Event Coverage The Chemical City Coupe Does G.G. Indy and the TRJ Revival

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September was a busy month for me and the C.C. Coupe. Between Goodguys Indy and The Rodder's Journal Revival, I slept in my own bed twice during the last two weeks of the month.

As crazy as it was, I had a ton of fun and met boat loads of great people along the way. Since I'm more a picture guy, I thought I would post a pic thread about the road trips and the fun that was had.

I was a little disappointed to find out that I could not get any of the pics I took through instagram to post here for some reason. There were some good shots that I had to leave out. If you want to see them check out dpg4410 on instagram.

The first day of the trip was Thursday Sept 19th. I rolled into Indy and headed over to JoKerr Fabrication. We had a little prep work to get the car ready for the Goodguys Hot rod of the Year on Friday morning. Unfortunately, almost all of my HROTY pictures were taken on instargram.


The HROTY includes a drive out to a lunch stop that is a guys house. he has a fully functional '50's style diner and gas station in his back yard. the place is amazing and the burgers were great.

From there we drove to Muncie Dragway for an 1/8 mile pass. Here are a few from the track taken by Kirk Jones.








I was the last car in the staging lanes and as you can see in the pic of me in the burn out box, the rain started right before I got to my pass. I did a hell of burnout and came out of the box almost sideways. The track officials let us stage and then roll down the track for the photo op. I was bummed as I wanted to let it rip and see what she'd do.

After Muncie we had approx 60 mile cruise back to the speedway for a cruise around the track and our final check point.

This is when the rain came and I mean CAME. It was raining buckets for miles and miles. The drive sucked and I was in a coupe. I really felt sorry for the roadster guys.

About 25 miles out of Indy the rain let up a little and I was hammer down on the highway. Then, out of no where the car died... WTF. I had driven over 4,000 trouble free miles in the coupe this summer and it decides to die NOW - in the last leg of the HROTY?!?! Oh, well it was a minor problem and my buddy Willie Trump came to my rescue. I rolled back into Indy at 6:45 officially disqualified from the competition for not making the last check point in time.

The next morning Willie and I headed into the show and entered the "Deuce Doings" section.

While hanging out there this French guy walks over and asked if he could shoot Willies roadster and my coupe for his magazine. He hands us a copy and it is very nicely done. It's thick, printed on good paper and is full of great photography. Too bad we couldn't read a lick of it as it is printed in french. Anyways the shoot took place and Didier says we should expect between 10 and 12 pages of coverage in "American Muscle Cars Magazine".

Goin' International baby!!!

Didier doing his thing...




One I shot over his shoulder...




The highlight of the show for me on Saturday was my friends Kirk Brown (Crafty B) and his wife Donelle (Stitch) being chosen as a top 5 in the HROTY contest. The cast aluminum work Kirk does is simply amazing. Donelle did the top and the seats using leather from the cushions of their couch. The whole was done starting with a VERY rough '32 roadster body and a $7,000 budget!

Here is a killer shot of Crafty B making his pass at Muncie. Photo again by Kirk Jones.



Willy Trump's JoKerr built '32 Roadster also won a "One Fine Deuce Award".

WAY TO GO GUYS!!!

That night was JoKerr's Hot Rod Gathering at his shop. The event was very well attended and everyone had a fun. I had a great time making some new friends and hanging out with some old ones. Josh Shaw brought out a few toys and cackled several vintage sprint, midget, and Indy cars though out the night. The movie "Deuce of Spades" was then shown drive-in style on a huge inflatable movie screen in the field next door. Being braindead from a busy day, I forgot to take pictures.

I did snap this one of Jo's shop after the party. These are just some of the Vintage cars on hand.




Sunday was another great day at the show. That afternoon I bolted 6 hours home to prepare for the Rodder's Journal Revival the following week.

 

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So after being home 2 1/2 days it was back on the road. I hopped in the coupe and headed south. I met Kirk Hanning at his house and we were off to Ohio to meet up with some others.

Rolling with Kirk...



Arriving in Sandusky Ohio...




The guys we were meeting were running a little late so we decided to go a little further before stopping for the night. We made it to Lorain Ohio and called it a day.

