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Monday, December 12, 2011

Top Speed TV (Europe) Series 2 – Martin Utberg

Posted in 1949 Cadillac, La Carrera Panamericana, USA 476, Zacatecas

Here is the second installment of Martin Utberg’s Top Speed series of La Carrera Panamericana 2011. This show highlights a couple of mishaps as they occur real time, as well as 476′s slideing into the guardrail. Even our race crew gets into the spotlight (great jobs guys getting us back on the road).

Martin is a great guy who travels the world following racing circuits. It is a tough assignment in the Panamericana as he follows the race from the start in Huatulco to the finish line in Zacatecas. He & his crew seems to be everywhere at the same time. He has many hats in his production, and as you can see produces an excellent show.

Enjoy!

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Posted in 1949 Cadillac, La Carrera Panamericana, USA 476, Zacatecas

by Charlie

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Wednesday, December 7, 2011

Top Speed TV (Europe) – Martin Utberg

Posted in 1949 Cadillac, USA 476

Our good friend Martin Utberg produced another great program of the La Carrera Panamericana 2011 Road Race. This is the first video installment. Of course, you’ll have to watch the professional acting and driving by my most trustworthy pilot who dares to push 476 to her limits.

Enjoy!

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Posted in 1949 Cadillac, USA 476

by Charlie

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Shawn Hodgen - December 9, 2011 - 4:16 PM

Sorry to hear that your struggles with narcolepsy continue…but I told H that his comments were perhaps a bit ungenerous. Love, S.

Charlie - December 9, 2011 - 4:33 PM

Hey what can I say. I guess the documentation posted of H’s driving skill speaks volumes …If you ain’t rubbin’ you ain’t racing. Cheers, C

Friday, November 18, 2011

Day 7-Aguascalientes to Zacatecas

Posted in 1949 Cadillac, Aguascalientes, La Carrera Panamericana, Mexico, Speed Stage, USA 476, Zacatecas

Day 7 arrived with 476 ready to roll with four brakes (I majorly repaired), a missing bumper and scars down the left side. We just needed to get through the day especially La Bufa and we are home free. There are no guarantees in this race as far as being able to finish. There are so many things that can go wrong and they do. Road conditions, mechanical failure, fatigue and just plain ol’ Murph shows up at times-if it can go wrong it will go wrong at the most in opportune time. However, with the resilience of our race crew that sees no task as impossible and their “we can get it done and get you back on the road” is unmatched. In addition, our determination to do all we can to finish in one piece is always at the back of our mind as we go through each Speed Stage and is not relaxed until we see the finish line.

So we start off the morning in 32nd place as we had dropped from the top 10 because of our little mishap on Day 6. No big deal, we just had a personal goal to do our best and finish each day. We click off our first two Speed Stages and we stop in a the little town of La Congoja where we turn around & wait to race back down. We have about an hour to hang out before we head back the way we came. 476 has an ignition kill switch that serves as our key to give power to our car. In the process of that hour our key came up missing, did someone take it, did we drop it somewhere – don’t know. PANIC sets in, because we don’t discover it is missing until everyone is starting their engines and lining up to start the Speed Stage. We have no way to start 476-racers are passing by as we are stranded and Control is flagging them off down the hill in front of us. We have a few cars to go before it is our time to be in the box. When Felipe Arguelles (Co-Pilot in 137) unbuckles jumps out to help and with a modification of a rock and screwdriver (it’s hard to explain) he gets us started. We start to roll to Control and 476 dies we are done can’t get it going. When another Co-Pilot Tino Schmidt gives us his spare key as they drove past. We’ve never had 7 finishes and it seemed like we were not going to make it. Wow, we dodged another game ending situation.

So we made it to Service and our crew checked us out (I got a spare key and clipped it to my credentials) and gave us the thumbs up with La Bufa being the final stage to finishing. So we raced up La Bufa (it is right on the edge of Zacatecas) turned around & waited to race back down. It is a fun Speed Stage as you can get up to some really high speeds and it has some challenging corners as well, besides you know it is the last and final stage to finish.

Thanks Chip for the great celebration dinner…

We finished-7 days, 7 starts, 7 finish lines, 7 medals….Enjoy!

Day 6 scars...

Day 6 continuing scars...

One final check...

The Finish Line is in sight...

