Massillon is a pretty cool little town. It's where my Mom was born and raised. Been there many times on vacations. Always felt like "home".

In their haste to catch me, the brothers and Rachael hadn't stopped for fuel yet, so when they pulled into the first station after the checkpoint, I continued on in the scout position. I found myself on US-30W, which looking at google maps in hindsight, would've taken us directly into the town of Mansfield where the second checkpoint was located. The Hot Rod Drag Week staff however, decided to include a little back road adventure in an attempt to add sixteen miles and about thirty minutes to the overall route.
What follows is the tale of how that excursion cost the Gebhart contingent twenty-five miles, an hour and forty-five minutes, and one heated argument.

US-30 is a nice divided four lane, that allowed me to sip down my coffee as the 428 happily pounded out the tempo at 3000 rpm. We covered the twenty-five miles to Wooster effortlessly, then took the OH-3 exit towards Loudonville. OH-3 was divided four lane for the first four miles or so, then merged into a small country two lane with mature trees once again removing the moonlight. I backed the small block down to 2700 rpm and hunched over the wheel to get a better view of the road ahead. Fifty-seven miles into our supposed seventy-two mile trek between checkpoints I came upon a problem; the route sheet called for a right onto OH-97W which was to take us on what was planned to be a breathtaking and scenic jaunt through the Mohican-Memorial State Forest. The road was closed, with large orange and florescent barriers across the entire entrance, and a detour sign pointing back in the direction I had just came from, so I pulled the Valiant over on the shoulder, shut it off and leaned back in the seat to wait for the others.
Rachael parked behind me about ten minutes later, and I explained the situation to her, so she pulled out her phone and started looking for alternative routes. Boone and Dale showed up another fifteen minutes after that, then we all huddled around Rachael's phone and the decision was made to drive the four miles back to Loudonville to take OH-39 which essentially made a loop around the state park we were supposed to drive through.

We arrived at Mansfield around 11:00 or so, the same time Larry Dixon, and Crusty Nova arrived. Everything was closed. You guys got there as the Cafe across the street was opening for breakfast LOL. Wish I would have got the picture of Crusty Nova leaving there, as the burnout pulling a trailer was epic.

We were all of one accord in front of the road closed sign. Ten miles later, not so much, our Waterloo was the small town of Perrysville Ohio which sits near the intersection of OH-39, and OH-95. I was too tired to continue to lead, so I ended up as the caboose when we left. We were diligently following the OH-97 detour signs until we entered Perrysville, a town of less than 800 which is six streets wide and fourteen streets long. The hangup was that they had just finished putting out detour signs all through town to clear a route for Tuesday morning's Parade. The competing detour signs turned us all around and it felt like we covered five miles and about twenty turns to get from one end of town to the other.

Perfectly situated at the intersection of the two Ohio byways was a Marathon gas station, which featured two entryways from each road, two separate islands of gas pumps and a strategically located convenience store turned at just the right angle to handle traffic from both directions. Everyone pulled up to a pump except me. I always plan to be as close to empty as I can when I arrive at the track, and based on my first stop, I felt I could make it.

As soon as Boone shut the Duster off, he ran over to the Belvedere to tell Rachael how many times she had screwed up coming through town, and which way she should have done it. She was tired, and in no mood for his complaining so she lit into him, followed shortly by Dad. We had a full blown yelling and pointing argument going in the parking lot, with early morning commuters looking around like a bomb had went off. Dale casually pulled himself out of the Gremlin and started pumping fuel as if nothing was going on. I followed his lead and made my way to the C-store for another 24 ounce coffee/hot cocoa mix.
When I came out they were still at it, and I determined if someone didn't intervene they were probably going to drive back to the other end of town just to prove each other wrong.

"I don't really care where we've been, I just want to know if we can get from this station to the second checkpoint!"
The combatants exchanged a few more barbs and unpleasantries until I made it clear that all I wanted to know was if we were taking OH-95 to the left, or continuing straight on OH-39. Then I explained to Rachael exactly how many gallons of gas I wanted in the Belvedere, so she could arrive at Norwalk with only a few left in the tank. I retired to the driver's seat of the Valiant, and closed my eyes until I heard them all fire up to leave, then I followed them out onto OH-95 which would take us to OH-97, and the comfort of being back on the route sheet. Ten miles, in an hour and fifteen minutes...wonderful.

