Lightningfest Epilogue

[Sixpipes]

Just interested in hearing opinions about this years Lightningfest. The road trip up and back is part of the fun at Lightningfest. If you didn't travel with a few other Lightnings on the way up or back, you missed it. Pretty cool to see all the heads turning when you drive by.

The trip up this year had a little different spin to it with Ron losing a tire on his trailer. After an interesting 3-hour episode, we got back on the road. The guys at Federal Tire in Wellington, KS were super nice and even threw in a tube after we discovered that Ron's wheel actually had a small crack in one of the seams.

The True Street event on Friday was a good idea, but I don't think anyone was particularly happy with the late changes in the the rules. As the rules were originally posted before the event, Terry Hogg won with an awesome 10.80 in his Gen I. I think Jeff Sparkman had a couple of 11.10 passes in his Red Gen I turbo truck. As it turned out, it was nothing more than a bracket race with a $45 tour of Topeka escorted by the Topeka motorcycle cops. It was really cool to see them work the intersections as we ran red light after red light. Michael Cunningham from Wister, OK won the True Street bracket race in his white Gen I.

The Friday Bar-B-Que had some major problems after someone forgot to make arrangements for chairs. :(

Saturday's drag racing program took all day. There were major time breaks throughout the day which extend what should have been a 4-5 hour program to almost dark. Still had a good time hanging around with everyone, but it delayed dinner til almost 9:30. It would have been nice to have enough time to go back to the room and get cleaned up, but......................

My nefew, Trevor, did a really good job negotiating the slings and arrows of bracket racing and represented TALON well by taking the runner-up spot in the Street Lightning class with Flats Man's white Gen I.

The Pro Street Lightning class had 7 entries (I think that is correct) from TALON. Out of the eight guys in the quarterfinals, five were TALON members.
Crawford and Tom made it to the semifinals and could have paired up to make sure that a TALON member made it to the finals, but chose to go for it and take a chance in both getting to the finals. It didn't work out like they planned, but I am proud of them for giving it their best shot. FrankL won the event with Ron Potts getting second. It is not a disgrace to get beat by those guys because they are very good bracket racers. I lost a $5 bet on the final to Ron and felt pretty bad about betting against Frank. Afterwards, I apologized to Frank, but he said it was OK because his wife bet against him as well. :tongue:

The Pro class was a disappointment if you are a Gen II guy. Johnny Lightning's best pass was a 10.49 while there were three Gen Is in the sub-10 second range. Only Paul Duckett was able to keep his truck together and won the class with a 9.8X in the final against another Gen I. I never saw Sal's truck run although I heard he did make a pass sometime during the weekend. He spent more time trying to impress people with his little 4-stroke scooter burnouts than he did actually doing truck stuff. JDM was a no-show and did not get his sponsorship money for the Pro Street Lightning class in on time so none of the winners in that class got their money. REM was a no-show as well.

Finally, I have to say that the turnout was very dissappointing. I don't know what the totals are, but it did not look as well attended as last years event. If the NLOC has another event next year, I will be there, but I am thinking maybe 4 regional events hosted by NLOC clubs would be a better deal for everyone. I think TALON could host one next year and easily get 100+ trucks to Ennis. Something to think about anyway. I had a great time and will return next year. Unfortunately, due to issues that plagued the event, I'm not sure everyone feels like I do. I know Dwight and Nan put in a lot of hours again this year to make it happen, but I'm just not real sure that the formula that the NLOC is using right now is going to allow Lightningfest, as we know it, to continue. :cool:

[Sixpipes]

Oh yeah, I almost forgot. Big thumbs up to Danny Swanson of Swanson Performance for coming to Lightningfest this year. Crawford, Mark #2 (aka:The Kressler), myself, and Tom are using Danny's chip. That represented 50% of the trucks in the quarterfinals of the Pro Street Lightning class at Lightningfest. We discussed trying to set up a dyno-tuning session for TALON members sometime in the not-so-distant future so be looking for more on that at a later date.