Team USA 476-Zacatecas

We could not have finished without this man…Guillermo Berriochoa

A celebration dinner hosted by Chip Fudge

A casualty of the Panamericana...is that car handicapped now

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Posted in 1949 Cadillac, Aguascalientes, La Carrera Panamericana, Mexico, Speed Stage, USA 476, Zacatecas

by Charlie

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Michael emery - November 18, 2011 - 3:39 PM

Best team photo since 1954!

carson - November 19, 2011 - 5:07 PM

a MUCHO MUCHO BUENO rally for Team USA 476
you guys ran with da BIG Boyz and FINISHED every day
CONGRATS to all + well done
The BLUE WHALE is now a WAR HORSE
also extra KUDOS to Charlie for hangin on with one hand and BLOGGIN w/ the other
hope to see ya’ all in Chihuahua
giddy up

Guillermo Berriochoa (Wm.) - November 23, 2011 - 2:23 PM

Carson y Laura
your are not kidding…charlie is getting good at hanging on and do the blogging, but he still misses some curves, when he sees a prety Mexican Girl….IM NOT SURE ABOUT HAYDEN, BECAUSE HE IS MISSING THE CURVES ALSO…Jason said he is going to need a bigger crow bar to streighten the bents and dents on the blue whale…
no news on Chihuahua, but I got instructions for the panamericana 25th aniversary…what are your plan..remember in Huatulco you stay with us in Fasol..
love to chiquitita Lauritititita..

Guillermo Berriochoa (Wm.) - November 23, 2011 - 2:40 PM

VERYONE—CARSON—DID YOU SEE WHAT THEY DID TO MY BEAUTIFULL INTEMEX SIGN ON THE LEFT SIDE… now I know why the Groendke’s sign is on the hood—-its been the story of my life….
I dont know if my comment to your comment where miss placed, but you are right…Charlie is getting better at blogging and hangin on the blue whale…he miss a few curves, but naver the ones on the Mexican ladies…Hayden Im worried about…when he gets on the blue whale he misses the ones on the roads, but he does not miss one, once we get to the final stages…
COME ON CHARLIE, PUT SOME OF THE GOOD PICTURES UP IN THE BLOG¡¡¡¡
ALSO THNKS TO HIP AND HIS CREW…GREAT DINNER…
LOVE TO LAURITA LA CHIQUITITITITA…
Got intructions for the 25th panamericana 2012…not sure about chihuahua…I think there is other programs…you come ..you stay at FaSol…the same group again..Chip’s, Jack’s your and Laura and the Blue whale?s…Hope John comes for the whole race this time.

Christian S. - November 24, 2011 - 4:52 PM

Great pics and stories, Charlie! Hope to see some more video sometime.

Yep, I think that white Mustang is definitely going to have a limp. Maybe she’ll get a handicap parking permit now? =)

Paul Wendt - November 28, 2011 - 8:05 PM

Congrats to Charlie and Hayden and the entire 476 team.
Just goes to show you, with a will to survive and finish the LaCarrerra, it car be done.
Charlie, fantastic pics and videos, and even better navagating.
Hayden, great driving. Looking forward to seeing everyone next year. Tom is well on the road to recovery.
Guillermo, looking forward to seeing you and the enire crew. You do have a point, Charlie and Hayden might be looking at the wrong curves and underestimating the “severity” of those curves:):). God bless all of you!!!!

Charlie - December 9, 2011 - 4:35 PM

I really do like the fast curves in Mexico. They are very tempting & make you want to hold on tight. Cheers, C

carson - December 17, 2011 - 11:04 PM

For those that have never seen one check out the size of the route book on the roof of the Caddie in top photo. That book has every turn , curve and almost every TOPE ( speed bump ) for the entire 3000kms / 7 days .

