Later in this edition is an article on the NCM 24 Hours of Le Mans Viewing Party. This month's Corvette Courier is already larger than normal but I want to use my spot here to add a little information about this event. The article was written by NCM staff and appears in the 3 rd quarter edition of America's Sports Car. Van added some of his photos and comments to the article but the original short version is in the NCM magazine.
The CCA had a dozen members attend the event at the NCM. This was the third time for holding the Le Mans Viewing Event and the second time for me to attend. Last year (the second year of the event) is the one I missed but our President, Bob Atwell, was there to represent the club. So the CCA has been at all three Le Mans Viewing Events. I've been fortunate to be able to attend Le Mans in person in 2011 and now two of the NCM Viewing Events. I think I will be back to this event at the NCM again. It is a great way to watch the race. If I am able to do it again in 2018, I'll be sure to provide early notice for signing up. If you are interested you'll need to plan on a week or more for the trip. At a minimum it requires two days to get to the Museum, three days there, and two more days to get back. This allowed for an easy pace. Driving time was limited to about five hours per day and it allowed for some sight seeing (and shopping) along the way along with enjoyable meals together. I think everyone had a good time on the trip this year. Several even extended their trip by heading off to other places after the Museum visit.
Here are a couple of items that did not appear in Van's article. The CCA turned out to have the largest group at the NCM event and we were presented with a poster from Le Mans that had been signed by the Corvette drivers during the race at the track. The NCM also handed out about a half dozen of the posters as raffle prizes. We were told that the posters would show up as soon as the "slow boat" arrived from France. And ours did show up, many thanks to Bob Bubnis at the NCM. There is a scan of a certificate that came with the poster and my poor, rushed, photo of the poster on the next couple of pages. The poster is good quality and we should plan on getting it framed and on display at Sport Chevrolet.
The second item is that following the Viewing Event we presented Wendell Strode with a CCA blanket to add to his growing collection of CCA memorabilia. Following the event, he told me that he has the blanket at home in his family room.
Save the Wave!
Jon Thorn
Corvette Courier Editor
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