The Flyin' Miata 2004 Open House

The third weekend in August is always fun in Colorado. That's when the Flyin' Miata Open House takes place. Miatas converge on Grand Junction from all over North America. This year, we had 91 people from 14 different states at dinner on Friday.

Friday was spent at Grand Junction Motor Speedway. It's actually a large kart track and keeps you very busy over the course of a lap! It's also a driver's track as the third-fastest time was laid down by a naturally aspirated Miata. You can see the final times here. Friday night was our banquet, complete with free stuff, door prizes and the "Wasted Youth" competition.

On Saturday, Flyin' Miata took over the parade at the Palisade Peach Festival. 40 cars took part as the lazybones slept in, then everyone returned to the FM shop to drool over various shiny parts. Ubercharger and turbocharger test drives, dyno testing and a few tours around the area from the Canyon Cruisers Miata Club were also popular attractions. Turbodog chased endless tennis balls. On Saturday night everyone went to the Sonic drive-in for a free dinner and yet more tire-kicking.

Sunday morning was a relaxed brunch as folks said goodbye and headed off back home. Until next year...

Photos
Thanks to Dani Pedroza and Wally Helsel for some of the pictures. James Pennington also took some photos that you can see in his own photo album. One note - the red car with white stripes is NOT the Track Dog.

 Lining up at the track with the world's largest cones.
 The ubercharger on the track. Bill and Keith are discussing the state of the brakes.
 Skip Cannon explores the limits of suspension travel.
 John Hunter dominating the track in his 1994 FM II.
 Keith had his Seven out for some fun.
 Mmmm, lunchtime!
 Miatas dominate the parade.
 Well, perhaps "dominate" isn't the right word.
 Geremy can't find his car unless he's wearing his special shoes.
 Two Miatas took part in the Palisade car show. This is not them.
 Dan Pedroza showed up with his Ubercharged race car.
 The FM shop has been reworked with more doors and a new dyno location. It's a nice setup that took some of our regulars by surprise!