Love the Barry family.2011 Joe did a shout out on Bangshift that he would not be in Topeka in time to get his trailer from U-Haul in Topeka picked up before they closed.I contacted him and got it handled.By chance one of the mechanics there knew me and knew about DW.Michelle asked who is picking it up. Joes reply"Some guy named Don" LOL.

Joe is a great guy and the whole family are outstanding people......but Joe is a big boy. The seat is actually mounted a bit wonky in the car and he is not sitting straight. So when HE is straight, the car is NOT. He does not race all the time, so has a tough time getting it lined up. As mentioned his son is technically too young, plus he nor Joe's wife are comfortable in their ability to find the groove and get the car straight. Something that fast, HAS to be straight

Yes it does.Good info Monte.

The only difference between Dale's launch of the Gremlin at Great Lakes as opposed to the first two days, was that he knew what was coming. It spun just as hard at the hit of the second stage of nitrous, then pushed itself out of the groove, but he pedaled and recovered much quicker with the knowledge of what to expect. From my vantage point four sets of cars back, it looked like a decent pass, and I was expecting another 9.0 at a buck fifty. The 9.26-141 was a little concerning, but with two aggressive stages fed by a common line and a single bottle, usually anytime his mph falls off it simply means he was running out of spray.

Rachael was in the next pair, and I knew the chances of her not having enough nitrous in the current bottle was pretty good, as she had made her previous three runs on it, and I had used it for a half pass in Vegas. When she went 12.35-111, I figured it was the bottle, but it trailed a good bit of blue smoke in the shutdown, and I was reminded of listening to the engine with Robert the night before. Maybe the old 440 was just too tired for the beatings we were giving it.

I was the straggler of our group, and there were two sets of cars between Rachael and myself. The first pair were Charlie Ogle in his Challenger, and Jay Brown in his SOHC Shelby. Like Rachael and I, both of these guys made multiple hits in the last two hours at Great Lakes. Jay was chasing electrical issues in his fuel delivery system, and Charlie's Gold Dodge wasn't getting anywhere near the number he ran at Indy.

Not even close, little did I know that I had pushed a head gasket. Found out as I left the gate and I finished it off. I pulled over on the side of the road at the first turn. Part of my problem was solved by one of the staff from great lakes drag way, he came by and told us we could work on it at his place that was about a mile down the road, we (Billy my trunk monkey, Jason and my nephew Dillon in the Cuda) got it down there and then realized the next problem, I had a blown head gasket and only one spare gasket, so which head do I pull? I decided to pull the left head because that was the side the O2 sensor was on and the afr gauge was going crazy. In the mean time the Great Lakes crew member ( for the life of me I can't remember his name) located another head gasket, so Jason takes off in the Cuda to get it. So with two head gaskets we go ahead and pull the other head, the left one was pushed into the water passage and the right one was almost there, so with two fresh head gaskets and 4 1/2 hours later we got back on the road, thank god it was the short trip that day! The next day with good head gaskets I blew through the clutch and had to baby it the rest of the way, at that point I was still in the top 32 but could not muster up a quick enough pass the last day to keep me there with all if the clutch issues. Made the top 32 in 2014 but bent the clutch fork in Tulsa and told them I couldn't make the bracket race, broke a pressure plate bolt in 2013 in Memphis, every year a common theme so when I got home after last year I called John at Cope racing trans and ordered a killer 727, and a gear vendor, we will see if that gets the monkey off my back next year! And Billy thanks for the pic of my brothers car on the line that is one I did not have.

His name isn't Don is it?

Always like to hear tales of a trunk monkey earning his or her keep Charlie! Seems co-pilots named Bill don't always pull their weight. While yours was turning wrenches, this is what my Dad was doing! I'll let Clark decide where his Dad is on that spectrum...

Dad his supervising.Someone has to.

I was paired for my first hit with Nick Plewniak, and his stretchy truck. I raced Nick last year in the shootout, and I know he takes quite a while to do his burnout and stage, so I decided to wait on him in the water. One of the frustrating things for a drag racer who'd trying to race a street car with a t-stat is engine temperature, and I was trying to get at least one pass in without the thing being completely heat soaked.

