And the next shocker will be... (Page 3 of 4)

LOL.    Team dedication. 

Im my garage, the MR2 has surplanted my Solstice
In Dave's garage, a Crown Vic has usurped his Evo (see above)

The pads themselves weren't the big problem. Forgetting the spares was the real problem. We were monitering the pads closely. When the Sunday break arrived, and we went to change them, THAT's when the missing pads were noticed...

That's okay Rob. At least we were able to lap that little rear-engined supercharged ricer when we were on track. Wonder if Betsy Ross would approve of that paint scheme on a car made by the Japs? 

/burn

Isn't the pink Caddy yours?

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=xo2zMwCJ5tA

(BTW - having your broken POS pass our broken POS isn't a big deal - let's see if your unbroken POS can pass our unbroken POS)

I have to drop out of VIR - I'm missing 2 drivers...  The STS crew will have a car there though, I just won't be in it. 

That was NL.  That was going into the kink and the fastest part of the course and is why, according to some of the organizers, we are not running there this year.

fastest part of NL?  i would have guessed as such.  i'm not sure i would be comfortable with that right hand juke in the middle of the night while the track was wet.  plus the pavement is patched, the track appears to be rather narrow, and damn there are some big-ass trees in striking distance.

come to VIR.  trust me.  South Course is not the premier course but still a challenging and fun course.  plus not a whole bunch of shit to hit.

and just maybe Jay and Nick will consider a weekend on North Course next season.

Hotel on site
trackside rooms on site
garages on site
condos on site
gas on site
restaurant and bar on site
pro shop on site

88 miles from my house.

more for the case of VIR......

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=c9AYKs6QjAQ

Yes, but was the underside demolished on a guardrail, then left mangled for Lemons?

One day, I would really like to sit down and swap stories with you!  You would probably best me, but it would be a blast!!!

I'd enjoy that, but you'd probably call me a damn liar if I told you even 10% of my completely true stories. I really need to write a book.

WARNING! The following is not relevant to this thread! I'm just going to finally type some of this out tonight for the first time, because I took headache medicine with caffeine, and I'm wide awake. Here are some random examples:

Animals-
I've been bitten by a young wild alligator, ran down and caught a full-grown wild turkey by hand in the woods, petted a wild skunk, was nearly mauled by a puma (he got me in the cast on my wrist), nearly lost my right arm at the elbow to a supposedly tame full-grown male grizzly bear (wicked deep teeth marks when he did finally let go). I petted several adult tigers (and one lion) at zoos when I was younger and no one was around (NOT SMART, DO NOT DO THIS!!!). I've also caught numerous possums by the tail (you gotta twirl them or you get bitten), amongst other critters.
turkey vid: http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=xyuO_taS1g8
skunk vid: http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=2nbVdyUDQM8

Automotive-
I started with drag racing, and won a bunch of trophies, then got into stadium tough truck racing down south, where I had 5 first place finishes in 9 races, and was told by a monster truck show organizer/promoter that I put on the best show of any tough truck driver he'd ever seen (he then paid me to return). Then, I got into dirt track and won so often in my turbo '89 Probe that the track banned turbo cars. I also started doing demo derbies, and have been doing about 3-4 derbies annually, generally winning or in the top 3 (out of 15-30). I entered a limo jump contest  last fall and won first place, clearing the limo and the landing ramp in a Lumina. I've built a bunch of hot rods, including a 10 second Mustang street car, a Muscle Mustang & Fast Ford featured 12.5 second Crown Vic daily driver (March 2003 issue), and a sweet '67 Olds 442 clone. I sold the latter to buy a '67 fastback Mustang, and I'm presently building Eleanor (long, slow, EXPENSIVE process). I completely restored a '68 Fury III and made it into a sweet vintage police car. I took the body off of a stock 1990 Pathfinder, put 38" tires on it, and made it a killer 5 passenger ATV known as "Swamp Thing". I've driven numerous vehicles on two wheels off of ramps and embankments. I also do stunt videos for Break.com, driving half cars and rolling cars over (I have two vids on there, and two new vids about to be released on the site). Lemons has been the most fun of all, though!
442 pic: http://imagehost.vendio.com/a/8183722/a … 010049.JPG
Crown Vic E-Town magazine shoot: http://imagehost.vendio.com/a/8183722/a … rnout1.jpg
"Swamp Thing": http://imagehost.vendio.com/a/8183722/a … g2tiny.jpg
10 second Mustang: http://imagehost.vendio.com/a/8183722/a … 130038.JPG
1968 Fury III vintage police car: http://imagehost.vendio.com/a/8183722/a … -_Copy.jpg
1st Break.com stunt vid--Acura half car: http://www.break.com/index/2wheeler1.html
2nd Break.com stunt vid--Dodge Spirit halfcar rollover: http://www.break.com/index/halfcar17.html

