Bret Voelkel pilots Air Ride...
Bret Voelkel pilots Air Ride Technologies' '69 Mustang through the cones at the Run Through the Hills event.
The trend at car events these days is more focus on driving and less on standing around with a polishing rag in each hand. The Year One Experience and Hot Rod Power Tour show that many people actually want to drive their hot rods. Even the Goodguys shows have started adding autocross events. Three years ago, Bill Howell and Steve Chryssoss, owners of Musclerides.com, got together with Larry Callahan, owner of Pro-Touring.com, and decided to put on a true drivers' event. They didn't want it to focus on just the gMachine thing, but on all types of driving. What evolved is the Run Through the Hills (RTTH). This event takes place over three days, and truly has something for everyone. Friday is a scenic cruise though the idyllic mountains around Pigeon Forge, Tennessee, followed by a dinner get-together. Saturday is reserved for the most popular event, the autocross, where a mini road-course is constructed out of orange cones for competitive drivers vying for the best lap times. On Sunday, the event moves over to the local eighth-mile dragstrip for some straight-line action. If you can't find something you like during this jam-packed weekend, maybe you just need to stick to holding a polishing rag.
We asked Bill about next year's event: "We plan on adding to it with a challenge that incorporates autocross times, drag times, reaction times, street manners, and the overall engineering of the car. These areas will be tallied, and the car with the highest overall score will be the winner. The competitors will also have to run the same tires for all the events and only DOT street tires will be allowed. There will also be separate categories for the pro-built cars and the 'average Joe' cars. We definitely want to keep this event fun for the regular car enthusiast." They will also, once again, have the event coincide with the Fall Grand Rod Run, which draws more than 5,000 cars to the area. This gives the attendees even more things to do, just in case they've already been to Dollywood.
Project Orphan Returns!
We had another PHR reunion when we realized that our very own Project Orphan was at the event. The LS1-powered '90 Mustang buildup was featured in the May through Sept. '07 issues of PHR. Jason Huber of G-Force Design Concepts recently bought the ex-PHR project car and has been tweaking more performance out of it. When we had the 'Stang, it ran 10.73 at 132 mph. Jason tweaked the suspension, upped the nitrous, and was rewarded with a best quarter-mile time of 9.86 at 139.7 mph. At this event, his best eighth-mile time was 6.387 at 112.41 mph with a 60-foot time of 1.456 seconds, good enough to win him the "fastest e.t." award. A 9-second car for way less than $13,000 and it still gets 20 mpg on the highway. What's not to love?
We asked Jason what he did to get the Mustang into the 9s: "I swapped out the 4.10 gears for 3.73s and upgraded the rear suspension with UPR chromoly pro-series rearend control arms. I also swapped out all the worn rubber bushings with Heim joints. The biggest suspension change was adding some QA1 12-way adjustable rear shocks. This really lets me dial-in and pre-load the suspension." Jason also added an eight-point rollbar and some RCI cam lock belts for safety. Under the hood, he removed the nitrous spray bar from the intake tube and added a nozzle system where nitrous is added at each injector. This allowed him to grab the 9.86 timeslip
Rat Rod g-Machine!
It's pretty misleading to call Brian Finch's Corvette a '66. Sure, the body and VIN are 1966 vintage, but it ends there. Brian has managed to finesse a cornucopia of parts to build a g-Machine that gets it done in quick fashion. "The car started out as a stripped shell and part of the deal included a late-'70s Vette frame," Brian says. "I bought a donor '94 Vette off eBay and combined the front frame of that car with the '70 Vette frame at the firewall. Next, I modified the rear of the frame to accept the '94 rear, and converted all four corners to Aldan Eagle coilovers." The finished chassis then received the LT1 from the '94 Vette and a T56 from a '95 Firebird. His main goal has been to keep the cost down while trying to be a bit different. "The Pro-Touring movement has been a big influence on the plan. I will be switching to an LS6 engine soon, but because of all the feedback at the event, I've decided to keep the Vette satin black with any shiny bits done in black chrome." He hopes to have the low-bling, high-performance build done by the next RTTH. We can't wait to check it out!
 Two events occur on Friday...  Two events occur on Friday evening. The first is a 48-mile cruise though the scenic Smoky Mountains. |  On Saturday morning, the 48...  On Saturday morning, the 48 cars that showed up for the autocross were split into three groups and made their way through tech inspection. |  After tech, there was a drivers'...  After tech, there was a drivers' meeting where Bill Howell laid out the rules for the event. He was firm that no reckless behavior would be tolerated. |
 Girl power! Stacy Tucker gets...  Girl power! Stacy Tucker gets ready to give Kelle Oeste, from V8TV, a ride around the track in her '69 Camaro. |  Kyle Tucker of Detroit Speed...  Kyle Tucker of Detroit Speed & Engineering digs in hard around the cones. |  Holly West brought her '68...  Holly West brought her '68 Camaro and her husband Mark to the autocross and drag-racing events. |
 One big surprise was the arrival...  One big surprise was the arrival of the Roadster Shop's '66 Chevelle test car. |  The cardinal rule of autocrossing...  The cardinal rule of autocrossing is that you can hit cones, but never hit the timing lights. |  Aaron and Dawn Kelley came...  Aaron and Dawn Kelley came down from Hayesville, NC, to check out the event and hang with fellow gearheads. |
 This '70 Chevelle was built...  This '70 Chevelle was built by Air Ride Technologies as the giveaway car for next year's Goodguys show series. |  It was very close, but the...  It was very close, but the fastest lap of the day on qualifying tires went to Britt Marolf of Air Ride Technologies and its '70 Chevelle giveaway car. |  Jeff Tate and Jim Grayson...  Jeff Tate and Jim Grayson get ready to take a trip through the cones. Passengers were allowed, but everyone had to have a helmet. |
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 |  Sunday was all about drag...  Sunday was all about drag racing at 411 Dragway. The eighth-mile strip isn't pretty, but it's fun, and 32 cars showed up to launch down the tarmac. Here, Vinnie Neigretto roasts the hides on his '68 Camaro. |  Tennessee native Ausby Brewington's...  Tennessee native Ausby Brewington's '91 Camaro claws for traction as it hurls down the eighth-mile track. |
 Toward the end of the day,...  Toward the end of the day, the pattern seemed to be that drivers would do a huge smoky burnout at the end of their last run. |  Meet the RTTH class of '07....  Meet the RTTH class of '07. At the end of the day, 34 autocross competitors gathered for this shot. |  PHR stalker? It seems like...  PHR stalker? It seems like wherever we go, we find Lisa Sarafine of Prodigy Customs close at hand. |