From Tim Ketchner
I have received more information for our trip for the Vettes Vs. Dragon Event September 10 to 13, 2026. We have 12 Rooms blocked off for AACC. I asked for six King rooms and six Queen Rooms.
Below is the total cost for a three-night stay for each room type.
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Lodge King Rooms - $752.53 total after taxes.
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Garden King or Queen Rooms - $546.03 total after taxes.
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Courtyard King or Queen Rooms - $546.03 total after taxes.
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Garden Fireplace King Rooms - $584.53 total after taxes.
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Sweetheart King Rooms - $584.53 total after taxes.
I have blocked off a total of 12 rooms, either single king or double queen, available for September 10th-13th, 2026.
The latest date to make a reservation in a group block is 60 days prior to arrival. In this case, it would be mid-July in 2026. When a guest is making a reservation, they will put a credit card on file and pay for the first night as a deposit. The remaining balance is due 60 days prior to arrival.
As for cancelations/refunds, the first night deposit is refundable, if cancelation occurs more than 60 days prior to arrival. There will be a cancelation fee of 10% of the total reservation. If cancelation occurs within 60 days prior to arrival, there will be no refund, and the total balance of the reservation will be due. However, if a guest cancels due to an emergency preventing them from attending the event at Fontana Village, they will receive a full refund. Below is the person and contact number you must call to make your reservation with to receive our AACC room rates.
Frank Byrd
Group Sales Manager
If you would email me back so I can keep track on who has made reservations.
Here is more information about the event. We will arrive on Thursday the 10th and get registered. The drives start on the 11th and end on the 13th.
The 2026 event will again be at the Fontana Village Resort. This event is held Friday, Saturday and Sunday, [September 11th through 13th], 2026 at the Fontana Village Resort, just 10 miles from the Tail of the Dragon.
For the 2026 event, we will have a catered Welcome Dinner on Friday night, so we will all eat together as a group in the Hall. This will be another opportunity to meet other attendees and an opportunity for giveaways from our vendors and sponsors. If you are bringing a passenger, you will need to add the Passenger to your Registration which will include an event shirt and a wristband to allow access to the Welcome Dinner for your passenger.
The Fontana Village Resort is a full-service resort with a huge parking lot, several restaurants, a hotel lodge, and 135 cabins on their property. We will stage in their huge parking lot based on your Drive Group, which will be assigned prior to the event. We will meet in the Event Hall of the resort each morning for our Driver Meeting. Our registration check-in is on Thursday, September 10th from 4-8pm. We will spend Friday, Saturday, and Sunday driving the unbelievable roads of Eastern Tennessee and Western North Carolina. We will cover the Tail of the Dragon, Cherohala Skyway, Hellbender, Moonshiner 28 and many other mountain roads you will not experience anywhere else! The approximate drive time will be [6 hours on Friday, 6 hours Saturday and 5 hours on Sunday], so be prepared to drive! At the conclusion of the daily drives we have social gatherings so you can talk about your Corvettes and drives with your new, enthusiast friends!
PASSENGER(S) IS NOT INCLUDED AND MUST BE PURCHASED FOR $50 EACH (passenger will receive Event Shirt and access to the Welcome Dinner)
Drivers Registration
$249.00
SEPTEMBER 11th-13th, 2026
(THIS IS A CORVETTE - ONLY EVENT)
Includes
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Access to Driver’s Meetings and printed maps for your guided drives
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Guided drives based on your desired pace for three days and over 600 miles through the best roads in the US
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Unlimited access to the photo library from our personal event photographer. These will include the photos from the Killboy Photography tents along the Tail of the Dragon on Friday and from our personal event photographer that drives our routes with us. (Photos from their site are typically $9 each)
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2026 Vettes versus the Dragon event shirt
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Access to our catered Welcome Dinner and Bonfire Party
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Vettes versus the Dragon Windshield Banner
This is a rain or shine event! Registration can be cancelled with a refund, minus a 20% processing fee, when done no more than six weeks out from the event date. If you need to cancel within six weeks of the event, you will be given a credit towards a future event, that must be redeemed within a calendar year. Within two weeks of the event, no refund nor credit will be given.
The registration for Vettes Vs. Dragon is now open now , www.vettesversusthedragon.com, is where you can signup for the event. The reservation site was just opened up for AACC to signup, but others will be able to use those places as well so please get signed up.
If you have any questions, please let me know.
Thank you,
Tim
AACC
Vettes Vs. Tail of the Dragon
September 10-13, 2026
This is a AACC MEMBERS ONLY event capped at 200 Corvettes. The Fontana Village Resort located at Fontana Dam, NC is the host for the event, which is just ten miles from Tail of the Dragon. I have prices that are tentative at this point for rooms at the resort. The ballpark price per night is about $200.
The cost for the event is $249 for the driver and $49 for the passenger. This includes:
- Access to Driver’s Meetings and printed maps for your guided tour drives
- Guided drives based on your desired pace for the three days and over 600 miles through the best roads in the US.
- Unlimited access to photo library from our personal event photographer. These will include the photos from Killboy Photography. He has tents along the Tail of the Dragon on Friday and from our personal event photographer that drives our routes with us.
- 2026 Vettes VS. the Dragon event shirt
- Access to the catered Welcome Dinner and Bonfire Party
- Vettes VS. the Dragon Windshield Banner
The event has plans for about 600 miles of driving over a three-day period.
Starting Thursday September 10th for registration is from 4:00 pm to 8:00pm.
Friday after the drives starting in the morning there will be a welcome dinner so all participants will eat together in the Event Hall.
Saturday and Sunday will be days of driving.
We will be driving on the Tail of the Dragon, Cherohala Skyway, Hellbender, Moonshiner 28, and many other mountain roads that you would not experience on your own.
The approximate drive times are 6 hours on Friday, 6 hours on Saturday, and 5 hours on Sunday. Driving groups will be broken into driving styles.
From San Antonio to Tail of the Dragon is around 1100 miles I am thinking two days to get there, driving about 500 to 600 miles each day.
I am working on an itinerary for routes and places to stay and eat at. As I get more information about the event I will get it posted. I want to get our spots reserved.
If you are interested in going on this trip please contact me ASAP at:
Tim Ketchner
Ketch419@ gmail.com
(561)718-1230