Charlie - December 18, 2011 - 2:55 PM

You are right Carson without that book who knows where we would end up. Now that I have the Terra Trip figured out it really is the only way to fly…

Tuesday, November 8, 2011

Day 6 – Guanjuato to Aguascalientes

Posted in Aguascalientes, GPS/Tracking, Guadalajara, Guanajuato, San Miguel de Allende, Uncategorized, USA 476

Day 6 brakes are repaired (somewhat) and we are ready to roll on trying to finish Day 6. On Day 5 you saw how the crew was repairing our brakes so we should be good, but probably won’t drive as hard as we can. We have never completed more than 2 days in a row so we are trying to best our own personal record. We are going back through some of the same areas we were in yesterday except we are going in the reverse. We made it through Speed Stage 1 with no problems the car seemed to be handling just fine. We immediately came upon Stage 2 and that is where our problem began. As you will see on the video their was not a lot of speed, because it was our first Right 1, but for some reason the tires broke loose and we slammed in to the guardrail. The crash started to flatten our left rear tire, but there was no safe place to pull off. We could feel the backend start to wobble as we were going around the curves hopefully trying to find a place to pull off and wait for a wrecker or the crew before the tire went completely flat.

I have a very funny video posted on my FB page of some Germans who were racing behind us. The throttle stuck on their car and as they came around the corner they were at full throttle and slid to a stop (I thought they were going to slam in to 476). It was obvious the driver was extremely upset as he was very loudly cussing in English proficiently and ranting in German to his co-driver as he threw the steering wheel out of the driver’s window.

Fortunately the video crew and officials all followed up checked our chip and off they went. A wrecker was with them and we got a ride on the wrecker back to where we started. Our crew jumped in to action and got the fender pulled out and by the end of the day we were rolling again. Enjoy!

Ouch...

Rolling to the finish line...Day 6

Day 6 how sweet it is...

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Posted in Aguascalientes, GPS/Tracking, Guadalajara, Guanajuato, San Miguel de Allende, Uncategorized, USA 476

by Charlie

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Jason Smith - November 11, 2011 - 12:32 AM

Hey Charlie, Great job on the blog keep it coming, we can rebuild we have the technology, they cant stop us now 476 is on a roll. Like you say were kind of a big deal ha ha!
see ya soon brother…. We are livin the dream!

Friday, November 4, 2011

Day 5 – Morelia to Guanajuato

Posted in 1949 Cadillac, Guanajuato, La Carrera Panamericana, Mexico, Speed Stage, USA 476

Okay the day from Morelia started out kind of cool. We had the moon just over the cathedral in the town square. Then we had the image of Mother Mary in the hotel where we stayed. So it seemed all would go well today. Well we rolled hard through some speed stages early on. Especially through La Cascada & Mil Cumbres…We rolled hard actually we passed a Federali and he gave us the green light to roll hard to San Miguel de Allende (our Servicio)-check out my earlier blog post on San Miguel it is a great place to visit. Well as we were rolling hard we experienced a huge vibration in the rear of 476. It went away, but returned with a vengeance. Our left rear brake caliper broke from the rotor and was binding and rolling against our wheel. We were in time crunch and needed to complete 3 more speed stages to finish the day.

So the necessary equipment which we needed in all of our races was our Terra Trip. It is a device that counts speed, time, distance in kilometers and many other scenarios. Well if it wasn’t for this piece of equipment we would’ve been majorly delayed, but since we had it we were right on cue. On a side note the route book has references in kilometers and during each stage they change, but if used properly the navigator knows exactly where they are and can tell the pilot or crew where they are on the route. We were able to tell the crew exactly where we were. Jason said as soon as he saw a call from me he knew it was not going to be good (I don’t ever call or text the crew during the race). I know it must be a little difficult on them not knowing how things are going, because they have a lot of down time from the time we start to meeting up at the Servicio, but that is road rally racing.

The most coolest thing is finishing the race with only front brakes and going through all of the tunnels of Guanajuato.

Enjoy!

Ready to roll to San Miguel de Allende

Our crew in action...time is of the essence

FYI-We were between Salmanca & Celaya-the crew was in San Miguel

Red arrows indicate broken part of the caliper bracket

Working fast like a Nascar Pit Crew

Brake rehab in a small Mexico welding shop...

