Buffalo Run anyone?

Post by **ragtopday Johnna** » Fri Sep 07, 2007 10:33 pm

Is anyone participating in the Buffalo Run this year? They've added a track day on Oct. 10th and the rally is on the 13th. There's more info at www.kcrally.com.

Johnna

MiniGeoff · Post by **MiniGeoff** » Sat Sep 08, 2007 11:36 am

I'm certainly considering it, but I haven't made any final decision yet. I do go drool on all the cars as they took off last year, and wished I'd been able to be in it then.

Minidave · Post by **Minidave** » Sat Sep 08, 2007 12:14 pm

I thought this event was just for rich guys with expensive cars, Aston, Jags, Lambo's Ferraris etc..........

Post by **ragtopday Johnna** » Sat Sep 08, 2007 6:25 pm

Minidave wrote:I thought this event was just for rich guys with expensive cars, Aston, Jags, Lambo's Ferraris etc..........

All of those cars were certainly present last year, however there were 3 MINIs, some classic Mustangs, even (gasp!) a Scion! Apparently we were welcome enough, even if we aren't guys or rich, since I took home a trophy.

Johnna

Minidave · Post by **Minidave** » Sat Sep 08, 2007 7:27 pm

Good for you!

What does it cost?

Where does it go?

Edit: Oops, I think I'm in Florida on business that week..............

Post by **ragtopday Johnna** » Sat Sep 08, 2007 10:49 pm

Minidave wrote:
What does it cost?

Where does it go?

I think it's $275 per car (covers driver and navigator) this year. That includes the track day, a Friday evening VIP reception, the Saturday rally with lunch and admission to the Saturday evening thing at Aristocrat with a band.

Last year it was a Decision/Confirmation style rally, so no idea where it will go this year. Last year we ended up within 10 miles of St. Joseph on the morning route and around Weston, Parkville and the airport on the afternoon route. I can't recall how many total miles we drove, I'm guessing 200-ish? Anyone else recall?

JRutherford · Post by **JRutherford** » Sun Sep 09, 2007 6:03 pm

Timing for this never seems to be good - same weekend as SCCA National Runoffs in Topeka

sundance · Post by **sundance** » Tue Sep 11, 2007 5:49 pm

I was looking forward to this but we will be in Minneapolis that weekend. Probably a good thing considering the trouble I got into last year at the pre-party the night before.

I was also looking forward to showing up some more fancy-boy Mercedes drivers in my GP on the K-5.

Post by **ragtopday Johnna** » Wed Oct 10, 2007 5:12 pm

Today was the Track Day at the KS Speedway for the Buffalo Run. What a blast! I was expecting parade laps on the track and got a very pleasant surprise of the triple digit variety.

I posted some pics here:
http://picasaweb.google.com/MotoringChix/BuffaloRun2007

If today's event was any indication, the issues at the Buffalo Run last year have been resolved. The food today was terrific (from Caliente! at the Legends) and everything was running very smoothly.

Please come check out the cars at the Plaza Saturday morning from 8 to 11 a.m. on Nichols Road. The MotoringChix would sure appreciate some cheering on as we cruise out at 11:30--we've got a title to defend from last year's rally!

Johnna

P.S.--Happy Birthday to my favorite Miniac!

MiniGeoff · Post by **MiniGeoff** » Wed Oct 10, 2007 8:45 pm

Man, I forgot! I was going to sign up to drive. Guess it's just drooling again.

BTW, that's a Lotus Esprit, not an Elise...

Post by **ragtopday Johnna** » Wed Oct 10, 2007 10:16 pm

MiniGeoff wrote:Man, I forgot! I was going to sign up to drive. Guess it's just drooling again.

BTW, that's a Lotus Esprit, not an Elise...

I think you can still sign up to participate on Saturday if you like road rallies. It's not high speed driving and not on a track but still great fun.

Thanks for catching my typo....I've had an Elise on the brain for the past week. Now if I could just find that winning lottery ticket, an Ardent Red Elise currently across the state would be in my garage!

MiniGeoff · Post by **MiniGeoff** » Thu Oct 11, 2007 1:26 pm

ragtopday wrote:Thanks for catching my typo....I've had an Elise on the brain for the past week. Now if I could just find that winning lottery ticket, an Ardent Red Elise currently across the state would be in my garage!

