Zeattle Fall Color Run Part Deux and a Diversity of Testosterone
I took the title partly from a phrase JimR said at the show - "This is diversity personified!" - and partly from that rompin' stompin, completely tasteless and gender-neutrally addictive feeling of destructive fun that I'm just arbitarily labeling Testosterone. Last night, the 29th, Lance, the president of the Puget Sound BMWCCA, somehow got conned into taking part in the Hornet races at the local demo derby. The CCA intercepted a 2002 on the way to the junkyard and stripped it down for the race. The rules of the drive are: it has to be a 4-cylinder, street-legal, no gas tanks, ummm... there were some other rules, but they weren't too terribly important. Bumping the other cars off of the track was perfectly legal. Sporting horrific paint jobs was, too. The Hornets are so named because they are all painted yellow - many, appantly, with a paint roller. ZeattleDave decided on a Fall Color reprise Z drive to go to the event. Due to moderate turnout, the drive was taken to the Monroe area, where there are some plesantly twist back roads. The fall colors are starting to come out; there were brief bursts of color out of greenery (next week will be perfect, promise). We met no Zs, but many Miatas enjoying the weather. The area around the speedway was also lovely, with a view of mountains in the background and the moonrise...
We met up with Dorito Challenge JimR and Carlos/Denise "demo derby with Del Sol" at the speedway. A great number of CCAers also turned out, as did Mr. Lance. I wish I could have gotten a better picture of his car (the lighting conditions were horrific). The hornets had been told, at the last minute, to change the paint scheme to red, white, and blue (only a few did). The 2002 sported a blue front with white stars, and a white rear with red zigzag stripes and BMWCCA in red lettering. It was a great sight. Lance started near the rear of the pack, but passed about 5 cars in the first lap. Then, unfortunately, he was hit by another car and spun a 360 (despite the jokes about the 2002s being tanks, they're light cars compared to the Saabs and Hondas and Chevys out there). Although he recovered well and started to chase the pack again, the 2002 had sustained engine damage and sputtered to a halt. Thus ends the demo debut of our local CCA prez, and I'm sure he will go back with relief to his more normal racing circuit.
Lance looks on with trepidation from the stands as a hornet in the first heat rolls.
A bunch O' hornets.
The Pack. See the 2002 second to last?
The first lap, as he's moving on up.
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The rest of the event was a gas. Schoolbus races ("the wheels on the bus go round and round..."), races of cars strung together in 3s, bump-to-pass races, rollover contests... and a very cute car I had never seen before, which JimR explained to me was a Legend, a fiberglass car with a 1100cc motorcycle enginge that revs extremely high. These guys were relly racing, not bumping or crashing, and it was a delight to see those little cars move. They screamed across the straights whining like bees on amphetamines; a field of 30 was quite a sight. It was the oddest night out I've had in a long time. We discussed the possibility of a Z3 demo derby, but the mental image ("Drat! I have a door ding!" "Gaah, a paint chip!") just didn't work, so we'll leave it to others.
The school busses race in a figure eight.
And the train races - cars stung together in threes, also in a figure eight. This rear car is not a fun place to be.
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