May 25,02 Focus Day @ MotorSport Ranch

[Snakecharmer]

ARRRRRRRRGGGGGGGGGGGG!!!!

Well, I spent part of the weekend working but I did get some time to work on the car. I got the engine in and all plumbed up. Lot's of obstacles, busted parts, and fabrication - all successfully overcome. UNTIL I added the coolant. THE BRAND NEW EDELBROCK WATER PUMP IS BUSTED. Coolant was coming out of the bearing weep hole just as fast as I could put it in.

I gave up hopes of being at the track with you guys last night when I discovered the leak. I hope this turns out to be a great anual event for TCC.

I'm going out of town on business tomorrow morning and wont be back until Friday after midnight. At this point, it would take a miracle to get me to the event on Saturday.

John, don't worry about the money. I knew it was a risk when I signed up.

Charmer

[427Aggie]

Charmer,

Order the freakin pump and head for Dallas...get here Friday and we will fix it up....you can put 500 miles on it driving around Dallas and race Saturday

Matt

[Snakecharmer]

I would Matt but I'm literally out of town until about 1 am Saturday morning. IF I DON'T SLEEP AND MY PUMP ARRIVES THIS WEEK, I would have 4 or 5 hours to get the car fixed, debugged, broken in, and loaded on the trailer to come to Dallas.

Don't think I haven't seriously considered it!!!

There is one slim possibility. I left the keys with the car in Bill's shop. Bill Andrews is the mechanic that helped Cammer with the mishap during the event year before last. If the pump from Coast High gets in this week, Bill might be able to install it and debug the car for me while I'm gone. Renman offered to help as well! VERY nice offer from both, but these guys have their own lives and family's to worry about without trying to take care of my car as well.

You never know, I may be so excited to be back that I might just stay up all night and get it done!!

Charmer

[jrussell]

Stretch,
Stranger things have happened!! I will keep your place open, so just come on up!
I will be posting a lunch meeting spot in Benbrook sometime Wednesday evening. Also, to any of you travelin' guys want me to find a hotel/motel in Benbrook to spend the night? I will also check them out & let you know.
John R.

[bwcobra15]

from http://www.motorsportranch.com/directions.html :

The Motorsport Ranch is approximatley 14 minutes southwest of Ft. Worth, Texas. Proceed south on Highway 377 from Fort Worth. After 14 miles (from Loop 820) you will come to a traffic light at the intersection of Highway 171 in the town of Cresson. Proceed straight through the light approximately 1/2 mile further. The entrance to the MotorSport Ranch is on the left, just before the divided highway begins. Turn left onto the access road and proceed to the top of the hill.


From "me" :

From the Dallas area, get to I-20 westbound to Ft. Worth. Take the Hwy 377 exit in Benbrook and go 14 miles south to Cresson (a one-horse, er.. one-light town). Go 1/2 mile farther to the track (see above).

From 'down south' - Take I-35 to I-35W (to Ft. Worth). Exit Hwy 67 in Alvarado, and go west to Cleburne. Take 171 north-west through Godley to Cresson. Turn left on Hwy 377 for 1/2 mile to the track.

Godley might be a nice little town to have lunch. Last time I was there, they had a nice little cafe in the middle of "town". According to whitepages.com, there are two restaurants in town:

Chisholm Restaurant: 817.389.2560
Godley City Cafe: 817.309.3616

I'm trying to reach either of them on the phone.. no luck yet More later....

[jrussell]

Bobby,
Thanks for posting the map for me/us. I made the drive yesterday, and the Restaurant pickings in Benbrook on 377 are slim, to say the least! I drove on to MSR, and talked to some guys testing a Can Am type of race car in preparation to go to TWS this weekend. They suggested we could go South 8 miles to Granbury, with some nice Sandwich Shops on ht town square, and plenty of parking. Also, we could pick somewhere in Southwest Arlington for lunch (little REstaurant row).
On another front, for the guys coming from out of town, it appears that there are some really cool places to stay in Granbury, with reasonable rates and rooms that open out on the lake. You guys coming in let me know what your preferences are, as well as you "townies". This gives us three good choices, & maybe Bobby's are leading the way.
It's only two days away, & it AIN'T goin' to R---!
John R.

[bwcobra15]

I called the two restaurants in Godley this morning:

Chishom Restaurant is open for breakfast only - closes at 10:30am

Godley City Cafe is open until 2:30-3:00pm. They have a lunch buffet - chicken fried steak, meat loaf, veggies, salad bar, etc... plus all the regulars, burgers, etc. They said they would set a table aside for 20+ people. The have plenty of street parking in front, plus paved parking beside/behind the building.

Map to Godley <<== use this link for directions...

JUST AN IDEA - use it or not, doesn't matter to me. (in other words, don't shoot the messenger...)

[jrussell]

O.K. guys- How about this?
Let's all plan on meeting at Motorsport Ranch between -oh, say 11:15/30- to 12:00. We can then decide if we want to go to the place Bobby found for us, drive to Granbury to eat or whatever we want to do. If we don't get any negative responses to this idea, then we'll see y'all at the Ranch tomorrow a little before noon!
John R.

[SilverCobra]

John - that sounds like a plan to me. I will try to be there around 11:30 and I guess we play it by ear from there. The last time I was in Granbury, I seem to remember a Steak restaurant. Let's post a few cell phone #'s in case we need to hook up. My cell # is 214-914-9919.

[jrussell]

Dick,
Sounds like a winner to me.
214-202-4577 is my cell, & 214-827-7973 is home. Do you want to do a lead-follow with me from my house tomorrow morning, say around 10:00am or so?
John R.

[SilverCobra]

John, my departure time plans are little uncertain. Trent Dockstetter (Okiesnake) is driving in from Lawton this morning & is planning on picking up his Cobra at ET Automotive and I'm to help him load it on a trailer and head to the ranch. We hope to be able to leave Dallas by around 10:00. I will call you before then to see if hooking up with you is feasible.

[keithw]

John,

You did a great job of organizing this thing. I had a totally unbelievably fantastic time. First time for me with my Cobra to go out and play with the boys. I was very pleased with the way my car performed.

Again..Had a BLAST>>>let's do it again soon!!!!


Keith

[jrussell]

WOW!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!
I have waited a week to let my adrenaline rush abate from this wonderful day to post back to this thread. We ended up with 15 cars-not counting Jack Farr's FFR that did not make it to the track, however Jack taught the classroom portion and drove the "fast" pacecar on the lead and follow sessions. 14 of the 15 actually logged significant track time and we had no major Cobra related problems as far as breakage of our cars. I think everyone had a wonderful time and from the feedback I have received so far the majority feel we should do this again. I know that Jack Farr was impressed with our group, ahn he had a LOT of mis-givings about how this was going to come off, primarily because there was no way to communicate with us directly via a radio frequency in our cars(what radio, & how could you hear it anyway!!)!
Anyway, I am thinking about trying to set something up in the late Fall, so I will keep everyone informed.
Also, we will have "action shots" of us available at our lunch today if you wish to buy one/some/all, and I have a couple of "event rule changes" I intend to discuss- and implement for the next event.
Also, this thread is the second longest in the TCC archives in number of replys (112 )and the first by a long shot in the number of views(2370) in our history. This just re-enforces my opinion that we have the strongest and most active regional Club on this web site, and I want to thank ALL of the members of the TCC- and especially Brent Mills for Club Cobra- without all of you, none of his would be possible.
Thank you,
John Russell

[Rick Orsini]

John,

I couldn't make the meeting yesterday, but I am definitely interested in the photos. I'm willing to travel!

Thanks,
Rick