Work-
In the last 15 years as a cop, I've served as both city and highway patrol, on two different SWAT teams, and I presently ride a horse. Yes, I said ride a horse, full time, year round, in downtown Washington, DC. I've led the motorcade of the President Of The United States from Andrews AFB to The White House in my police car, and protected POTUS at Camp David. I was cast as a villain on the net for a photo of me at the White House restraining a little old lady during a demonstration who had been feebly beating my chest in an effort to make me arrest her (I didn't, I had more important duties). See the pic below for my supposed "rage", apparently evidenced by my "bulging neck vein" (my veins pop out all the time, I was chuckling at her and talking to her softly). I arrested a Korean woman who had bitch-slapped me in the face, then heard WTOP news radio saying she had used "martial arts" on me. I caught the former DC "Mayor for Life" red-handed, then had him call me a liar and claim I planted drugs in his car on national TV (yet for some reason he then refused a drug test and dropped out of running for city council). I was once caught not paying attention by both Presidents GW Bush and his dad, George HW Bush, when they waved at me from 10 feet away in the limo, and I had been on the phone, looking down (I was in a completely closed -off, secured area, but still...). I stood next to Hillary Clinton once but didn't speak to her (I'm not a big fan), but I did take several pics with Bill (no, he's NOT grabbing my ass in the pic!)
Clinton and I: http://imagehost.vendio.com/a/8183722/a … ndjeff.JPG
Little old lady: http://imagehost.vendio.com/a/8183722/a … rest_2.jpg
Me hanging by one hand from the rigging of "Old Ironsides" (The USS Constitution in Boston) during the DNC in 2004 ( I was on a riot control squad): http://imagehost.vendio.com/a/8183722/a … 010031.JPG

I've been a team sniper, rappelled from towers and a helicopter, tried to shoot down a pine tree with a full auto machine gun (at an instructor's request), knocked down a door with 3 locks on a drug raid, and walked face-first (Aussie style rappel) down the face of the Hoover Dam (SWAT training, 600' single line rappel, I have helmet cam footage of the whole thing) . I maintained and drove the SWAT APC. I've served numerous search warrants on the residences of armed and dangerous criminals (usually around dawn). I've been in numerous vehicle and foot pursuits (usually vehicle pursuits end as foot pursuits anyway), and I used to be pretty damn quick on my feet!

One time I chased a known fast suspect (he usually got away) who had assaulted me on foot across an interstate, losing him in the woods in the late-night darkness, but causing my responding coworkers to tease me, calling me a State Trooper for having crossed State Police jurisdiction. They left, but I didn't give up (I almost never do), and later that night, I found him at a nearby convenience store, because I knew he'd be as hot and thirsty as I was. That led to another long foot pursuit in the darkness, while I tried to give locations on my portable radio as I was sprinting after him. He went into the woods about 50 feet in front of me, in complete darkness. I followed him, running into the woods in the exact same spot. The moment I hit the woods, I was entangled in heavy vines, unable to take a single step. I didn't have a flashlight with me when I jumped out to grab him at the well-lit convenience store, so I couldn't see anything at all in the darkness. I held my breath for a moment, knowing he must be close by, but only heard silence. I decided to bluff, yelling "Don't move or I'll shoot you!"

