Rennsport Dragon Rally

A friend of mine, Sean Phillips, recommended I sign up for this event about a year ago. He said it was a great experience with great people and with only Porsches.

Josh Vandergriff owns and operates Rennsport Dragon Rally among other events. Twice a year, June and October, he organizes a 3 day event centered around the The Tail of the Dragon. Tail of the Dragon at Deals Gap with 318 curves in 11 miles: America’s number one motorcycle and sports car road.

GROUPS

CRUISING GROUP: A leisurely cruise through these mountains roads, as you would do during a Porsche Club drive.

TOURING GROUP: A step up from a cruise, where you will have some spirited driving mixed in. This is what most people would refer to as a “spirited drive’.

SPIRITED GROUP: This group is for former participants who know what to expect, drivers who really know these roads, or drivers who really know their car well and have significant driving skills.

DRIVING ITINERARY

FRIDAY, JUNE 4th 255 miles of driving
8am: Check-in opens
9am: Driver Meeting
10am: Staging and starting of drives
12:30 – 2:30pm: Lunch stop and open-house at Ohlin’s Suspension (they have three food trucks, and an ice cream truck. There will be BBQ, German, and Cuban food options)
6 – 8pm: Welcome Dinner at the Fontana Village Resort Event Center

SATURDAY, JUNE 5th – 245 miles of driving
9am: Driver Meeting
10am; Fontana Dam takeover and Photo Shoot Parade
12:30 – 1:30pm: Lunch stop in Maryville, TN (everyone is on their own for lunch and there are more than enough options)
4-6pm: Block takeover at Appalachian Driving Experience (everyone is on their own for dinner and there are 20 restaurants within a 1.5 mile radius)
7pm: Carolina Room at the Fontana Village Resort is reserved with a keg of beer and cash bar available

SUNDAY, JUNE 6th – 234 miles of driving
9am: Driver Meeting
11am: Snack stop
2:30 – 4pm: Late lunch / early dinner stop in Maryville, TN (everyone is on their own for food and there are more than enough options)
5:30pm: Return to Fontana Village Resort for the conclusion of the Spring 2021 Rennsport Dragon Rally!

LODGING

The event is held at Fontana Village Resort and Marina. Very interesting story behind this resort. From what I understand it was built to house the workers who built the damn then it was sold and converted to a resort. The resort is quant but dated. There is no cell service and their wifi is decent.

The have the traditional rooms in the main lodge along with cabins spread out through the property. It has the basic amenities of lounging areas, pools, 2 restaurants and a large convention style room to hold meetings.

COST

Rennsport Dragon Rally Registration: $149

Lodging for 3 nights: $329

DAY 1, Thursday, June 3, 2021

Met up with a group from Atlanta at the Quick Trip off Old Milton Parkway. We drove up and did Blood then made our way to Fontana Dam, NC where the resort is. Before we arrived we did the Skyway and Dragon but it was raining. Regardless we had a spirited run.

I met some great people. Michael and Colby in a 2015 Porsche Carrera 4S, Jeff Wolf in a Porsche Targa GTS4, Porsche Turbo,

Once we arrived at the resort we checked in. I stayed in room 107 while others were in cabins

REGISTRATION

Drove down to the Event Hall to register. There we signed a waiver and was given a pretty nice swag bag

From there I went up to the main lodge to have dinner where I met up with my new friends.

DAY 2, Friday, June 4th, 2021

We met up for the Drivers meeting at the Event Hall then we dispersed into our groups. I was in Group 1 but we couldn’t have a great drive because most of the day was spent behind local traffic.

We stopped for lunch at Ohlins, a performance shop and sponsor of the event. They had several food trucks. BBQ, Cuban Sandwhichs, German Schnitsels

DAY 3, Saturday, June 5, 2021

This day was much better. Began with a buffet breakfast at the main lodge, lined up in our groups, then went inside for a brief drivers meeting. This day was so much better than the previous day.

We began with a parade at the dam

Then proceeded to do The Tail of the Dragon along with other routes

We stopped at a mall and had lunch at Aubreys Maryville. Then we continued.

We stopped at the Appalachian Driving then proceeded to go to have dinner at Tapoco Lodge

From there, I followed Tyler in a Miami Blue GT3 and Danny in a red Turbo S while Colby was driving Gregs white GT3

Then Colby sat with me while we followed Tyler, Miami Blue GT3, who was following Greg, White GT3 but then Tyler turned around to get Jeff, Green GT3.