Nugget and equi CA-2-TX Road Trip 2016

Nugget

Fuck Cancer
DONOR
Joined
Feb 9, 2007
Messages
688
Location
Tejas Hill Country
Car(s)
GT3 RS, Cayenne, Bugeye Sprite, Portofino M
Those who follow my GT3 RS thread already know that I blew the motor in the car last month while driving the track at Texas World Speedway. In an effort to turn the heartache into more of an adventure, I've decided to ship the car all the way out to Fremont, California for repairs and upgrades at Shark Werks. They received the car this afternoon and the work is expected to take 5-8 weeks to complete. The plan is to drive the car home in an epic road trip and -- ideally -- get some track time at race tracks along the way. I'd guess on a late-April or early-May departure from Fremont, but that's entirely up to the repair time.

Minimally we'll be heading down to Los Angeles to visit with friends, and possibly Vegas on the way back even though that's not the most direct route. We'd obviously love a chance to meet up with any Final Gear folks who live close to the path home. Even though it's a few months out, I figured it was a good idea to start the thread and begin the route planning...
 
I'll be driving the Viper from Portland to Phoenix to New Orleans in early May (and then back in the middle of May). I want to meet you guys in person at some point even if it's when we're both on the road. :)
 
GO THROUGH AUSTIN!

(With the car.)

(To San Marcos, too.)
 
Subscribed! It might be a bit out of way for you guys to come all the way up to SLC, but since you're swinging by Vegas, it may be worth it to do a jaunt to Southern Utah (especially during late April and early May).

I mean, Highway 12/Hogback/Hells Backbone/Burr Trail are fun and gorgeous... and you can take it from Bryce Canyon National Park to Capitol Reef National Park.

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Pics Sources:
http://www.scenicusa.net/021110.html
http://www.canyonchasers.net/gallery/picture.php?/4734
 
I've been noodling with a list of trip ideas in Evernote, but it's still pretty thin. SLC is probably too far north to make sense, but it looks like we're going to budget two weeks for the drive so it'd certainly be feasible especially if we end up in Vegas.

I see five race tracks that are along the route and viable to try to catch an event. I spoke with one of our local NASA (cars, not spaceships) coordinators to reinstate our lapsed national instructors licenses if there's a NASA event that's well placed and well timed for our trip. I'll be monitoring the schedules at:
  • Laguna Seca
  • Sonoma Raceway
  • Buttonwillow
  • Willow Springs
  • Las Vegas Motor Speedway

Does anyone know of one that I may have missed? I found a whole bunch of ovals and dirt tracks and drag strips, but nothing else that really fit our profile.

Beyond that, I was thinking it'd be cool to visit...
  • The intersection where James Dead died (morbid, but Porsche-ey)
  • The Grand Canyon (I've never been)
  • Something Something Route 66
  • Albuquerque for Breaking Bad locations
  • Standing on a corner in Winslow Arizona
  • The Automobile Driving Museum
  • Seduction Motorsports in Scottsdale
  • EVOMS in Tempe (we'll be driving their ECU)

I authorized the repairs today, so the 5-7 week countdown starts now. What have I missed? Anyone have any good ideas? If anyone along the way wants a ride/turn at the wheel in a Sharkwerks 3.9 GT3 RS, now's the time to speak up...
 
If anyone along the way wants a ride/turn at the wheel in a Sharkwerks 3.9 GT3 RS, now's the time to speak up...

i think the challenge would be finding someone who's not interested! :lol:
 
I've been noodling with a list of trip ideas in Evernote, but it's still pretty thin. SLC is probably too far north to make sense, but it looks like we're going to budget two weeks for the drive so it'd certainly be feasible especially if we end up in Vegas.

I see five race tracks that are along the route and viable to try to catch an event. I spoke with one of our local NASA (cars, not spaceships) coordinators to reinstate our lapsed national instructors licenses if there's a NASA event that's well placed and well timed for our trip. I'll be monitoring the schedules at:
  • Laguna Seca
  • Sonoma Raceway
  • Buttonwillow
  • Willow Springs
  • Las Vegas Motor Speedway

Does anyone know of one that I may have missed? I found a whole bunch of ovals and dirt tracks and drag strips, but nothing else that really fit our profile.