I heard a panicked response directly beneath my feet: "Okay, I give up!" I was STANDING on the dude. Literally. Unable to see him, I yelled for him to roll over on his stomach and put his hands behind his back. I found his wrists by feeling around in the darkness, and got him cuffed. Right after I did so, police cruisers began arriving, and I was able to see by their approaching headlights to walk him out. After that, they called me "Bloodhound", because I didn't give up until I found my man. Another time I somehow ran down a young track star in the ghetto, then had the local residents that had been watching the whole thing from their porches applaud me and ridicule the young suspect. More recently, I was field training a rookie when we turned into an alley and saw a crack dealer pinching a small rock off of the large ball of crack in his hand for a "client". We yelled "Don't move" and jumped out. The client froze, but the dealer ran, throwing the crack as he did so. The rookie, fresh out of the academy, took off like a rocket. I thought good, he's quick! He lasted about 15 steps. I passed him, ran down the dealer, caught him, wrestled with him, and got him cuffed, before the rookie made it the lousy hundred yards to my side. When I asked him why he petered out so quickly, he said "I haven't run since the academy! I said "WHAT? That was like 5 minutes ago!"

I had some interesting car chases, including one with four drug dealers in a Caprice (I was in a Tahoe). The chase ended when they crashed outside of my police station! All four bailed, and the driver was caught by none other than the station front desk officer, in the station parking lot! I chased one guy in the Tahoe, talking smack to him on the PA as he ran along the bank of the Potomac, until he finally realized he wasn't gonna get away, and gave up. We got all four suspects, and the large quantity of drugs in the punched-ignition Caprice. Another pursuit started when an unlicensed 18 y/o driver sideswiped my police car after running a stop sign. He was driving a Northstar Seville, I was in a slow wImpala. He stopped halfway through the chase to let his mother out! He was waaay faster on the straights, but he couldn't drive, and I would catch him in the turns. Finally, he stayed straight at WOT for like 4 blocks, and left me way behind. He would have been gone, except he decided to turn right.

He put that Caddy into a telephone pole so hard, the engine pushed partially back into the passenger compartment! Unfazed, he jumped out as I drove up, and fled on foot. I ran after him through an alley, and watched as he jumped a 6' privacy fence, not 75 feet in front of me. Knowing the small fenced yard would not offer him a hiding spot, I ran around the fence. Sure enough, he was hopping over the other side, not 25 feet away. I put on a burst of speed and was about to tackle him when I tripped on an unseen landscape timber buried in the deep, smooth layer of leaves between the houses, and fell flat on my face. HARD. I got up quickly, looked down, realized my uniform was filthy and torn, and my leg was bleeding. Pissed, I set off after him, only now I was limping, and he was 75 feet away again. He was tired too, and he rolled under a parked van to hide, not knowing I was again on his trail. I reached the van, pulled out my gun, leaned over and pointed it at him, and while our eyes locked, I yelled "Mother****er, you move and you die!" He called my bluff, rolled away, jumped up, and took off again.

We were both spent at that point, but I wasn't gonna give up no matter what. I was only 30 feet behind him, and he wasn't gaining an inch. As we ran through a big open field outside a school, a police cruiser that had seen me chasing the Caddy and turned around to help finally located us. They flew past us in the grass, and slid sideways to a stop in front of the suspect. He reversed, right into my arms. TAKEDOWN! The mother showed up on foot, wanting to know how soon she could bail out her "baby". I have lots more "war stories", but I'll save them for later (or the book).

Backyard Events-
I host annual (sometimes biannual) backyard races, derbies, usually, destroying a dozen craigslist clunkers (most under $200) at a time. I used to host paintball wars (often in vehicles, each vehicle is it's own team, no one can exit), have large bonfires, and general redneckery. For a superbowl party, I once blew up a Crown Vic! (Yes, the car was fully gutted and prepped.) I have a 240' zip line, and a 100' hanging tarzan swing on the side of a hill that can put you almost 70 feet (yes, seven zero) off the deck. Climbing that tree to put up that swing with a chainsaw hanging off me, and without the proper gear, is one of the scariest things I've ever done. There's also no shortage of ATV trails and hills to snow tube on.
Search "speedycop" on youtube or Vimeo, and you'll see what I mean.
Memorial Day '09 highlights: http://vimeo.com/4921491

