The 10th running of The Chrysler 300M Enthusiasts Club IndyMeet is complete!
A week before the meet the weather forecasts leading up to the start of the meet wobbled back and forth from 80% chance for rain on Friday and Saturday to 10-20% chance. Way to make a commitment Mother Nature! As it turned out we once again ran the gamut of weather choices for the duration of IndyMeet. But, in true 300M Club fashion, we prevailed over the less-than-desired weather and had a great time. With non LH cars, Mike showed up with his new Corvette, Stan W with his badass Challenger, and Lloyd with his SRT-8 300C.
Thursday was sunny but a bit cool and John was greeted on arrival to the hotel in the late afternoon, by Bob sitting in a camp chair on the hotel lawn. Bob managed to make it from NJ to Indy with only 1 stop for fuel on the way and filling up again right near the hotel. Not bad! We stayed on the lawn for a while and did our best to keep some distilleries in business while we waited for other members to arrive. Keith, Lindsey, Stan and Nancy arrived next and there were big hugs all around. Everyone got checked in and we set up in our usual spot…the parking lot to catch up with each other and consume some hops and barleys. Still cool temps but not unbearable. We agreed to meet up at the track late morning on Friday to watch Indy 500 practice, stroll around the speedway and introduce newbie Nancy to “Disney for race cars”. I’m going to go out on a limb here and say she was a bit more than impressed. Upon first entering the track Friday morning there were a lot of former pace cars displayed in front of the Speedway’s Museum. It was really cool to see them over the years and to have so many all in one place.
Late Friday morning we convened at seats in the grandstands next to the speedway pagoda (aka race control tower) and waited for practice to get underway. The race teams appeared to be working on setting up the cars for race setups as there were lots of cars on the track at the same time and the cars were practicing racing moves through traffic. Some of us toured the garage area and got up close and personal with the cars and saw some of the drivers while some others did some souvenir shopping. John played tour guide to the garage area and was able to point out some of the “celebrities” like Tony George, whose family owns the speedway, Paul Page, one of the radio race announcers, drivers Ed Carpenter, Marco Andretti and Juan Pablo Montoya. Infamous mud flap lunches all around.
The hazy sun throughout the day gradually gave way to some thicker clouds toward the end of the day and gave us just enough sprinkles and coolness early evening to force our parking lot shenanigans into the lobby of the hotel. We were holding out hope that the rain wouldn’t continue through the night into the first day of qualifications and wash out our track lap. Dinner was at the Pit Stop Grill in Brownsburg. A race themed restaurant with some great Indy 500 memorabilia and an actual sprint car in the restaurant. The owner of the restaurant gave Bob and John a quick tour of some of neat stuff hanging on the walls. Bad Detroit traffic prevented Nick and Robert from arriving in time for dinner but they did arrive as did Joe and Lauren.
What we dreaded for Saturday appeared to be coming true. Saturday morning was cool, wet and drizzling. The primp-fest we usually have for our cars to get them to their usual shine for the drive to the speedway was not to be. But another unwelcome surprise also sprang up in an attempt to foil our fun. Robert K accidentally locked his keys in his already running car! Keith and Lindsey volunteered to remain behind and help since she has AAA, so on to the speedway the rest of us went, picking up Robert W and Lloyd along the way, thinking all the while that the track officials will likely cancel the lap. Surprise! For the first time in club history we made it onto the track while it was wet. In a move that surprised the veterans of ‘the lap’ track officials stopped the trucks that were attempting to dry the track and sent breakfast attendees on for the lap. Obviously, they had heard that John was in the line for the lap and didn’t want another occurrence of his wrath. Rookie driver Nancy made it through the whole 2.5 miles without spinning out and scratching the wall. The only thing the rain stopped was the photographer that was to get shots of each of us crossing the yard of bricks. Meanwhile, Robert and Keith managed to get away from the overly talkative AAA guy that unlocked the car and get to the breakfast. Lesson learned, we will need to travel with a blood pressure cuff and coat hanger going forward. All were greeted at the breakfast by 33 pretty 500 Festival Princesses who really liked our checkered flag hats and Mike’s checkered pants. The paparazzi were snapping pictures of us as soon as we walked through the door of the pavilion.
