I walked over to the Gremlin for a chat with Dale, then noticed the Charger was gone.
"Where's Darren and the Charger?"
Dale threw his hands up, and shook his head.
"I've been over here helping him ever since I made my run. Got everything adjusted, carb dialed in, told him to put it in the lanes and see where we are at. He refused, said he wants to see how it runs on the street first, before he tries to make a pass!"
"Do what? We've got like thirty-five minutes before they close the lanes", I exclaimed.
"I know, but he drove out the gate and headed down the highway about fifteen minutes ago", Dale shrugged.
"What about yours, you blew the tires off with the front end in the air."
"I adjusted the tire pressure...and put another fifty horse in the first hit", he rubbed the back of his neck.
"What are you thinking? You need to back it down and get a clean leave before you worry about more power! How much did you take out of the second plate?
"None! Look...I just need to hit it a little harder right away, and get it up on the tire, so it will take the second one!"
I swear, he can tune anybody else's car just fine, but his own...not a chance! Before I had the opportunity to talk any sense into him, Darren returned from his test drive. He pulled up beside the Gremlin, and you could clearly hear the valve train rattling over the rumble of the three inch exhaust.
Dale looked over at me while he gave Darren the cut off sign, "It's done!"
Darren jumped out and looked at Dale, "It pulled real strong to 67 in low, then about 62 in second, and drive wasn't all that impressive. Then when I idled back in here I could hear noise in the top!"
"Well", Dale was trying to chose his words, "if you had made that pass down the strip, we could've turned that slip in and tried to find another cam. As it is, you're out of time and have at least one flat lobe."
"If it ate the cam, I'm done then", Darren resigned himself, "I'm not going to tear up more stuff, trying to rush it back together".
That was easier than I expected, maybe finishing last year changed his perspective, but for the 73 Charger...it was now 0 for 3 on Drag Weeks.