The remaining twenty-five miles to checkpoint #2 went by easily until we arrived right in the heart of Mansfield. A series of one way streets near the park that was our checkpoint might be easily navigated in a comfortable sedan when you are wide awake, but when I found myself making a hasty exit from driving up a one-way backwards only to realize I was driving up another one backwards, I pulled into a small parking lot to get my bearings, with Dale in the Gremlin right behind me.
We jumped out and stretched our legs, as we studied the route sheet. We could hear the sound of the Belvedere and the Duster echoing off nearby buildings, but couldn't see them.

"Left onto South Diamond, left onto east Park, left at South Main, left at South Park", Dale read from the sheet pointing as he went.
"That's just a big circle", I retorted, "we're going to end up in front of this building we are parked beside!"
I walked twenty yards to the end of the building just in time to see Boone and Rachael enter the Parkway from the opposite end.
I went back to Dale and explained, "All we have to do is drive across that grass and jump the curb, then we will be there".
"Or, we could drive around this route, come into the park the same way they did, and not hang a header on a curb, rip the exhaust off, and be working under the car for the next two hours!"
I slumped my shoulders, "I'll follow you then".

When I was in the planning stages for Drag Week 2016, I decided to throw in one "fun" motel. Something a little off the beaten path, not corporate in any way. It was unfortunate that I chose it for Norwalk on Monday night, because the ambiance and experience was to be wasted on six weary travelers who didn't arrive until seven-thirty in the morning.
I had chosen the Willard Country Inn, because the town of Willard was almost directly between Columbus and Norwalk, but the Drag Week route planners weren't done pulling our chain. What should have been a 26.8 mile drive to the motel from checkpoint #2, was in fact 46.2 miles after they headed us out of Mansfield on an easterly path towards Ashland on US-42, before we went back north. We were running about forty-five down the congested little two lane when the driver's side front quicklatch let go, and the front of my hood started raising on that side every time the wind caught it just right.
"If that happened on the track at a buck-twenty, my new 'glass hood would be toast", I thought to myself.
We stopped to fasten it back down, but the nut was gone from the bottom of the pin, and the only way to fix it was to remove the grille, so it would have to wait until we arrived at the track.

Day 2 Summit Motorsports Park, Norwalk, OH

The motel was everything I had hoped for, a friendly family staff, spacious and well appointed rooms, one was done in a cowboy motif while the other was train themed. We managed to each steal about a hundred minutes of sleep and a shower in the two hours we stayed there. Little Billy was the lone exception, as he kept crawling back in bed at every attempt to get him to shower. Finally he was told we were leaving and was only given the option to change clothes, it was pretty pathetic considering Boone had informed us that he slept in the Duster from the first checkpoint on.

"I'm going to find a tire store", Dale announced, "if I switch to the 33-10.5 W slicks, the extra roll-out will help with the gear problem, since I'm obviously not going to get a chance to swap out the 4.10s for the 3.73's".
"What if we hit rain later on?" Boone questioned, rubbing his eyes.
"It's not going to rain this year", Dale laughed, "and do you really think those lines on the ET Streets make a difference?"
The truth is, the Gremlin has never been in the eights on the MT 31-14.5 ET Streets, every eight second run has happened on the 33" slicks.

Sure hope you guys make it this year!

I entered 1 car, as did Dale and Boone. We may bring more and try to get in, only time will tell!

We had twenty miles to go to reach Summit Motorsports Park. When we pulled out on US-20 for the final part of our journey we were greeted by a large contingent of Drag Week participants already headed in the other direction, following the route to Martin Michigan. It is not unusual for everyone to try and get a jump on the drive the second day, it's almost a knee jerk reaction to what is a long Monday for everyone.

I have long looked forward to visiting Norwalk, and this fine facility that my friends in NHRA circles have raved about since the Bader's made the switch from IHRA in 2007. In a sleep deprived stupor simply going through the motions wasn't really what I had imagined, but that was what we were facing regardless of my dreams.