I was shocked when Nick did a shorter than normal burnout, so I went ahead and did mine, and approached the line, then waited, waited, and waited some more. When I looked back over my shoulder, guys had both doors to the S-10 open, and appeared to be helping Nick with something. I motioned at the starter, but he told me to sit tight. Apparently Nick had pulled the same stunt Boone had, and they were putting his belts on him while my tires got colder and my engine hotter. The Valiant hesitated at the hit again, then spun a little, so I was already formulating my plan for the next run as I approached the finish line. I remembered John's description of the shutdown area and track exit, so I decided to concentrate on that, halfway through the braking zone the track falls away from you downhill, then you navigate a quick button hook onto the return road which had me wondering how a 250+ inch dragster would ever make it!

My dad Bill is a great trunk monkey, I haven't caught him napping in the pits yet! We have been fortunate enough to get more sleep than you guys have on the last few DWs however.

This is what I woke up to in Cordova, I know none of your cars were there when I went to sleep.

Don sounds right, he was a great help.

The 10.62-126.7 slip, with a 1.53 short time, didn't leave me all warm and fuzzy, but the drive down the return road with all the cheering and thumbs up from fans hanging on the fence certainly did. Usually by 1:00pm on Drag Week, the energy is definitely waning, replaced with desperation as a handful of racers struggle for that money time slip. With the GLD crowd, that simply wasn't the case, and their enthusiasm permeated the pits. John went up for a second run in his Valiant, not because he needed a quicker pass, just for the enjoyment of running at a track he may never visit again, an d to enjoy the atmosphere. He wasn't alone in that regard either, Clark Strong's 69 Road Runner had already went 11.55 without a bar, about as close as he could cut it, but he made at least three more runs after that.

I changed squirters again on the Valiant, and took a half pound out of the Hoosiers, then helped Skippy swap bottles in the Belvedere after Rachael's second run, staying on the nitrous out the back door, had only netted an 11.89-114.5. My second run was forty minutes after the first, and after complaining about my less than stellar launch the first time, John walked over to help me get the burnout right. The Valiant pushed through the line lock twice, so he backed me off, and had the track official re-spray the pad. With a good burnout, and a quick stage, my confidence that this would be a good run was high, but that slight hesitation at the drop of the pedal was still there. 10.53-126.9 with a 1.51 60' was the third quickest ET. the car has ran NA, but coming off a 10.39 the day before, and knowing it's went a 1.42 already to the first clocks...I wasn't satisfied.

If thats him in the pic his name is on his Shirt

Dustin and Jason, in the lanes at Great Lakes Dragaway.

Rachael's third run of the day was a single, probably the first she's ever ran. The change in routine and the nervous jitters of the fresh bottle on board, caused her to drive through the beams before the tree activated, and she didn't get a time.

I had parked in our pit area, and was expecting her return, but she drove directly back to the lanes and was re-staging the Belvedere a scant six minutes later.

"It's almost like one of those jokes about three guys walking into a bar when you see the Gebharts going down the highway..." Hot Rod Drag Week Announcer Brian Lohnes boomed out as she staged.
I was pretty anxious to hear where he was going to take this comment, I mean this is the same guy who once introduced my Valiant with the age old line about beauty being skin deep, but ugly was to the bone!
"Because it's like a Belvedere, a Valiant, and a Gremlin are going down the highway", he continued , "and there should be a punchline, but the only punchline is, they're all really fast, and really reliable, and belong to people who love this event with all their beings..."

"Dang", I thought, "He was going completely off the cuff, and put together a wonderful compliment on the fly...that's real talent, no wonder NHRA hired him."

"We have to thank the Gebharts for putting the data together that we are using here to look at the historic numbers that have been run at Drag Week", David Freiburger followed up on Brian's comments, "they keep a list...like we have not, and they've got it nailed!"
"Yeah, absolutely, he's got it locked down", Brian added.
"It got us talking last night about how we really should put together an official record book, but who knew eleven years ago that this thing would get this big...kinda crazy!" Freiburger finished up.

I saw Rachael lift off the nitrous just past 1000ft., but judging by how hard the Belvedere left with the fresh hit, I had doubts it would make a difference. 11.30, at only 114...best ET ever for the car! Stood there shaking my head, wishing she would have just ran it out!

Billy.. how do you remember all of this... do you
have a tape recorder that you tape that days events
then do that daily... even with the help of the family
member no one can remember all this.. nice job... hell
I have a hard time remembering my name

My friend of ours Donnie had the TT Chevette this year going 7:80's for some of the events until he got called home for an emergency family reasons.

He must have a photographic memory...although I can remember how I set up my first race car over 35 years ago, I can't remember what I had for breakfast yesterday. You remember what is important to you.

In an earlier post Billy said he had been blessed with a photographic memory and that is obviously the case!

Bill