By: Jason Smith -Central Region director

Wow, what a fantastic weekend!  Where do I start?  First and foremost, thanks to the Indiana Region of the Shelby American Automotive Club for hosting another spectacular weekend event - the 30th Anniversary to be exact.  If any of you want to see how a car club can come together and volunteer their time as a class act, then you should really get to the Spring Fling next year to see for yourself.  Many thanks to the Abe Martin Lodge and all the park staff for making Brown County State Park what it is - and has been for many years - the best state park in Indiana and one of the best in the Midwest!  And of course thanks to all of you SCOA members and Saleen owners alike who made it to the show - it was probably the largest gathering of Saleens that the Midwest has ever seen!

The big event kicked off on Friday morning with the ever popular Pony Trails.  Nearly 150 cars in all headed north on SR 135 to the little town of Bargersville, IN where we cut across SR-144.  From there we picked up SR 37 in Waverly, IN where we headed south down the famous stretch of highway from the movie Breaking Away (remember the bicycle following the tractor trailer at 60 mph?)  About 45 miles later we strolled into downtown Bloomington where the Courtyard By Mariott was kind enough to have the majority of their lot reserved for us.  Everyone went their separate ways for lunch and to tour the downtown streets.  However the Pony Trail wasn't without incident this year - a Fang Twin Turbo fell victim to a blown turbine and went up in smoke while trying to DOWN shift at 120mph?!  Of course by the time story made it around, he was actually doing over 400mph ;-)  After lunch the four SCOA members took a scenic tour through the Indiana University campus where we ended up at Showalter Fountain - the center of campus - for a great photo opp! 

Friday evening we had nearly 30 people gather for our first SCOA cookout at the Fling - and its a good thing we planned it as our usual dining place for Friday evening had closed!  It was a great time, and I really enjoyed playing "Grill Master" for everyone.  Thanks to Marc Allen for providing his supercharged Weber grill - it was so nice I tried to buy it from him!  After dinner it was into the Abe Martin Lodge for the Friday Welcome Bash.  This was a great time to relax, share stories, play the trading cards, and this year draw your poker cards.  I thought I was looking good with my 10/J/Q/K draw, but Mark Sweet jinxed me by saying the community card would be a 3 - and sure enough it was!  After the bash closed it was back to the SCOA cabins to hang out, and of course pop a top on some choice beverages!

Saturday morning we headed down to the show site, and man was the SAAC in for a surprise - over 100 cars registered on site for nearly 300 cars in the park!  The Shelby cars were the dominate pony with about 25 vintage models, and nearly a dozen new GT 500's and Shelby GT's.  But the Saleen cars were an obvious threat to the Shelby's this year with 30 cars of our own!  Once again the Fox body's dominated with 20 cars, and we even had a new S-331 SC Sport Truck.  I'm disappointed that I am still the only S-197 body in attendance - come on guys, help me out!  But what made it even more special for the SCOA - the "Saleen Row" was the first thing you saw as you entered the show site!  And at the Banquet Saturday evening we were given a nice ovation for our display, and for nearly knocking the Michiana Mustangs off their Club Participation thrown - we missed it by two members.

Sunday mornings Road Rally set off on some excellent back-country (but safe) roads for about 65 miles.  We headed out of the park and made a loop around Pikes Peak, then up and around Sweetwater Lake.  From there it was through the woods of Peoga and back down into Nashville.  While it was fun being a passenger in Tony Brodzeller's car (he really likes the country roads!!) it made me wish I was behind the wheel of my own car, or better yet on my old Honda VFR 750F.  What a blast!  We were rewarded with a 3rd place finish, just behind Stu & Patti Akers and the Saleen Class winner Tony, Susie & Jessica Davis.

 From there we headed home after a long but enjoyable weekend.  Mother nature cooperated with clear skies and pleasant temps (during the day at least!) the entire time.  We were in great company - not just the SCOA, but several regional clubs alike.  And of course being in the company of nearly 300 VERY fine Mustangs of all varieties.  It was another successful event for sure, and I have been fortunate to attend three in a row with fantastic weather.  My wife and I (as usual) are already looking forward to it next year.  For those of you that missed it, I highly recommend you put this event on your calendar next year (weekend before Memorial Day) as I promise you won't be disappointed.  Watch out Michiana Mustangs, the SCOA is coming after that Club Participation Award in 2008!