The Cars Tell the Stories

One Lap in Review: Photos

Brock With Advice for Ric at Autobahn

Aunt June, Caitlin, and Peach at High Plains in Colorado

At High Plains Raceway in Colorado

Oh... No

New Car and Laundry

The Line-Up for Pictures on Sticker Day

Ric on Sticker Day

Steve and George - Some of the Colorado Gang

Reflections on One Lap

by Jerry Albertus

We are glad to be home and now trying to sum up our One Lap experiences.   As One Lap progresses you develop the routine of: get up, drive to the track, unload, wait, race, eat, wait, race, reload, drive to a new town, find the hotel, get some sleep, get up, drive to the track... repeat, repeat, repeat.  Your world becomes the One lap traveling carnival and the side shows and circuses within.  The outside world becomes unimportant, just something to be traversed on the way to the next challenge.

The One lap tribe is a close knit group and they withhold their approval of new members (Lap Puppies) until they have proven themselves.  When proven, the Puppies will become One Lap Dogs.  However, spectators and all who expresses interest are embraced and given answers to all their question, "What are you doing with that car?"  In return, spectators and passers-by are more than willing to do wonderful and amazing acts of kindness and generosity to help a One-Lapper repair his car and continue on his way.  It makes us very proud to live in a country whose people are so routinely generous.
 

Was One Lap a challenge…Yes!  Will we do it again…Yes.  After all, we will want to find out what is happening in the lives of our new friends.  The teams of father and son, father and daughter, old friends, new friends, brothers, brother and sister, husband and wife (including the honeymoon couple,) the young "hot shoe" drivers, the less skilled but enthusiastic converts to road racing, the 20+ years One Lap veterans.  They came from all over the world;  USA, Canada, Switzerland, England Australia and Scotland.  All of these people are now a part of our lives.  Scarlet took every challenge in stride and never missed a beat.  What a great car... Thanks FORD.

Ric and I and Scarlet will see you next year.

Home Safe

By Jerry Albertus

Scarlet has delivered Ric and I safely home.  I feel like I should be grabbing a snack, loading the car, and heading down the road again.  But One Lap is over, and now it's time for... SLEEP.

A final wrap up post later, but until then... Zzzzzzzzzz

Happy and Kinda Sad

by Jerry Albertus

We have completed the skid pad at Tire Rack.  The 2012 One Lap of America is over.  We are happy and we are kinda sad.  We will miss all of the fun we had, until maybe next year.  It turns out, it's not really about the cars.  It's about the people who have the cars.  We had a blast with our car... Scarlet was wonderful!  Final results were 7th in our class and 55th overall. 

One Lap Exacts a Toll... on Dubler's Caddy

It was a GREAT event.  One Lap is a 3,300 mile social event, which takes eight days to fully play out.  But it takes a toll.  I am going to rest up for a day or so, then I will finish the blog, and add pictures and videos.  Until next year...

I Got a Hot Rod Ford and a $2 Bill

by Jerry Albertus

Road of America in Elkhart Lake, WI (Ric in the Black Driver's Suit)

Today we completed the final road course for One Lap of America.  The trip has been amazing.  We have seen 3000 miles of "God Bless America."  Road America is yet another very fast track.  Ric had a good run this morning, finishing in 43rd place.  I took it easy on my afternoon run... the end is in sight!  I ended up 59th this afternoon.  We go into the final event in 54th place overall, and 7th in our class.  The last event is a dry skid pad tomorrow at Tire Rack (unless it's raining, then it will be another wet skid pad!)

Eric compares notes with Scott Coors and the driver from car #60

Sad news for Robert Dubler and the Cadillac CTS-V Wagon.  He experienced a brake failure and rolled the car off the track.  Again, no one was hurt, but the Cadillac is wrecked. 

We are now sitting in heavy traffic coming through the Chicago area.  We have traveled 10 miles in the last hour.   But good spirits persist, and we celebrated our final leg of the "Lap" with Brock's favorite road trip snacks... Gatorade and beef jerky!  As South Bend, Indiana beckons her One-Lappers home, Hank Williams provides the soundtrack, "I got a hot rod Ford and a $2 bill, and I know a place right over the hill..."

Another Day in Paradise

by Jerry Albertus

Eric having a Zen Moment Before his Run

Hello from beautiful Elkhart Lake, Wisconsin.  We arrived last night at 1:00 am.  We are at Road America, another one of the fastest tracks in the country.  We are taking a moment this morning to reflect on what a great trip this year's One Lap of America has been so far.  It's hard to believe that we are almost back to the beginning of the circle.  A particularly big shout-out to this year's weather Gods... all through the week, the bad weather has gotten out of our way.  Today is no exception, sunny skies here with a forecast high of 74 degrees.  

Yesterday in my road race, I waived the Old Farts Racing Corvette around me, and they went on to spin out in a turn, ending up in the middle of the track in the tunnel, raising a big cloud of dust and slowing me to a stop on the track.  The good news was that we were all OK, the cars were fine, and we got going again.  I was super excited to drive in the drag race.  It was so fun!  The Old Farts team was matched up with me again, going on to place second.  We had a grand time!

Today, we will again have Ric driving in the morning going fast, and me in the afternoon trying to stay the hell out of people's way.