, Tom Meadows, Jay Nordstrom, and a couple others were still around, so we carried on for another hour or two drinking and mostly laughing. It was a great time! The bar closed though, and at this point it was down to Sherrie, Tom, Jim, and myself. We started heading toward JRussell’s room and Jim wisely decided to take the elevator to his room. Tom, Sherrie and me pressed on to John’s room. We pounded on the door, and Tom yelled security, and John finally came to the door to invite us in…It really was a comical moment, and the fact that John asked us in and filled our glasses felt good. We spent another hour or more hanging with John, but we were all getting tired and we moved on out of there to head back to the rooms. What a time I was thinking….
The next morning was not so good. Sherrie and I both had bad hangovers and I was seriously bummed that I didn’t get out of the room to say goodbye to more people…I regret that and miss everyone a lot already.
Thank you to all of TCC for doing all you did to bring so many together, and for prodding Sherrie and I to get down there again. It was as if we had seen you all recently, as we were welcomed with open arms right from the get go. Thank you, thank you, thank you!!!
Special thanks go to the following, but everyone could be called out for any number of reasons: John Russell for his hospitality and incredible kindness to Sherrie and I…We’ll not forget it! Tom Meadows for all you have done and continue to do…You are an amazing man. Jay for being as kind and giving as you have been, and for being a non stop riot! Jim Woodard for the good conversation and for allowing me to drive that incredible machine. You kick butt! And Matt for spending a lot of time with us just shooting the breeze and talking webers! I appreciated the time spent with you. And to Keith Williams who loaned us his beautiful and mean sounding Cobra! That made our weekend my friend. Thank you.
In the end, it’s hard to describe exactly the emotions we had all weekend, but it is impossible to imagine having any more fun with a better group of people in this world. We thank you all for helping us to enjoy this experience with you. Incredible!
Texas Cobra Club annual event…My perspective…and Thank you! (and a few pics)
Brent and Sherrie.........
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