Also, Go_rila is telling me he is ready to make a mini comeback at the track including a possible new personal best at The TALON Fall Classic in December. Danny looked at my truck late Saturday and discovered that my computer was not securely fastened to the holding bracket and was probably making sudden movements at WOT shifts which caused the truck to intermitenly shut-off during runs. After bracket racing with Popeye all year (15 second ETs), I forgot how much fun it was to make a 12 second pass. I'm planning on taking both trucks to the remaining TMCC events in October. :cool:

[tliss]

Oh yeah, I almost forgot. Big thumbs up to Danny Swanson of Swanson Performance for coming to Lightningfest this year. We discussed trying to set up a dyno-tuning session for TALON memebers in the near future so be looking for more on that at a later date....
Amen to that. He took that time to come out and support us, and I think we all really appreciate it. I bothered him enough, so he finally broke down and came...needless to say, I'm glad he did. I know he will be a very good friend of TALON for a very long time!! He spent most of Friday night in our room tuning chips for Crawford, Dennis, Mark Kressley and me. All four of us made it to the quarter finals in Pro Street, and two of us made it to the semis. Also throw some props out to Danny's assitant, Caleb, who also came out. He had some pretty good advice on several items I was interested in. I am really looking forward to getting a dyno-tuning session with him later this year. Keep me posted on that and let me know what you want me to do to help set it up.

I had talked to Sal a little bit on Saturday. Turns out he busted another crank pulley, so his red monster was pretty much done before it started. Talking a little with Sal and John Wiker from JLP was pretty cool. Both seem to be really down to earth guys. Charlie Stanley was definitely a really cool guy too. Really is a crappy deal how JDM ditched the event and didn't get the sponsorship money in on time. It amazing anybody does business with that guy.

Some of the parts of the event were a little screwy, but I understand that things need to be adjusted depending on how on schedule everything is. Things could have gone quicker, but who relaly knows. There was definitely a lot of downtime, that's for sure.

The turnout was definitely dissappointing, and I find it equally dissapointing that a lot of the people that were supposed to come and join the convoy did not show up or go to the event. A few folks on this board are in that group, but many of them are not part of this specific group. Last minute things pop up, but it was still a dissappointment.

Another real dissappointment was the number of Harley trucks that showed. If I recall last year the Harley owners were all upset because LightningFest didn't include them...well this is probably why they were not invited last year. I remember hearing that only 6 or eight Harley trucks showed...that's pretty pathetic. I have great respect for those that made the trip, that's for sure. Too bad their brethren didn't see fit to do the same. Again, I understand priorities, but when you have nearly a year to plan, you can take care of biznatch.

Overall, the event was just as good, if not better than last year (people out in the parking lot will recall me saying that this was the best LightningFest ever...there was definitely a little tiny bit of alcohol involved there). I can't wait for next year, although this will be the last one at Heartland Park. I know that whereever it ends up being held I will go. The only thing that will hold me up is a pregnant wife or a newborn around the same time.

I give a tremendous thanks to everyone that put on the event and volunteered to work it, to those that joined the convoy up there, and everyone that went to the event to show their support. Last, a special thanks to Derrick (TP Derrick D) for joining the convoy. He had a death in his family, but still managed to be a part of the convoy and part of the event..so my hat's off to you...you didn't have to come.

Events like this are scarce, so we've got to do what we can to keep things alive. We probably had the biggest club showing yet again...let's keep it that way.

Tom

[Tobbun]

I don't have last year to compare too... but here are my thoughts on this year.

Caravan
This was great. It was amazing to watch the amount of trucks go over the rolling hills of Kansas without anything else around. The radios/walkie talkies are a must have and it was a blast listening to the different coversations going on..

Friday
I was very dissapointed for Terry with the changes that were made to the TS class... As far as I am concerned he won what TS was supposed to be with a great 10.80 1/4 after the fun scenic police led tour of Topeka. Check out the video of his run.
Overall, I thought this was a waste of a day that probably prevented more people from attending... They could have just had the TS on friday and done some test and tune... and then started the other races on Saturday. This would have let those that don't have a flexible schedule to make the drive after work on Friday.
I really enjoyed the debriefing back at the hotel and the schooling I was doing on the xbox... :)

BBQ - Thought this was a bust... $10 to eat a sandwich sitting on a tailgate was a bit much. I am not sure chairs would have made things all that much better, but that was definitely a big oversight... We left all our chairs at the track. An announcement about no chairs would have been nice.

