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By Shell Black
Well number seven proved not to be a lucky number as far as rallies go. On Saturday October 30th a steady rain persisted the entire day. Most pilots and vehicles were present by 10am, with many cheering faces strolling the Holiday Inn parking lot located next to Courtesy Nissan, the event sponsor. As the day rolled on the weather turned cold, the wind picked up and many toes were cold and damp. By the end of the day most of the Rally goers migrated into the service bays of Courtesy Nissan for much needed shelter.
Even with the sour weather we had about 20 vehicles, the single turbo of Jeff Naeyaert (GTiR), three G20s (a first for a Texas Rally) from George Roffe, Al Abadilla, and Chris Vanderschot. George's G20 was back to life with the original engine out of his classic (pre beast). Chris's G20 has been competitive on the show circuit with trophies in the back seat, on-board video display and custom interior. David brought the only NX2000 and Grover brought an SCCA race-prepped SE-R complete with roll cage and gutted interior. It scares small children with it's exhaust and one innocent Ford owner who happened to be on Grover's flight path down a back street of the Holiday Inn. We had one participant drive his 200SX from Oklahoma.
After standing in the rain for a good hour or so we ventured off to the parts department of Courtesy Nissan. Steve Richardson and Vince McCurley handed out free Courtesy Nissan Motorsports SR20DE T-Shirts and had people sign up for a Nismo umbrella raffle (very appropriate Steve). After viewing the many performance wares of Courtesy (Vince - you redecorated!) we voted on lunch. The original plan had people bringing in food for a cookout. After vacillating on standing outside in the weather around a grill or head up the street to Hooters, the vote was Hooters (though Jeff persisted on a diet of weenies).
At lunch some information sheets were passed around to ensure we had everybody's current email information and George and Bruce discussed SERCA and next year's national SE-R rally. Discussion concluded later that afternoon in the service bay area at Courtesy with picnic tables and chairs being set up for the group to stay indoors.
Tentatively it looks like 3 road courses were under consideration for a race event on Saturday, a car show / picnic on Sunday at Courtesy Nissan (well, next door in the parking lot of the Holiday Inn), and a dyno day on Monday at Team Dynotech in Dallas (next door to JoTech, an import tuner shop in Dallas). Also discussed was a time / distance rally from the race track back to Courtesy Nissan for those who wanted to "compete," but not on a race track. Initial ground work was done on what vendors we would like to see as sponsors for next years event, how to pay for the track, etc. There were many compliments paid to the California folks for hosting great conventions in years past - you have set a high standard!
Special thanks to Steve Richardson, Vince McCurley and Joe Flores of Courtesy Nissan for their hospitality and making our wet rally goers as comfortable as possible. Steve - great job making coffee!
Three G20s & a single turbo GTiR
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Al Abadilla's G20. |
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Chris Vanderschot's G20. |
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George Roffe's revived G20 via his old SR20DE block from his Classic. Jeff's GTiR SE-R with some new Mickey Thompson slicks in the trunk in preparation for Ennis in two weeks! Scoop! |
Lone NX2000
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David's NX2000 - nice BIG rims! |
SR20DEs brave the weather!
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James Vic's SE-R and a Rally new comer with a blue racing stripe. |
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Bill's 66K SE-R recently killed by a Lexus. Sorry Bill, RIP one nice little SE-R. |
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Bruce Hearn and Shell Black's SE-Rs. |
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Overcast skies left made for a very damp rally. |
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Nissan's out in force. |
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Racecar leads the lineup. |
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Soggy rally goers brave the weather. |
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Wet Classic and 200SX brave the weather. |
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More Rally vehicles. |
Racecar
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Gutted interior, sunroof removed, custom 14X7 rims and an exhaust that dumps out the passenger side of the vehicle. Way to go Grover! |
Courtesy and meetings
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James Vic, Jeff and Nicole getting free shirts from Vince at Courtesy (sorry about the bad picture). |
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Inside the service bay of Courtesy Nissan staying dry and warm. You can't really see it but there is a 300ZX Twin Turbo with a nice GReddy exhaust and a black Viper GTS next to it. |
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George Roffe holds court preparing next year's National convention. |
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Texas SERCA chapter and National Convention under discussion. |