7Stock XX and Me
7Stock XX and Me
By no means meant to be The Definitive 7Stock Report, but thoughts and shots from my pilgrimage to the 20th 7Stock at Fontana's Autoclub Speedway.
My little SA and I set off from Sedona, AZ at 6AM Friday (Nov 3rd) for the 470-ish mile trip. This after just completing the last of a somewhat epic journey from Alaska that I had completed in her a few weeks before. With fresh oil - and a new rad - I was ready for the Open Road. Fortunately, I would not have to be going alone. I met up with the fine folks of the Rotary Car Club of Arizona at their breakfast rendezvous just outside Phoenix. Tim Eull has organized this caravan for many years and kindly invited me to join them on the Run to the event. An impressive 30-some RX7s had gathered to caravan into the LA basin. My little 100hp SA had to play catch-up most of the way amongst a strong showing of beefy FDs and Cs, but we all rolled into the Ontario, CA Hyatt hotel parking lot at about 3PM with no drama, either legal or mechanical. A great drive!
That Friday evening some of us had the opportunity to drop in at the Speedway’s #1 Pit Garage for a bit of pre-show mingling with interesting guests and a preview of some great rotary iron that included everything from a set of better-than-new Old School RXs fresh off the Flat Bed trailer, a 4-pack of Mazda Racercars, to possibly the most inSANE R100 coupe I have ever seen: a 3-rotor monster-racer, fresh-built by some very savvy Canuks. Lighting her up in the garage was one of the highlights of the evening.
Saturday morning the Arizona group joined the gathering rotary Horde as we all lined up at the gates to the Speedway at 9AM and into the staging area of the infield in front of the grandstands. The weather, which had earlier threatened rain, was perfect. And here gathered what I was told was one of the larger contingents of Mazda rotaries the 7Stock organizers have had. Pretty much every Mazda rotary car family was represented from the rows of RX8s to a tiny cluster of R100 coupes, oddball rotary Datsun 510s, to some immaculate Rotary Pick Ups and one lovely British Norton F1 Rotary motorcycle.
The Speedway is a huge facility and while we were the biggest group of the day there, plenty of action was going on around us with everything from auto-cross to race-track events thundering around us. I felt like we were totally immersed in California’s grand car-culture. The perfect backdrop to a fine motor-head weekend.
My thanks to the 7Stock organizers and their crew of volunteers and my new rotary-bros of the RCCA for making it a great event for me and my little red SA.
Stu Aull
80GS
AZ
My little SA and I set off from Sedona, AZ at 6AM Friday (Nov 3rd) for the 470-ish mile trip. This after just completing the last of a somewhat epic journey from Alaska that I had completed in her a few weeks before. With fresh oil - and a new rad - I was ready for the Open Road. Fortunately, I would not have to be going alone. I met up with the fine folks of the Rotary Car Club of Arizona at their breakfast rendezvous just outside Phoenix. Tim Eull has organized this caravan for many years and kindly invited me to join them on the Run to the event. An impressive 30-some RX7s had gathered to caravan into the LA basin. My little 100hp SA had to play catch-up most of the way amongst a strong showing of beefy FDs and Cs, but we all rolled into the Ontario, CA Hyatt hotel parking lot at about 3PM with no drama, either legal or mechanical. A great drive!
That Friday evening some of us had the opportunity to drop in at the Speedway’s #1 Pit Garage for a bit of pre-show mingling with interesting guests and a preview of some great rotary iron that included everything from a set of better-than-new Old School RXs fresh off the Flat Bed trailer, a 4-pack of Mazda Racercars, to possibly the most inSANE R100 coupe I have ever seen: a 3-rotor monster-racer, fresh-built by some very savvy Canuks. Lighting her up in the garage was one of the highlights of the evening.
Saturday morning the Arizona group joined the gathering rotary Horde as we all lined up at the gates to the Speedway at 9AM and into the staging area of the infield in front of the grandstands. The weather, which had earlier threatened rain, was perfect. And here gathered what I was told was one of the larger contingents of Mazda rotaries the 7Stock organizers have had. Pretty much every Mazda rotary car family was represented from the rows of RX8s to a tiny cluster of R100 coupes, oddball rotary Datsun 510s, to some immaculate Rotary Pick Ups and one lovely British Norton F1 Rotary motorcycle.
The Speedway is a huge facility and while we were the biggest group of the day there, plenty of action was going on around us with everything from auto-cross to race-track events thundering around us. I felt like we were totally immersed in California’s grand car-culture. The perfect backdrop to a fine motor-head weekend.
My thanks to the 7Stock organizers and their crew of volunteers and my new rotary-bros of the RCCA for making it a great event for me and my little red SA.
Stu Aull
80GS
AZ
I bet it was an awesome journey and an even better day! I live too far away to go to 7 stock, but have considered making the trek. Maybe once the kids are older and its not so busy. Thanks for sharing the pictures and the trip details!!
Trending Topics
Glad you all enjoyed! - if vicariously in some cases... really a trip to RX-Mecca and should be on everyone's Bucket List. I was fortunate in both proximity and friendships...
t_g_ it would be a BLAST to attend a DGRR one day...
Hope others will share pix of the 7Stock as well, I am sure I missed a lot in such an overwhelming experience...
on a weird-but-fun side-note, I find myself today back in the Hills of Santa Ysabel, east of San Diego, at the very place I first "met" my Little Red Bastid back in 2003:
at a great friend's home/vineyard where he stored the car for me (after he inspected it before my ebay purchase. Him being an ex-Mazda mechanic. Talk about Kizmet!)
Stu Aull
80GS
AZ
t_g_ it would be a BLAST to attend a DGRR one day...
Hope others will share pix of the 7Stock as well, I am sure I missed a lot in such an overwhelming experience...
on a weird-but-fun side-note, I find myself today back in the Hills of Santa Ysabel, east of San Diego, at the very place I first "met" my Little Red Bastid back in 2003:
at a great friend's home/vineyard where he stored the car for me (after he inspected it before my ebay purchase. Him being an ex-Mazda mechanic. Talk about Kizmet!)
Stu Aull
80GS
AZ