"I'm going to steal Aaron, and head to our motel." Robert informed me, as they were staying in a different location than the rest of us.
So I was once again on my own as we resumed the last twenty five miles of our journey. I held the Valiant to 2500 RPM, probably a good ten mph under the speed limit, the whole time we were on I-255, because the rock hard front tire seemed to chase every nuance and undulation in the road. We rolled into the motel complex in Collinsville, where 90 percent of the Drag Weekers were staying, at around ten pm, and the desire to chase down a sit down meal was pretty much gone by then.
Rachael and Skippy grabbed us some below average White Castle, while I showered, then fired up the laptop to check Thursday's results leading into the final day.

Boone, Dad, Darren, James and Dale showed up about two hours later, just as I was falling to sleep.
"What took you guys so long?"
"We stopped and had Opal's Birthday supper in Jacksonville!" Boone informed me.
"Yeah, we thought about that", I agreed, "but we were too busy getting pictures taken".
"Huh?" He looked at me quizzically.
"Never mind, I'll explain it in the morning!"