So this past weekend my son did a thing… he raced his old police cruiser in the Red River Region SCCA Group race
in Bossier City Louisiana.
It was a first for him because he’s never raced before… at least not legally. 😄
It made for a fun but VERY long weekend.
Now you might be saying, “But Thomas, the race only lasted one day…”
WEEEEEELLLLL… you’d technically be right. But the adventure started the day before.
Coltons Police Cruiser in his first (but not last) Red River SCCA race
You see, Colton’s ol’ girl has a few miles on her. That model Ford engine has timing chains that tend to permanently check out after a certain number of miles. Usually they give you a little warning first. When you start the engine, you’ll hear them chattering around for a few seconds like they’re saying, “Hey buddy… our time is almost up.”
The timing chains on my old F-150 rattled so badly on startup that they made more racket than Jacob Marley when he visited Ebenezer Scrooge on Christmas Eve. (Tell me you get the reference 😂)
Thankfully, I replaced mine before they let go.
Colton decided he didn’t want to rely on luck, so the day before the race he decided to replace his timing chains. While he had everything torn apart, he also decided to replace the air intake. The intake came packaged with a new thermostat… and THAT little detail becomes important later.
He cleaned everything up, painted parts under the hood, made her look pretty, and put it all back together.
She fired right up and purred like a cute little kitten…
…a tiger kitten with a deep throaty rumble.
Then the temperature gauge started climbing.
Well… crap.
By this point it was around 2:00 in the morning, and he and his cousin Luke were stranded at the welcome center on I-20 with a VERY hot car. And I don’t mean “hubba hubba” hot.
So Pam and I hopped in our vehicle and headed that way figuring we’d pick Luke up so he could go get his car hauler.
By the time we arrived, they had figured out the problem. The brand-new thermostat was stuck closed. They pulled it out, and everything was fine after that.
But none of us made it to bed before 4:00 AM, and he still had to be at the race by 8:00 AM.
So yeah… it FELT like a long weekend.
And honestly? I think we’d all do it again. 🙂
There were a LOT of really nice — and VERY expensive — cars there. I may be a little biased, but I still think his was the coolest one in the bunch.
You can check out photos from the event at the link below and decide for yourself which one was your favorite. They literally had a little bit of everything out there.
Most of the cars were pulled TO the race ON trailers…
…but his was the only one that PULLED a trailer there behind it. 😄 He hauled his tool trailer along just in case repairs were needed.
Right now they’re planning another race soon, so if you’ve got a car you’d like to have a go with, stay tuned. I’ll be posting more details over on North Louisiana Sports Connection as they become available.
OK… maybe I’m a little biased toward my son’s old police cruiser. But honestly, there were a TON of incredible cars and talented drivers tearing up the track in Bossier City this weekend.
From loud muscle cars to purpose-built track machines, this event was packed with horsepower and great racing action. Here are a few highlights from the day — and if you want to see the full gallery, you can check out all the race photos here.
