Where Are You California Gang?

[Fitti Fan]

I'm waiting for pictures!!!! Did you all have a great time????

CARTNUT? Mrs. Nut? Manic?? Anaya??? Daveski??? Where are you guys????

[FRANKY]

I'm waiting for pictures!!!! Did you all have a great time????

CARTNUT? Mrs. Nut? Manic?? Anaya??? Daveski??? Where are you guys????

Still stuck in traffic trying to get out.
:D

[CARTNUT]

I'm waiting for pictures!!!! Did you all have a great time????

CARTNUT? Mrs. Nut? Manic?? Anaya??? Daveski??? Where are you guys????

We all had a GREAT time in Monterey! (and we all missed you guys and wished you were there!) Jer, the kids & I drove down from San Jose early Sat morn and made it to the track to meet Anaya and her friend Dave, & Kurt at the entrance of the track to get our tickets. Once again, our SoCal friends and Wood-eye & Linda Lou came thru with extra tickets and even a parking pass for the 'NUTS!

We made it to the track just as morning practice was starting. I got out of the car with a big smile on my face as that incredible ChampCar noise filled the air! We walked around the paddock a little before hitting the Inner Circle meeting at 11:30am. I thought it was a pretty good turnout with about 250-300(?) in attendance, a lot of us from SoCal/7G! Dave99 came in late and walked over to the empty chair next to Roberto Gonzales and would have sat down except he realized he just scared the $#!+ out of him! (Roberto looked at him as if he was a terrorist!) We all laughed & clapped for him though. No major revelations from the rest of the panel of Kevin Kalkhoven, Tommy Kendall, RHR, & Mario Dominguez. They talked a little about the "DARK SIDE", rules consistancy (TK was very vocal about the questionable call/penalty on Allmendinger in Montreal.) Sched for 05 should be out by end of month.

Then on to the important stuff! After the meeting, Dave & Linda Lou asked some ChampCar trivia Q's for prizes. When they got to the big prizes, our group was very fortunate! Manic won Pit Suite passes!!! and I WON A PACE CAR RIDE!!! (I had lucky number 13!!!) Jer was a little upset cause she was feeling all cool with "lucky #12 for Jimmy Vasser", but I WON A PACE CAR RIDE!!! :thumbup: (Sorry Jer, didn't mean to rub it in.) Did I mention that I WON A PACE CAR RIDE? I don't remember much after that. Oh yeah, we were invited by CARTlicense & Yo to tool around with them on their golf cart they rented for the weekend. They picked us up by the media center right after the meeting and the six of us made our way around to the other side of the track. After almost breaking the golf cart, Jamie dropped us off as far up the hill we could go. We hiked the rest of the way up and over the hill to the "Corkscrew" to watch Qualifying. Jamie & Yo were going to head over to their suite. I didn't know they put suites up by the Corkscrew! ;) ) Thanks for the ride guys!!!
We stayed through the warm up session just as long as it took me to drink a 25oz Foster's, and the kids just weren't super impressed with it (???) so we made our way back down the hill, saying "Hi!" to Dave99 & Fourrunner & his son(?) on the way. I guess we missed Jimmy's animal cruelty incident. Darn it!

Saturday night we went into Monterey to El Palomar Restaurant. Once again, Anaya did a GREAT JOB puting together a superb evening for us hardcores.
The food was pretty good and the bar was flowing. The guest of honor was Billy Camphausen. He hopped up on the fire pit in the middle of the patio and spoke for about a half hour while taking a few questions from the group. Nothing really earth shattering but it's just great to hear someone talk about what he loves so much! He also recognized Jer & I from Milwaukee, and a few others asked where you guys were and how are you doing! You guys should have been there! That was a great time!

