BULLRUN 2011 – RALLY DAY 3
After a very long and energetic party at the Lajitas Resort in Southern Texas, the Bullrunners shared their stories from the day before, and soon headed off to their rooms after hearing a rumour of another long drive the next day. But before the Bullrunners abandoned the Bullrun party in the early hours of the morning, Team DTA and Drake Kemper found some Golf Karts to play around in. Oh, and the Dudesons got a little crazy – but we’re used to them by now!
Eurocruise and Lil’ Ice managed to catch up with the rest of the rally after their wrong turn yesterday, as did Team Arkansas after their fiasco with their flat tire, and having a tough time to find the right tools to remove their custom wheels.
The rumours of a long drive ahead were true! The next morning the Bullrunners awoke, some already feeling the grind.
The drivers got into their cars and were given their first route cards. Destination? Dublin, TX, 466 Miles away. The Dr. Pepper bottling plant to be specific. The drivers grabbed their route cards and quickly dispersed out of the very friendly and welcoming town of Lajitas.
Team Maserati caught up to both of the Lamborghini Murcielago’s and the Yerman vRacing Teeme, Drake and Michael, heading out to the Dublin lunch stop. In a group with a few other cars, they decided to stick together. But a pack of high-profile Bullrun cars on the highway caught the attention of a police chopper circling overhead, and soon the Texas Highway Patrol knew the rally was coming. The drivers maintained safe driving speeds until they hit a roadblock. The Highway Patrol wasn’t very excited to see them. We’ll just say that Texas wasn’t a very friendly State.
Team Hudson Jeans in the GT-R heard about the roadblock on their CB radio, and decided to take an alternate route to Dublin.
Team Solstice began to have some issues with the car overheating, but quickly fixed that problem by removing the front grill of the car.
First into the Dublin checkpoint was Robby Gordon in his preproduction 2012 Jeep SRT-8! Man, does that this haul biscuits! Plus Robby knows how to drive that thing to its fullest! Team Exotics Rally in the Hudson Jeans GT-R was second into the checkpoint, and this isn’t the first time they’ve out driven and out navigated everyone else. This year the frontrunners are quite apparent. Last year it was questionable who would take home the Navigator Award, but this year it already looks like the podium has been set – but hey, it’s only day three, and anything can happen! This is Bullrun after all!
The Dublin checkpoint at the Dr. Pepper bottling plant gave Bullrunners a unique experience. This bottling plant is the oldest in the United States, and makes their soda with real cane sugar. With a quick tour of the adjacent Dr. Pepper museum, and a bite to eat, it was time to say good-bye to the hospitable town of Dublin, and hit the highway to the next checkpoint, Dallas, TX, a further 115 miles.
While en-route to the Dallas checkpoint, Mike and Shari of Team RS Sicks, got a flat tire. An unfortunate reality of road rallying. But they came prepared with an electric tire pump and were able to get the car fixes and back onto highway 67, bound for Dallas.
The Dudesons broke down in their pink Camoflage Hummer on the side of the road, and offered bypassers a free foot massagee if they could fix their hummer. They’re from Finland. Their bright yellow chicken suits didn’t exactly entice motorists to help them out either.
First into the Dallas checkpoint – none other than Seth and Tony, in the Hudson Jeans GT-R and Bill, Allen and Cindi Wu in the Trapster Patrol Car. Seth and Tony really learned from last year, and their navigational ability coupled with their driving skill sent them to Hotel ZaZa way ahead of the rest of the Bullrunners. But we can’t say we’re surprised. Unlike many exotic car owners, Seth and Tony are willing to drive ‘Godzilla’ how it was built to be driven. Just wait until we hit the racetrack! Team Wu on the other hand just knows how to get it done. With rallying in their blood for over seven years, and countless experience driving and navigating to victory, it should not come as a surprise! Tony King and Allen Wu of Team Wu raced on foot to the check in station. Their times were close, but Allen beat Tony (barely) in a foot race.
Team Texas, having figured out that they were Dallas-bound, knew they had an advantage. The three sisters put on their game faces and navigated to an impressive 6th place finish. Well done ladies!
Bullrun party tonight is at the ZaZa Hotel! This is Team Texas’ homs turf, so we can expect one hell of a party! Maybe we’ll even see Bullrun veteran, Richard Rawlings. Who knows, maybe he’ll even join us for the remained of the rally!