I have been gently chastised (and rightly so) for giving a cursory report of
Sprite Rush and just leaving everyone wondering what's going on here. I'm
hesitant to write too much because I know I'll leave things out, so be
forewarned. I don't mean to slight anyone!
IT'S A BLAST! ahem. Now that's out of the way, let's see what can be said.
Rick Moses has done a fantastic job of filling the schedule with events
while leaving us some time to mingle and meet with old and new friends.
Each day includes tech sessions, group drives to local restaurants for
dinner, and nightly receptions. Being with all these Sprite lovers is the
best part of the event. I know it sounds trite, but it's absolutely true.
Everyone is admiring everyone else's cars, sharing experiences, swapping
technical advice, and generally having a big ole party.
On Monday, there was a wonderful funkhana, designed by the Capital Mini
Register of Washington, DC. The DC theme ran throughout, with events
including a space shuttle/paper airplane landing at Reagan National Airport,
a field goal kick at Jack Kent Cook Stadium, feeding the panda at the
National Zoo, and some hair-raising blind driving on the beltway. I
discovered that I'm not a very good astronaut, Redskin, zookeeper, or road
rager, but I had a great time trying it. I'm afraid I don't know all the
winners of the event, so I'll have to let them announce their success
themselves. I believe Frank Clarici took second and Frankie, his son, took
third.
Tuesday's events were the popular car show and an autotest. The hotel,
bless their hearts, isn't providing water faucets, so we resorted to
carrying wastepaper baskets and ice buckets full of water from our rooms to
the parking lot. Some were even smart enough to form bucket brigades from
their hotel room windows. The rain stopped just long enough to tease us and
let us think that we could clean our cars. Ha! We lined up for the
panoramic photo, then lined up again in a more organized fashion. The final
count was between 80 and 90 cars, and it was a spectacular field. Star
billing went to a Speedwell Sprite from Maryland and a Sebring Sprite --
both are works of art! But then, all our cars are works of art, right? We
voted and talked and admired and got a nice workout in the tonneau cover
installation/removal/installation event as the rain clouds hovered.
No sooner had the votes been cast than the autotest was set up. I had never
seen an autotest, so let me describe what it is for any of you who may not
have participated in this event before. The short description is that it's
a funkhana without a navigator. The driver has to maneuver a very tight
course with interesting challenges along the way. In our case, it involved
throwing a Nerf ball into a frog's mouth, making a tight turn around a
maypole while holding a string with a clothespin halfway along it, landing
the clothespin, and retrieving a Reese's candy bar from a rotating fishing
pole that was always infuriatingly on the opposite side of the rotation
whenever the driver pulled up to grab it. The final test was to park as
close as possible to the end point. Major mistakes added ten seconds to
your time, and one second was added for each inch you missed the final stop.
Oh! And I didn't mention one crucial point about both the funkhana and the
autotest: You have to set your own time. Both events started with the
participants hitting the timer and ended with the participants stopping the
timer. No blaming errors on the officials!
The results? I'm afraid I don't have all of them. Each evening's reception
features the announcement of the day's winners. You already know that I
didn't win the funkhana. Here's what I know of today's results.
Popularity Show
***************
MK IV - No one who won was present at the award banquet
MK III - 2nd place - Charlie Lownsdale
MK II - 2nd place - George Marinos
MK I - 2nd place - Paul and Amy Turner
1st place - Bob and Ann Kitterer
The winners all received a bottle of Austin-Healey Sprite wine featuring a
picture of their Mark on the label. First place winners received sterling
silver pins fashioned by hand by industrious Sprite elves. Incidentally,
the reason I know all the above winners is because we were all sitting at
the same table. Sounds like a good tradition to continue for the rest of
the week!
Autotest
********
3rd place - John ?????, driving PIECES, I believe; Time, 1:16
2nd place - Amy Turner; Time, 1:14
1st place - ???? Dolloff; Time, 1:12
Forgive me if this report looks like self promotion. It was a very good day
for me today! I haven't been keeping notes of the winners, but I'll get a
complete list tomorrow.
Tomorrow's events are the rallye and autocross. A day full of driving!
WISH YOU WERE ALL HERE!
Amy T. and HEALIUM
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