Beyond that, I was thinking it'd be cool to visit...
  • The intersection where James Dead died (morbid, but Porsche-ey)
  • The Grand Canyon (I've never been)
  • Something Something Route 66
  • Albuquerque for Breaking Bad locations
  • Standing on a corner in Winslow Arizona
  • The Automobile Driving Museum
  • Seduction Motorsports in Scottsdale
  • EVOMS in Tempe (we'll be driving their ECU)

I authorized the repairs today, so the 5-7 week countdown starts now. What have I missed? Anyone have any good ideas? If anyone along the way wants a ride/turn at the wheel in a Sharkwerks 3.9 GT3 RS, now's the time to speak up...

If you have the time, I would recommend the Blackhawk Museum in Danville, CA. It's a smaller museum, but they have a few gems. ;)

And, awesome! Like I said, SLC might be completely out of the way. There is Utah Motorsports Campus (formerly Miller Motorsports Park) nearby. If there's an event you're interested in (looks like local PCA has a trackday, NASA has a few rounds), hit us up since we have a guestroom. Blind and I might be out of town a few weekends here and there, but keep us posted. :)

Last but not least - if you decide to do Southern Utah, here's a fun way to go from Las Vegas to Torrey, UT (with 3 national parks on the way... if you're interested). The route might add about 2 days to the trip.
 
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If anyone along the way wants a ride/turn at the wheel in a Sharkwerks 3.9 GT3 RS, now's the time to speak up...

You offered a while ago, and I'd love to take you up on it. :D
 
I would totally love a turn in a 3.9 RS, possibly for The Internet if you're interested in that. :)

LeMons is somewhere in Arizona this weekend--Inde Motorsports Ranch or somesuch?

A quick Google of New Mexico brings up Sandia Speedway and Arroyo Seco Raceway. Not sure if on route.

There's also the Thermal Club out there in CA somewhere, but I don't know if it's all private or if they have more public stuff on it, too. Looks newer. Keep seeing it in articles.
 
None of this is booked or settled yet, but the car repairs got pushed back a bit while Sharkwerks waits for the Carrillo rods to be finished. The current timeline seems more like we'll pick up the car the first week of June. I made a giant spreadsheet of track days and although this routing is a little bit bone-headed, this is the tentative plan...

Arrive in SFO on Wednesday June 1st and pick up the car, then almost immediately trek down to Bakersfield. Friday the 3rd we can get the car on track at Willow Springs as part of their usual "any race-prepared car" open test and tune Friday schedule. Then on Saturday the 4th, we'll drive in the ncracing.org HPDE at Buttonwillow. Then -- and here's the crazy part -- we drive all the way back up to Monterey and drive in the ncracing.org HPDE at Laguna Seca on Monday the 6th. It's unfortunate that the events are in the wrong order for us, but it means we can get two tracks in with the same organizer which simplifies things greatly. I can't find a way to fit Sonoma or Thunderhill into the schedule, there just aren't dates that line up for us.

Then we'll head back down south and spend several days in LA doing LA things and hit the road for real on the 9th or 10th. Joshua Tree, Sedona, Albuquerque, Roswell, and then the great expanse of Texas. Harris Hill Road (duh, of course) and then on to Houston. Post-LA the trip is a lot more fluid and subject to change, but that's the routing that makes sense right now.

nertmap.png
 
Where James Dead deened?
 
Looks awesome! I'm already looking forward to the trip report. :)
 
So will you be running canyons in LA? At least on Youtube, some of the roads in LA look like more fun than any race track...

Sent from my SM-G386T using Tapatalk
 
We'll be spending several days in LA visiting with friends, so there should be ample time to explore the local drives. I drove Laurel Canyon and Mulholland the last time I was out there, but it was in a rental Bimmer with an automatic. Looking forward to stretching the GT3's legs on some hills.

Hoping for a June 1 pickup, but it's still up in the air.
 
Time to reconnect with Matt and see if he happens to be in the Canyons one of those days? :D Even if he already has a bunch of cars scheduled, I see now way he'd be saying now to a freshly reborn sharky ;)
 
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