The Arch in Guanajuato

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Posted in 1949 Cadillac, Guanajuato, La Carrera Panamericana, Mexico, Speed Stage, USA 476

by Charlie

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carson - November 4, 2011 - 9:50 PM

gotta be the cooolest wheels in the la Carrera
great blog Charlie, keep it up
Carson #433

Guillermo Berriochoa (Wm.) - November 7, 2011 - 5:52 PM

Charlie…Wow..our 3 boys look prety beat..
The picture of our great support & MAINTENANCE team, is not the best of many we took…OR WERE THEY SO TIRED AFTER DRIVEING UP AND DOWN THE HIGHWAYS??? they look worn out…it’s just to show you and Hayden, we also get bit up on the road just, trying to keep up with you guys…ja ja ja
there is one I sent you, where the 3 are working with a crow bar doing some body work and a big smile…

Wednesday, November 2, 2011

Day 4 – Queretaro to Morelia

Posted in 1949 Cadillac, Mexico, Morelia, Queretaro

Okay the blog is up and going again. It is sometimes difficult to keep it up during the race due to Wifi issues at the hotel and other typical race day stuff that seems to consume time. Day 4. We are heading to Morelia this is a beautiful city that has an awesome town square and magnificent cathedral. We had left Queretaro bandaged and ready to roll on. Our crew had worked overnight on Carson Scheller’s 433 car to get it back on the road. There was a head gasket issue and a push rod problem. So Jack Roger’s crew and ours used their resources and talents to get 433 back on the road. I think they took 3 pushrods cut and welded them to make a good one. It’s this kind of camaraderie that makes the Panamericana unique. We still pushed 476 and our goal remains to stay in the top 20 although we have been starting from position 13 and up. When you are to the front of the lineup the flow of the race is faster and smoother. Trust me we’ve been at the back of the pack and it’s not that much fun. Enjoy!

Starting lineup...

Wounded, but rolling - notice the duct tape

Jason patching the exhaust...

433 coming in to the Servicio with a thumbs up and wave-still rolling

Inside the cathedral...

Crossing the finish line...

Michael Berriochoa our left hand man...

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Posted in 1949 Cadillac, Mexico, Morelia, Queretaro

by Charlie

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Guillermo Berriochoa (Wm.) - November 3, 2011 - 5:19 PM

Charlie….you are finally catching up with photographic job.
being that I have not run pilot with you (?¿) its not much I can say, but your photography and the blog…IS GREAT!!!! with a bit of help from the crew.
Thanks for mentioning Angelica Angon from the DREAMS HOTEL.. they all did a great job at the coctails in the Golf Club, and above all,the evening of the 20th. letting us be at the entrance of their Hotel, was a great gesture in their part.
I’m sure my son Mike got a good experiance, rideing with us.

I’M WAITING FOR THE REST…KEEP IT UP.

Lauren Scheller - November 4, 2011 - 3:31 AM

Ok – I’m not a wreck like I was on the race but this still made me tear up! What an emotional adventure. We are forever grateful to your crew and Jack’s crew for getting us back on the road. Once again, the Carrera Family pulls through.

Great photos!!

Michael Berriochoa - November 4, 2011 - 5:41 AM

Charlie, thanks for the comment, it was a great experience and a pleasure sharing with you all.

carson - November 5, 2011 - 3:07 PM

Muchas Gracias once again to Team USA 476 Jason, Keith and Brad also Steve ” push rod ” w/ the Jack Rogers team for workin late into the night to git our #433 car running .
Viva la Carrera !

Monday, October 24, 2011

Day 3 – Puebla to Queteraro

Posted in Uncategorized

Day 2 leaving Puebla going to Queteraro. We have a couple of early morning stages then a long transit to the area of Queteraro for the remaining part of the race. The first stage was a fast stage with only minor curves. The second stage was more treacherous the road is very slick and if you can imagine a few miles of nothing but switchback curves (I don’t have my route book with me so it is hard to describe – it’s early on Day 4 so I am trying to get caught up before we leave). So anyway we had about a 240 k transit to the Servicio and speed stages. These stages are all down hill and very fast with a few severe curves and cliffs along the way. We were in our next to last speed stage and making great time (we are wanting to stay in the top 20, but right now our times are at I believe 10th overall). Hayden was hitting the apexes and maintaining maximum speed. As we went around a curve we passed one of our fellow competitors crashed off of the road. They were fine waving us off. So we hit it hard down the hill and we were in our last curve which was a hard right then a straightaway. We hit the apex 476 went wide and started sliding as we started to slide Hayden cranked the wheel hard went full throttle and we spun a 360* the car died facing the straightaway Hayden popped the clutch and hammered on it. We passed about 20 spectators who saw us spin out and they were jumping up and down cheering as we passed – we crossed the finish line at 156 m.p.h. The picture will tell the result of the spinout. Enjoy!

