13th annual Fall Dragon Run, pics and stories!

[Klasse Act]

So the 13th annual Fall Dragon Run has come and gone and it was a success, for the most part. I've been able to keep it to a smallish group compared to previous years, that just never really worked out. For this year we had 6 cars from 5 different states, they are as follows:

-Ted (Deleware), forum member here and his 2016 Mustang GT Track Pak. Ted has attended his 2nd run in a row and is a GREAT guy, one of the nicest guys I've ever met actually! I only bring up his age, 74, because its awesome as he has lots of experience racing bikes and now has turned back to cars again. I've told him I wish to be as cool as he is at that age. To be honest with you guys, I just don't look at his age when talking to him and certainly not when he's driving. Ted defies his age, not only drives his Stang but has been up and down the east coast tracking his car, not just looking at it in the garage and taking it to cruize nights and sitting in a lawn chair (sad but true, sorry)

-Josh (Tennessee), local guy who's been going with us off and on for the past 13 years. He was part of the original 3 that did this run, although he had been running it previous to us coming down there. Josh knows the road, as well as the others and even roads we don't even know about, more about that later. He has a 2015 Mustang GT Track Pak with lots of suspension mods, exhaust and aftermarket 19" wheels with 285 series tires at all 4 corners.

-Jim (Michigan), Tacoma X-runner. He's been running with us for about 5 years now and this is his DD but its been modified, yeah, a Tacoma X-runner, modified. Its a 6 speed with 3 pedals, lowered suspension and BBK for the front. It also has aftermarket tires and wheels and an intake for added performance. This is NOT the only pick up truck he has brought down there, he used to have an old S15 with modded suspension, tires and wheels as well and yes, that too had a 5 speed with 3 pedals! Jim also has a modded Pontiac Fiero with a 3.4L engine swap. Its a true hot rod, meaning it has little niggles from time to time and he just didn't feel like bringing it back down this particular year, maybe next time for the blacked out sports car.

-Dennis (Michigan), 13' Mustang V6 with 6 speed manual. Dennnis, like Jim, has been coming down for about 5 years now. Last year was his first year with his own car and how was he rewarded for doing that....with a ticket! I was the lead car last year for all but 1 leg of the runs, yep you guessed it, Dennis took the lead one time and paid for it. He was clocked doing 63 in a 30 and it cost him $257 dollars. The car does a great job down there and is basically stock, but he also has a gen 1 Miata. When some things get sorted on the Miata it will make its trip down there, all roads are built for the Miata and like they say "Miata is the answer to everything!!"

-Keith Pennsylvania), E36 BMW and Jim's brother. He came out with us last year and decided to come back out again. The car was upgraded over last year I suspect it will receive some maintainence and further upgrades over the years to come.

-Roger (Illinois) aka Klasse Act, 13' Abarth with almost all the bolt ons available for the car. I've been doing this run every year since 2003 and don't plan on missing a year, God willing. I'm very enthusiastic about the run but it doesn't translate to how I drive my car. My plate says CPT SLOW but it has a double meaning, the obvious but also how I drive the roads down there, except for the Dragon, I tend to attack that road pretty hard. I have a 10 month old baby girl, along with a 22 and 21 daughters from my first marriage, so it keeps me from driving the other roads hard, not to mention I drive all day for a living at work and have a mental block between the ears that keeps me from trusting the car and I will admit it here, I also don't have a brass pair down there either.

The Dragon is all about the numbers, 318 turns in 11 miles but here's some other numbers from this years run:

-2364...number of miles I drove from leaving Wednesday and coming back home on Sunday.

-50:46...number of hours/minutes in driving time.

-34.4...overall gas mileage in my car.

-46...average mph during the run.

-1...the number of times i forgot to push 93 octane at the gas pump, LOL!

-0...the number of tickets and accidents our group was involved in this year.

I posted about forgetting to push 93 octane at the pump, first time I've ever done that. I went inside and paid for my gas, came back out to the car, took off the cap and put the nozzle in and wait and waited for the pump to turn on. Apparently the pump defaults to 87 octane and that's what I put in. Now you might ask "how did he know this after he left?" Well when I got back onto the freeway the car wouldn't boost over 5.5 lbs of boost, plus the cruize control didn't work. It took me a couple miles to figure out what I did but when I did I called 500Madness, the shop that did the reflash on my piggyback. I explained what I had did and the guy on the phone told me to dump a bottle of octane booster into the tank. I told him I had a full tank and didn't need gas soon but that was ok, he said just dump it in. So when I got to Maryville TN i stopped into an Auto Zone and bought the last 2 bottles of 104+ octane boost (gotta support the local economy as its made here in Chicago) I should also mention that forum member Matt, can't remember his screen name, works for them. Anywho I poured the entire bottle into the tank, treats up to 21 gallons so it was more than qualified in my 10.5 gallon tank. The verdict...IT WORKED! I drove the car about 5 miles down 411 and turned onto 129 and once there I goosed it and it pulled really hard like its supposed to, actually the Ultra gauge showed 19 psi, something I had never seen before, so this stuff works, its not some BS product!!