Saturday
This was a long day with long pauses... I can see why people bring mini bikes, scooter, etc. I really enjoyed hanging out in the tent area getting to know more people. I agree that this day could have been a lot shorter. It ran so long that no one was up for more xbox schooling...
It was a blast once the heats starting thinning out and the quick turn arounds.

Sunday
Didn't stay for any events... but had a blast in the 6 truck caravan back to Texas.

[StormShadow]

My fav part ,besides the caravan and the parkinglot debriefing, was the Sat night grudge racing. Temps were in the 70's and as soon as you pulled up to the lanes it was your turn to race (no sitting in line).

[L8 APEX]

I enjoyed the convoy until Ron's misadventure which lead to the Big Cheese debocle. My favorite thing was the party in the parking lot. It was good times:beer: . I went through a bottle and a half of Crown and 1/2 cup of some sneaky Jeagermeister:evil between Thursday and Friday nights. I spent the night talking with buds and got to know Danny Swanson pretty well. We were talking about BMW's (he owns a M3), Dinan, and Ruf tuners etc.. I woke up feeling refreshed and made it to the track in time for the group pic at noon:tu: . Thanks Del, pictured is your donation to the cause:bows
http://www.svtgalleries.net/gallery/data/500/15CIMG0953-med.JPG
Smudges were made to protect the married:D .

[Sixpipes]

Hey, how come my face is all jacked up? :D

[L8 APEX]

I thought you said to keep you off the internet or something:twitch:

[L8 APEX]

Danny was a real cool guy all weekend:tu: . Here is a pic where Crawford is trading custom tuning for some ice cold Jeager:beer: . Danny was later observed helping himself to more Jeager:twitch: .
http://www.svtgalleries.net/gallery/data/500/15CIMG0968.JPG

[Sixpipes]

I thought you said to keep you off the internet or something:twitch:
OK, so maybe that's not a bad idea. But its not like I'm trying to hide the fact that I was a witness to some unruly behavior from time to time. :D

[sonicbluetommy]

I had a great time but must admit I really was expecting more (as in a better turnout than last year).

As of late sat, Nan said there were 135 entries as compared to 155 last year, and she was really dissappointed in the Harley guys that didnt show. I can almost guarantee Big D and Nan will not put that much effort into this type of event again. The L community out there let them down big time.

I was dissappointed that the printed schedule was not more closely held to. Tom(tliss), Crawford, Garrett, and myself got there at 10am fri for Test and Tune and by the time they got slicks on and fuel in at 11am they had shut down T&T because there were not enough trucks running through. We never got to run a pass till qualifying.

And the time waits between passes was awful. I'm sure the Pro's were glad to have the time to wrench and cool off but the rest of us had plenty of time to just sit and chat.

The road track was freakin awesome, but only 3 L's ended up running it. I had a blast and learned a ton from the instructers. I even managed to scare a couple of them, hehe (but I think it was more my lack of experience than speed).

I think we could put on an event here that would come pretty close to rivaling the racing. It wouldn't be the same as meeting people from all over the country and partying in the hotel parking lot ;) and we would have a hard time drawing the 9 and 10 second trucks but other than that I say we try it.

Overall it was cool and I am glad it was my first event in the L (drag, show, or open track).

[sonicbluetommy]

I got to compaining and forgot to mention the 2 best things about the whole trip.

1)The caravan, tons of fun watching us stretch out over 1/2 a mile or longer. How about that 20 truck syncronized lane change in the middle of Ok City!!!! The radios are a must have, thanks Aggie Mom for leaning out an passing me one at 80mph! Wish someone had a photo of that.

2)Getting to hang out with you guys and get to know you better. I hardly knew any of you before we left for Topeka, but I have come back with a new group of great guys to hang out with. I just hope R.C. and Cock decide to keep thier mouths shut.....They were the ones saying "What happens in Topeka, stays in Topeka.