Our traveling partners Malcolm (Nick) and Jason (jho) for the trip made it in and we got acquanted over beers at the local bar. I knew instantly after meeting these guys that it was going to be a great trip.



The next day was spent on the road trying to get to Fells Point for the TRJ kick-off party before 5:00 PM.






A Gas stop on the Turnpike headed east...




Tunnel Shot...



After some RiDICULOUS downtown traffic we arrive at Fells Point at about 4:45...



The scene there is insanely cool. Some killer cars are already there and every time you turn around another awesome, famous, or historical car is pulling in. I honestly have never seen anything quite like it.



A couple cool night shots from Fells Point...

 

The next day was the TRJ cruise. Most of my pics here were again done on instagram so I cannot post them here. Sorry...

Here is a post I made in another thread regarding the what I thought of the cruise.


"The cruise was awesome! The route was great and it was cool to such awesome hot rods among the scenery.

At one point, after the dam crossing, I was driving down a beautiful tree lined road behind Poteet's #55 coupe. I actually got chills from the experience. It was just one of those "moments" I'll savor until they put me in the ground.

By the time we got to the lunch stop I was following Dave Lane in the '34 just named Hot Rod of the Year. I thought to myself "This must be what heaven is like". Every where you looked was some of the finest Hot rods and customs you will ever see doing what they were meant to be doing - DRIVING.

The entire show was awesome, but parts of the cruise were damn near a religious experience for me."

That about sums it up. LOL

A couple of pics from the cruise...





Dave Lane, Allan, and I got a little lost. We weren't the only ones. Here we are stopping to ask directions.







Friday night was the low light picture event at Pimlico. I hooked back up with Kirk for that.




I forgot what morning I took this pic, but I got a kick out of it. Kind of a "before" and "After" pic.




Saturday was the show. here are some pics in no particular order.


Someone snapped this one of me pulling in.



The crew minus Kirk. He was staying with a friend out there rather than at the hotel with us.




Overlooking the HAMB parking section on Saturday.




I was really looking forward to seeing Alfin32's 5-window in person. Took the opportunity to snap some pics.








That car is sooo nice it makes me want to throw rocks at mine. He is also a very nice guy. I had a great time chatting with him throughout the weekend.


Another guy I was looking forward to meeting was Dave. His coupe is beyond cool.







Hank's Tudor and Aaron's Infamous Y-Block Truck.




Saturday came and went pretty fast. I should mention that some of the most memorable times came from the late-night parking lot bullshit sessions. God, Jason and Nick are absolutely hilarious. I laughed so hard my sides hurt. We left the weekend with a ton of "in-side Jokes" and Hashtags remarks. #SUPRISE!!! LOL Hanging out with the Iron Lords and Megan and ton of other really cool people from all over the country was the best part of the show. The thing about the people at this show was that everyone "got it". There were no big egos and it was just car guys and gals hanging out and taking it all in. Car people are really some of the best people out there. Thanks to all who took the time to come over and says hello and chat for a while. If any of you want to stay in touch, Like me (Dave Gray) on FB or follow me on instagram (dpg4410).

Sunday came and was another cool day. the car count was down a little as dome of the long haulers started for home. There were also some new cars that weren't there on Saturday. So all was good.

About 3:00 I was just getting ready to pack up and hit the highway when I started chatting with Megan and who wa parked next to me. About that time they started handing out some builders pics awards. I was half paying attention and chatting away when I heard Curt call my name. As I went to the stage I wasn't really sure what I had won.

I was shocked to get handed this...




Best Hod Rod... Crazy!!! Never would I have imagined. Still kind of shocked by it.


Anyways, still in the ether from getting the award, I packed up and hit the road home.




Bag of snacks, cooler of drinks, GPS speedo and a roll of duct tape to use as a cup holder.
I wasn't sure if I would do the whole 10 hrs straight or stop and spend the night.

I ended up spending the night in Youngstown Ohio and starting fresh the next day.


What's a road trip without rain? Hit a little in Ohio on Monday morning.





The rain made me really thirsty for some reason?!?





Back at the shop safe and sound.




