A Saturday afternoon stroll through Laguna Seca (during an ALMS race)

Not even a week-long cold and seasonal allergies could keep me away from Laguna Seca. With tickets in hand (thanks rchen and Alara Racing!), we set sail in the S.S. Popemobile. Everyone was in a great mood and there was plenty of action on and off the track. The paddock area was jam packed. It’s surprising that no one got hurt with all the race cars, scooters, service carts, and gawkers swarming like ants.

Think busy ancient Greek market, minus the bleating goats. Thank goodness there were medics nearby.

Coincidentally, the one prototype that I had a too-close-for-comfort meeting with was Guy Smith’s Lola. It ended up finishing second in the six-hour race. Oh, yeah, SPOILER ALERT.

Meep meep.

This here is a Radical from Spring Mountain Motor Resort near Vegas. Does anyone out there in Hooniverse-land know any more about this outfit? [Ed. Note – Yes… I’ve been on that track. It’s an awesome country club-style race track, and automakers occasionally host vehicle launches out there.]

Some pit crews have bicycles to tool around the paddock. Better financed teams have scooters. But one team has this Ural bike with sidecar.

It was neat to see the air-powered lifts on this Porsche operate. (Note the air hose connected to the hood.)

When was the last time you saw a Corrado?

Cadillac had an impressive display of its CTS-V line. The seats were firm and the steering wheel was out-of-this-world. But the fit and finish were definitely lacking. The coupe’s hidden door handle felt cheap. Slamming the pillar-less door with any amount of force was reminiscent of closing my mom’s 1978 Cutlass Supreme. And the door trim on the wagon was loose, with about a quarter inch of play. This is not acceptable for a $63,000 car, unless you’re talking low-volume British.

From afar, I mistook this Panoz Esperante for a Ferrari California. It looked like a behemoth next to those Porsches. Who knew that they were still in production?

About 7,000 DB7s (left) were produced, but they are about as rare as hen’s teeth, even in car-obsessed California. Its successor, on the other hand, is everywhere.

Porsches old and new.

If the missus ever allowed me to get a 911, I would get a 993. It’s a perfect balance between old and new.

This guy is ready for some rallying.

This deconstructed ZR-1 at the Chevy tent drew quite a crowd, in spite of a nearby Volt with a malfunctioning and surprisingly loud burglar alarm.

Land Rover had a fun but very short driving course for the public. It’s funny how the mind works. You stand there waiting for your turn and you see and know that the course was professionally designed and the cars will make it through unscathed. But once inside, it’s quite terrifying when you can’t see the horizon in front of you or when your rig is tipped over at an impossible angle.

For some reason, I have the urge to down shots of tequila and go on eBay.

This Bentley is the more sophisticated brother of the Phaeton. I took a peek inside and its similarity to the Phaeton is uncanny. It just has more leather and chrome…and cachet.