Oh, and two little side notes:
1)Best at the drag 12.897@107.10 R/T .096 60ft 1.947 1/8 8.283 on F1's and with Airaid, 4lb, SCT race tune, and 104 octane boost.
2)Third place in the truck show, mild gen 2 class with 7 entries. Both trucks I lost to were True Blue non-daily drivers.

[Silver_2000]

I don't have last year to compare too... but here are my thoughts on this year.
Glad you enjoyed it
Congrats on the trophy
I uploaded the pics you sent

There is some duplication in your gallery but I figured you could decide which version to keep

YOu might also consider shrinking some of your movie files using windows movie maker

I shrunk the terry hogg movie from 6+mb to less than 2 mb

Doug

[Tobbun]

YOu might also consider shrinking some of your movie files using windows movie maker

I shrunk the terry hogg movie from 6+mb to less than 2 mb

Doug

Movie Maker... isn't that a Microsoft Product? :) I did it on a couple of vid's but those two extra steps were taking too much out of me...

I will go back and clean it up later...

For those that haven't seen it... Terry's 10.80 run is a must see...

[Silver_2000]

Movie Maker... isn't that a Microsoft Product? :) I did it on a couple of vid's but those two extra steps were taking too much out of me...

I will go back and clean it up later...

For those that haven't seen it... Terry's 10.80 run is a must see...
Yes it is a MS product - :hammer: :rll:

- The reason I recommended it is because you will run out of space on the server quick using avi format ( the most wastefull movie format )

Doug

[Shiner1]

Sounds like a great time was had by all. Thanks to everyone for making the trip and representing TALON in kick-ass style... BTW, someone must have pics of that unruley behavior that Pipes was talking about.... :evil

[Crawford]

I had a blast out there and was glad I was able to make the trip. The parties out in the parking lot were what made the whole thing totally great. It was fun getting pretty deep in the Pro Street class as well.

You guys beat me to putting a post up thanking Danny and Caleb from Swanson Performance for making the trip. They were a little scared of us at first I think. Texas rednecks can be a little misunderstood sometimes... however, in cool Texas fashion, once we shared a few drinks we were all best friends! :tu:

I was glad to see that Cock and R.C. could make the trip and I know that Terry would agree. R.C. didnt much care for the noose that Tom made him wear on Saturday but he found a way to live with it for good times sake.

Looking forward to the next event!

P.S. Started this post yesterday and just got to finish so if its out of context you know why.

[Aggie Mom]

I just wanted to say thanks for a great trip and memorable 1st LFest. Special thanks to Doug for doing the “internet over lord thing” to the laptop so I could do my homework. And actually Ron’s tire incident wasn’t all that bad. Excluding the “pizza incident” (don’t worry Dennis I won’t mention the screaming **** word) it gave me 2 extra hours to study for my mid-term. Also I can’t forget about Tom and Crawford who educated me on what class my truck could run in. :eek2: Thanks to Terry for driving and tuning the truck. Oh yeah, and then there is R.C. and cock. I will always have special memories of them. :eek:

[99WhiteBeast]

Overall I had a blast but was again disappointed in the turn out. There are well over 30,000 trucks in existence and we can only muster 150 or so for a "national" event.:mad:

Talon again was represented well in showing and kicking butt on the track- hats off to you guys.:tu:

I did the True Street class just to help out on the finacial impact of the event for Dwight and Nan. It was cool but felt it could have been run on Saturday. They could have easily got it in during all the down time. They should have stuck to the rules but there was some type of an issue with the clock/tower that could not be overcome.

The BBQ was a joke and should best be keep in Texas and not extended to Northern or Eastern states to screw up the original recipe.

The parking lot scene was hilarious and watching the some of you wearing out the heals of your shoes trying to stay upright was greatness.

Hanging out with the group was "goodtimes"

Would I do it again next year? You Bet:cool:

[Silver_2000]

I just wanted to say thanks for a great trip and memorable 1st LFest. Special thanks to Doug for doing the “internet over lord thing” to the laptop so I could do my homework. And actually Ron’s tire incident wasn’t all that bad. Excluding the “pizza incident” (don’t worry Dennis I won’t mention the screaming **** word) it gave me 2 extra hours to study for my mid-term. Also I can’t forget about Tom and Crawford who educated me on what class my truck could run in. :eek2: Thanks to Terry for driving and tuning the truck. Oh yeah, and then there is R.C. and cock. I will always have special memories of them. :eek:
Great to meet you ... It was funny hearing your impressions of what Me and Rocks and Sixpipes would be like before you met us....

