VS
Click for a view of the route
Ok, after posting the cars I was thinking about the one race. THE race.
But it wasn't the only race, in fact, given a little time thinking about it, I realized that Kerry and I raced everything. Shit, we raced my grandfather's John Deere lawn mowers. Every car either of us ever had ended up on the "starting line". It was always east vs west, Japanese vs European engineering. Frankly I preferred European cars but always got a better deal on the Subarus or Hondas. Kerry got the really good deals.
Anyway, we did some crazy things. Things that I know look back and think "holy shit how did we make it out of that alive?" Some with cars, some with work, Kerry with girl's ex-boyfriends. There's plenty of that for other posts.
This post is about THE race. Subaru GL Station wagon vs VolksWagon GTI. I know, "what the hell kinda race would that be?" (by the way if anyone has ANY pictures of either of these actual cars, please, please send them to me, or post them in a comment)
Read on.......
It was fall, probably 1988 from what I remember. I was assistant manager of Wall to Wall sound and Video in Hunt Valley Mall. Both Kerry and I worked during the day for a general contractor doing remodels of houses in Roland Park (Baltimore, MD). Kerry lived just north of HVM and would meet me down at work, follow me home and we'd stay at my house (my parents house) in Monkton. We'd then ride in to work together the next morning.
So one evening Kerry comes down and hangs out at the store for a bit at about 8pm. He was out riding around in his newly purchased and registered 1983(?) VW GTI. Usually he was in the store because it was a good place to meet girls. This evening he was there to talk about his car. Those of you that knew him know that he could talk a subject to death that he was really into (I know it's the pot calling the kettle black).
Kerry is at the counter "the GTI this, the GTI that" I would antagonise him by saying "dude it's a VW Rabbit with nice wheels". He knew I was ribbing him but it still bugged him. "It's better than that rice burner", always called my cars that. He'd say the Japanese copied everything from someone else. Anyway this argument went on and on. It was an old one, and one I think both of us enjoyed having, neither ever won.....which lead to the racing.
Most of the races were to the corner store or around the block, we were both generally pretty smart about it. Never any major risks, never any trouble with the cars or the law.
This night we kept talking our shit after I closed and out to the parking lot. I think I sat in the "new" car of his and maybe even drove it around the parking lot. When we got back to my car I said I could still take him. He was always up for it and said "ok first one back to your parents, wins.
I jumped into my car, opened the window and said where do we start? We agreed to line up side by side starting line style but run the race from that point on whatever course we saw fit. Like a road rally as opposed to side by side NASCAR. Through these back roads there were many turns and limited areas to pass. I think both Kerry and I knew that his machine was superior and off the line this would have me hands down. Our races took into account "skill" (read stupidity in some cases).
So we were off, we both split he took one exit, I took another. As blind luck would have it, I ended up out in front by York Rd. (York Rd is two lane each way). We were side by side on and off, it took everything my Subaru had to keep him from getting in front. I was in the left lane, and we needed to make a left turn less than a quarter mile up on Paper Mill Rd (Actually Ashland Rd at that top part).
He dipped back behind me as he saw the left turn light being red. He darted back into the Shell parking lot to shortcut through to Paper Mill. I thought "god dammit!" he just beat me, thinking I'd be stuck up at the light for at least 15 seconds...15 seconds was all he needed. If he got in front of me it was all over.
As this thought went through my head a green arrow appeared, without having to even slow down I threw the car into 3rd and gunned it around the turn. I blew by Kerry as he slowed at the parking lot entrance and flipped him off as I went by. I caught the headlights in the rear view mirror and he was coming up really fast. I pushed into 4th and floored it. We were coming up on the turn by the church and I knew if I slowed as normal there was a median section where he could pass. Normally he wouldn't do that, but I know he was pissed that I got him at the light.
I went faster. This turn you could blow through at about 40-45mph if it was during the day, dry and you knew the road, posted speed limit was 15mph. Well it was dry and I knew the road, headlights were close enough to daylight, I pushed to 50mph. We were about 45 seconds from the light at this point. My heart was racing as I thought of what I would tell my parent as the car was being towed out of one of the townhouses at the end of the turn.
Kerry didn't know this road as well, he drove it but not every day like I did. He was dropping back. Not back enough to be sure he wouldn't try to pass. I knew Kerry, he would take a risk but just not as much as I would. I dropped into the first turn of the S and hit the gas.
