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2001 7th
Memorial Day Run
Desert In Bloom
Kennewick, WA
Report 1
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Kennewick, WA—The Three Rivers Chapter of
the MTFCA hosted the Northwest Vintage Speedster Memorial Day
Weekend Event running a 200-mile Endurance Run for pre-1934
four-cylinder speedsters. Dubbed “Desert in Bloom” the run proved
why the “Tri-Cities” is often referred to as the “Dri-Cities.”
It was HOT!! Event
coordinator DaJuan Kimbell promised to “Run em’ hard,
feed em’ good, and have fun” and lived up to it.
Thirty-two cars entered the event and all finished
running and eating their way over the 178-mile route.
It was also the “coming out” event for #40, a 1920
Model T Speedster, that spent the last year undergoing a
complete body configuration change.
After twenty-five years of endurance runs with a
lightweight “bug” style body, an all-metal body was
custom fabricated to comfortably accommodate the driver and
navigator. The
chassis for the most part remained unchanged save for a
steering box mod.
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Speedster enthusiasts from four
Northwest states descended upon the Tri-Cities in order to
renew friendships and take part in the annual event.
Part of the fun is to view the “new” cars that may
make their debut. Kevin
Pharis from Folsom, California often navigated for his Dad in
the past. This
year he brought a “Speedy” 4-wheel disk brake equipped #
171 Model T Speedster that he could drive himself.
His navigator Matt Ryan, is working on one as well.
Both boys seemed to grin from ear to ear all weekend
long talking about, and driving, the windshield-less car
collecting bugs in their teeth for their etymology unit in
Science 101. Flint
and Angela Olsen of Victor, Montana showed his Dad how to
place in the top five in their first event in car #39.
One of the better finishes for a Rookie driver and
navigator. Rae’cing
Murray unveiled her “new” speedster with all the pomp and
circumstance saved for presidential inaugurations. The theme from “2001
A Space Odyssey” blared over her stereo system
while her designated driver backed #40 out of the covered
trailer. Like
Rocky Balboa from the famed “Rocky” movies, #40 rolled out looking like a
“champion” in a new all-steel body covered in shiny fleet
blue paint from the Kenworth Truck factory.
But, the true test of a new car is the 200 miles that
lay ahead for all the competitors.
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Saturday saw all the entrants arrive and unload to place
their vehicles in the “Tech Inspection” line up queue.
The inspectors go over each car with a fine toothed
comb looking specifically for items that may be unsafe or
become unsafe without attention.
It is a good thing to have a second set of eyes review
each car to ensure the safety of the participants.
It was during the “Tech” that #40 was rolled out.
It was the first time that Rae’cing had a chance to
see the car up close and ride in it.
Like all the other cars in the event it was approved
to participate.
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A
great Hospitality Room with plenty to eat and drink brought
relief for starving and overheated participants.
A roped off parking area became a “gallery” of
speedsters for some of the locals to enjoy.
A NWVS general membership meeting preceded a
“warm-up” tour.
With temperatures nipping the 100-degree mark it
didn’t take long to warm up.
The #94 Model T Speedster owned by Paul Murray was the
first victim as his 2-speed Ruxtell rear end refused to shift
into high gear.
Don Shreve in car #130 developed what he thought was a
fuel pump problem.
It cleared up and he ran the rest of the Saturday
route with out incident.
The group pulled over near the location of the
Columbia River Unlimited Hydroplane Races in a shady spot to
get some relief from the searing heat.
It was at this time that Padre Jepperson convened a
special funeral service for the former body of #40.
The wooden body parts were transported in a container
carrying the ashes from the cremation.
After a short sermon, Padre distributed the ashes in
the roadway so that all the speedsters could participate in
sending the ashes off in a cloud of dust.
It was a fitting location since “Kennewick Man”
was unearthed nearby.
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Sunday the weatherman promised some cooler temperatures with
a chance of Thundershowers.
Cooler in Kennewick is the upper 80’s.
Except for a few drops of rain the showers never fell. The cloud cover did provide some relief.
After the customary Driver’s meeting the starting
flag fell at 8AM. The
route traveled immediately west out of Kennewick through West
Richland turning north into desolate western Benton County.
Roads names like “Bombing Range Rd” reminded
participants of the WWII and Cold War past of the Tri-Cities.
Paved and gravel roads alike were in good shape and
easily traversed. An
interesting note is that by time participants got to the
gravel they were spread out enough that dust was a
non-factor. The
wind blew most of the dust off the road immediately too.
Halfway to lunch the group was treated to coffee,
juice and bagels. A
most necessary stop for bodily relief in all ways.
Accumulating mileage can be difficult with a lack of
usable roadways, so DaJuan had us turning every square mile
before lunch at the Roza Canal Winery.
A delicious salmon BBQ with all the trimmings filled
in the empty cavities. The
talk at lunch was how nice the gravel was and how bad the
paved roads were. After lunch the 2nd half maps were
passed out.
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