'00 FRC Hardtop - moar LS/Murica/long distance high speed cruising

[nsogiba]

That led directly out to the Dome, which was much bigger than I thought it would be.

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The extent of the hole had been outlined on the floor throughout the entire room.
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Some of the vehicles were deemed too far gone to be restored, so they were just placed on display, which I thought was very neat.
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From this...
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To this
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Interesting C6s
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Pace car history
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Anniversary models
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[nsogiba]

Gorgeous '96 C4 Grand Sport, my favorite C4. I remember the first time seeing this car in my Gran Turismo days as a kid
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Why settle for a V8 when you can run a V12? Apparently this exercise was to see what the C4 chassis could handle in terms of power. I wonder why they went with more displacement rather than moving some forced induction through the tried and true small block.

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[nsogiba]

The only '83 left in existence. There was no regular production for the 1983 model year.

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Some of the unrestored sinkhole victims.
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2001 Mallett Z06
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Aluminum upright snapped clean in half
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Wow...what a hole!



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[LCG]

I'm watching

[nsogiba]

I had wanted to also visit the Motorsports Park Track next door and do some Touring Laps, so imagine my disappointment when I heard a rumbling overhead

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So, I took a few more snaps in the dome to wrap up my visit

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The final room in the museum showed some racing history.
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Stopped by the gift shop and picked up a couple posters for the garage back home, an engraved beer glass, and tumbler.

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Quick stop in the men's room - even the entrance here was decorated.
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Walking through the main entrance area, there were still a couple things to see
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Such as the Museum Delivery area.
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where new cars were awaiting pickup by their owners.
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There was a new C7 ragtop available to sit in. Not sure if I like it.
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But the wife did
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[nsogiba]

Once outside I was surprised to see that the sun had come back out and the rain was drying up, although it was still wet in spots.

The stable had changed over in the Vette lot. I found it interesting that every one of them had a personalized tag.

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Had to get some shots in front of the building
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Headed over to the track next door with fingers crossed hoping they'd let us run despite the recent downpour. The manager, Mitch Wright, was a great guy and had no problem taking the lead in the track prepped C5Z for some touring laps. I fired up the GoPro and we ran 1 warm up lap, 4 hot laps, and 1 cool down.

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Great track with a lot of blind hills and corners, and surprisingly a lot of elevation changes - which led to a lot of water run off from the rain making some parts of the course slippery. The car held up great; I did watch the oil temps climb up to 250F, but the brakes and tires were problem free. I think we saw around 105mph on the front straight.



Will have to upload the video as it's still on my other computer along with the dragon/skyway footage.

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I chatted with Mitch about the yellow track prepped C5Z (which had only 24K on it - mostly from that track) and the C6Z's (not pictured) used for passenger hot lap joyrides.

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Note the skyjacker ride height on the C5Z compared to my lowered street car. Aside from race pads, race seats, and a revised alignment, the Z was bone stock. A real track whore, she showed her scars.
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[nsogiba]

At this point it was about 90F with humidity right about there too, so after the track laps we hit a local gastropub in Bowling Green for lunch to cool off. The final stop in Bowling Green was the Corvette Assembly Plant. Unfortunately the plant was on their shutdown week, so I wasn't able to get a tour, so I'll have to come back in a couple years to experience it.

First, a quick stop and photo op:
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I didn't get to do the plant tour, but that didn't stop me from grabbing some pics out front.

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Mitch (the track manager) had mentioned some big upgrades that were coming to the plant - namely a new "Paint Shop". What an understatement...
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Some massive construction going on there.

With all the "car stuff" for the day over with, we headed back to Nashville with the AC cranked up. Ran into a group of 4 ladies on bikes that were staying at our hotel and looked like they were ready for a fun weekend.
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[nsogiba]

Saturday morning we woke up and headed over to the Pancake Pantry for breakfast on foot - to find a huge line outside. I thought the food was good in Buffalo, but it must be better in Nashville...

