After over 450 miles of oil was sprayed all over America's freeways, the Beetleballers (well most of them) arrived on the Las Vegas strip to complete the endurance rally.
Beetleball headman, Jimbo, stood in the middle of Las Vegas Boulevard waving a checkered flag as the Volkswagens cruised (flew actually) down the strip to the finish.
First place overall with a time of 6 hours, 18 minutes and 20 seconds (and first in Open Class Beetle) Jim's Auto Center #1116 driven by Nicolas Nieto and navigated by Daniel Cummings. The car not only ran very well it was the only VW that didn't vomit oil at the finish line.
Second place overall with a finishing time of 6 hours, 34 minutes and 16 seconds (and first in the Baja Bug class) was Krider Racing #1118 driven by Randy Krider and navigated (while simultaneously blogging for Jalopnik) by Rob Krider.
Third place overall with a finishing time of 6 hours, 50 minutes and 13 seconds (and first in Stock Class Beetle) was #1108 driven by Damon Dayton and navigated by Rosie Almaraz. There were unsubstantiated rumors that there was some curb hopping and sidewalk driving to get to the finish line on the strip. Damon's response, "What happens in Vegas, stays in Vegas."
Damon was also kind enough to stop to help any broken down Beetleballers on his journey, however the conversation along the roadside went like this:
Damon, "Hey, you guys alright?"
Poor Sap with a Blown Motor, "Yeah, our motor is finished though."
Damon, "Bummer. Hey, uh, with that blown motor, I guess you guys probably don't need that extra two gallons of fuel. Throw that in my tank would ya. Thanks!"
Earning the coveted D.F.L. trophy (last place) with a finishing time of 9 hours, 35 minutes and 25 seconds (and ironically first place in the Vintage Bus Class) Bugformance #1164 Bus of Greg Hawkins and Dominic Descent. These guys had some minor mechanical issues and replaced the ignition, fuel system and anything else they could think of during the rally. They came absolutely prepared for any issues and had a complete engine assembly in the rear passenger compartment of the bus. The extra weight contributed to their mountain climbing speed of 44 miles per hour.
The overall Beetleball champion for the 2009 season (after running three events) was Jeff Copelan driving his very clean 1965 Beetle in the Stock Division. He will be honored with the #1100 number plate for the 2010 season.
If you have the guts/lack of sense to try to run an endurance rally in an air cooled VW then check out the different events at www.beetleball.com. They also run a rally from Vancouver to Ensenada. Rumor has it in 2012 they are going to run from Manhattan to San Francisco.