Rides to Remember update

I'll see you all at AMP!

 

Will. Can you confirm the below. (because the printed registration number sheet had 8am AMP, but some got emails with the following). (Key point being the starting point)



8:00 a.m. - Check-in opens at Ferrari Maserati of Atlanta
8:45 a.m. - Cars queue for caravan
9:10 a.m. - Caravan to Atlanta Motorsports Park
10:30 a.m. - Rides to Remember Kids' Ride
11:30 a.m. - Lunch served
11:30 a.m. - Optional Drive for Dollars track time
1:00 p.m. - Event ends

 

Will,
Since I live in Dawsonville I'll just meet up with the caravan at the track or maybe in route when you pass thru Dawsonville. I think I'll have another F-Car driver attending also.

Rick . . . .
#26

 

I was hoping to make it, but alas, header replacement on my355 got a bit delayed.



JD

 

Spent the afternoon on the car, brakes, oil, coolant, the lot. All ready to go, really looking forward to it. See everyone there!

 

What a day! An amazing event and so well coordinated. I was smiling as big as my riders. Both of mine said it was the best day of their life! Will, Ed and all the others that gave of their time/money/talents - you created some great memories for those kids. I can't wait until next year!

 

Wow!!

This was the best. Thank you to Will, Stephen and everyone from Ferrari of Atlanta. Thanks to all the volunteers. Thanks to Tom Spiro for the food. Thanks to Atlanta Motorsports Park. Thanks to all the sponsors.

I have participated in this event for several years. The previous ones were great. This one takes it to a level that will be hard to improve on.

The family I ate lunch with told me they did not participate in many events available for their child. They said they heard they were good and very well organized. They said this event was great and they plan on getting out more frequently. That felt good. When you are facing what many of these folks are facing, days like this mean a lot.

Many people thanked me for bringing my car for the kid's benefit. It is almost embarrassing. We get to drive our cars. On a new beautiful track. With a kid who is smiling from ear to ear. When we know they have lots of days that are not like that. We who own these cars are really fortunate.

Can't wait til next year!!

Jack

 

Ditto Kayakjack...this was fantastic!

Here are some photos - mostly car pics shot by my daughter.

http://photobucket.com/rides2r

 

What an amazing day! The turnout at Atlanta Motorsports Park was far better than I had even imagined. All the cars were amazing and of course you drivers.

But in the end its all about the kids, and I think they enjoyed the hell out of today! I loved the expression on their faces when they were pulled up to the pits. Congrats to everyone again for making this day what it was! Awesome!

 

I am sorry that I didnt make it up there to join you all. I REALLY wanted to do this, but as it turns out with me preparing to go on my deployment to Afghanistan I got approved to go on leave, so I drove to Memphis this morning to spend some time with my mother before I go.

I will have to check out the photos as well.

To those who worked to make it happen - especially Will and the folks at FOA!! THANK YOU!!! To those who took their cars and gave those kids a "Ride to Remember!!" Thank you as well - you all make me proud to be associated with this community!!!




PDG

 

Thanks to all that made the day possible . . . it was a great experience. The kids loved it and that's what it's all about!!!

 

Glorious weather for a glorious day! I don't think I saw anyone who wasn't smiling, all event long.

I admit I didn't take as many photos as usual, especially at FoA where the early hour and cloudless sky made for long shadows and bad contrast - not a big problem, really. I'm sure that many more photos will be posted from the event.
Image Unavailable, Please Login
Image Unavailable, Please Login
Image Unavailable, Please Login
Image Unavailable, Please Login
Image Unavailable, Please Login
Image Unavailable, Please Login
Image Unavailable, Please Login
Image Unavailable, Please Login
Image Unavailable, Please Login

 

The drive up to AMP was hardly a "caravan"; the traffic lights between FoA and GA-400 broke the line into at least a half-dozen groups of various sizes. In fact, for most of the run up 400, I was all by myself, well behind the group ahead and well ahead of the group behind! I wasn't caught by anyone until we got to the first traffic signal at GA-369. We then pretty much stayed together until we got to the track. (Personally, I would have taken GA-369 over to GA-9 and gone up to Dawsonville that way.)

At the track we were put into 12 lines on the gravel behind the office trailer. It is rather mind-boggling to consider the total value of the cars in that lot! I shot a few of the more interesting cars, including a few familiar ones.

(You may have noticed two photos of the Aston Martin Rapide, one in each post. While I am not as negative about the styling of the Porsche Panamera and the Ferrari FF as many people, I still think that the Rapide is stunning for a four-door "sedan"! To me the only negative part of the styling is the double grille, which looks a bit much; I think the lower one should be blacked-out.)
Image Unavailable, Please Login
Image Unavailable, Please Login
Image Unavailable, Please Login
Image Unavailable, Please Login
Image Unavailable, Please Login
Image Unavailable, Please Login
Image Unavailable, Please Login
Image Unavailable, Please Login
Image Unavailable, Please Login

 

As it turned out, I didn't have a kid for a passenger for the second year running. They said that there were 102 kids, but there must have been more cars! The young man who rode with me two years ago was there (he missed last year), but he elected to ride in the car in front of mine, a very loud silver '68 Shelby GT500 (visible next to the blue Porsche in the post above). But his father wound up riding with me instead! Neither one had ever been on a racetrack, and they both enjoyed their respective rides.