So I arrived where everyone was already there and we went out for dinner and got back and basically BS'd a bit and hit the hay, it was a longish day of driving for all of us. The next morning, Thursday, we headed out on the Dragon and to the Skyway on our way to Tellico Plains, where the Cherahola Skyway starts, for some lunch and fuel up. Josh took us around the mountain a different way and it was a great drive without a doubt. When you've been going down there as long as I have been its nice to see other roads, this trip was all about that this year.

Friday morning comes around and we leave at 8 a.m. to head to the Snake, aka US421. I've known of this road for quite a while now but had never made the commitment for tackle it, this year was time for that. It was 2.5 hours away, basically starting in Bristol TN, down the road from the raceway and dragstrip. It was a beautiful day when we started out but quickly got cloudy when approaching The Snake, actually was misting a bit. So we started out on the Snake and guess what, had a gravel truck infront of us and he didn't pull off until we did about a 1/3 of the beginning of it. We then stopped off at a place in the middle where you could get stickers and patches...or so I thought. I wanted a patch for my jacket but they are out of season, LOL! A couple Soobie guys were there and I asked them if the rest of the road was a bumpy as the beginning and they said no. The first part of this road was bumpy, nothing like the Dragon so we continued on expecting things to get better but they didn't as the rain had picked up. I mean the road has many switchbacks and one uphill hairpin that I thought my car was going to stall out on going up hill, it was STEEEEEP! It also didn't help that it was wet, I thought I was going to spin and spin and spin but I didn't and made it up the hill. One U-turn turn had a house in the middle of it even, LOL! So we got to Mountain City TN and gassed up, only station we saw and it was crowed, so we went across the street to the church parking lot to figure out the rest of the day. It was decided that we could take 321 back to where we were staying but what we didn't know because didn't put the GPS on initially to see how long it would take was it would add 1.5 hours to our trip back, for a total of 4 hours. It was too late as we were already in it and went through a college town, Appalachian State and it was raining and crowed there. We stopped for lunch and then figured to let the GPS lead the way, that's when we found out low far we had driven out of the way, terrible. We ended up getting onto the freeway and got clipped by hurrican Matthew. We were in heavy rain and fog, on the freeway, in the mountains and during Friday rush hour...and an accident to make the trip even more interesting. I have to admit that at this point I wasn't enjoying myself but we continued on and finally ended up turning off of route 64 and onto route 28 aka Moonshiners, a route we all know and love. Moonshiners is a road that starts right at Deal's Gap an goes south through NC, SC and ending in GA. The road is about 105 miles long and was named after being a popular moonshiners route back in the day. Moonshiners is a mix between the Dragon and Skyway for turns and elevation changes. While on Moonshiners you must check out Fontana Damn. You can enter the foothill of the damn and look up at it and then you can continue on and drive to the top of it and take in all its glory. This is the largest damn east of the Mississippi River, so you should check it out while down there. Continuing up Moonshiners leads to Deal's Gap, the real beginning of the Dragon. We stopped there to grab a bite to eat for dinner but the restaraunt was closed. At this point I said lets just make a straight run to Poncho's, about 25 miles away. Getting there would have us running the Dragon, with the sun going down quickly, so that mean't NO cops and NO stops and we did just that, ran the Dragon for about 3/4 of the way needing to slow down once for an Outback that pulled over for us, so we continued on at a "brisk pace". Once you end the real section of the Dragon the road opens to open turns and a 55 mph speed limit and then coming down to 40 when approaching Maryville. Getting to Poncho's was a much needed thing, a great meal after a $hit day of driving, for the most part. After a great meal we head back, BS'd around the campfire and headed for bed.

Saturday morning came and once again, stunning day, a bit cool and mid 70''s predicted so much cooler than the mid to upper 80's we had on Wed, Thur and Friday. Josh had set up a special day of driving for us, a road none of us but him had driven, so I was looking forward to that. We drove about an hour away, heading southbound on I-75 to exit #49, route 30. We met up with Josh where he led us on a 60 mile drive through all sorts of roads, it was like a greatest hits album! The only glitch was an SUV and red Mustang got infront of me and I lost our group. Sadly the last car in our group didn't have enough sense to look behind him to see where I was and wait for me at the fork in the road, I ofcoarse took the wrong direction. At this point I was pissed and put on my GPS and was planning on heading back to where we were staying and do my own thing to cool off. I decided against it because I didn't wanna piss off my buddy Josh and possibly make Ted upset, I wouldn't wanna do that, he's too nice of a guy. I called my buddy, told him where I was at and they drove out to where I was and we ended up at Jacob Myers restaraunt for dinner. I've been going to this place with Josh for the past 3 years but last year I ordered a steak and man what a steak! I've been to Ruth's Cris in the past and didn't expect too much from this place out in the country but I couldn't have been more wrong! What I found here is a steak on par with Ruth's Cris but at a greater value, thus making it a better steak. I paid $38.00, with tip for the steak, loaded baked potato and roll, also my drink. The gratuity was already in the bill due to the size of our group, outstanding price, service and quality. Right before dinner ended Ted had a surprise for us, tooth fossils from Mastadon's! He showed us some he had just dug for, they were 24-26 MILLION YEARS OLD! He then passed around some smaller ones where we were allowed to pick one to keep, how awesome was that, thanks again Ted, I really appreciated that gesture but knowing Ted you weren't surprised by that. After dinner Josh came back with us and we stopped at a drive in cruize night, checked out some cars and back to where we were staying. I wasn't really up for driving but tried to but stopped at the overlook and listened to the end of the Vols game and went back to our place. I just didn't have my head in it, too much stuff going on that I don't feel like getting into here, long extra story that's not needed here.

