For Valentine’s Day, Amanda and I decided to take a trip to Charlotte for the weekend. Our main objective was to visit the NASCAR Hall Of Fame, but prior to that our buddy Brian, who’s a mechanic for Trever Bayne, took us on a quick tour of the Roush-Fenway Nationwide shop.

(...)
Read the rest of Roush-Fenway shop tour

© admin for chrisRhoad.com, 2011. | Permalink | No comment | Add to del.icio.us
Post tags: doug van den brink, NASCAR, nationwide, racing, rhoad trip, roush-fenway, shop tour

For the last couple of weeks, our “HOA” has been complaining about my trailer being in the yard, so it went to storage for a few days. Another motivation for my trip to SC was to take the trailer back to my Dad, who will get much more use out of it than I will over the next few months.

Other than the twisties, this is one of my favorite parts of the trip. As you’re coming down the mountain, just outside of Asheville, you can see a definentive line between the mountains and ‘flat land’ off in the distance.

Caught this lovely specimen outside of Spartanburg. Needs more lower.

After picking up Lily, we arrived at the Rhoad House around 10:30. Lily and I went for a brief stent in the hot tub and grab some grub. Blackberry and Hot Tubs don’t mix, by the way.

Eat, sleep, breath, Gamecocks.

The weather on Friday was perfect!

Petey enjoyed it thoroughly.

She tried on Dad’s boots. LOL.

The original plan was for Lily and I to go see a movie, but the theater we were going to ended up not even being there any more. Pretty amazing how much can change in a few short months.
Instead we went over to grandads and hung out for a bit. He gave her a Gamecock toy which she loved!

Since we were in the area (sorta), I drove by our old house in Summerville. Looks exactly the same.

Later than night we went out to eat with my old buddy, Drew, and his wife Millicent. They introduced me to a new love; Sesame Burgers and Beer. Despite my burger being a little burnt, it was still one of the best burgers Ive ever had.

Millicent doing Lily’s nails.

Drew specifically told me not to post this picture online. Ooops.

Saturday came along and there was only one thing on everyone’s mind. Would the Gamecocks destory Kentucky like they did Alabama. Answer:

Ugh. What a dissappointment, but honestly not surprising. Coach Spurrier ruined that one for us.

Sunday was a much better day. We hung out at Ashley’s (my sister) place for some Sunday Football.

Her dog steals souls.

Mom and Dad dropped by as well.

How much wood can a Rhoad chuck, if a Rhoad can chuch wood? (tree was struck by lightening)

Good times were had.

Color changing labels? That the best your marketing team can come up with?

Lily wore Ashley’s heels the entire tiime we were there. This would later turn into a fashion show.

I love nerds.

Said fashion show:

I dropped Lily back off in Columbia (sad face) and headed home. But not before meeting up with my buddy Fluff for a quick bite to each at McDonalds where segregation runs rampant.

Racist.

Depsite not being able to catch up with everyone that I would liked too, it was still a great weekend. Family, friends, football, and a mediocre blog post. Can’t ask for much more

© admin for chrisRhoad.com, 2010. | Permalink | No comment | Add to del.icio.us
Post tags: dad, Family, fluff, gamecocks, kentucky, lily, mcdonalds, mom, racist, rhoad trip

Nationwide Series – Bristol Night Race (August 2010)
I put together a little video from the Nationwide race that we attended. Im not happy with the way it turned out. On top of my FlipCam SD not doing what I want/need it to do, I don’t like the songs. I dont like the camera shots. Never the less, Ive put too much time into it to start over. So here it is anyway.

© admin for chrisRhoad.com, 2010. | Permalink | No comment | Add to del.icio.us
Post tags: bristol, compilation, nationwide race, night race, Studio Rhoad, video

Because Im on my way to Atlanta for the second round on Formula D. See you bastards there!

© admin for chrisRhoad.com, 2010. | Permalink | No comment | Add to del.icio.us
Post tags: 2010, Atlanta, Drift Atlanta, road atlanta, Round 2

My darling girlfriend, worked her Twitter magic and was able to get her hands on Pit passes for the Bristol races this past weekend. Of course this isn’t our first time, but this go ’round was MUCH MUCH better. The last Bristol race we went to we were in the stands just like everyone else. And no shit…. 20 minutes into the race we were about to fall asleep. Being in the pits truly makes the race far more enjoyable. The smell of the race fuel, chaos of the pits, and the unbelievable load growl of the engines are what the sport is really about. A fact that can’t be enjoyed from the stands. And even though Im not a big NASCAR fan, being elbow to elbow with the drivers and teams was very inspiring. After all, these guys were living the dream. You can’t help but respect and look up to them; even the douche bags.

I didn’t take the big camera with me this time, but Amanda and her best friend Bri, had theirs. They made good use of them by stalking Kasey Kahne for two days straight. LOL Instead, here’s some of my favorite pics. Be sure to check out the video below as well.