Hopefully youll find time to make it up to more events

Doug

[Sixpipes]

It was funny hearing your impressions of what Me and Rocks and Sixpipes would be like before you met us....
Doug
So would you mind elaborating? :D

[Silver_2000]

So would you mind elaborating? :D
Thats best left to Cathy

[Mark #2]

I agree with all previously stated:


Big thanks to Danny Swanson,
Road trip caravan is always fun until breakdowns,
Friday was a waste,
BBQ not good,
Saturday was long,
Drinking was good,
Got schooled on the x-box,
Won a few rounds,
Met a few new cool people
and had a blast.

Mark

[03LightningRocks]

http://www.svtgalleries.net/gallery/data/500/15CIMG0953-med.JPG



Hey, how come my face is all jacked up? :D



I believe we call that, "SH!T-FACED" drunk :cool: .

[Sixpipes]

Pretty cool video of my second round win against a white Gen I that was dialed in at 11.80. The video was taken from Tom's in-car video cam. :cool:

http://www.svtgalleries.net/gallery/showphoto.php?photo=12385&sort=1&cat=500&page=1

[tliss]

We need to invite my buddy from KC to every event to take pics. Here is my favorite that he shot that I have seen so far.

http://www.svtgalleries.net/gallery/data/500/2634654999_MG_00071.jpg

Tom

[oilwell1415]

I just noticed that sonicbluetommy is a TALON member, so I guess you guys are the ones I was hanging out with at the Margarita party. It's good to have friends who have never met a stranger in their life (BJ) because it means there is always a group to hang out with.

I was very disappointed in the event. We didn't decide until Thursday to make the trip even though Sparky was broken. Next year there won't be an open track so I don't know if I'll go or not. Probably depends a lot on where it is. So far I haven't really heard a lot of good things about the event. I was shocked when BigD said there would be a LFest 3. They put in way too much effort for the results. I don't know if they tried to make it too big too soon or what. I think the truck count was down because the new was worn off.

Overall, I had a good time and got to do what I planned to do when we decided to go.

[TP Derrick D]

a special thanks to Derrick (TP Derrick D) for joining the convoy. He had a death in his family, but still managed to be a part of the convoy and part of the event..so my hat's off to you...you didn't have to come.

:D :) :tu:
Thanks Tom, but it was my pleasure. I have a blast with my L brothren and I wanted to be apart of it. I had plans to go before our loss so I did my best to keep them especially since the funeral was not until Mon Sept. 27th. So at 5:00am Sat morn. we(bro-in law,followed by Larry aka "Juice" in the white L) took off for DFW. Got here in about 6 hours after a few top speed bursts to keep the L running strong. Besides had to catch a plane @ 3:55.
I wanted to do my part to help keep Lfest going and represent TALON. Doug posted in a post last week how TALON seem to get more members after Lfest. That's cool and all BUT how many will actually be members and do TALON events or will most of them just be a :postwhore post 100's of times and not participate in anything.Like we were discussing at Lfest we already know the core group of TALON and "who will be there and who is hot air". Man the cruise up there with 20+ L was a sight worth the trip alone. Thanks ,my man Steve-0 for the tag-along during the true street cruise. That was awesome. To feel special as the 6 motorcycle policemen stopped traffic and even got in a couple people mug about being in the way. Thanks Jeff,Jacob,and the Tarrant County L posse for letting me cruise on TALON's version of the :rll: Tarrant County choppers :rll: And my man Justin , thanks for always making me welcome in the rolling palace :tu: U 'da man !!!
Glad to meet Sixer's Bro & nephew, good to see Mark again, Rob,Crawford,Garrett,
Tom, Terry Cole,Doug ,meet SonicBlue Tommy ,Terry Hogg, I think Kathy actually remembers me from the group picture, and Rocks the Warren Johnson look a like, he!! I know I'll forget someone so let me get outta here.
Had a great time as short as my trip was.