Sunday is the day we all leave to head home and some of our group leaves early than others. Jim, Dennis and myself left around 7 a.m. and we stopped at Waffle House for breakfast and headed out. We stayed together till I-75 and I-64 split off. I got home and gave my daughter and wife and HUGE hug and kiss and we went out to On the Border for dinner, nothing like coming home and coming home to what I get to come home to!

I said I was going to make a post for the run this year on AG but never really did that but I might do it for next year but depending upon things I need to figure out if some of the noobs would follow me, CPT SLOW or maybe some of the more experienced drivers might wanna follow Josh and Ted. Its not a race out there but some people are just better drivers with more skill and/or nerver aka brass pair, so you wanna pair people based off of these things for more enjoyment for all concerned. We usually do the run at the end of Sept to the 2nd weekend of Oct but its possible the run might actually happen the 3rd of 4th week of April next year, we shall see.

Now that you read my long winded story, it on to the pics. I wasn't able to take as many pics but you'll like what you see...I hope, enjoy!

I forgot to mention the Foothills Parkway, right off 129 between the Dragon Pitt Inn and the official end of the Dragon, look at these views:







My car near the Town Square Restaraunt in downtown Tellico Plains, good food, nice people own it!



Group shot while starting out on the Cherahola Skyway:





New signs to alert you to what awaits you while on the Skyway, long overdue IMO!



Gas station stop in Robinsville NC



Keith's E36



Dennis' 13' V6 Mustang



Jim's X-Runner



CPT SLOW



Ted's stunning cranberry GT


Josh's awesome Deep Impact Blue GT



This is from the Hardee's parking lot, right before I pumped that 87 octane Shell into my car. This pic would've looked better had I taken it from inside the Hardee's, the background looked awesome from in there, trust me!



My car next to a Skyway sign



Here's that awesome streak from Jacob Myer's, cooked medium ofcoarse!!



If your ever in or near Maryville TN and want some quality Mexican food, look no further!



...yeah right, like I wasn't going to hit a BBQ place but forgot the name of it, LOL! Pulled pork and homemade hush puppies!!!



Ok, I hope you enjoyed the pics and stories, there's always stories to tell and that's what the trip is all about, stories and the people and what you do together out there!

[ronkh57]

Nice stuff !!!!

Thanks for sharing.

[MadMerc]

I am shooting to go next year.

[Klasse Act]

I am shooting to go next year.

That would be great John, what time of the year works better for you, spring or fall?

[MadMerc]

That would be great John, what time of the year works better for you, spring or fall?

Fall would be great.

[Sizzle Chest]

Wow! Looks like a great time! Thanks for posting...and a great read too!!

[BrutalNoodle]

HOLY SMOKE...that was some great read!!! From gravel truck, to scary steep wet road, to battling hurricane, to dinosaur bones....


Yeah, it's always finicky when boosted. Add tune and you'd better have the required oct or car will not be happy.

Suspension wise, for the money - poly bushings and progressive springs should tighten the overall feel & for tight and fast sweepers. Get some quality springs and not some cheap lowered stuff for looks (why bother if it's going to ride like crap), but do keep in mind the ride might also feel stiffer & noisier for your DD.

Also, if you can't or don't want to dish out $$$$ for track school, look up safety classes instead. They are generally cheaper, and the emergency drills & skid pad are tremendously useful; as the runs let you gauge traction. Once you get the feel for when & where the car breaks loose the nervousness will dissipate, and that's when you'd have a blast exploring the limits of your ride.

For riders - ride dirt. If you're quick on dirt, you'll be fast on asphalt.

[Klasse Act]

I'm glad you guys liked the stories, my wife made fun of how long of a post I made. I really like telling the stories because it helps those on the fence about going or not.

Our group is quite a mix of back grounds and ages and interests. From retired lawyer, automotive engineer, fire fighter who works in a power plant to average Joe who drives around all day to deliver parts, we have it all. Its fun to sit around the campfire at the end of the day too, you get to meet people from all over the country and their diverse back grounds.

I hope to get a couple people make it out next year and whether your speed racer or CPT SLOW like me, no pressure, drive your own drive...I do👍

Sent from my LGLS990 using Tapatalk

[Klasse Act]

Have a working weekend of 3rd or 4th weekend of April but that could change and it could go back to end of Sept or into Oct again, stay "tuned"....

[kevincwelch]

Great post, Roger. Maybe I'll join up with you guys next fall as well! (I'll have to plan out my Supercharger runs, but there is a few around the Ashville/Knoxville area.