Day 1: Nationwide Series Race

[Show as slideshow]

Day 2: Sprint Cup Series Race

[Show as slideshow]

© admin for chrisRhoad.com, 2010. | Permalink | No comment | Add to del.icio.us
Post tags: Amanda, bristol, bristol baby, bristol motor speedway, NASCAR, pit passes

A few pics from Thanksgiving weekend. It was also rivalry weekend for SEC and that means Clemson vs. South Carolina. SC actually took Clemson out to, I think, everyone’s surprise.

[Show as slideshow]

© admin for chrisRhoad.com, 2009. | Permalink | No comment | Add to del.icio.us
Post tags: 2009, Family, lily, rhoad house, rhoad trip, thanksgiving

This past weekend Amanda and I made our way to Holy Springs, MS for Traction Optionals “Tribute To Muscle” practice event. We, Drift411, provided the insurance for the event so my roll was to stand in as more of a safety stewart, thus, the Corolla sat this one out.

Although we had the weekend all planned out and were ready for the trip, work threw a monkey wrench into our plans. SEMA is this week so I had to spend a few extra hours at work Friday night to help get everything ready for the XS Power SEMA booth. By the time I was finished it 10pm Friday night. The TO event was slated to start at 6am the next morning. So we ened up driving all night to get there in time. We finally arrived at Jerry and Michelle’s place at 5am where I was able to catch about 30mins of sleep. It didn’t help much though since I was all doped up on energy drinks and candy. Never the less, it was worth it. The Traction Optional crew made my job very easy and put together a great event at a great venue. As a matter fact, they did so well, the venue owner was extremely impressed by how well organized the event was and how professional everyone was. He ultimately gave them an open invitation to return anytime they wanted. And he would cover them under the venue’s track insurance! With the closing of Memphis Motorsports Park, this is a HUGE relief to the TO drivers and crew. Congrats fellas!

All in all we had a great time. The weather was perfect. The venue was perfect. Everything just flowed. Im really looking forward to going back. Hopefully with the Corolla this time.

Ive included a small gallery of pictures that I took below. But you can catch a whole slew of pics on the TO Forum.

[Show as slideshow]

© admin for chrisRhoad.com, 2009. | Permalink | No comment | Add to del.icio.us
Post tags: Drift Events, Drift411, Gallery, pics, s14, traction optional, tribute to muscle

Its been about 6 years since Ive been to the Tail Of The Dragon. I could kick myself for waiting so long to return. I forgotten just how much fun it can be. Thankfully the fellas at Contour.org help me refresh my memory this past weekend with a two day trip. Its was nothing short of insane. Two full days of balls out, chaotic, driving through some the best mountain passes in the country. Tail Of The Dragon and the Skyway just to name a few. Just in case you live under a rock, the Tail Of The Dragon is the curviest road in the US with 318 turns with in 11 miles and I live only an hour from it

Throughout the trip I took a lot of video as did the guys from Contour.org. A lot of that footage is still be compiled and I expect it any day now. For now I put together a quick teaser video which you can view below. Me, the Contour SVT and Evo MR weren’t really pushing all that hard in this particular segment, however, there were several times where we were hitting 4th gear (which is about 75mph in the Corolla IIRC) which will certainly be in the video compilation I’ll put together once I get all the footage.
And before I forget, I HUGE Thanks goes out to Jason and all the guys at Contour.org. It was a pleasure driving with you all.

Enough babbling. Here’s the teaser video with a small picture gallery below:

^^^^ One of the Contours didn’t make it home. More info on it later.

[Show as slideshow]

© admin for chrisRhoad.com, 2009. | Permalink | 2 comments | Add to del.icio.us
Post tags: AE86, contour, contour svt, deals gap, dragon slayer, evo, evo mr, mr, org, Tail Of The Dragon, us-129, us129

This is what our living room looked like several days before the moving truck arrived. Frightening.

Our make-shift dinner table. IHOP goodness.

America! F*CK YEA!!

Behind the scenes of the Flip video.

Kathy patiently waiting while we tried to get Amanda’s S13 up and running.

Hitchhiker.

The 8-6 loaded up.

After multiple attempts to push start the S13, fatigue started to set in. P90X!!!

Discussing a plan-b.

Andy decorated the S13 for the trip. LOL

Gas station break.

Chad’s Soarer lookin’ sessy.

There’s an on going pattern with pics of Amanda sticking her tongue out.

Sleep-Ripper X!

Kathy was the head of the assembly line.

© admin for chrisRhoad.com, 2009. | Permalink | No comment | Add to del.icio.us
Post tags:

We’re finally moved into the new place but we couldn’t have done it without the help of Andy, Chad, Kathy, and Jason. Thank you guys so much for you help. Unfortunately, my Flip Cam was starting to mess up later in the trip but here’s some clips of what I did get. I’ll post a walk-through video of our new place in a day or so.

© admin for chrisRhoad.com, 2009. | Permalink | 3 comments | Add to del.icio.us
Post tags: andy sapp, AndySapp.com, chad copeland, driftmechainks, Family, hippo poop, knoxville, moving, video update