“The car is smoking too much, I gotta pull over and see what it is” Crackled over the radio
during the first day of our long journey home from The Dragon. If we were to compare our trip
to America’s most technical driving road, to anything, it would read like a Hollywood war story;
The heroes travel to the villains’ lair and after a long winded battle, return home victorious,
albeit battered and humbled.
Setting out from Aston Martin New England we began the trip with emotions running high
and a splash of nervous energy mixed in. Eighteen cars in all; a collection of some of the best
cars dreams are made of… Lotus, AMG Mercedes, BMW, Audi, Porsche, Nissan, and a pair of 1
week old 2013 Mustangs(Boss 302 and a Shelby GT500) all prepped, stickered and ready to go.
After everyone collected there gift bags, t-shirts and itineraries we were all called together for
a detailed driver’s meeting. It was hard not to feel like a celebrity with the crowd of folks that
came to see us off and a TV station(ok, it was local access) interviewing participants.
After the driver’s meeting the nervousness burned off with every car ignition turning over. The
caravan to the mighty Dragon was underway. Chris Benvie(Our fearless leader for the majority
of the rally, as well as one of the organizers), mounted his trusty steed(the GT500), and started
down the back roads of Waltham, navigating the group to the highway avoiding as much traffic
as possible. The next 4.5 hours of driving was spent navigating our way through Connecticut,
New York, New Jersey and Pennsylvania. The trip down the Merritt Parkway was unforgettable.
The aural pleasure that came from all 106 cylinders passing through the tunnel on 15 was
indescribable. As day 1 came to a close… we were greeted by reserved parking for rally
participants. It was time to unwind as the next day the group had to cover a lot of pavement.
With almost a total of 10 hours of driving ahead of us, the troop started out for our first
checkpoint, Blenheim Vineyards in Charlottesville, VA. Day 2 offered some unwanted
excitement off the get go as it appeared almost every state trooper in Maryland found their
way to our immediate vicinity the entire length of road. With traffic it was impossible to do
anything remotely illegal, but it didn’t stop Maryland law enforcement from circling us like
sharks in water.
As we entered Virginia, the group got split up with two cars venturing in to an HOV lane that
put us in farm country no more than 5 minutes from when we took it. After covering 100
miles of green rolling hills and passing vineyard after vineyard, Virginia, despite its barbaric
traffic laws, was my favorite state of the trip. Our arrival at Blenheim was met with an empty
parking lot; in fact, our “miscalculation” hours earlier landed us ahead of the other group by
40 minutes. We had our wine tasting, explored the surrounding area, and even got our first
experience of “southern fixings” while we waited for the rest of the group to catch up. The two
car rally had an excellent first half of the day.
As we entered Tennessee, we found a stretch of road like nothing we have in the Northeast…
straight for miles upon miles, straight as far as the eye can see, with no traffic, and perfectly
paved roads… It was like paradise and the pace quickly reached video game speeds. The closing
hours of driving of day 2 proved to lift our spirits enough to make us think the Dragon would be
no match for us. It was the part of the story where the reader can see the fatal flaw of the main
character, but wasn’t able to see what was about to happen.
The Tail of the Dragon has not earned its legend because it’s another winding road up a
mountain; it is in fact a monster. It is said that in the last 10 years, The Dragon is responsible
for almost 30 deaths on its 318 curves across 11miles of road. As we gassed up in Knoxville
with a large crowd of onlookers, we punched in the coordinates for the gift shop half way
through and took off. It was our battle ground for the next few hours. Blind corner after
blind corner, elevation changes in mid corner, the road fluctuates almost 1100’ in elevation
several times over the 11 miles. To give you an idea how serious this road is, the day before
our arrival, the road took the life of one ill prepared rider. At the end… several passengers were
sick, a couple cars found themselves in the dirt, and I heard at least one person say, “I am not
ashamed to admit it, but this road is beyond my driving abilities.” Everyone survived, albeit a
bit bruised and weakend but we made it.
That night, as a group, we commandeered the hotel lobby and spent the evening sharing
stories, watching footage, and of course eating more bbq! As a side note the food and drink of
the trip was second to none, southerners know how to eat and this group knows how to party!
“Good Morning Mr. Ladas, this is your 7am wake up call” Eyes wide open, we began a new
day, it was time to start our trip home. The day would end in historic Williamsburg, VA… but
this day, nothing would go as planned. Leaving Johnson City, Tennessee as a group, we were
a bit on the sluggish side. We were still coming down our adrenaline high of the previous day,
and our late departure showed it. It wasn’t long before we made our way in to North Carolina,
the 10th state of our trip. The Basalt Black 996TT, which the group, comically nicknamed Team
Bath Salts(a play on the license plate) and the 850ci had issues with vehicles smoking; Team
Wiiide was continuing to experience transmission issues that almost side lined the car at the
starting line; and our friends in the M6 suffering some mechanical failures the day before, had
begun looking for a rental to finish the rally in. “I have to pull over, all the gauges are reporting
ok, but I just need to find out what’s smoking” came from the owner of the 996TT. We found
the next parking lot that we could pull over as a group to diagnose.
We quickly discovered a seal on a power steering line failed and fluid had been spewing all over
the engine bay. The power steering fluid reservoir was dry. The race to find a solution began
and while the majority of the group had lunch, a rescue team had been dispatched out to the
area dealerships to find fluid along with the chance of throwing the Custom Widebody 993 up
on a lift to try and diagnose the ailing transmission. The 850 found its way to a dealership and
was able to diagnose his smoking vehicle as an over full differential. While that group limped
their way back to our temporary camp, the majority of cars continued towards Williamsburg.
The “injured” teams arrived about 2 hours after the first group pulled in. They were met
with applause and congratulations as they entered the banquet hall for dinner. Everyone had
arrived safe and sound. If the day was full of frustrations, the evening was filled with as many
laughs. The group was in great spirits that evening, even Team M6 who came out to find a
rental car with all new rally dressings. Ralliers wanted to make sure they got the full experience
of the event We were ready for our final day… Over the Chesapeake Bay Bridge, through
Maryland and Delaware, and on to AC!
It was 7:30 and I awoke to a text asking if I could take my car over to a repair garage and pick
up our ralliers in the custom 993. The trans had finally died, and the vehicle was immobile. It
appeared that a second vehicle had fallen. As day turned in to night, and the cars pulled in to
the hotel one by one, we had made it. Everyone was accounted for even the widebody, sitting
on a Uhaul trailer, being towed by a Uhaul. Despite the situation, the owner stayed up beat,
“Hey at least I got better gas mileage with the Uhaul”
In true Hollywood war story fashion, it was time for the heroes’ welcome. The celebrations
continued till night turned in to day with everyone celebrating with us. Just short of a fireworks
display, the story was complete!
With no alarms to wake us, no check points or destinations to get to, the next day everyone
traveled at their own pace, on their own routes.
We had made it 6 days, ~2,500k miles, 10 states, 1 dragon slayed, no tickets - it was time to roll
the credits.
Yuppie Rally - The Article
. very nicely written
Originally Posted by buzztt