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by Charlie

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Guillermo Berriochoa (Wm.) - October 25, 2011 - 12:04 AM

Some people can’t affort to drive this Cadi…GOD HAS BLESSED US WITH THIS EXPERIANCE…but being around good friends, have made us many more raceing friends, also young kids who have seen the BLUE WHALE (BALLENA AZUL) in action..
Mando saludos a todos en mexico, pero especialmente a las autoridades estatales y municipales de Oaxaca y Huatulco por haber apoyado este esfuerzo y mostrar que HUATULCO SI PUEDE CON ESTO Y MAS…(lOS HOTELEROS PARTICIPANTES QUE NOS DIERON SU APOYO) nuestro cariño al equipo verde, por permitirnos representar a “Carbono Neutro” NO HAY QUE BAJAR LA GUARDIA LORENZO..
A QUIENES TRABAJAN EN INTERMEX Y FASOL, MIENTRAS QUE VIVO ESTA INMENZA EXPERIENCIA…MI GRATITUD Y CARIÑO…llegamos bien a Morelia y ganando mejores posiciones..
guillermo

Paul Wendt - October 25, 2011 - 12:04 PM

God’s speed and safety. Great driving Hayden.
Keep up the great times, keeping a eye on them thru the days.
Missing you guys and the race, please send regards to all, and
a hug for Guillermo

KARLA ISLA - October 26, 2011 - 5:37 PM

IT WAS NICE MEETING ALL THE PEOPLE FROM THE PANAMERICANA RACE.
HAYDEN YOU ARE REALLY GOOD,ALMOST IN THE TOP 10!! GOOD LUCK TILL THE END.
REGARDS TO ALL.
KARLA ISLA.

Warren Phillips - November 2, 2011 - 4:35 PM

Looking good guys! Keep the pedal to the metal and the rubber on the road.

Monday, October 24, 2011

Day 2 Oaxaca to Puebla

Posted in Uncategorized

Day 2 is here. We are looking forward to another race day and hoping to get in the groove again. Our goal is to stay close to the starting line up. We rolled hard today and we pushed some other contestants. There was a huge celebration in Tehuauacan for the cars of the Panamericana. I think we took hundreds of photos and signed autographs with a variety of the population of the area.

Enjoy!!

The beginning of Day 2

The Arch...The end of Day 2

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by Charlie

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Guillermo Berriochoa (Wm.) - October 24, 2011 - 11:30 PM

charlie…get the good stuff into the blob…what about all the chicks you have taken pictures with?¿

Monday, October 24, 2011

Day 1 – Huatulco to Oaxaca

Posted in 1949 Cadillac

Day 1 has arrived and we are ready to start the race north. Our first destination along the way is Oaxaca. Of course we have 13 speed stages to complete and many kilometers to traverse. We are in the groove as we speed through the curves of the mountainous road in 13 speed stages. Wow it was awesome to be back and rolling through the countryside of Mexico. We started in 8th position so it was good to be at the front of race lineup. We average 134 k/h which is about 83 m.p.h. through these curvy winding roads.

Servicio-Crew is over under and in between trying to get us ready to roll...

Day 1 done...on the leader board

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by Charlie

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Friday, October 21, 2011

Sunrise Thursday – Day 0 Pre-Qual

Posted in 1949 Cadillac, Huatulco, La Carrera Panamericana, Mexico, Speed Stage, USA 476

Okay I got an awesome sunrise this morning and it was right on time. Our starting time for the Pre-Qual this morning was moved up by almost an hour. We are ready to get in 476 and see what she will do. We are the last car in the line up for the trials to start (due to our having the highest number). The race crew went early and set up on the overpass that was just before the Control Point.

This is a short course with many curves that can be taken at a higher rate of speed. We have already ran the course the last few days just getting ourselves oriented to the flow we are going to need to have. We started off fast and had our rhythm down with Hayden hitting the apexes and with me calling out the curves. We only were running about 80% when we came up on a curve to the left that can be taken at a higher rate of speed except unknown to us there had been a car that had lost hydraulic fluid all over the road. So 476 started sliding right across the road at the two other cars that had crashed off the course when we got out of it and Hayden powered through the slide and we went on to the next curve and finished the speed section. So where did we finish – 7th fastest today and we start in the 8th position on Friday.

