http://www.gazetteonline.com/apps/pbcs.dll/article?AID=/20080820/NEWS/27671573/1001/NEWS'Amped' AKA drivers roar into Cedar Rapids
By Erika Binegar
The Gazette
erika.binegar@gazettecommunications.com 
(Cliff Jette/The Gazette)
Mike Proske of Clinton, N.J., films smoke coming off the tires of a BMW M5 as driver Mike Durka of Buffalo, N.Y., entertains the crowd with a demonstration of his driving skills in the Clarion Hotel & Convention Center parking lot, Cedar Rapids, where the 27 cars in the AKA Rally stopped for the night Wednesday. Proske was filming the rally for the Speed Channel, which will air six episodes in the fall.
UPDATE CEDAR RAPIDS — Tire smoke obscured Mike Durka's red gloves as he spun a black BMW M5 through the parking lot.
One onlooker compared him to a mad scientist as he drifted past, engine roaring and tires squealing.
Durka, 22, of Buffalo, N.Y., is one of nearly 60 drivers this year in the six-day AKA Rally, which started in New York Monday and ends next Monday in Las Vegas.
Participants stopped tonight in Cedar Rapids, parking about 27 hot cars — including BMWs, Corvettes and Porsches covered in sponsor stickers — in the Clarion Hotel & Convention Center parking lot, where they took turns doing car tricks.
"(This is) something you can't do forever," said Nick Psaros, 30, of San Francisco, Calif. "You have to be a little crazy, energetic and amped."
A portion of the $3,250 entry fee — which covers hotels, dinner, events and parties for two people in one car — benefits the Intrepid Fallen Heroes Fund, which supports families of soldiers who died overseas, said event organizer Chris Conner.
Conner, 25, of Pennsylvania said the rally, which some call a throwback to the original American road trip, aims to raise $5,000 for the charity.
"It's a way to get away and have fun, see new things and do something you wouldn't normally do," Conner said.
In its sixth year, the rally is being featured on the Speed television channel. Drivers rolled into Cedar Rapids Wednesday from Columbus, Ohio, the first stop on the route, after reaching speeds as high as 180 mph on the interstate, some said.
But participants insisted they aren't reckless, and most declined to comment on whether they have received speeding tickets — it's bad luck to do so, they said.
Jason Boles, 33, of Phoenix, Ariz. said they drive fast on the interstates, but slow down in town. On Tuesday, he set the cruise control on his Porsche Cayenne just a hair above the speed limit.
"It's just the adventure of it all," said Boles, who road races for the National Auto Sport Association. "It's the camaraderie. You get to hang out with 60 other people who love cars."
