Anyone who passed up going 10 miles west of South Bend and driving the old three-mile oval really missed out. Even my wife enjoyed it and that's saying something.
We got there fairly early and were in the first 30 or so cars to go on the track. I don't know how many cars made the run but there were a BUNCH! We made two slow laps with two trucks in front controlling the speed followed by the '62 convertible Pace Car and a Packard convertible. Then everyone else ran three abreast. We made two slow laps I guess to get everyone one the track then two laps at 40-45 mph. Toward the end of the last lap we were herded in to the skid pad area where everyone parked and most people went up on the embankment next to the track to photograph the cars parked and those coming in. It seemed like they were still coming in for 10 minutes or so after we had parked. It's a wonder that the lead cars didn't run in to the cars still coming on the track for the first lap.
Everything ran very smoothly. Only complaint I heard was that it was publicised to be open until 1 pm, but driving on the track was a one-time thing. If you missed the 9:30 run you were out of luck so we had some disappointed folks.
After the run we parked at the area by the road and we were told that the old Clubhouse in the park next door was open for us to tour so tour we did. The volunteers there were super nice and quite informative. We were able to see Sherwood Egbert's personal quarters including his kitchen and master bath and there were a lot of historic Studebaker photos in the house. Interestingly the clubhouse butts up to the last "E" in the Studebaker pine trees.
I will post some shots we took from the car as well as a couple short videos as soon as I get them downloaded and prepped.
We got there fairly early and were in the first 30 or so cars to go on the track. I don't know how many cars made the run but there were a BUNCH! We made two slow laps with two trucks in front controlling the speed followed by the '62 convertible Pace Car and a Packard convertible. Then everyone else ran three abreast. We made two slow laps I guess to get everyone one the track then two laps at 40-45 mph. Toward the end of the last lap we were herded in to the skid pad area where everyone parked and most people went up on the embankment next to the track to photograph the cars parked and those coming in. It seemed like they were still coming in for 10 minutes or so after we had parked. It's a wonder that the lead cars didn't run in to the cars still coming on the track for the first lap.
Everything ran very smoothly. Only complaint I heard was that it was publicised to be open until 1 pm, but driving on the track was a one-time thing. If you missed the 9:30 run you were out of luck so we had some disappointed folks.
After the run we parked at the area by the road and we were told that the old Clubhouse in the park next door was open for us to tour so tour we did. The volunteers there were super nice and quite informative. We were able to see Sherwood Egbert's personal quarters including his kitchen and master bath and there were a lot of historic Studebaker photos in the house. Interestingly the clubhouse butts up to the last "E" in the Studebaker pine trees.
I will post some shots we took from the car as well as a couple short videos as soon as I get them downloaded and prepped.
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