Team Camaro Day Two

By Robby DeGraff

RedMaro6

Starting Line: Rolla, Missouri
Finish Line: Catoosa, Oklahoma

Thunderstorms rolled into Rolla, Missouri last night after we finished eating some of the biggest onion rings we have ever seen, and were all sitting around in the lounge chatting about all sorts of muscle cars and car related things. Team Camaro set an early morning alarm and called it a night around 1 a.m. It was dark, windy, and a bit rainy when we woke up six hours later for the second day of the 2010 Route 66 Rally. I strolled outside our door, (luckily our room was located right in front of the Camaro) and saw the rest of the east coast crew starting to wake up and prepare their cars for the upcoming day. From quick parking lot tune-ups and details, we were all getting ready to depart in less than an hour for our three checkpoints. John and I made a quick run to the gas station, filled up and bought some delicious morning breakfast goodies. We ran into Dan with the red BMW 3 series and Curt in his white BMW Z4. I took a moment to help my buddy Jay remove the tarp that was covering up his dune buggy. A few minutes later we were all lined up chatting away on the CB radios and walkie-talkies with everyone. I made a quick walk around the parking lot, observing teams figure out their route plans and directions. The two guys in the red BMW 3 series had their laptop up and running, the duo in the white Mitsubishi EVO was busy away programming their GPS, and the step-father son team from Maine in their Mini Cooper resorted to the old school method of paper maps. My co driver and navigator John was also working in the passenger seat of the Camaro scribbling brief directions on our map as he compared routes on the GPS and iPhone. Roaring could be heard as the new Camaro, Ford Raptor, and a few other cars pulled out and started off on the second leg of the rally. With an ok to go, a time recording, and a “Watch out for Tornados!” from Scott Spielman and Tony Intreri, we were off, flying down the road in front of Zeno’s Inn towards the highway.

Continue reading after the jump!

Our first checkpoint was the historic Elbow Inn Bar and Barbeque Pit. This was the beginning of a long day filled with high-speed freeway runs and back road mayhem. We turned off the main highway and onto the real genuine historic Route 66, and trust me, you could tell this road was indeed historic. Team Camaro was tailing the black Mustang GT from the first day, with the Scion TC, Chevy Cobalt, and BMW 3 series right behind us. Once we got off the main highway drag, these historic roads were like something out of a video game and felt like you were on a rollercoaster. Growing up in the Midwest, particularly the Wisconsin region, the highways and roads are mostly flat; out here in Missouri, the roads were wildly curvy and hilly which meant some flat out fun driving for the east coast teams! Anyone can tell you a big heavy fourth gen Camaro, is not the greatest car to go around curves with, but these roads were perfect for our car.

Hugging the bumpy old roads as we weaved through hills lined with trees and rock, we came upon the first checkpoint and turned left down an even more torn up bumpy road. We found the old Elbow Inn Bar and Barbeque Pit, jumped out, snapped a few pictures and peeled off the gravel roadside as TJ Fry, the talented filmmaker riding along with all of us for the 2010 Route 66 Rally, captured all of the east coast crew checking out this cool historic building. We left the tree covered bit-up path towards the original Route 66 and confusion arose over where to go. “Left left go!” John said as he glanced up from our $3.99 Missouri gas station map, and left we went. The Mustang GT and Cobalt SS turned right and ended up doing a quick U-turn after realizing they were heading back in the wrong direction. The three or four of us sports cars roared through the hilly Route 66 area in search of the nearest highway on ramp. Driving on the original crossroad highways of America, was just remarkable. To think thousands and thousands of people and vehicles crossed over these roads for the past dozens and dozens of years, was incredible. It also made me realize how much the technology of roads and automobiles has come along. This entire 2010 Route 66 Rally allows all of us participating to open our eyes and experience first hand, some of America’s great historical places.