The Dreams Hotel in Huatulco was the host hotel for our Pre-Race Banquet. We were granted first class hospitality by General Manager Angelica Angon. 476 was placed under the porte cochere at her request. As you are aware 476 was sponsored by the area of Huatulco and all those involved bent over backwards in their hospitality. The hotel is in a prime location with awesome food and accommodations. Thanks Angelica for an awesome time.

We are the first car through the Arch tomorrow as we are being sponsored and we represent Huatulco. Adios amigos -mucho más mañana!!!

Enjoy!

Getting in the Zone...

103.1 Estereo Huatulco radio interview

Carbono Neutro Award

Angelica Angon (General Manager) - Dreams Hotel

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Posted in 1949 Cadillac, Huatulco, La Carrera Panamericana, Mexico, Speed Stage, USA 476

by Charlie

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Guillermo Berriochoa (Wm.) - October 29, 2011 - 5:36 PM

Hayden
None of this would had been done, with out your trust and support…Haveing John Groendyke along with us, was a treat, and driveing with us to the first stage in Salina Cruz, shall be for our great and wanderfull memories.

Thursday, October 20, 2011

Sunrise Wednesday-Relax Day

Posted in 1949 Cadillac, Huatulco, La Carrera Panamericana, Mexico, USA 476

Okay still no awesome burning sunrises yet, but I won’t give up I have one more day. Since we went through Tech & Registration yesterday we are just doing some finishing touch ups and check lists before we start Day 0, which is our Pre-Qual for the race. We had one other school to meet with today. Huatulco started a carbon neutro program and we have been meeting and doing photo ops with the local school children that are studying this subject. There have been radio interviews and other events and since we are representing Huatulco we do all we can to assist Guillermo and his hard efforts to bring Huatulco & The La Carrera Panamericana together.

Enjoy!

Our competition...

John & Hayden

Team USA 476

Piloto & Co-Piloto-one more day before we roll...

La Carrera Panamericana Pre-Race Celebration

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Posted in 1949 Cadillac, Huatulco, La Carrera Panamericana, Mexico, USA 476

by Charlie

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Guillermo Berriochoa (Wm.) - October 29, 2011 - 5:32 PM

Hayden and Charly
Its only fair to add, that our friends from the “Green Team” in Huatulco, with the support of Hugo Montejo, the person who presented us the recognition for the “Carbono Neutro” are who coordinated with the Schools, and deserve the recognition for the involvement of the children and students.
Also our thanks to the General Manager, Angelica Angon, of the Dreams Hotel in Huatulco, for the excelent dinners, at the Golf Club and Dreams Hotel the evenings of the 19th and 20th, and my special thanks for permiting us be, the only panamericana Car #476, in the entrance of the Hotel and the arrival of the Governor of the State of Oaxaca, Lic. Gabino Cue, Secretary of turism, Jose Zorrilla, and City Major Mr. Lorenzo Lavariega.

Wednesday, October 19, 2011

Sunrise Tuesday-Tech Day

Posted in 1949 Cadillac, Huatulco, La Carrera Panamericana, Mexico, USA 476

Okay today is Tech Day. You need to be in line early and get your credentials and car tech certified. Which requires getting your MX license, medical check, racing equipment checked and car certified. So we got up early to check out the sunrise, but it was not that much. Also, there are many schools who are studying about the Panamericana race and we have publicity photos we have to take as well as radio interviews to do. So the Huatulco schools come out and we meet and greet with them. Since our car is the La Ballena Azul representative (The Blue Whale) a 1949 dark blue Cadillac Fastback that represents Huatulco-we are the main the story for the area. Enjoy!

Tuesday Sunrise....

The beginning of the La Carrera Panamericana...

Signing posters of the La Carrera Panamericana...

One of many school classes that took their pic with 476...

Getting the paperwork started...

Getting the checklist started...

Victor-Main Mechanic and Inspector for La Carrera Panamericana....We don't go unless he says so...

2nd car thru...first team done!!!

The La Carrera Panamericana badge and our number...we are ready to roll!!!

Without this OK we don't get to race...Monica personally put this on our car!!!

