The Snake, the Dragon, and Phil: A BMW Driving Tour of Tennessee and North Carolina

[Rick F.]

Originally Posted by Nate4641

Another wonderful adventure story! My condolences for the loss of your friend.

Do you have any plans to go up North as far as Buffalo? If you do I highly recommend finding your way through Bradford, PA (where Zippo is located and has a really nice museum in an old town) and Eden, NY (home of the original Kazoo Factory). Just a couple of places I think you might enjoy.

Nate,

Many thanks. I've been expanding my touring horizons quite a bit since I retired, and I very much like your suggestions. I mean, who could turn down the home of the original Kazoo factory??!

Rick

[Rick F.]

Originally Posted by TennesseeZ4

I ran ITA with the Capri shown in my signature in the late '80's and early '90's. That was pre-widening / repaving and well before they took the high speed run to the bridge away with the new chicane. I also did some Barber Formula Ford stuff at Sebring, Mid-Ohio, and Lime Rock. Don't know if I could get this body back into a Ford! At a BMWCCA event at Road Atlanta, in my 535i, Jim Fitzgerald followed me for two laps in one of the track 300ZX cars, then took me out and showed me the 'line' for the kink and the bridge. It surely elevated my game, but also left me with a great deal of respect for the men that made a living driving race cars! If you are interested in other routes through Tennessee, send me a PM and I'll bore you with some good roads! Thanks again for sharing your stories.

TennesseeZ4,

After 3 years with my own Sports Renault, I switched to running a rented ITS Datsun 240Z for a number of years. The IT classes are great ways to go racing. One of the things I liked best about the original Road Atlanta course was that most of the apexes couldn't be seen from the turn-in points. In other words, the elevation changes made it much more challenging to use exactly the right line.

I also liked that there was generally a lot of runoff room at Road Atlanta. That can be important! In contrast, Watkins Glen was surrounded almost everywhere by those pretty, baby-blue guardrails. It was a rare SCCA weekend up there that at least one race car wasn't destroyed. I only ever went off the track there twice--once each at the only two places, then, that had a decent amount of runoff area!

I was always a big fan of Jim Fitzgerald, and it was a terrible day when he died racing his big turbo Nissan Z. The fact that his close friend and racing partner, Paul Newman, continued racing his own Z after that also raised my respect for PLN even further. That can't have been easy.

Rick

PS: I'll definitely take you up on your offer of additional routes in your area. It was a super place to drive and tour, and I'm confident I'll be back!

[Rick F.]

Originally Posted by Vanne

Great trip once again Rick, condolences for your friend Phil,
Makes me want to go and visit my mum while she is still around.. Once that door closes, there ain't no dropping in for visits, coffee, chats and what nots..
I commend you in your drives mate, you make me want to tour all your roads. :-)

Thanks for letting us ride shotgun. (Okay possibly we were sitting in the back, Phil had shotgun

Vanne,

Thanks, I appreciate it. And definitely visit Mum at the first opportunity.

Phil was definitely riding shotgun throughout this trip--except for the drive from the funeral service to his nearby home in Dandridge, TN. On that occasion, one of his nieces rode with me, while Phil (or, his ashes at least) road in the back seat. I think the spiritual Phil definitely enjoyed the trip.

Rick