53mph into that turn, I could feel the car strain to stay in the lane. I was sliding and the wheels groaned. I dropped it to third and kept on the gas. "If you break through a turn you can lose control" my dad once told me and this went through my head. I made it to the middle the end was in sight.
A minute from the light. I did not see Kerry's lights now that I was into the turn. I pushed through and gunned it through the straight away by the bike path and into the next turn. I had him, god dammit, I did it. Now it was smooth sailing until Jacksonville where he could get me a t a light. With the adrenalin and that I kept up the pace.
I made it home in record time, less than 15 minutes. It was very quiet and dark. I stood in the driveway ready to laugh it up. I still can smell the fall leaves and cold air. Kerry should be here, I started to worry but heard an engine being wound out coming up the pike. Weeeeerrrrrrrrrrr, weeeeerrrrrrrrrrr OK that was Kerry hauling as to save some face. I decided to give him a break and went inside.
30 minutes went by, an hour. I figured he was really embarrassed and just continued home. Probably didn't want to deal with me that evening. This was pre-cellphone and it was late so I didn't want to call his parents house.
About 11:30 the phone rang and my heart sunk as I jumped to get it. "Maaattt", oh shit he sounded bad, "I wrecked the GTI". I thought "shit he wound out that engine and wiped out on the pike". I asked him what happened and if he was OK. He said he was fine, nothing broken not really even a scratch. I said "how bad is the car?", the answer "gone."
He said he was going to bed and just to pick him up in the morning for work. Kerry was like that, he could go out and party, get in a car wreck, work 3 jobs and be up 40 hours and still get up for work. Well I did help now and then in waking his ass up. Actually I think that's why he stayed over, the human alarm clock.
I felt bad about this, really bad. I pushed it more than I ever had, and I felt like Kerry was trying to keep up. He was doing it in a car he didn't know. Had it been the Monarch, it would have been OK. Actually he did say once that had it been the Monarch, he would have wiped out then just driven out of the woods and back on the road .... then kicked my ass in the race.
What happened was that he knew the curve was coming up and just did not make it fast enough in the split second to start into the first turn. He missed it and ended up launching off the road (no guardrail at the time), down the 10 foot drop into the woods. He rolled the car end over end about seven times through the brush and saplings, landing on the roof. This sounds bad, it was. It's 20 years later and I give you my word, this is not embellished. I thought it was bullshit at the time. OK he ran off the road and wrecked. How would he be here without an injury if that happened?
Blind luck, skill, whatever. It was all true. After work we went out to the crash site. Crash site it was. It looked like a meteor had cleared about a 60 foot path into the woods. We figured (since we were geeks like this) that that 60 feet meant that he rolled about 7 times end over end in his 8 foot (about) long car. If you account for whatever "airborne" time, at least 6 times, leaving 12 feet of time in the air. I looked at the carnage in the woods and I looked at my friend and thought I was damn lucky I still had him. Looking back now I would have hugged him. Then that would just have been pretty gay.
In typical Kerry fashion, he bought the car back from the insurance company and I think had it towed to his parents. It's not really clear, these couple days were pretty shocking. The car most of all. That car was toast. The windshield was the only glass left in it. The wheels were all bent to hell, all four tires were flat. The front end was crumpled up, like if you curl in your big toe. The guts of the engine hanging out below ( Kerry would say at this point "no ya dumb ass that the transmission!) In some ways I think he thought he would fix it. In another I think this was his trophy. Oh and of course it became a pretty good story to impress the girls with, not the racing part the "I almost died" part. Kerry could work anything into a pickup.
I never really told him how bad I felt. Later I worked my ass off with him on the Fiat, partly I think as penance for my guilty conscience for leading him down that road that fast.
At this point I could say "and that taught us a lesson .....", come on this is me and Kerry. We still raced our cars. I don't think we pushed it as much. I have to say this now as a tribute to him and his car; he was the better driver. I think he was, although my ego is still in competition with him and drawing my finger to the backspace.
If he was here today, we'd still be racing whatever cars we had.
1983 Subaru 4x4 Kerry hated my Japanese cars
1985 Honda Civic "Boom Box" another "rice burner"
1982 Izusu Impluse (Picture is the UK version) "Lets see if we can blow the engine"