[my2002lightning]

We would have attended again this year, but new-found employment and weddings sometimes get in the way of Lightning related fun-stuff. :cool:

Ronald

[tliss]

We would have attended again this year, but new-found employment and weddings sometimes get in the way of Lightning related fun-stuff. :cool:

Ronald
No dedication to the cause...:throw: . You disappoint me :tongue:

Tom

[sonicbluetommy]

We would have attended again this year, but new-found employment and weddings sometimes get in the way of Lightning related fun-stuff. :cool:

Ronald


Hhhhmmmmm................You had a year to plan L-fest '04.

How long have you been planning the wedding? Anything less than 12 months and I am with Tom. :hammer: :vomit: :flaming:

Doesn't Laney know who comes first in your household? :D

[tliss]

You can have a wedding any day...LightningFest only happens once a year! Your priorities are all out of whack...:bs

Tom

[my2002lightning]

Well,

There were alot of factors involved: I wanted it back in August on my parent's 40th wedding anniversary weekend, but Laney's sister in Indiana was like 7-8 months pregnant (she's maid-of-honor) and couldn't make the trip, etc. and her Grand-Dad in Tulsa was fighting a losing battle with cancer at the time.

Too, we wanted a late summer/early fall date since her Colorado/Indiana family can't stand the TX summer heat.

Pushing it further back to October/November would have conflicted with hunting season for alot of us - can't have that! :evil

Besides, work is OK with me taking off a week for honey-moon, but I figured asking off 2 more days wouldn've been pushing it.:hammer:

I thought about road-tripping up there after work that Friday, but I would've been rolling into Topeka at like 3am that Sat. morning.

I was in Topeka with TALON "in spirit", though.knana

Ronald



Hhhhmmmmm................You had a year to plan L-fest '04.

How long have you been planning the wedding? Anything less than 12 months and I am with Tom. :hammer: :vomit: :flaming:

Doesn't Laney know who comes first in your household? :D

[sonicbluetommy]

I thought about road-tripping up there after work that Friday, but I would've been rolling into Topeka at like 3am that Sat. morning. Ronald

:D We were still up!!!!!! :beer: :beer: :beer:

You should have joined us!

[tliss]

:D We were still up!!!!!! :beer: :beer: :beer:

You should have joined us!
This is true!! We were still going for at least a couple of hours after that too! I think we were down to about half a bottle of Jack by then...

Tom

[sonicbluetommy]

This is true!! We were still going for at least a couple of hours after that too! I think we were down to about half a bottle of Jack by then...

Tom


Your memory is already clouded!!!! :vomit:

It was Jagermiester in friday night, Jack on thursday night!

[SonicblueSVT2k4]

I had an F-ing blast hanging with you guys again. I am very happy that Joe, Amy, and Patty all enjoyed hanging with you guys also. There is nothing better than having great friends that still accept you even though you drive a focus now! LMFAO!!!

Oh and Joe.....I never even thought about the fact that I have never met a stranger but you are correct but its easy when you have guys like Tom, Crawford, Garrett, and Tommy who are all the same way. Its all about the Brotherhood of being around people with the same passion in life.

I hope to see you fools in Tulsa and Hallsville.

[oilwell1415]

Robert actually brought the stranger thing to my attention. He deserves the credit for that profound discovery.

[Crawford]

Brandon,
It was fun hanging out with you again man. Unfortunately, for you, for the second year in a row you didnt party with us at the hotel. You sure did miss out... again ya rat bastard! Anyways we will have to make up for it next time chief.

[tliss]

Brandon,

It was a blast hanging with you all as well!! You really should have come by the hotel, because the partying there was intense! You really missed out there. Anyway, come on down to DFW one of these days and we'll party...

Hey, don't forget to send an invite to the wedding...we'll come up and make sure that the bridesmaids are well taken care of ;) .

Tom

[sonicbluetommy]

Brandon,

Hey, don't forget to send an invite to the wedding...we'll come up and make sure that the bridesmaids are well taken care of ;) .

Tom

Leave the bridesmaids to us single men. :evil

Unless you want to end up single yourself! :eek2: