Friday morning I had a few people meet at my house so we could go to Indy together as a caravan. We had about six cars total at my house. We got a late start, but made good time to Indy. We arrived at the meeting spot a little off of schedule and found most people there waiting for us. We did a bit of talking and looking at each other's cars. It was good to finally put some faces to the names I see on the internet. We ended up having I think 30+ cars there at the meeting place. After most everyone had arrived, we got some quick food and checked into our hotel rooms. The hotel we arranged was nice, but not as nice as the one we had planned on until Boy Scouts came and swooped up the whole place. Next year we need one with an indoor pool ;-) So after that we went to the Post Rd. recreation center as planned.

Ernie, Randy, and me had scoped the place out a few weeks earlier and thought that everyone would like it. I think we were right! We went inside and immediately people wanted to jump in the go-karts. They had three tracks there to choose from. The first one we went to was the standard road coarse. We could run quite a few people at a time, but I didn't like it too much because the course was so big. It was too easy to get separated from everyone and then you have no one to race against. So we ditched that one and went to the banked oval track. This thing was great! It was my favorite track. The cars and smooth track allowed us to go a lot faster. The track was so smooth that you could fishtail going around corners. The one race on that track was pretty memorable. I don't remember who was in my group of four that I raced with except for one person. Mark Kuklin. We were bumpin' each other from the start and I knew it could get violent ;-) The worker there put some powder down in one of the corners. I was ahead of Mark and took the corner too fast and started to get sideways from the powder. Well Mark slowed down for the corner and then powered out of it…right into the side of my car. It was pretty gruesome. I think we even dented the car! After the race we checked out my back and I had a massive black and blue bump. I'm waiting for the rematch at next year's Bfest ;-) The last track they had was a "fast track". It was a road coarse with carts that went much faster ten on the other courses. This took a lot more skill and I did it a couple of times. Speed is definitely addictive. People were playing mini golf, too. We stayed there pretty late, and then t was back to the hotel.

Ernie and me got up early and went to Eagle Creek Park to make sure we could get a good spot for the barbeque. We had a bit of a problem with the park ranger about so many cars, but they were pretty nice. We had a nice time eating and chatting and watching Chef Rex burn our burgers and boil our beans. After the food it was off for an hour drive to the drag strip in Muncie. We got to the track and all parked on the side of the track in the grass. Those who were racing drove around to the other side and payed and parked over there. We each got in a couple of practice runs and then the brackets started. I barely broke out of my time the first round. Troy ended up going the furthest and was one round away from placing in the money. It was fun speeding and not having to worry about cops ;-) It was cool to see Rex turn a 15.5 in his GTZ, too. Someone was supposed to wake up Pat but forgot too so we ended up leaving him at the track. It's been a running joke ever since. Then it was out for some grub and back to the hotel.

The next morning it was kind of hazy. We went to the Indianapolis Motor Speedway and took the tour and wandered through the museum. A few people had prints of the pace car Beretta shipped to their house. After the track I went to Wendy's with a few people for a quick lunch. We took our time saying goodbye after lunch, and then it was off on my drive back to northern Indiana.

I had a really great time and will see everyone again at Bfest 2000. It's nice to finally meet the people who share a common interest with me. See you next year!

View picture by clicking on camera ( ) next to description
Talking outside the hotel
Sonny and Kevin's 3100 base models
At the initial meeting place
At meeting place around Randy's GT
Rex's GTZ and Jim's base
Nice group shot in the parking lot
Norton's GTU at the hotel
Custom ground effects. Sweet!
Starting to line up at the park
Paul's immaculate GTU
John's GT. More than 200k on it!
Rex displaying his fine cooking skills
Burnt hamburger anyone?
Barbeque at Eagle Creek state park
Group shot at the park
Mark vs. Aaron at the track
Tyler vs. Keith at the track
Rex pulling a 15.5 with a stock Q4
In the grass watching at Muncie Dragway
Saying goodbyes at the hotel

Story graciously contributed by:
Doug Blair
More pictures and movies can be found at
Bfest 99 Pictures and Movies