Autoweek America Adventure: On the road to Las Vegas

Who doesn't like a drive in the fall, particularly with a bunch of other car guys? It's a kick in the backside, right? And when the plan is for it to take about six days and lead you to places unknown along the route, there's a sense of adventure we can get our heads and hearts around.

So when the folks from the United States Auto Club came to us one day last year with the suggestion that we join them in these high-speed high jinks, we had to give it some thought. Sure, we said, bring it on.

And thus was born the Autoweek America Adventure, a six-day, fun-filled road-rally raid that launches in Tacoma, Wash., on Thursday morning at the newly christened LeMay Museum--a $64 million joint project they finished last Friday! The rally finishes in the Las Vegas Convention Center and the halls of the Specialty Equipment Market Association annual gathering. Oh, and at the finish, one lucky participant will get a brand-new, limited-edition 2011 Dodge Mopar Chargerto take home. Sweet.

Driving was never so much fun. Or at least that was the plan when we launched. And by "we," I mean me and mega-time road-race champion and all-around snarky sumbitch Tommy Kendall, my co-pilot for the event.

I learned long ago from watching the Captain, Roger Penske, that if you're going to compete, go for the unfair advantage. And we got that with Tommy and me.

Stick around for some updates along the way. If you are about Twitter, check us out @11_HoneyBadger and at @Autoweek Racing, or look for us on Facebook with updates on this page or at the Autoweek America Adventure page. This is going to be a fun ride.

By Dutch Mandel