Bullrun 2009 – Destin, FL to New Orleans, LA (Lunch at Mobile Motorsports Park)

Posted by Matthew on July 18, 2009 · Leave a Comment

The Destin launch was very hot and humid, but it was the 2nd day during the week we could sleep in a bit after a good night of partying. We got our route cards and we were happy to know we were set to do some drag racing at the Mobile Dragstrip. Driving through Florida is always interesting because one second it’s beautiful out and the next second its raining. We would be going in and out of rain showers all the way to Alabama.

We also got slowed up by downpours and very well monitored roads.

The Valentine 1 works like a charm

We got to Mobile Raceway and were looking forward to some solid drag racing like we dis in Great Bend Kansas in 2007 however; we got a surprise when David Green had another race in store.

Although this is the Bullrun Rally that the reality show is based on, David and Andy decided to mix things up a bit and put a “reality show like” challenge into the real Bullrun. 1st up was Collins/Rawlings (Z06) and Claus/Dietmar (TeachArt 997 Turbo) for a relay race involving both members of each team. Each team was to line-up their cars, race a few hundred feet down the track in opposite direction, pull a Hollywood stle u-turn around a cone and place the car in the starting cones the same way it started. The current driver is to get out of the car, hop over the wall and hand the keys to his teammate who will run the course in the same sequence as the 1st.

Michael Collins was to start out with Richard over the wall going second. Both cars got off the line pretty quickly with the edge going to Claus who drove 1st. Collins motored down the course and made the required u-turn when something went wrong. The car completely locked up and instead of turning 180 – the car went left nose first into the guardrail. We thought for sure Rawlings & Collins was done, but thankfullly fiberglass in the front of the Z06 could be pulled out good as new and all was right again.

The car started leaking Richard’s favorite liquid – MILLER LITE

With Mike’s crash, all the other Bullrun drivers didn’t feel comfortable with the relay challenge so we all got down to simple drag racing. Ted Barret’s ’68 Chevelle was truly at home on the drag strip and it was the biggest hit with all the locals. The locals could have cared less about all the European Exotics – in these parts, American Muscle still rules.

All sorts of races were taking place. Ferrari vs. Ferrari, Maserati vs. Mercedes, Lexus vs. BMW and SUV vs. SUV.

All races were interesting, but for me I wanted to see the McLaren SLR rocket down the track. Josh Kerr ripped off off the fastest time of the day and since this track is not for NHRA events and is an 1/8 of a mile strip, he and the McLaren SLR set a new course record. I noticed that his brother Zack was going to make a run and had an open seat. I hopped in and was blown away by the raw power of the car. It also has this cool air brake that deploys upwards under hard braking. It takes of incredibly fast and has the ability to slow down quickly and under control from speeds well over 100.

Bullrun also had a chance to have another photo shoot with Linda and the 2009 Camaro SS.

We launched around 3PM towards “The Big Easy” – our destination was Bourbon Street and the ultra upscale Royal Sonnesta Hotel.

Ricky Chancey of Team Big E Z who ran in the Mercedes-Benz SL55 left the Bullrun in Nashville because his company Z Entertainment coordinated our Bourbon Street Balcont party which was across the street from the hotel.

Ricky and Rochelle Chancey with Richard Rawlings

Ricky had a phrase on his car “You ain’t no F#ckn’ Bullrun” and named the party that as well. Apparently Ricky and Andy Duncan were in Florida pre-running the route in the Bullrun Shelby Mustang. A few proper rednecks, who happened to be huge Bullrun reality show fans walked up to Ricky, Andy and the car and threatened to beat the piss out of them. The local thugs kept telling Ricky and Andy that “You ain’t no F#ckin’ Bullrun”. After a small scuffle, Ricky and Andy made it out of town just fine.

The party took on a Mardi Gras atmosphere as Bullrunners danced and got mingled with the locals. Some bead throwing took place outside, but the real party was inside.