Celebrities-
Here's a partial list of the Celebs I've met, mostly through work: (I don't have pics with most of them)
I got sideboob from Jessica Simpson at GW Bush's first inaugeral celebration: http://imagehost.vendio.com/a/8183722/a … on_002.jpg
(My wife Jaime wanted to know why she was hugging me so closely in the pic. I said "Because she wanted me, of course!" )
I did Dr. Phil and his son Jay a favor, after they said Hi and took pics with me (got them a private tour of the Washington Monument) : http://imagehost.vendio.com/a/8183722/a … 027_1_.jpg
I made Chris Tucker laugh.
I had the distinct honor of taking Coretta Scott King 's arm, and walking her to her car, after an MLK celebration at the Lincoln Memorial.
I loaned Nancy Sinatra my motorhome last year for her concert at the Lincoln Memorial during Rolling Thunder. She autographed my headboard!
Wayne Newton nearly broke my hand, and I'm known for hella firm handshakes (sorry, Judge Johnny, I didn't know about your injury).
I spent some time with Tiffany (the singer who sang "I think we're alone now"). I took her into Brooks and Dunn's trailer, and we took pics with them. I also tried to introduce her to Ricky Martin, but he couldn't be bothered.
I broke up a mock fight between Colin Powell and Larry King (they are apparently good friends). BTW, Larry King was an ass to his staff, and everyone around him. Colin Powell I have the utmost respect for.
I gave Jeff Gordon a police escort from Dulles Airport to the US Capitol, for a meeting he had on Capitol Hill. He took a bunch of pictures with me afterward, but I still haven't received them.
I gave Carrot Top a joke to use.
I tried to get Kevin Nealon to come back to SNL. He said no. BTW, his wife is SMOKING!!!
I met former US Sec. of Interior Dirk Kempthorne, and current Sec. of Interior Ken Salazar.
I met former Sec. of Defense Bill Cohen after helping his Playwright/Author/Model/TV Reporter/wife Janet Langhart Cohen outside of the Holocaust Museum, minutes after the tragic shooting. From Wiki: She was fired from Entertainment Tonight in 1990 after she asked Arnold Schwarzenegger, apparently violating an agreement he had with producers, about his father Gustav Schwarzenegger's Nazi background. "I was terminated by The Terminator", she remarked. Later, she was a commentator on Black Entertainment Television. Janet later placed my wife and I in the front row for her world premiere of her play Anne and Emmett. I was seated next to Emmett Till's cousin, Simeon Wright. He was in bed with Emmett when the mob came and dragged Emmett away and lynched him. That's what sparked the civil right's movement!
Other celebs I've met include Mohammed Ali, Mr. T, The Big Show, Tom Selleck, Chris Rock, Dale Earnhardt Jr., Pete Rose and Mike Schmidt of the Phillies, Janet Reno, Sandi Patti, Jon Secada, Russell Crowe, Rachel McAdams, Devin Ratray(he was Butch, the older brother in Home Alone, I think I'm actually in his movie Courting Condi, in the White House scenes), and numerous others I'm too tired to recollect right now.

Personal: Second oldest of nine kids. Married for over 11 years to the same beautiful woman. Once climbed the Great Wall of China. Did missionary work there for 8 months as a teen, did volunteer work for a month in Kingston, Jamaica, for a week in Pisco, Peru after the 8.0 earthquake, and for a week outside New Orleans after Katrina. I teach Sunday School at my church (a non-denominational Christian Church). I'm no shining example, but my faith is deeply rooted, and I strive to do what's right. I'm clearly an adrenaline junky. It runs in the family. My grandfather climbed mountains all over the world, and will probably forever hold the record as the oldest man to climb El Capitan in Yosemite, at the age of 81. Best I've done is climbing the Hollywood sign in my younger days. Twice. Up, over, and down each of the 50 foot tall O's in 'wood'. Wasn't that hard, there's a ladder welded to the I beams about 12-15 feet off the ground. Shimmy up to there, and the only hard part is crossing the 4" beam 4' below the top without getting dead. Can't do it any more, you get arrested. And from what I heard, there are now camera and alarms to make sure of that.

Sorry for the threadjack. I've been telling myself for a while that I should write some of this stuff down, but tonight I finally started. I guess I should save the rest for the book.

Okay, back to Lemons shockers...

Looks that way, doesn't it? That was the dedication for the WWII Memorial. Ol' Bill was feeling no pain, if you know what I mean...

I'm not sure if that's a good thing or a bad thing...