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Posted in 1949 Cadillac, Huatulco, La Carrera Panamericana, Mexico, USA 476

by Charlie

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Tuesday, October 18, 2011

Sunrise Monday, Fa Sol Beach & Tech Area

Posted in 1949 Cadillac, Huatulco, La Carrera Panamericana, Mexico

I get up early every morning to catch the sunrise. It has been really cloudy so I just get a little peeking of the sun, before it is covered by the clouds. We went down to the Tech area and washed the service vehicles and the race cars. The contestants and their cars are beginning to show up. Tomorrow is Tech Day so we are trying to get all of our gear & the Caddy’s required equipment lined out. Breakfast as usual at Fa Sol at 0900, then lunch at 1500 hrs. We took Guillermo’s MG out for a spin today-cool little car.

The view over the cliff...

Crew truck with sponsors logos...

Fa Sol Beach

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Posted in 1949 Cadillac, Huatulco, La Carrera Panamericana, Mexico

by Charlie

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Juan Carlos Fernandez de Lara - October 18, 2011 - 11:41 PM

Felicidades Memo, desde Cali un abrzo y que envidia, ahí estaría on la ballena azul. Padres las fotos

Monday, October 17, 2011

Sunrise over the Pacific – Sunday

Posted in Huatulco, Mexico

Sopes

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Posted in Huatulco, Mexico

by Charlie

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Sunday, October 16, 2011

Hot Rod Magazine

Posted in 1949 Cadillac, La Carrera Panamericana, Mexico, USA 476

Check out the latest Hot Rod magazine-December 2011 issue.

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Posted in 1949 Cadillac, La Carrera Panamericana, Mexico, USA 476

by Charlie

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Sunday, October 16, 2011

Huatulco, MX

Posted in Huatulco

We arrived in Huatulco at 2:15 p.m. If you travel on Saturdays Continental Airlines has a direct flight from Houston to Huatulco (you get to skip Mexico City which is awesome). This is deja vu all over-this is where we came for our first inaugural PanAm race. Our crew left the United States stopped 0ver in San Miguel de Allende then drove hard and arrived at about 8:30 p.m. We are staying once again at Villa Sabah which is Rocio & Guillermo’s home on the ocean. I will do a blog post just on Fa Sol and Villa Sabah later on.

Piloto & Co-Piloto - Huatulco

Homemade Mezcal overlooking the Pacific...

Crickets, Sal de Gusano (hot salt & worms), Lime and Mezcal...A delicacy

So little time and so much to do...

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by Charlie

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Saturday, October 15, 2011

We’re Leaving on a Jet Plane…

Posted in La Carrera Panamericana, Mexico

Okay Saturday morning and it’s time to roll…See ya from Mexico!

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Posted in La Carrera Panamericana, Mexico

by Charlie

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Kassie Smith - October 16, 2011 - 12:05 AM

Great picture! So proud of you guys – kick some tail and be safe!

Jed Dillingham - October 16, 2011 - 11:17 PM

Great pic. Have a great adventure and be safe!

Melanie Groendyke-Mason - October 23, 2011 - 3:46 AM

I love you guys! Great picture. Be safe. Hug Guillermo for me.

Saturday, October 15, 2011

Official Postcard

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by Charlie

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Friday, October 14, 2011

476 On The Way

Posted in 1949 Cadillac, Mexico, USA 476

476 left a couple of days ago headed south to cross the border and start the trek to Huatulco. Keith Sturgeon our car transporter/support mechanic and over all handyman stopped by on the way.

Also, this is the official launch of our new crew shirts. Cool huh, yeah we are a big deal.

Enjoy!

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Posted in 1949 Cadillac, Mexico, USA 476

by Charlie

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Wednesday, October 12, 2011

Our New Logo

Posted in 1949 Cadillac, USA 476

Hayden & I earlier this year started thinking of a brand to come up with for the Caddy and our crew. It seemed like the Cadillac on its own was becoming a phenomenon in the USA, Europe and Mexico. The racing community we participate in the word was spreading fast about the car.

So with our car number 476 being the size it is on the car doors, the old style sweeping lines of the ’49 Cad and nostalgia of it all we created several variations of the direction we would like to go. We wanted to incorporate an old style US Highway sign. So with the help of Jimmy Smith of Hot Rod Design & Illustration he tweaked our suggestions we submitted and we got exactly the look we wanted. Also, Pit Image finished it out with the crew’s shirts, caps and outerwear.