No worries there. I don't think you'll find many people on here that would argue the merits of owning an Elise, given the choice. I certainly would not. Heck, I'm all for turning this into a Mini and Lotus club, so long as we find someone to provide us all with Lotus's. Or is it Loti?

and Lotus never helps with the names. Elise. Exiage. Elan. Esprit. Heck, even the Europa starts with "E."

As for still signing up for Sat, I've got plans already for most of the weekend, but I'm hoping to sneak out to watch everyone leave the plaza again. Is that still the plan? Maybe I'll make it by earlier enough to stop by and say hello.

Post by **ragtopday Johnna** » Thu Oct 11, 2007 3:33 pm

Yep, like last year everyone is scheduled to leave the Plaza at the same time, however it seems like we left earlier last year. This year the departure time is somewhere between 11 and 12. The sound of hundreds of exotic cars leaving the Plaza last year was almost as awesome as seeing all of them together. I heard there are more out-of-towners this year so who knows what will show up! See ya there--and hopefully a few of the rest of the Miniacs??

Johnna

ddmini · Post by **ddmini** » Sat Oct 13, 2007 1:53 pm

Wow, the weather was awful for the start of the run. There were about half the number of cars as last year. With the rain you can really tell who bought their car to drive and not as a garage queen.

It was raining too hard to take many pictures but I put a few here.

I have posted some more pictures in that same set that we took at the end of the rally. Debra says it was a lot of fun.

Post by **ragtopday Johnna** » Sun Oct 14, 2007 2:48 pm

I updated my web album with pics from yesterday:
http://picasaweb.google.com/MotoringChix/BuffaloRun2007

I skipped the party at Blonde on Friday night, but heard instead of the fur/lingerie fashion show, they had models "wearing" body painted flags to represent the nations of origin of the cars in the rally.

Saturday morning started at about the time I went to bed last year.

John and I were up bright and early to make the balloon arch for the Concours d'Buffalo. The arch safely resided in a parking garage. Sadly, the arch never got to shine as the rain didn't stop. Chris Cakes was on-site for breakfast in the bank parking garage/registration area and Starbucks was overflowing with teams trying to stay dry. Registration was about as dis-organized as last year but that may have been weather related. I didn't hear anyone say they waited 2 hours in line this year.

The "Start Your Engines" announcement came 30 minutes earlier than scheduled. As Debra and I left the Plaza, Brush Creek was raging. I'm still not sure how all of the cars made it thru the water on the roadways. We took SM Pkwy to Metcalf to 635 and then 70 to the Speedway, a slightly different route than last year.

We pulled into the Speedway long enough for a pit stop and check-in for our first rally course, which took us south to K32, thru Leavenworth and back across K5. It rained nearly the entire course and was slow-going compared to last years ultra-fast runs. We saw deer, an alpaca farm and lots of pumpkins, some under water.

We had lunch at one of the Speedway garages in between rally courses, provided by Famous Dave's BBQ. I would say this was an improvement over last year's food. We were encouraged to leave just as quickly as we got back if we planned to do the second rally course, so it was a quick lunch. The rain had stopped and we were finally able to put the top down on the MINI.

The second rally course took us North to 45 hwy, thru Weston, Platte City and back to the Speedway for the final check-in. I think we passed a total of three wineries on this route.

We went from the final check-in to a carwash and then to the downtown airport to turn in our score card. A nice parking area was provided to display the participant's cars, which more than made up for the lack of a show in the morning.

The Music Festival at the downtown airport included performances by Leaded and Soul Asylum, lots of free drinks and a few nibbles from Carrabba's Italian Grill. The awards were given out mid-way into the evening. While I can't recall all of the winners, the 1957 Porsche roadster took best of show. The owner has had the car for 42 years and it is stunning! The Bentley got the "Best Beater" award

and the guy wearing a full Buffalo costume got the Most Buffalo-ized award.

I only heard of one speeding ticket (92 in a 70, driver was in a '71 Monte Carlo) and no accidents, other than some sort of mess at Blonde on Friday involving a Porsche, a Mercedes and a Honda.

Debra was a great navigator (and this was her first rally!) and it was a really fun day, even if it was raining. I might do it again and hope more MINIs will show up next year. An Auto-X event is being added in addition to the track day, VIP party, Plaza Show, Road Rally and Music Festival.

There are more pics at www.shotbee.com. Click on "My Shots" and enter KCRALLY for the code.

Johnna

Kansas City MINI Enthusiasts

Buffalo Run anyone?

Buffalo Run anyone?

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