I was going in and out of sleep for a while, then dawn began to appear as we were about 15 miles from the track, so I figured I'd better stay up so I could direct Dad to the motel.
"Did I tell you the story about Freiburger at Tulsa"?
"Nope Dad, haven't heard that one yet".
"There were 4 or 5 guys standing in a circle BS'in about the event, and Freiburger was just off to the side within earshot. One of the locals who obviously didn't know who he was goes into a rant about how...well, for a guy who supposedly loves cars, and loves hotrods, why did he create an event that seemed so bent on destroying them"! Dad started laughing, "It was hillarious, DF looked like he'd been shot, and just walked off...that guy had no idea why his comment had such an effect..it was great"!
"Boy o' boy, I don't think he's trying to destroy cars, I think he's trying to get guys to USE them, ENJOY them as they were intended..."
"I agree, it was just funny how it all went down."
"When did you last talk to the brothers"? I asked.
He relayed the latest tale to me, and I decided we weren't having such a bad go of it after all!
We cruised past the track entrance on Topeka Blvd., and made our way to the motel, he pulled into the parking lot, and parked in front of a room closest to the street.
"We will probably be on the other side, Dad".
He still had the engine running, "Ok, I'll pull over there".
"No..that's OK".
He pulled the shifter into reverse and went to hit the T-brake button, but grabbed the linelock button instead, the engine died instantly.
"What the heck was that"? he had a concerned look.
"That...has been converted to the Nitrous button, and apparently it's armed! The bottle is off, so you just flooded the engine with fuel", I explained
"Oh, well then, we're parked"!, he exclaimed as he shoved it into park, and attempted to extricate himself from the car.
I went into the lobby and got the room key. One of the couples we had met at that motel on Monday morning were already at the continental breakfast.
"You look rough", she greeted me with a smile.
"Yeah, we just got in".
"Ouch, rough trip"?
"Yeah, What time are they supposed to start today"?
"3:30 pm, but with the cloudy weather, we don't trust them, so we are heading out there around 11:00, just to be sure", She confided.
"Sounds like a plan, see you out there"!
"Ok, get some rest"!