Taking Names and Ta-ing Hoe-s.
In the recent chaos and stress of the world, we were very grateful to be able to venture back into motorsports and attend the 2020 Aces High Rally & Car Show. Moreover, this is the first event that all 3 Brigadiers were able to attend and participate in… except we kind of forgot to get any evidence of Suzy’s Monster in the car show (sorry not sorry). The event had over 300 cars in the show, and about 30 drift cars, but don’t quote us, we didn’t have time to count them. Here’s the accounts from just our 3.
Fine, let’s get the show car out of the way
What kind of bullshit is this, you guys? Okay, fine. So, let’s address really quick that I (Suzy) forgot I was entered in the car show until the week of the event. The boys were out prepping their cars and discussing what trailers they were taking, when Joe asked what trailer I was taking and I proceeded to panic. The rest was immediate fire under my ass to clean a car that hadn’t moved in four months (thanks, COVID). Also, major props to @TracklifeComposites for getting me a fresh new lip in like 3 days since I ripped the last one in half at the track and forgot to order a new one.
Because of my terrible memory, it also meant that the only car participating in the car show was left with only open trailers to choose from (ya snooze, ya lose). This, compounded by the fact that it rained from the moment we party-trained three trucks and trailers out of the shop yard to the moment we arrived in Lake Tahoe three and a half hours later, meant the car was far from show-ready. The next morning (event day), we were up at the ass-crack of dawn to get prime parking, unload the cars, and for me to clean my car… again.
Car shows aren’t really my scene; I don’t particularly enjoy looking at the cars and I’m a bit camera shy, but I genuinely enjoy talking to people. Part of it is that I enjoy cars built for performance, and most of the cars are too reminiscent of dealership cars, but I thoroughly enjoy asking and answering questions about the motivation behind unique builds. Seriously, if you ever see me at a show, ask me questions – about anything! Overall, the car show was chill, but I was much more interested in trying to get footage of the guys doing their thing, so, I forgot to get any media of my car hard-parking. Next time!
The Pirate-Flagged Cowboy
The cowboy hat is because some of us are really white and can’t be in the sun for more than thirty seconds without burning. Now that that’s answered, I (Joe) really enjoyed the event. It was well run and well executed, especially considering this was the first drift event that they’ve organized. They did a really good job. I do think the track was a little small, and it was kind of difficult because it was so small. The tight corners weren’t so much a problem as the lack of transition space between them and the low speeds, but considering they had a 300-car car show to host as well, I get it.
The crowd was really cool. It was good to see so many people interested in real drifting. It helped a lot that the drivers were really up to par. We had good drivers that weren’t constantly spinning and doing standing burnouts to play to a sideshow crowd. It was pretty satisfying. I mean, I had spectators asking for rides left and right, and some of them even offering to pay me! That was pretty cool for me because I genuinely enjoy giving people rides. You guys don’t have to pay me… but I will accept it if you insist. Hashtag drift life.
I’m pretty stoked to go to their next event in (the third weekend of) August. Anything that I might suggest to improve the event sounds like it’s already being addressed for their August event, so I can say I’m pretty excited. I mean, I got so much seat time during this event that my leg cramped. At least my truck’s water pump waited until the day after we got back from Tahoe to start puking. Hopefully we’ll have some unifying features on the cars for the August event. Here’s to then!
The Mechanic’s Mess
Alright, save the best for last! I mean, I guess my account would be close to Joe’s. Obviously, the road trip there took forever and was [Samuel L. Jackson-worthy expletive] terrifying. I mean, we’re towing three race cars through the rain up and down the mountains. FUCK OFF JOE AND SUZY MY CAR WEIGHS MORE THAN BOTH OF YOURS COMBINED. (Well, probably definitely not, but still).
ANYWAY, the event was pretty dope, Joe and I ran into about the same problems, but I had extra race car problems. My car was flexing it’s race car status on Joe’s by binding the front wheel and spinning me out. I had to change tactics because the track was so tight but we made it work. There were plenty of good drivers out there to run with so after the first run everything went great. The plan is to increase the size of the track for the August event so I anticipate it would be even better next time.
It was weird staying at a casino/hotel for a drift event, we’re definitely going to scrap that for next time. We already put on a new A/C unit on the toterhome so let’s increase the terror-fact and haul that bitch up there with a trailer, why not! It’s going to be hot but we’re going for our normal experience of waking up and stepping straight onto the track. That would definitely make me happier.
Oh yeah! I broke my axle at the end of the day, but let’s ignore that because I can pretend it didn’t happen. Joe’s truck may have broke the next day and Suzy’s car may not have started once without the jumper box, but my car definitely out-racecar’ed the rest of you.