About ten miles out of Indy, I nudged Aaron awake, and gave him the address to my motel. He punched it into his phone, and struggled with the screen, alternating between looks of intense focus, and a blank stare.
"Just stay on seventy", he finally determined.
We were approaching the I-465 loop, and I noticed that John and Robert moved over to the right lane to take it, so I questioned Aaron again, and he still told me to stay on seventy.
Dad called, and asked if we were lost, explaining that Lucas Oil Raceway was a good bit north, and most likely our motel was also.
John and Opal took the exit, and headed to their motel, satisfied in the knowledge that I had no idea where I was going, but Robert, along with my Dad as his passenger, followed us as we rolled by the airport, and headed towards the center of Indianapolis.
"Take this exit for Holt", Aaron ordered in a bland monotone. I complied.
"Now take a left at the bridge", he continued.
I did that as well, and took a look at my surroundings, old warehouses, poor lighting, very little retail. Then the road narrowed and we were in a residential area with small houses set tightly together, and close to the road. We went under a railroad bridge and then he instructed me to take a left. This was clearly a residential street, perceptively narrower than the previous, with cars parked on both sides and even smaller houses. I was waiting for Clint Eastwood to step off his porch, walk out into the road with a shotgun, and tell us to get off his street!
I looked over at Aaron, his smart phone was his singular focus, as he squinted at the screen, both thumbs moving rapidly.
"Is my motel somewhere down here?" I asked with a good deal of trepidation, as I tried to keep the 428 at a steady rpm in the hopes of not setting off car alarms, or waking the entire neighborhood.
"No...they were right, we should've turned on 465, so we're taking a short cut back to that", he said it without even looking up.
I really wanted to take this teachable moment, and work with it, but decided I just wanted to get to a bed, so I let it go, and hoped to see a real interstate again before the car broke down!

This was the motel that I had been comped, when the rooms I purchased had been cancelled due to maintenance issues, so I had no idea what to expect. We pulled into a Clarion, set back in a corporate office style development, and once we parked, I noticed how quiet it was in this area, it was also obvious we were the only Drag Week vehicle in the parking lot!
Dad and Robert walked over, as Aaron jumped out of the Valiant and headed for Robert's truck.
"How far away is your motel, Robert?"
"About twenty-four miles back the other way", he chuckled and shook his head.
"Oh, crud! I'm sorry, you should've called, and we could've swapped these guys earlier!"
"It's OK, I have a feeling you guys won't be in the first group of cars down the track tomorrow!"
"No", I agreed, "Probably going to sleep in for a while!"
"I think we will too!" he agreed and with that, they left.
Dad, and I went in and checked into our rooms. I called Dale as soon as I sat down on the bed.
"We made the second checkpoint", he informed me, "Now we are working across the rest of Illinois Sixteen".
I warned him about the fifteen miles of county road upcoming, then asked if Boone was with them.
"No, we called ahead when we realized we were re-wiring the entire alternator circuit, and told him to go ahead. We have Darren with us though".
I took a shower, then called Boone, and gave him instructions to the motel and told him to call me when he arrived so I could open the door for him. I fell asleep in a few seconds, but didn't need the call, as the sound of the Barnyard in the quiet parking lot woke me up just fine, I'm sure it had the same effect on other patrons as well!