Tire Squeal: A pork-themed, Nurburgring-shaped charity drive in Indiana
You may have run the ‘Ring and driven down the Tail of the Dragon—but have you tried the Tenderloin? A number of Indiana car enthusiasts have organized a charity ride this upcoming weekend, June 23-24, on a route they are calling the Schweienefiletring™, which translates to “Pork Tenderloin Ring.”
If you aren’t familiar with an Indiana pork tenderloin, it’s “a larger-than-life, bigger-than-bun, hubcap-sized-grilled-or-breaded pork sandwich with the fixin’s!”
To go with the supersized sandwich, the Schweienefiletring course reproduces the general shape of the Nürburgring circuit, but it’s 175 miles long, 10 times the length of the German track, situated roughly between Bloomington and French Lick.
The event celebrates two things close to the heart of Hoosiers, whose home state hosts the Indianapolis 500 and quite a few farmers who raise pigs.
The inaugural event is called Tire Squeal 2019 and it is being run to benefit the Gleaners Food Bank of Indiana. Registration is free but donations to Gleaners of at least $20 are suggested. If you donate $75, you’ll get an event t-shirt, and $125 will get you the shirt and a baseball cap.
The idea is that entrants drive the route, stopping at participating restaurants for some pork, and photographing themselves and their cars at specific points of interest along the way. Since it’s a circuit, you can start anywhere on the Schweienefiletring, there is no start or finish line, and you can drive the route anytime during the weekend.
The organizers make it clear that this isn’t a race, but it is a competition. There are driving points, for the number of points of interest visited and photographed, and dining points, for the number of restaurants patronized, and even bonus points if you can photograph a real, live pig along the route. Donations to Gleaners can also score points. Prize packages include automotive service, track days, and museum visits offered by event sponsors. Full details are available at the Schweienefiletring website.
Indiana pork producers are graciously sponsoring this charitable event, but not everyone eats the other white meat. There aren’t any kosher, halal, or vegan eateries participating this year, but you don’t have to eat pork to earn points—anything on the participating restaurants’ menus will do.
