The Overcrest Rally trip report, life changing Options

[Optimusglen]

I wanted to share with you all my experience at the Overcrest Rally for 2021
This was, beyond a doubt, the best automotive event I've ever been to. Even now looking back it's hard to take it all in and unpack, so I'll just start from the beginning. 2 years before the event. Get comfy, grab some popcorn, because this is a doozy.


Prelude:
A couple of friends of mine, Kris and Jake, run a podcast called Overcrest. It's an automotive-based podcast and generally has automotive topics. Both of them have long hood 911's so Porsche comes up frequently. I've known Kris forever, we were in each other's weddings, etc. We've also been doing fall drives together for quite some time, so it was no surprise when they wanted to plan a rally for the podcast and their listeners. It was 2019 and I helped a bit with some of the graphics.

The 2019 rally was a great local rally, it picked up several nice roads on the border of Wisconsin and Minnesota. This was the last year I had my 914 at the rally, and it was the year I overcooked my brakes and had a little "off" that sent me home with my tail between my legs but more or less unscathed.

In 2020 they wanted to do a national rally, but they knew they weren't there yet. The two pulled in another friend, Jeff, to help them along. The year was thought of as a stepping stone to get to the point where a national audience would take them seriously. So it was a 2-day rally, planned and plotted out. Cool swag, and really thought out. I attended, but at this time my 4-cyl was dead and my 6 was yet to be built, so I drove an Audi TT that I rented using Turo. Again, it was immensely great for a local rally. It drew some audience from outside the midwest, but not much.

[Optimusglen]

Thursday, September 23rd 

This was my off day, I didn't have anything on my schedule apart from check-in at 4pm. I explored Monument Valley and gave the 914 a full checkup. At this point, I added a little engine oil, but trans oil and brake fluid were both perfect. Wheels, suspension, and motor were all healthy. After lunch I helped prep the goody bags and then went out to the Mexican Hat Rock for the start of registration and check-in.

(IMG:http://www.914world.com/bbs2/uploads_offsite/live.staticflickr.com-19709-1633031168.1.jpg)

(IMG:http://www.914world.com/bbs2/uploads_offsite/live.staticflickr.com-19709-1633031169.2.jpg)

The bags were choice. The rally had title sponsors of Hagerty Insurance and Nokia Tire, as well as Rallisa, a car rally/group drive app. I'm going to detail a bit here not because they're sponsoring this post, but because it was a great working addition to the rally.

The app is made possible by the organizations that host group drives. They work with Rallisa to develop a route with waypoints, similar to what you can do with Google maps. The difference here is that it's one click to bring it up, has an unlimited number of waypoints, and for IOS users you can see in real-time where everyone else is from your group on the route. 

The goodie bags included some nice items too, not the typical t-shirt. The theme of the rally was "Sportscar Vacationland" and had custom embroidered corduroy hats,  custom brass belt buckles, a fold-out paper map of the routes, meatball numbered stickers (numbers were assigned first-come-first-served), a postcard with artwork and branding from Overcrest,  and some typical stuff from the title sponsors.

(IMG:http://www.914world.com/bbs2/uploads_offsite/live.staticflickr.com-19709-1633031169.3.jpg)

4pm rolled around and people started to roll in from all over the country. Florida to L.A. to Oregon. And of course several from the Midwest. Two young guys made the drive straight through from Minnesota, 22ish hours, in a Mazda Miata. In all there were around 80 cars.

There were cars of all shapes and sizes. It was an application-based registration, so not anything was accepted, but there was plenty of variety. Everything from a Keen Project 911 Safari to an RWB 911, to a Corvette-swapped Volvo to a Kia Soul. And we were all there for an adventure. That night we packed into Hanks Swingin' Steaks and had a ball.

(IMG:http://www.914world.com/bbs2/uploads_offsite/live.staticflickr.com-19709-1633031169.4.jpg)