IMG_1567 by Norbert Ogiba, on Flickr

So we had a very good breakfast at a cafe close by and set out for a quick walking tour of some stuff downtown. First stop was the Parthenon in Centennial Park.

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On our way past Vanderbilt University
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Bachelorette party on a pedal tour, these look fun, might have to try one
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More lines for restaurants!
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General sights on the way back to the hotel
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Broadway leading into downtown
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Back to the hotel to cool off and change, then off to our next stop in the Vette. View from the hotel room worked out well:
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Country music hall of fame. This place was okay, not my cup of tea, mostly just exhibits of articles of clothing and guitars that artists had worn or played.
IMG_1575 by Norbert Ogiba, on Flickr

[nsogiba]

After Country Music Hall of Fame we stopped at Edley's BBQ for dinner - probably my favorite out of all the ones we tried while in town (Edley's, Jack's, Peg Leg).

IMG_1579 by Norbert Ogiba, on Flickr

Nice place too.
photo 1 by Norbert Ogiba, on Flickr

Next up was a whiskey tasting at a distillery in town. http://www.corsairdistillery.com/tours-brewery-tn/

This building had obviously been used as an old manufacturing facility at one point as there was all kinds of ancient machinery around - drill presses, mills, lathes, etc.

IMG_1582 by Norbert Ogiba, on Flickr

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The distillery actually made both beer and whiskies, and featured an old still that was from before the Prohibition years.

photo 4 by Norbert Ogiba, on Flickr

It was easily 100F in this room with the humidity close to that
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photo 2 by Norbert Ogiba, on Flickr

photo 1 by Norbert Ogiba, on Flickr

We started the tasting with some beers - love the guy's expression as he watches the pour
photo 2 by Norbert Ogiba, on Flickr

And then passed out the harder stuff.
photo 3 by Norbert Ogiba, on Flickr

Back to the hotel to clean up and have a couple beverages before the evening's festivities, and then we made our way to the strip for some more great live music. We made our way downtown via golf cart (no, seriously, there are roving golf carts that give rides all over the city), and at the recommendation of the driver we started at this Dueling Piano Bar
IMG_1589 by Norbert Ogiba, on Flickr

These guys played every request you could throw at them
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Somewhere along the way at the next bar we made some friends
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And even found a bride on her wedding day enjoying her reception
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Had a great evening and enjoyed some of the best live music I've ever heard.

The next morning we checked out of the hotel and gassed up again for what seemed like the millionth time
photo 2 by Norbert Ogiba, on Flickr

The drive home was uneventful despite some traffic in Columbus and Cincinnati.

More gas, in Columbus. about 28-29mpg on the highway
photo 4 by Norbert Ogiba, on Flickr

We got home safely with a whole lot of pictures, memories, and a couple extra thousand miles on the car.

Then my wife bought a car the next day.
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I still have to upload the videos of the Dragon, Skyway, and track laps...but I will leave you guys with the pictures that I picked up from one of the photographers on the Dragon. I will get these printed out and put up in the garage...

1218554 by Norbert Ogiba, on Flickr

1218555 by Norbert Ogiba, on Flickr

[harlerocco]

I drove by the Corvette museum/track yesterday going up 65 from Nashville to Louisville, and really wanted to stop. It's been so long since I've been there, at least a decade. The sink hole expansion and what they've done with it looks really cool, I'd love to make it back there soon.

[LCG]

All your pictures and the story telling and the only thing I'm going to say is..

Damn that AT&T tower has some Sauron vibe to it.

[nsogiba]

I thought it was a little Christian Bale, but ok, nerd

[LCG]

I thought it was a little Christian Bale, but ok, nerd

Never took you for a Twi-Hard

[EricT93]

Looks like an awesome road trip!

[nsogiba]

Track day bro

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Note severe front brake dust
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Post mortem
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Cooked pads
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Corner exits slightly sideways on gravel will do that
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