Days 1 & 2 of the Fireball Run

If you folks have been keeping up with Radar Roy's blog, you'll understand why I have been posting much in terms of day to day experiences with this event.

As the primary driver of are "racing" team, my top priority is getting Roy and I to our destinations ticket free and out of harms way.

It also means that I am tending to be the more drained of the two of us at the end of each day's passage. In other words, as Roy has been putting an extensive amount of time into preparing his blogging experiences either I have been sleeping or hanging out at the bar with my new friends that I have been making along the way of this incredible event.

I would be remiss, if I did not tip my hat to Roy for turning out to be a fine navigator. His computer acumen coupled with his judicious use of his Garmin GPS and sharp mind have been absolutely invaluable to our racing team. It's been like having a high tech library and encyclopedia in our race care.

As I prepare for what ay turn out to be the most dangerous segment of our nine day cross country rally--the race track high speed event--I would like to briefly reflect upon the previous last two days--from the driver's perspective.

1st Day: Orlando, FL to Baton Rouge, LA.

Total mileage for this leg of the event was 757 miles.

For a time our team had been out in the front of the entire number of FireBallers for quite some time. The Aston Martin Vanquish and the BMW 335i did not manage to keep up with our pace that we had established for some time.

Fortunately for our case, I did not use the cell phone during this portion of the event and remained singularly focused on the task of driving safety and swiftly...I spotted an approaching unmarked Florida High Patrol vehicle approaching us from the opposite side of travel on I-10 East and managed to safely "react" well before he lit us up with instant-one Ka band (34.7Ghz).

For the sake of the integrity of the Fireball Run and the other teams the particulars of the actual events leading to our traffic stop will remain in the annals of FBR folklore. The only ones I really car about knowing what events occurred were the actual ones involved (you know who you are).

I will say only this, reports of our "demise" were greatly exaggerated!

Nothing much to report from Alabama and Mississippi in so far as the race is concerned, however my thoughts and prayers go to the town's people of Biloxi who took the brunt of Hurricane Katrina several years back...It's expected to take them 10 years to be able to mostly recover from that most unfortunate event.

We finished our day with an incredible LA state trooper escort from the LA state line into the town of Baton Rouge, LA.

All in all an incredible day...and one I will never forget! Congratulations to all surviving teams!

2nd Day: Baton Rouge, LA to Houston, TX.

Today was more about navigation than flat-out speed as Roy and I were tasked with four difficult missions which he has detailed in his blog.

Please take Roy's recount of events with a big grain of salt. It seems that many stories told by we Fireballers have a way of getting, how should we say, a bit "inflated."

Roy's recount of my experiences with the Cobra XRS R9G and/or my comments, don't quite line up with my own recollection of today's events. BTW, as the driver of my own vehicle, I set which equipment is on my windshield, period...although Roy's postings make for some good reading entertainment: you'll get a good handle overall on how the day's event proceeded from his perspective and editorial creativity.

One of the purposes of our event is raise awareness for missing children. In our particularly case after being graciously received by the fine folks of Beaumont Texas by the Mayor and acting Chief of Firehouse we had some down time, time which we used for doing good.

As Roy was in a nearby wal-mart making some purchases, I spent time handing out brochures of our assigned child Edward Ramirez. I managed to hand out about 200 fliers to interested citizens. Thank you all for caring enough to try to make a positive difference and contributing to the efforts for finding our missing young boy.

We finally ended up in the city of Houston where I ate at Mortons with the Blinder Dude and a host of other fascinating Fireballers engaged in some pretty heady conversations.

I am appreciating the new friends I am making along our journeys.

I am now going to get prepared for my first competition track event of the Fireball Run.

To be candid, I have been a fearless driver up until now, but the unsettling prospects of turn six at this road course and the concrete retaining wall that stands there has me more than a bit concerned.

I did not come here to either total my personal vehicle and/or make my wife husbandless nor our "kids" fatherless.

At the end of the third day, I trust reason carries the day.

All the best to everyone.

Veil Guy (aka Bandit).