About thirty minutes later, we were on highway 44 heading towards our second checkpoint; the two-story general store located in Phillipsburg, Missouri. Now this second checkpoint was both interesting, and a challenge. As we approached exit 123 towards the second checkpoint, we realized that we could get off the highway, but the bridge itself over the highway that we needed to drive across, was closed for construction! Seconds later the Scion, Cobalt, and us in the Camaro were in a gas station parking lot planning our spontaneous detour plan. The young guys in the red Cobalt SS suggested we park the cars, and run half-a-mile to the checkpoint over the closed bridge. I backed up quickly up the entrance ramp of the gas station, passing the guys in the black Mustang GT who had stopped over the same confusion we were in. I took off down the on-ramp back onto the highway in search of the nearest exit ramp or place we could make a turn around. Seconds later the Camaro, Scion, and Cobalt were in formation all in the left lane. I caught a quick glimpse of an “Authorized Vehicles Only” gravel turn around point on the highway median and slammed on the brakes. We shouted out across the CB radio and walkie-talkie to the other two cars to do the same and nearly slid off the road as we tried slowing down to make the U-turn. All three of us made the illegal U-turn and floored it to get up to Missouri’s fast highway speeds of 70-75 m.p.h.. Adrenaline flowing, we reached the old two story general store, took some pictures and took off again. I was thinking to myself how cool it was, that the second checkpoint we just saw, was built in 1880, that’s more than 120 years old! We took off back on to the highway and again made a quick U-turn at one of those restricted turn around points, (whoops!).

We were rallying, 2010 Route 66 Rally-ing, and having one hell of a fun time. We were surrounded by cool cars, great people, and driving through some of the best places in America: it was sheer perfectness. John and I estimated that we saved probably anywhere between 15-30 minutes by making those highway median turn-arounds. As we traced back our route towards the third checkpoint, we passed the on-ramp where the closed bridge and gas station we all met in, was located and saw the two New Yorkers in the white Mitsubishi Evo making the same mistake we did by getting off exit 123. We tried reaching them on the radio, but no success. We also flew by the teams in the grey Dodge Charger with police lights, the Maine Mini Cooper, the red BMW 3 series, and a few other cars. Flashing our high-beams and waving, we knew we were way ahead of them, as the others had gone up to a further point to turn around for checkpoint two. Our last checkpoint was in Galena, Kansas, a little over two hours away from our current location. These open stretches of highway meant time for some fun with the teams in the Dodge Omni Turbo aka team vendetta (because of their V for Vendetta masks), Cobalt SS, Scion, and of course the Doc and his co-driver in the beautiful silver V12 Mercedes SL. We literally had hours of time to spend on the wide-open freeways until we reached our special third checkpoint in Kansas, so that meant the competition heated up between rival cars.

The next many miles were filled with laughter, smiles, waves, and a few close calls with each other. John and I were simply amazed with how quick and swift the old 1980s little red Dodge Omni was, and we were trying to figure out just how they were ahead of us. Before we knew it, we were caught in a bit of traffic and decided to verge off the highway back onto old Route 66. We followed this road all the way through Missouri and into Kansas where our third checkpoint was located, in Galena. Again I was amazed at the condition and amount of fun I was having on these rural classic roads of Route 66, driving down suburbia roads back home in Milwaukee, WI will feel completely lame and boring when I get home. We drove over a sweeping-curve onto an old wooden bridge that took us right to our third checkpoint….the original real Mater on Route 66! If you have seen Disney’s hit movie, Cars, you will remember one of the main animated characters, Mater, a talking tow-truck. Outside this old Kan-O-Tex service station, now called, Four Women on the Route, sat the original inspiration for the hit movie cars, and the child-hood favorite character Mater! It even had the cartoony eyes in the front windshield.

After saying good bye to a few of the ladies running the service station, we pulled out onto the main street which was surrounded on both sides by empty old buildings. Galena was almost like a ghost town and it felt like we were a hundred years back in time, driving down the original Route 66. It was just a great special moment and feeling. We left Kansas and headed back onto the highway, headed for the Oklahoma expressway. About twenty minutes later, Jerry and Mike in the white Scion TC caught up with us, and both of us teams rolled into the final destination of the day, the Cherokee Inn, in Catoosa, Oklahoma. We were some of the first few teams to arrive at the Cherokee Inn and were soon met by the others. Sitting outside the main office of the inn, you could hear in the distance a rumble and throttle, usually meaning yet another east coast team from the 2010 Route 66 Rally had successfully arrived. Sadly, two teams of the east coast crew ran into technical difficulties and weren’t able to make it to Catoosa, Oklahoma. Jay broke a rim on his dune buggy and the CJ Pony Parts team Mustang ran into electrical problems. All of us with the east coast crews wish both teams the best of luck and thank both teams for adding a great amount of excitement and fun to all of our rally experience thus far. Jay in the dune buggy, and the CJ Pony Parts team, you guys were all a pleasure to spend some time with. A beautiful sunset fell over Oklahoma as we all piled into a shuttle bus and made our way over to the Hard Rock Hotel & Casino to eat a filling dinner buffet, in celebration of another fantastic memorable day on the 2010 Route 66 Rally. Day three begins in less than twelve hours, as we depart for the hot and of Texas!