Spotter's Guide To The July 2014 Road&Track (Hint: THE COVER)

With all my heart I love you baby, just like Anita says --- but the Viper TA isn't the star of this story.

In late April, I went to the brand-new Thermal Club race track outside Palm Springs to drive five absolutely thrilling track-optimized street cars. My favorite was the Viper TA but everyone else liked the friggin' Z/28. It's not bad... but the Viper's the one to have, trust me. I've felt a personal bond with Vipers since they dropped variable valve timing into the old one to make it a 600hp monster. I love it in all its forms --- SRT-10, GTS, ACR, and now TA. You'll know if I ever win the lottery, because I'll have a Snakeskin Green ACR in my driveway.

For this event, which happened on amazingly short notice, I worked with James Wilson at Black Armor Helmets to make sure I had a lid that would fit in the cramped confines of the Viper and Aston Martin Vantage S. James is super-cool and I'd recommend you give him a call if you want a low-priced carbon/fiber helmet. He was also remarkably patient when the Kimpton Palomar San Diego waited three weeks to ship his helmet back to him. Um, sorry about that.

Speaking of the Kimpton... I don't normally do this, but LOOK AT MY HOTEL ROOM

Pretty bad-ass, right? It was the result of dedicated bargain-hunting on my part. Last, but not least, I stopped by Carvin to see their Aqua Bursts:

While I was there, Flock and I cooked up something really special that should be ready any month now.

Don't get me wrong... nobody likes complaining about his life more than I do. I have reasons: I'm ugly, I'm semi-crippled, I'm manic-depressive, nobody has ever loved me for real. But there are times that not even I can bitch about things --- and coming out of the long left-hander at Thermal and running that Viper to 137mph in the space of five or six heartbeats? That's one of those times. Come read about it, at your local airport bookstore.