Part one
I had to work yesterday morning and again this morning so we missed the Sedona trip we had planned. Needing an FJ fix we decided to head over to Firebird Raceway
(since it is 10 minutes from the house) and check out the happenings and see the Trail Teams set up.
First of all, and most important to all who have not been to a Firebird event here is your warning. “BRING ALL YOUR MONEY AND BE READY TO SACRAFICE YOUR FIRST BORN!” Also, if you plan on going out for a couple of hours, don’t, you need to spend a whole day to make it worth the cost; more on all this as I progress.
I had Friday afternoon off so I called my buddy and we decided to do the body mount chop on the FJ. Since we could not make the Sedona Trip on Saturday I thought it would be a nice gesture to invite him to go with the wife and I to the
Tire Pros Monster Truck Nationals where I read the Toyota Trail Teams would be set up. Pleased with the work we did on the FJ and “stoked” for more fwd fun he agreed. After completing my work Saturday morning “Jimbo” was called and we rallied at the home base at 10 AM. After a liberal application of sunscreen, we loaded in the freshly modded FJ and rolled the short drive south on I-10 to the Firebird exit.
Once near Firebird, it was the usual conglomeration of unclear signs, confused staff and misdirection that is a hallmark of all our 25 years of attending events at Firebird. As “Veterans” of the facility we just look for a clear shot to the long drive that leads to the drive through booths/canopy east of the drag strip. The key here is navigating the three or four dozen, totally confused, other attendee’s who stop next to every person wearing clothing/I.D. badge that looks like they may know something. At times this looked like the Shriners traded their mini cars from the parade for mismatched cars and jacked up trucks and in doing lost all sense of cohesion.
Here is where your wallet begins its
Firebird Crash Diet. Once you reach the “Toll Booths” it was $9.00 to be granted entry for the privilege to drive as far away from the event as possible and park. The slow ride south following a slew of hand waving youth meant to direct us to an organized parking location gave us a chance to see that there was a good deal of activity all around the Firebird Sports Park. To the west of the main drive, behind the chain link fence were several hundred RV of all sorts and their event vehicles which consisted of motorcycles, ATV’s, mini buggies, side-by-sides and various forms of FWD/Off-road vehicles. This was the “Whiplash Off-road Racing” section of the event. The huge cloud of dust that hung over the area indicated that they were in full throttle on the course with one of the class events. I turned East, following the beckoning hands of several different bored youth in Oh So Official traffic safety vests, and slid the FJ in next to a family unloading their Tahoe. Well I would have except for the fact that “Mom” had all the passenger doors opened to full extent and was piling gear in the spot the youth in the safety vest had designated was our $9.00 parking location. Patience is a virtue and I learned that honking the stock FJ horn only embarrasses me so we waited for one of the bored youth to chastise the woman for holding up their parking process. It worked but the woman shot me a look that indicated that she clearly believed her chastisement was all my fault. You got to love modern day, self-involved people; now back to me!
We unloaded; being sure not to replicate the delays we experienced upon the car next to us, and began the ¼ mile walk to the event ticket sales booth. I know it was a ¼ mile because we were parked just South of even with the end track timing lights and the ticket booth was just South of the “Christmas Tree”. All being “Lug Nuts”, we took the opportunity to rate, ogle and critique the various rigs in the parking lot as we passed. Also holding true for such events, some of the nicest and most innovative vehicles are on this side of the event gates. As the parking lot ended and we neared the start of the actual event, the first thing we encountered was a test drive course set up by JEEP
tm as well as some stock and modded display rigs scattered about the fenced course. As we passed, there was a passably attractive blonde behind the wheel of a Commander being given directions by the rep in the back seat on how to “surmount” the upcoming “Splash Pool” approach and subsequent departure ramps. I actually think I heard her squeal as she nosed it up and over the entry ramp and into the wadding pool that waited. Ahhhh, another off-road enthusiast is born! Moving on past the entrance to the JEEP
tm driving experience and shunning the invitations to “Experience the performance of the new JEEP
tm line of trail capable vehicles” being offered by two more perky blondes in JEEP
tm attire we headed to the event ticket booth.
Choosing a window, which seemed to be equal in length to the others, I waited for my turn to make my second offering/sacrifice to the Firebird. Being a veteran to such events, I knew that the place would begin to get busy later in the evening and good general admission seating can/is hard to get late in the day, I asked for
“3 reserved w/ pit”. I kissed my “zero balance due” on the special
“Drivers Edge Charter Platinum” card good bye and slid it through the opening. The woman slid out three tickets and I looked to see where we would be seated and saw nothing stated.
“Where do we get our reserve seat designation?” “You wanted Reserved Seating? Oh you have to go to the line at the next window.” and she nodded to the guy sitting 11’ to her left. Stepping back to see how I blundered she added,
“We really should put a sign up over his window shouldn’t we!” Sacrifice is never easy. After changing windows and seeing that my card would reflect a charge of $135.00 I distributed the tickets to my partners in the days expedition and looked for the entry point under the awning. To be fair on the ticket pricing, we have been to like events here and paid the $45.00/ person for just a single event but in this case, the entry fee included the Tire Pro event, the IHBA drag boat races, the Ultralite oval boat racing and the Whiplash events across the parking lot. Not as bad a deal when you look at it in the broader scope. None of these events are truly worth the high gate on their own, but in combination as they were here, a good value for the dedicated, diverse
“Motor Head” or
“Lug Nut”. Of course when you factor back in the $10.50 Cheeseburgers, $8.50 hotdogs, $4.50 fries, $2.50 12oz bottles of water and the inability to bring in your own food/drink…you understand the need for being not so devoted the
“First born” now.
Handing our tickets to the guy seated under the awning we were encouraged by the friendly
“Enjoy your day” he offered as we moved on into the actual event. What is it they say?
“Getting there is half the adventure!”
More when I get back from work today. Yea, until writing pays for the credit cards, I have a real job.