Wednesday was really a nice, low key, no drama day, but you could see the metaphorical storm brewing in the sunset. Dale and Boone were definitely putting a concerted effort into finishing up their respective rides as soon as possible. Darren had to make a run to Dallas for work, so he was out of the picture all day, but he had been working Dad, Mom and Boone over on the phone to set up a last ditch effort on his Dakota, so I had a feeling things would get interesting the next day.
I overheard Boone complaining to Dale about the 4.30s in the Truck being particularly noisy, so I used that moment as an excuse to take a ride in it with him.
"Boone, I thought you had to run over to Darren's and do some laundry tonight?"
"Yeah, yeah I do, and I need to gather up some more of my tools over there as well", he mentioned.
Dale fired the Gremlin, brought it up to two grand, tickled the spray, and the 440 jumped. "That's two hundred" he smiled, then hit the other button, "and that's the hundred I'll stack on top!" The result was definitely milder than the first hit.
"I'll ride over in the Barnyard with you Boone, that way I can listen to that third member".
I realized as we drove over that it was my first ride in the truck. Last year had been so hectic at Drag Week that I
never even got the opportunity. "Boone, that's not any louder than the school busses we rode on as kids!" I laughed.
"Yeah, but those things were huge. Think it will last the week?
"Sure, no problem. It'll probably quiet down after a few miles anyway."

Once we were at Darren's, Boone started taking care of his errands, but I went right for the laptop on the counter! My internet withdrawals were reaching a near critical point, and I really needed a fix! Luckily, one of the first things I ran across was Bill Fowler explaining that he had a division inspector showing up at the track on Saturday to do chassis inspections! Seems Dale may be in luck, if the Gremlin could pass...