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Well, I'm finally getting a chance to report on the Motorstate Challenge 2010 event that was held on June 18, 19 & 20. This is the second annual event and it proved to be bigger and better (in most ways) than last years event.
We gathered at Lane Automotive / Motorstate Distributing's facility in Watervliet on Friday afternoon to prepare for a nice evening dinner cruise to Lake Michigan. The group of about 80 cars left Lane's facility with a full police escort on the 60 mile drive through the country side ending at Warren Dunes State Park. There were several Sheriff Deputies on motorcycles that kept blocking off intersections for our convoy, and then would blow by us, lights and sirens going, to get ahead to block more roads. That was pretty cool, and being able to do the entire cruise without stopping was a pretty cool deal!
Well, most of you remember what the weather was like a week ago Friday evening, and I for one was worried about the forecast in the days leading up to the event. (I left my '74 Z28 at home because of it. Turns out to be a good decision) Well, we made it right to the entrance to the park when it started to sprinkle. Everyone parked and headed to the pavilion for the dinner. I was hoping to get some nice pics of the cars sitting in the parking lot after we ate. But about 15 minutes after we sat down to eat, the park rangers drove buy in their pickup truck and announced over loud speakers, that there was a severe thunderstorm, just off shore, heading our way with large hail and 70 mph winds!
About 2/3 of the crowd got up and imediately headed for their cars and the exit from the park. I thought about it myself, but figured, I don't have a trailer back at the hotel (like many did) so sitting here in the hail would be about the same as sitting in the hail at the hotel. So, my son Tim and I decided to wait it out.
I never expected what came next. In an instant, the sky opened up to a downpour and the wind went absolutely crazy. My mistake was that I had not considered what 70mph winds and all the sand would be like.
Even in the pavilion, under the roof (open sides) we were being pelted by sand. It got into everything, including the food.
We and everyone else that stayed, just stood there in awe, staring out at the fury of the storm. I've never experienced anything like it before. The blowing sand looked like a blizzard. At times you could barely see the cars in the parking lot it was so thick. Trash cans were being blown around like paper bags.
After about 15 minutes, the wind died down to about 30mph, and I decided to brave a run out to my car, using a big umbrella as a shield. When I got to the car, I couldn't believe my eyes. There were sand berms built up around each wheel all the way above the tires and the leeward side of the car was covered in sand from the roof all the way to the tires (like in the winter when the snow sticks to one side of the car when it's windy). My son did manage to get one photo of the storm:
Well, we managed to drive back to the freeway and headed towards the hotel, but when I reached about 45mph, it felt like the car was going to shake itself apart! The wheels were packed with wet sand in one spot on each wheel. Well, we managed to limp to the next exit and got off and found a coin operated car wash. I spent several minutes washing out sand from the wheels, the rocker panels, the grille, the hatch, etc. It was everywhere! Remember, it's still raining and it's hot and humid, and I'm not a very happy camper. Well, we head back onto the freeway only to find that when we get to 60mph, the car still shakes terribly. So, three miles to the next exit, and then 3 miles back to the car wash again where we take a closer look at the wheels. Yup, we found another glob of wet sand in the right front wheel. So, after cleaning that out and reinspecting all the other wheels, we try it again. This time we're OK and we head to the hotel.
When we get there, the front parking lot is full, so we have to park around back. It's stopped raining by now, but the humidity is like a tropical rain forrest. So, we're both soaked and tired as we carry our stuff around the hotel and inside. We walk to the elevator (in the middle of the building) only to find the power is out!
So, now miserably hot and tired, we walk back to the end of the building (where the stairs are) and climb three flights of stairs to get to our floor. Of course, with the power out, there's no lights, no air conditioning, no fan, no TV, no nothing. 
Our only light available is a small LED flashlight that I carry in our travel bag, so that's what we use when we went into the bathroom. I take a shower, by the light of my little flashlight and we remove the window safety stop from the window frame so we can at least open the window for some relief (not very much).
After a very restless attempt at sleeping, the power finally comes back on at 5:15 am. I manage to get about an hour of restful, air conditioned, sleep before we have to get up for Saturday's track day at Gingermann Raceway.
Luckily, Saturday turns out to be MUCH better than Friday and we have a awesome day at Gingerman. The cars are fantastic and running the track is great fun. Fellow Club member, Jimmy Smith is there to greet us when we arrive.
There are cars from everywhere at this event: California, Virginia, Ohio, Indiana, Illinois, Ontario, Massachuetts, Connecticut, North Carolina and so on. They ran us in groups of about 8 cars at once. There were also several vendors and their project cars in attendance. Several of these cars have been featured in many different car magazines.
Sunday was an autocross held at Lake MIchigan Community College and organized by the South Bend Region of the SCCA.
