Sunday, June 27, 2021

Stage 8 Beckley, WV to Mooresville, NC

It was a short drive around 175 miles to reach Mooresville and we arrived before 10 am.  We were lucky to get our rooms early.  Paul's took a little bit becasue they could not find the reservation.  We later found out one room was in one hotel and the other in another hotel.
Darrin and Sam were headed out to a day of Championship racing. Every morning is the same routine.  Sam gets the directions and Darrin gets the car ready to go.

The landscape was someting else.  We saw train trussells and tunnels and some of the countries most beautiful landscape.  On this route we reached the highes elevation of 3100 feet above sea level.

We arrived in Mooresville and headed to park the trailer and check into our hotel.  We made our way (less than a 1/2 mile) to the North Carolina Auto Racing Museam where one car is owned by Jeff Stumb. I picked the Hudson because Jeff collects them.  Of course I was wrong it was the car facing the Hudson.  3 peolpe did pick the correct car and one person won $100 in Great Race gear.
We did take in the video about the Nevada Salt Flats.  It was interesting to see how the weather and other infulunces are changing the Salt Flats.

30 minutes away is the City of Charlotte.  We travled down to see the NASCAR Hall of Fame Museum. Before entering and getting Paul's Canadian Mounty discount (Military) we did find Curt's brick.  It was nice to see it was still there even though it had moved.
The NASCAR Musem was done very well.  I enjoyed the car display that went up 2 sotries.  The platform was a denmonstration on the degeree angle of tracks.
As we were headed back to Greenville we got a call from Annie Goldman.  She was in Greenville and I sent her to see the local museum.  We cought up with her there and then headed down to see the finish line.
We all headed into a very nice reatraunt and enjoyed a very nice dinner.  We had been enjoying race food all the way so far and it really was time for a change.

After seven days of rallying, the competition always intensifies on Championship Days. The final two days of competition are always challenging and the course gave the teams a true workout today. The morning route was a scenic ride through the mountains in Virginia. Speed changes and terrain changes were plentiful on the first legs of the rally. We rolled into Galax, Virginia for lunch, and were welcomed by a nice crowd of locals. Just south of Galax, we hopped onto the Blue Ridge Parkway for part of the afternoon rally, then the racers took part in one of the most intricate mazes in Great Race history. The series of turns sent racers into multiple loops all afternoon long. It was challenging for both driver and navigator, but it was certainly fun to watch the cars maneuvering in every which way. As the course concluded, we had a relatively short transit into Mooresville, North Carolina, also known as Race City USA. The stop downtown was one of the most well attended stops we’ve ever seen–shoulder to shoulder for blocks.

As the cars came in we enjoyed the celbration of each one.  Some wer glad to have completed the day sand some like our mentors Christian and Jason were excited about 2 ACEs.
After the sunsets ecverybody returns to the hotels and begin to work on the vehicles.  This is te first night that Darrin did not woork on the Cadillac  One more day of ralley and she would go on the trailer for the trip home.
This Caddy had a head gsket go out.  It is a copper gasket and they had to rebuild the top end of the motor twice.




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