Goodguys 2nd Florida Nationals

Day 2. 5am. Five hours of sleep. Dmitry and I were up just before dawn, packed and waiting in the lobby to drive down to Kissimmee for the Goodguys 2nd Florida Nationals car show and autocross event. We rode with the client for an hour and change to meet up with the Detroit Speed team. (Thankfully, I was able to get a few minutes of extra sleep during the ride.) We arrived at the Osceola Fairgrounds as the sun started casting its glorious rays on the asphalt. It was going to be a hot one: barely any clouds in the sky and no sign of shade. Time to get to work.

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We were introduced to the Detroit Speed team. Kyle and his wife Stacy are wonderful people. They made us feel at home, offering us access to anything we needed. They introduced us to the rest of their team who were equally wonderful. Everyone was so pleasant and welcoming and made me feel very comfortable.

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It was still early so we started shooting Kyle’s blue 1970 Camaro and Stacy’s 1966 Fastback Mustang while they were prepping to move them down to the track.

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Kyle got in and turned the Camaro on. I almost fell over. The sound of ignition equaled the roar of Daenerys Targaryen’s dragons as they take flight.

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Kyle made his way down the road towards the “pit” area. Dmitry and I followed.

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Kyle popped the hood and started his pre-race inspection, unveiling a beastly LS engine inside. All of this awesome all before 8am. It was going to be a great day!

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Stacy joined us in the Mustang, and we waited for the track to open. During that time, Dmitry and I investigated different GoPro mount locations and possible shots. We wanted to make sure we exceeded the shot list asks.

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After some tire pressure checks, Kyle was ready to go.

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Watching Kyle blast through the course was just fantastic! The Camaro is a beast. It ripped through the course with ease, showcasing that Detroit Speed + Kyle Tucker are a force to be reckoned with. What better way to show off your product than to dominate in an autocross event?

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Kyle wasn’t the only early bird. He was joined by additional drivers almost immediately. Kevin Daigle and his grey ‘65 Cobra joined us on the track.

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Then, Andrew Tyler Powell got on the track in his black 1963 Corvette Grand Sport. All classic, all beastly. Each car was just as beautiful as the next.

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Dmitry and I followed Kyle around the track a few times. The we both got the chance to ride along with him!!!! Dmitry went first, and I documented the action.

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As I was walking back from the far side of the course, Kevin was taking a lap. Just as I passed the stop area, I heard a loud pop from behind. I swung around to the sight of that beautiful Cobra coming to a painful stop. Kevin jumped out of the car and went to assess the damage. Luckily, he was okay and didn’t have any injuries.

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I came around to the front to check out the damage for myself. It pained me to see it, but it appeared as though the damage was mostly cosmetic with a few busted radiator brackets.

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Kevin mentioned that he felt a cone under him. I went around and checked. Yep, there was a cone, and then a bonus cone for good measure. He almost took a third out with the rear quarter panel.

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After a bit of investigating for leaks or any other structural damage, Kevin turned the car on with no problems. He drove it off the track and back to the pits.

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Kyle offered to help Kevin patch up the front end, but no zip ties were to be found. But one can always use duct tape in a pinch!

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After the patch job, the racing started again. Kyle went back to tearing up the track.

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Then Tyler got on the track for another run.

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And yes, Kevin was back in action too! Almost too much excitement before lunch! We didn’t have much time left, and there was still a massive car show to film! So, we asked about getting a golf cart to help speed things up. The event staff was very helpful and lent us a nice sized cart. Dan was pretty much our driver all weekend, so he took the wheel and off we went! Dmitry and I hopped on the back of the golf cart, each with a glidecam in tow and just started doing drive-by filming. It was great. We now had a breeze!

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We only had the golf cart for an hour, so we decided that lunch was next on the agenda. Time was running out. We had to leave by 3pm in order to get back to Daytona without Orlando rush hour. We had forty-five minutes to get some stills of the car show. This time on foot and full of bbq’d pulled pork. Ugh, this would be rough.

We started at the Detroit Speed trailer and headed straight for the car show.

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Beauty after beauty. Flying by on the golf cart gave us a good sense of where to go back and spend some time getting details, but new cars were arriving and other cars were leaving. It was crazy! So, we improvised. I had Dmitry take one lane, and I went on another. Divide and conquer!

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This engine was up to my chest. I’m 5’11” – you do the math.

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I see this T-Bucket at Cobra Joe’s all the time. Last time I saw it was at the Isles Casino show. He trailered it up from Hollywood!

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So many classics. So much BFG! We were hunting down cars with any type of BFG tires. When we’d ask owners if they were BFG’s, they’d proudly respond, “Is there any other tire?” It was awesome to see how many classic muscle cars roll on BFGs. The Radial T/A is probably one of their most popular tires. We saw them on the majority of the cars!

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