I'm posting tons of pics (but not nearly as many as I took) for your enjoyment. Just like I did last year, I highly recommend attending this event next year. It's a great time! (especially if it does not storm)
We gathered at Lane Automotive / Motorstate Distributing's facility in Watervliet on Friday afternoon to prepare for a nice evening dinner cruise to Lake Michigan. The group of about 80 cars left Lane's facility with a full police escort on the 60 mile drive through the country side ending at Warren Dunes State Park. There were several Sheriff Deputies on motorcycles that kept blocking off intersections for our convoy, and then would blow by us, lights and sirens going, to get ahead to block more roads. That was pretty cool, and being able to do the entire cruise without stopping was a pretty cool deal!
Well, most of you remember what the weather was like a week ago Friday evening, and I for one was worried about the forecast in the days leading up to the event. (I left my '74 Z28 at home because of it. Turns out to be a good decision) Well, we made it right to the entrance to the park when it started to sprinkle. Everyone parked and headed to the pavilion for the dinner. I was hoping to get some nice pics of the cars sitting in the parking lot after we ate. But about 15 minutes after we sat down to eat, the park rangers drove buy in their pickup truck and announced over loud speakers, that there was a severe thunderstorm, just off shore, heading our way with large hail and 70 mph winds!
About 2/3 of the crowd got up and imediately headed for their cars and the exit from the park. I thought about it myself, but figured, I don't have a trailer back at the hotel (like many did) so sitting here in the hail would be about the same as sitting in the hail at the hotel. So, my son Tim and I decided to wait it out.
I never expected what came next. In an instant, the sky opened up to a downpour and the wind went absolutely crazy. My mistake was that I had not considered what 70mph winds and all the sand would be like.
Even in the pavilion, under the roof (open sides) we were being pelted by sand. It got into everything, including the food.
We and everyone else that stayed, just stood there in awe, staring out at the fury of the storm. I've never experienced anything like it before. The blowing sand looked like a blizzard. At times you could barely see the cars in the parking lot it was so thick. Trash cans were being blown around like paper bags.After about 15 minutes, the wind died down to about 30mph, and I decided to brave a run out to my car, using a big umbrella as a shield. When I got to the car, I couldn't believe my eyes. There were sand berms built up around each wheel all the way above the tires and the leeward side of the car was covered in sand from the roof all the way to the tires (like in the winter when the snow sticks to one side of the car when it's windy). My son did manage to get one photo of the storm:
Well, we managed to drive back to the freeway and headed towards the hotel, but when I reached about 45mph, it felt like the car was going to shake itself apart! The wheels were packed with wet sand in one spot on each wheel. Well, we managed to limp to the next exit and got off and found a coin operated car wash. I spent several minutes washing out sand from the wheels, the rocker panels, the grille, the hatch, etc. It was everywhere! Remember, it's still raining and it's hot and humid, and I'm not a very happy camper. Well, we head back onto the freeway only to find that when we get to 60mph, the car still shakes terribly. So, three miles to the next exit, and then 3 miles back to the car wash again where we take a closer look at the wheels. Yup, we found another glob of wet sand in the right front wheel. So, after cleaning that out and reinspecting all the other wheels, we try it again. This time we're OK and we head to the hotel.
When we get there, the front parking lot is full, so we have to park around back. It's stopped raining by now, but the humidity is like a tropical rain forrest. So, we're both soaked and tired as we carry our stuff around the hotel and inside. We walk to the elevator (in the middle of the building) only to find the power is out!
So, now miserably hot and tired, we walk back to the end of the building (where the stairs are) and climb three flights of stairs to get to our floor. Of course, with the power out, there's no lights, no air conditioning, no fan, no TV, no nothing. Our only light available is a small LED flashlight that I carry in our travel bag, so that's what we use when we went into the bathroom. I take a shower, by the light of my little flashlight and we remove the window safety stop from the window frame so we can at least open the window for some relief (not very much).
After a very restless attempt at sleeping, the power finally comes back on at 5:15 am. I manage to get about an hour of restful, air conditioned, sleep before we have to get up for Saturday's track day at Gingermann Raceway.
Luckily, Saturday turns out to be MUCH better than Friday and we have a awesome day at Gingerman. The cars are fantastic and running the track is great fun. Fellow Club member, Jimmy Smith is there to greet us when we arrive.
There are cars from everywhere at this event: California, Virginia, Ohio, Indiana, Illinois, Ontario, Massachuetts, Connecticut, North Carolina and so on. They ran us in groups of about 8 cars at once. There were also several vendors and their project cars in attendance. Several of these cars have been featured in many different car magazines.
Sunday was an autocross held at Lake MIchigan Community College and organized by the South Bend Region of the SCCA.
I'm posting tons of pics (but not nearly as many as I took) for your enjoyment. Just like I did last year, I highly recommend attending this event next year. It's a great time!
(especially if it does not storm)
)
I thought I had a bad weekend with no power all weekend, but this took the cake. I am glad everything turned out ok. Nice pictures, I really like that 1970 Chevelle.
It looks like there were quite a few 2nd gen. Camaro's there. I love the way those 2nd gens handle. They were made for cornering. 
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