Thursday, May 5 – Barber Motorsports Park, Leeds AL

Last night, we had to make sure that we arrived in the Birmingham area with a full tank.  With all the tornado damage gasoline is in short supply.  Anyway, we arrived at the hotel last night around 10 pm and did not have to be at the track right next door until 8 am.  Were not sure how our bodies were going to handle sleeping all night in a bed, but as it turns out it was just fine.  After a good breakfast we headed to the track.

Barber is a top-notch facility.  The track has banked turns and the surface is excellent.  The timing a media building is huge.  The amenities are high quality.  Even the grounds are superb.  Others in our group described it as a golf course but for cars.  The BMW Car Club will be holding this year’s Oktoberfest here and it looks to be very well suited for the annual gathering and driving activities.

Anyway Dave drove this morning and Greg this afternoon.  And we both had good safe runs. 

It will take many weeks for the smiles to wear off our faces.  We left the track around 2:30 central time to begin our 691 mile leg to Autobahn near Chicago, IL.  I hope to be at the hotel around 1 am and with a 2 hour nap in transit, we should be in good shape for tomorrow’s runs.  In route, just north of Birmingham along I-65, we could see some of the damage from the road.