For my first time on the track in my own car, I enjoyed it, even under "controlled" conditions. There are certainly a lot of tight corners, some of them rather blind, and that very long left-hander heading into "Eau Rouge" never seemed to end. We agreed that this was a good track for nimbler cars like Lotuses and Porsches (at least the lower-powered ones), but that bigger or more powerful cars may be a bit too large for it. But it's really a pretty nice layout overall. The kart track (still being paved) will be a hoot!

I didn't take many photos because of the sturdy F1-style fence on the pit wall. I suppose that I could have stood on the wall and shot over the fence (as some people were doing) but I didn't feel up to that. Shooting through the fence only worked occasionally. The silver Maserati was the "pace car" for each run group, and the Porsche was the "safety car" running behind.
Image Unavailable, Please Login
Image Unavailable, Please Login
Image Unavailable, Please Login
Image Unavailable, Please Login

 

I want to thank Will and the gang at FoA, Atlanta Motorsports Park, Tom Spiro and company, and all of the sponsors for a job well done. Hopefully, next year, more at the track will be paved and the cars won't get quite so dusty. (Only other suggestion: more restroom options.) I've done every one of these and hope to do so again in 2013.

 

Great write up and photo coverage as always. Thank you for sharing, Jim.

Also, a big thank you to all the folks that made this event possible for such an awesome cause!

Ciao,
George

 

I wonder who was driving Young Jeezy's California. It's the black one with yellow rims. This is the second year in a row that a rapper's car was at the show, TI's black 599 with red rims was there last year. Maybe they have a deal with Car Tunes that allows them to use the cars every so often for events like this.

 

Think Jim covered the bases for the thanks quite nicely, and obviously, for the drivers that made the trip as-well. I will agree that this was the best one so-far, and you could tell with the kids that are typically quiet... crackin a smile around the track. That one brief moment kinda of said it all. (I was fortunate enough to make two trips on track with two GREAT kids)

Will. Great great job!

 

Hey you got a great shot of my 308 there! That's me in the gray shirt and the young man in the brown shirt was my first passenger, Preston. I'm talking with his dad about the finer points of Magnum PI...seriously. Note Dick's TR behind me. We had the 80's covered! Since we were in the last group to go out, I had more than 30 minutes to sit in the car with Preston and talk, fine young man and I wish him the absolute best.

I also had the ladies from the Ronald McDonald house come up and take a couple pictures for their website. Looks like we should keep an eye out for it!

After the first run, everyone bolted for the lunch tent but I was still standing among the cars when another young man and his mom were looking for a second ride. Who was I to say no? So I met McRae and his mom Elizabeth, and then we headed back on track for another run. Funny, his first question when we got in the car was "Are we gonna go fast?" When we came back in, I asked him "Did we go fast enough?" "Oh YEAH!!!"

Thanks to everyone for a great event, what a wonderful way to put it together and AMP makes a fantastic venue, great hospitality. Really appreciate all the hard work, you pulled it off just beautifully and I hope the event was a real success. The kids had a great time (and so did I)!

 

I'll bet every single car there is getting a micro-clean today! The wind and dust were amazing. My windows were open the whole time and the dust is EVERYWHERE. Compounding the problem, on the drive up the Mondial in front of me had an oil problem, so I ended up with oil all over the front of my car. Oil + dust = ick. Oh well, I needed an excuse to buy new car wash stuff anyway. She'll be clean this afternoon.

 

Sorry for the oil Mark. I knicked the oil cooler line while preparing the car and did not notice the oil weeping, as it did not do so until fully warmed up. Stopped several times to ensure addequate oil in the case. New line installed yesterday afternoon and a whole lot of cleaning. Part of the ownership experience. I will need several more rounds of cleaning to get it all.

Fun event as always. Great to see the track, it lived up to what I have heard. Love seeing those kids having some fun.

 

Don't worry about it, it's a car and meant to be driven, and cleaned up after! Good bonding time for the kids. It was good to meet you and I hope everything worked out ok. Really nice looking Mondial.

 

You know what they say about Ferraris having a penchant for dripping oil. I had a puddle in my garage for a number of years before we finally changed everything that could have been a source. There's still a stain on the garage floor, but otherwise it's as dry as can be.

And another thank you, to Michael Turner and Mike Cox of the Atlanta Falcons for coming out and signing a ton of autographs. That made a lot of the kids happy as well!

 

I had a great time too. Very nice track. Unfortunately, my enthusiastic driving caused my passenger to go a little green. I hope I didn't ruin it for him and he comes back next year.