On Sunday, we finally made it to the track after filling up the flat tire on the piece of crap rental car for the third time! We claimed our spot on the hill above turn 2, then made our way back down to the paddock. After purchasing a few souvenirs, we took some pictures with Mario D, TK, and Patreek. Never saw Jeemy, but we did see his dad and their clean 65(?) Mustang Convertible and the "Jimmy Vasser Signature Series Chevy SSR!" WOW! Very nice!
Then we walked over to the Pace Car Fast Lap area catching up with the SoCal crowd along the way. They all came over with us to watch ME GO ON MY PACE CAR RIDE!!! Dave99, Manic, Anaya, the Anteaters, Phil & Jessica came over and stood in line with us while we waited. I was just about the last one in line. While we waited, Paul Newman drove up in a golf cart to bring a couple of his friends for a Fast Lap. As they approached the area, a rookie security official stopped Mr. Newman and told him he couldn't go up there because he didn't have the right credentials. The girl in charge of the Fast Lap program told him it was O.K. and that he was Paul Newman, to which he replied, "Oh yeah, the guy with the salad dressing." :eek: Jer & I had a good laugh over that one. After that, Paul Gentilozzi took Kevin Kalkhoven and Dick Eidswick for rides in the new (retro 68 fastback looking) Ford Mustang. What a beautiful car! And the sound sound of those straight headers was incredible. You could hear it loud from all the way across the track into turn 5 up the hill!
MY Pace Car ride was AWESOME!!! I (finally) got to go in a V-8 Mustang, which was just incredible, and was driven by none other than SARA SENSKE! We got it up over 110 over the hill into turn 1 and it seemed like she didn't brake until we were INTO the turn 2 hairpin which is where she started talking to me as if we were on a Sunday drive through the countryside. A few seconds later we were screaming down the Corkscrew. You can't see anything over the top of the hill until after you're halfway down and turning right again! I could not even imagine doing that in a Champ Car going almost twice as fast.

Oh yeah, there was a race, too!

After making our way back up to turn 2, we relaxed to watch the race. I still think that spot is the best. You can see the track from "Rainy Curve" turn 9, 10 & just after 11. Then you see the cars crest over the hill in turn 1, down into the "Andretti Hairpin" all the way around the lake in 3,4, & 5 back up the hill under the bridge.
I could tell the start was horrible but was really mad when Vasser went out about lap 10. Many of us cheered when Bourdais had trouble and went to the back of the pack, but it was exciting watching him and PT make their way back through the pack during the race! PT later spun going downhill between 1 & 2 and recovered without hitting anything and driving thru the gravel. Also got to see Fabio drive straight into the tires right in front of us and wreck another of his dad's cars. Bordais drove a totally different line through the hairpin than anyone else, taking it deep with a sharp apex rather than a slower smooth line, but it never seemed to help him, never saw him make a pass for position there at all. And A.J. smacked someone taking it way too deep, lost several laps due to damage and I think later dropped out.(?) Haven't watched the race yet on DVR, not sure I want to after the thread I read about the coverage earlier this morning. Congrats to Patreek for 2 in a row at Laguna! (Hope you stay in ChampCAR!!)

All in all, this was one of the best race weekends yet for the CARTNUTs at Laguna Seca. It was great seeing so many of our race fan friends, and again, thanks to everyone for everything you did for us! We are truly fortunate to know such great fans like you all!

Maria & Rob, I really wish you guys could have made it this weekend. We all missed you and hope you are doing well!

See You Soon,

'NUT :gomer: & Family

PS - Pictures to follow as soon as they're developed and uploaded. (Still in 35mm mode.)

[FRANKY]

I shouldn't tease. Sounds like fun had by all. :thumbup:

[Fitti Fan]

:cry:

Man, I so missed out and missed you guys too!!!! Next year we're going!!!
Of course, you're all coming here for Milwaukee.

BTW, a lot of people have probably thought Dave looks like a terrorist.

Starting with poor Alex and the outhouse.....................

[RHR_Fan]

Sounds like you all had a good time.

Of course they're all coming to Milwaukee! I can finally get into paddock (without pulling strings).

~Nicole

[Fitti Fan]

Eh um....pictures? Anyone? Anyone? Anyone???