Damn, what a fun two weeks. I had more fun than can be imagined and got to put a ton of miles on the coupe. Most off all I met a lot of new friends and some really cool hot rodders that I look forward to running into again sometime.

That's it, I'm out. Thanks for coming along on the ride...



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Dave do you have any videos of you going down the track?

 

Love your car. Sounds bad ass running around Pimlico. Sorry I didn't get to meet you.

 

I like to take photos of photographers doing their thing too.

How will you get an issue of that mag?

 

Nope, I'd be surprised if someone wasn't taking video though. I was the last car so they might have stopped filming???

Thanks. Your car is awesome too. Would have been nice to meet you.

I'll stay in touch by email and have him send me a couple copies when it comes out.


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Awesome post! Sounds like a killer time.

 

Dave, it was great meeting you and seeing (and hearing) that coupe ripping around town all weekend. The award was well deserved.

Dave, Nick, and their crew definitely get it. After their long haul into town, I caught up with them for a beer late Thursday night in the lot of the Crowne Plaza and, like Dave, don't think I laughed so hard all weekend.

Thanks to all of you guys to making it out for our show.
Curt

 

Awesome pics, love your car, looks like you had a great time.

 

Man, what a great trip. Congrats again on the award, Dave!
It'll be pretty hard to top that weekend, but I'm sure we'll try again sometime... haha.


Malcolm

 

Great pics .Looks like fun

 

I topped that weekend today when i had to wait for fresh french fies at mcdonalds

 

It was awesome but I'm up for the challenge - #waittillnextyear.

Musta been some good fries??? or did you SURPRISE the poor girl working behind the counter.


You two and Kirk made this trip a ton of fun. Thanks for hooking up with me. I can't wait to hit the road again with you guys some time.


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Epic weekend can't wait to do it again for sure

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Nick, Jason... Great time meeting Y'all. Dave, once again thanks for the ride in the coupe.
Its a great way to keep the inspiration going on my projects.
I'll try my best to bring something out to Detroit..
If we can only reassemble the same group for a night out on the town after a day at the auto-rama... Of course we'd have to wait on Jason if this ends up being his first trip to the state of Michigan... #SURPRISE

 

Dave,
Congrats on the award, you definitely deserved it, I felt my car looked like a stocker next to yours. I was surprised to learn that I had won an award from Jon Wright at Custom Chrome Plating. The weekend was to describe to someone who wasn't there. The cars, the people, the atmosphere were incredible. I've been to a lot bigger shows, but not a better one. Hope to see you next year, if not before.
Adios Brother

 

Still soooo in love with your coupe.

 

I must have missed it. Can you post pictures of how you attach your grille insert and headlights? Just curious. You do run headlights at some point right?

 

Thanks for the good times Dave! It was a pleasure to see you and hang with Nick once again and to meet Jason, quite a funny fellar! I'm glad to see all 4 of our cars made it without a hitch, especially Nick & Jason with at least double the miles! I'm quite confident that this won't be the last time that we meet up and roll together!

 

Awesome stuff Dave! Thanks for sharing your adventures.

 

Great seeing ya again.
Slim

 

Glad that you and Dave had a good ans safe trip. I look forward to seeing Dave at lunch sometime.

 

I was lucky enough to see this car up close at the hotel on Friday night, it was absolutely perfect. You even opened up the hood and talked with us about you front susp. It was great talking with you.

 

Wow, that sounds like a great time for sure! Congrats on your award, it's well deserved! I love you coupe. I got the chance to see it at Torque Fest earlier this year. i'd love to do a trip like that someday in my 40.

 

Dave again congrats on award It was great to meet you in person wish we could've spent more time together. Thanks for posting your ride out enjoying the coupe like you did is what its all about, it was great to see the Chemical city coupe up close. Hope to see you soon.

 

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Thanks for the kind words guys.

I can't say enough about all the great people I met on these two road trips.

If anyone has any pics or stories to share from either of the two weekends - please post them up.

 

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Great pic Al.

That was Sunday morning and it's my ugly mug in the black shirt.


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Great pic thread from the TRJ event found here: http://www.jalopyjournal.com/forum/showthread.php?t=836915


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