The weather cleared just after the breakfast and fast cars and big speeds were the order of the day. After a group toured the garages again, it was really interesting to see the teams prep the cars for race inspection. A couple of cars recorded lap speeds in excess of 232 mph! Joe and Lauren made use of the day by exploring the track and eventually we all made the hike to the outside of the track to the turn 1 Stand E grandstands. It’s a great view from there watching cars race into turn 1 and there were a few gasps as wheels cleared by no more than inches from the wall as they flew by. Pickled eggs were the indulgence shared from John’s son-in-law. Additionally, there was a spectacle of a spectator already there that provided a sight to which Stan W commented, “that’s the first plumbers butt I’ve ever seen that had a string in it”. AKA known as a fellow spectator who’s pants were a bit too low riding and exposing undergarments.
Saturday dinner was found the group at Boulder Creek Dining and joined by former member Travis with his lovely wife and newest addition to their family, 8 month old son. Another great meal and then it was back to the hotel for our usual parking lot shenanigans of consuming adult recreational beverages and drunky-drunk phone calls to many members not in attendance. Bob’s talk-to-text translation lead to many laughs for the group as ‘drunky-drunk from Indy’ became ‘tricky-trank from Andy’. It’s always so wonderful to gather at the end of the day, relax, and create memories.
Sunday morning it was time for rubbing and polishing to get the M’s ready for judging.
The winners were:
• Most Custom (Overall custom design) – Robert Waikel
• Favorite LH (Most outstanding LH in attendance and May ROM winner) – Joe Daley
• Best Mod (Most unique mod) – John Benjamin
• Indy Meet Favorite (Most outstanding ride in attendance) – Stan Walker
• Winner of the drawing for the hotel lobby sign was Nick Armentrout
Winner of the drawing for the replica Indy ticket was Joe Daley
Everyone ‘won’ with Mike’s 2016 edition of the Indy street sign – an amazing design this year with a black sign and gold writing to go along with the 100th running gold theme.
Then it was back to the track for Pole Day where the fastest 9 cars from Saturday would vie for Pole position (#1 spot for race day) in a shootout after the remaining 24 cars qualified for positions 10-33. The drama of the shootout came down to the very last car that edged its way onto the pole by a mere .0407 of a second. Unfortunately, not all club members got to watch the action to the end due to having to get started on their trip back to their respective homes. Goodbyes and regrets that the meet was over were expressed and promises made to see each other soon in Carlisle.
Check out more meet pictures here: http://public.fotki.com/300mclub/event- ... indy-2016/
A week before the meet the weather forecasts leading up to the start of the meet wobbled back and forth from 80% chance for rain on Friday and Saturday to 10-20% chance. Way to make a commitment Mother Nature! As it turned out we once again ran the gamut of weather choices for the duration of IndyMeet. But, in true 300M Club fashion, we prevailed over the less-than-desired weather and had a great time. With non LH cars, Mike showed up with his new Corvette, Stan W with his badass Challenger, and Lloyd with his SRT-8 300C.
Thursday was sunny but a bit cool and John was greeted on arrival to the hotel in the late afternoon, by Bob sitting in a camp chair on the hotel lawn. Bob managed to make it from NJ to Indy with only 1 stop for fuel on the way and filling up again right near the hotel. Not bad! We stayed on the lawn for a while and did our best to keep some distilleries in business while we waited for other members to arrive. Keith, Lindsey, Stan and Nancy arrived next and there were big hugs all around. Everyone got checked in and we set up in our usual spot…the parking lot to catch up with each other and consume some hops and barleys. Still cool temps but not unbearable. We agreed to meet up at the track late morning on Friday to watch Indy 500 practice, stroll around the speedway and introduce newbie Nancy to “Disney for race cars”. I’m going to go out on a limb here and say she was a bit more than impressed. Upon first entering the track Friday morning there were a lot of former pace cars displayed in front of the Speedway’s Museum. It was really cool to see them over the years and to have so many all in one place.
Late Friday morning we convened at seats in the grandstands next to the speedway pagoda (aka race control tower) and waited for practice to get underway. The race teams appeared to be working on setting up the cars for race setups as there were lots of cars on the track at the same time and the cars were practicing racing moves through traffic. Some of us toured the garage area and got up close and personal with the cars and saw some of the drivers while some others did some souvenir shopping. John played tour guide to the garage area and was able to point out some of the “celebrities” like Tony George, whose family owns the speedway, Paul Page, one of the radio race announcers, drivers Ed Carpenter, Marco Andretti and Juan Pablo Montoya. Infamous mud flap lunches all around.
The hazy sun throughout the day gradually gave way to some thicker clouds toward the end of the day and gave us just enough sprinkles and coolness early evening to force our parking lot shenanigans into the lobby of the hotel. We were holding out hope that the rain wouldn’t continue through the night into the first day of qualifications and wash out our track lap. Dinner was at the Pit Stop Grill in Brownsburg. A race themed restaurant with some great Indy 500 memorabilia and an actual sprint car in the restaurant. The owner of the restaurant gave Bob and John a quick tour of some of neat stuff hanging on the walls. Bad Detroit traffic prevented Nick and Robert from arriving in time for dinner but they did arrive as did Joe and Lauren.
What we dreaded for Saturday appeared to be coming true. Saturday morning was cool, wet and drizzling. The primp-fest we usually have for our cars to get them to their usual shine for the drive to the speedway was not to be. But another unwelcome surprise also sprang up in an attempt to foil our fun. Robert K accidentally locked his keys in his already running car! Keith and Lindsey volunteered to remain behind and help since she has AAA, so on to the speedway the rest of us went, picking up Robert W and Lloyd along the way, thinking all the while that the track officials will likely cancel the lap. Surprise! For the first time in club history we made it onto the track while it was wet. In a move that surprised the veterans of ‘the lap’ track officials stopped the trucks that were attempting to dry the track and sent breakfast attendees on for the lap. Obviously, they had heard that John was in the line for the lap and didn’t want another occurrence of his wrath. Rookie driver Nancy made it through the whole 2.5 miles without spinning out and scratching the wall. The only thing the rain stopped was the photographer that was to get shots of each of us crossing the yard of bricks. Meanwhile, Robert and Keith managed to get away from the overly talkative AAA guy that unlocked the car and get to the breakfast. Lesson learned, we will need to travel with a blood pressure cuff and coat hanger going forward. All were greeted at the breakfast by 33 pretty 500 Festival Princesses who really liked our checkered flag hats and Mike’s checkered pants. The paparazzi were snapping pictures of us as soon as we walked through the door of the pavilion.
The weather cleared just after the breakfast and fast cars and big speeds were the order of the day. After a group toured the garages again, it was really interesting to see the teams prep the cars for race inspection. A couple of cars recorded lap speeds in excess of 232 mph! Joe and Lauren made use of the day by exploring the track and eventually we all made the hike to the outside of the track to the turn 1 Stand E grandstands. It’s a great view from there watching cars race into turn 1 and there were a few gasps as wheels cleared by no more than inches from the wall as they flew by. Pickled eggs were the indulgence shared from John’s son-in-law. Additionally, there was a spectacle of a spectator already there that provided a sight to which Stan W commented, “that’s the first plumbers butt I’ve ever seen that had a string in it”. AKA known as a fellow spectator who’s pants were a bit too low riding and exposing undergarments.
Saturday dinner was found the group at Boulder Creek Dining and joined by former member Travis with his lovely wife and newest addition to their family, 8 month old son. Another great meal and then it was back to the hotel for our usual parking lot shenanigans of consuming adult recreational beverages and drunky-drunk phone calls to many members not in attendance. Bob’s talk-to-text translation lead to many laughs for the group as ‘drunky-drunk from Indy’ became ‘tricky-trank from Andy’. It’s always so wonderful to gather at the end of the day, relax, and create memories.
Sunday morning it was time for rubbing and polishing to get the M’s ready for judging.
The winners were:
• Most Custom (Overall custom design) – Robert Waikel
• Favorite LH (Most outstanding LH in attendance and May ROM winner) – Joe Daley
• Best Mod (Most unique mod) – John Benjamin
• Indy Meet Favorite (Most outstanding ride in attendance) – Stan Walker
• Winner of the drawing for the hotel lobby sign was Nick Armentrout
Winner of the drawing for the replica Indy ticket was Joe Daley
Everyone ‘won’ with Mike’s 2016 edition of the Indy street sign – an amazing design this year with a black sign and gold writing to go along with the 100th running gold theme.
Then it was back to the track for Pole Day where the fastest 9 cars from Saturday would vie for Pole position (#1 spot for race day) in a shootout after the remaining 24 cars qualified for positions 10-33. The drama of the shootout came down to the very last car that edged its way onto the pole by a mere .0407 of a second. Unfortunately, not all club members got to watch the action to the end due to having to get started on their trip back to their respective homes. Goodbyes and regrets that the meet was over were expressed and promises made to see each other soon in Carlisle.
Check out more meet pictures here: http://public.fotki.com/300mclub/event- ... indy-2016/
2016 Ride of the Year
)
Days Inn usually available 
