Sorry we never got a chance to meet up. I kept a low profile this year. lol I was parked back in the pits by the exit to the Dodge test drive area.
Here’s a summary:
I really had a blast this year. This really is a great event. If you live in the SW you really need to attend. There are so many great Mopars there; show cars, race cars etc. Plus its not just a car show with all the racing, autocross, Dodge display, manufacturers midway, etc.
There was so much going on that there was never a dull moment for me. Part of the reason for that was I bought my wife a used 2014 Jeep Grand Cherokee SRT. So I was actually racing both the Cuda and the Jeep. So I’d make a pass in the Cuda then park in the pits and jump in the Jeep since they kept calling the street and truck class at the same time.
The Cuda ran well and I didn’t have any issues this year other than my AC didn’t work. So that made for a hot drive home since it was 90+ out. Put 1000 miles on the Cuda and averaged 20.0 mpg driving up there and 21.1 driving home which was even more surprising since it was all at 70+ mph. Made 2 quarter mile passes and ran a new best of 12.46 @ 115 mph. It still needs some tuning since its super rich at the hit of the throttle which requires me to baby it off the line. I'm hoping with some more tuning and better driving on my part I can get close to the 11's. I also made like 8 runs on the autocross on a very short, tight course. I was very happy with how the car performed and to me its a successful trip when you can drive it to an event, beat on it, then drive it home.
Here’s the detail:
The event started for me on Thursday with the organized cruise to Vegas. This is the Tucson group consisting of a 66 Charger, 70 Roadrunner, my Cuda and a Super Bee. We actually stayed together the entire way to Kingman, AZ. This was the first fuel stop in Toltec at 6 am.
On the road behind the Super Bee.
Thank goodness for overdrive transmissions!
The first stop is in Phoenix at Earnhardt Dodge. They really take care of us providing everyone on the cruise with a free hot breakfast, free t-shirt, etc. It ends up being like a 60+ car show all by itself. Here’s some pictures from there:
The purple convertible Challenger next to me was an original car and had the window sticker displayed. $5600 must have been a ton of money back in 1970.
There was a big 60’s Imperial owned by a guy from Finland. Apparently he loves these big old Chryslers and has some both in AZ and in Finland and in the winter comes out here to enjoy them. I ended up following him for a while on the drive in to Kingman.
Here’s the sticker on it:
This is Rhonda’s 70 Roadrunner behind me outside of Wickenberg (she’s the one that organizes the AZ cruise). I love the look with the scoop open:
This was her view:
This station wagon was so cool and sounded mean!
A gas stop at a Kingman AZ truck stop almost turns into another car show.
We rented the same house we rented last year. Its great because it has a garage. Here’s the 2 vehicles in the garage:
Finally on to the track on Friday. Here’s the Cuda and Jeep in line for tech inspection:
This is a professional picture from one of the magazines that was covering the event:
We had some friends stay with us and hang out at the track on Saturday and they really had fun too. They both rode in the Viper and Hellcat. My buddy still keeps talking about the ride in the Hellcat. lol Most everyone wanted to ride in the Hellcat and not the Viper! The Hellcat just sounds wicked and the acceleration is amazing.
https://youtu.be/QYHWuPDRfPMHere’s one of my passes in the Cuda. Yes I was asleep at the lights. I was looking at the tach trying to get the launch RPM where I wanted it and I looked up and it was already green! lol
https://youtu.be/F2uNNkbTyK4Here’s the same run from the inside car view:
https://youtu.be/4wKXPZo3zf0The autocross course was pretty short and very tight with 3 hairpin 180’s. It was basically lock to lock for me to get the car around those corners. There was hardly anyone running the autocross so I made like 8 passes on Saturday afternoon basically back to back.
https://youtu.be/ufPCLjHLrSkHere’s the in car view that got cut a little short because the GoPro battery died.
https://youtu.be/QK6daVaCVm8By the way, my wife's completely stock 2014 Jeep Grand Cherokee SRT ran a 13.88 @ 98 mph using the launch button. This is in a 5600+ lb vehicle that has every option, rear DVD players, etc. It’s so nice to drive that she didn’t complain at all about the drive to Vegas and back.
https://youtu.be/CuO2oE2mRuIAnyway, Mopars At the Strip is a ton of fun and highly recommended!
Travis
72 Cuda
