It seemed at though the rest of our crew had their second wind, no doubt buoyed by the naps they had stole while trading off during the drive. I was hammered, and decided to put the Valiant in the tech line straightaway, then catnap in the car as the line moved oh so slowly. As late as three years ago the tech line was filled with anxious racers who would cut around you, and crowd in to try and get through as quickly as possible, it has since transformed into an all day parking lot car show, complete with canopies, lawn chairs, and drinks with umbrellas in them. The laid back approach is a godsend, for those like me, trying to catch up on sleep; or those like my brothers, trying to re-wire an entire car that hasn't seen direct current in fifteen years. Everyone mills about touching base with old friends, making new ones and generally making jokes about those who didn't make it. It's a good time really, if you are conscious, and I pretty much wasn't for the first two hours or so. When I finally began to gather coherent thought again, I stepped out of the Valiant and took stock of our situation: I had moved the Valiant forward in the line about 200 feet, Rachael now had the Belvedere in line, and the three little brothers were still gathered around the Duster, exactly where they had pushed it off the trailer when we arrived!
I ambled over and asked when they intended to join the party.
"It's only 11 or so...the back of the line doesn't cut off until 1, or is it 2...and we still have a ton of work." Dale commented without even looking up to acknowledge me.
"The darn thing fired up on it's own and drove on the trailer at home, how much more does it need to get through tech?" I implored, my voice raspy with irritation.
"Yeah, sure it did!" This time he did look up, "with the fuel pump hot wired to the battery, and the ignition box wires twisted together! Basically I'm trying to re-create what we did to the Barnyard Viper in four days, but I'm trying to accomplish it on Tech and Registration Day!"

I decided to return to the Valiant, I just didn't need that kind of stress in my life at that moment.