Ray Meyers and the Black Pearl had opened the day's festivities, collecting the first time slip of the day with a stellar 9.86-135, a full tenth quicker than his Monday's pass. No doubt he was first to turn his in, and first with a route sheet in his hand, needless to say, we didn't meet at all on Tuesday!

Shortly after Ray, Randy Heinselman in the Plum Crazy AAR with the 528 Aluminum Hemi would lay down a 9.76, also a tenth improvement, but his MPH was down two. He got greedy and stuck around for a second pass later in the day, and was rewarded with a stout 9.63-140.6!

Watching the live feed later on, it was understandable why so many competitors were already on their way to Martin by the time we arrived. The first hour of class car time runs had went by in near flawless fashion, with only Mike Burroughs' shredding and tossing of a Gilmer belt from his Pro-charger to slow up the action.

Corey Pant's small block 74 Duster improved by eight hundredths and a mph over their Monday run, carding a 10.82-124.5, likewise for Dave McKenna (OUTLAWD) who's 66 improved four hundredths, so they were both one, done, and on their way to US131.

The surprise for me in that first hour was the sighting of Ross Dudley's yellow 68 Road Runner among the class cars. He's always ran Street Machine Eliminator, and I know he had an R signifying that class on his windshield in Columbus, but you are allowed that first day to switch classes, and he clearly had a K on there in Norwalk. My guess was that he determined the cut-off for the quick 32 was going to be well below the 11.50 limit for no-bar cars, so he might as well move to a class so he could get the early shot at the track. Ross installed a small N20 plate a couple years ago to get him right on the 11.50, but this year he was back in the 11.90-12.00 range so I suspect he was running NA.

Great story as usual MoparBilly!

Right on the money Billy.

Turns out the 9.95-129 that Derek Mueller and his small block Mopar powered, aluminum bodied Land Cruiser ran on Monday, was going to be the highlight of his 2016 Drag Week effort. Shortly after leaving Columbus they ran into valve train issues that would plague them for the remainder of the trip. Thanks to the concerted effort of many other Drag Weekers, they were able to limp it into Norwalk, and he managed a 7 cylinder, no nitrous 12.32-107.5 to keep his hopes of finishing intact, although the road ahead looked bleak.

Drag Week was once again, unkind to the big Hemi B-bodies. For the third year in a row, Rick Callahan would endure a DNF. Last year, the performance fell off each day until the black 69 Road Runner couldn't continue. This year he laid down a 10.28-133.35 at Norwalk, which was the highest Mph ever for the big elephant on Drag Week, so I have no idea why he didn't make it to Martin for Wednesday.

Norwalk had to be especially frustrating for James Pranis and his Charger. His first pass was aborted very early in the run, then he was one of only two cars who weren't allowed to run at the end of session one. James would bring the black monster back around in the final fifteen minutes of the day for a 10.00-136.9, but the Hemi was clearly not performing to it's usual standards. To make matters worse, his girlfriend Lisa's V-6 Buick fell off to a 10.84-122 at Norwalk, after recording best ever drag week numbers of 9.23-148 the day before. I'm sure the decision not to continue was a tough one, but their DW-16 came to an end at some point Tuesday evening.

My Dad and I ran into Ralph at the hotel the night before Martin, I believe he said Rick's Hemi lost a roller lifter.

Lonnie ended session one for the class cars at 11:00 Am, and they had been on the track for 2 hours and 18 minutes. From the tower position that Lohnes and Freiburger were announcing from, they had a great view of the entire facility, and Brian had been commenting on the racers arriving and leaving all morning. In the ten minutes of down time between the end of the class cars and the beginning of the SME session you can clearly hear Brian on the live feed announce that the Gebharts are just now arriving. From my perspective, I thought we rolled in a little earlier than that, but as I stated before, we weren't particularly on point Tuesday!

There were three hours of track time left, and we weren't the only people up against it. The Mopar turbo-mafia with their stable of front scratchers seemed to be caught up in a thrash of their own. Obviously I didn't take the time to check in with them, but it was clear more was going on than usual.

Of the 115 Street Machine Eliminator entries that registered on Sunday, only 106 made runs on Tuesday. After waiting two hours for their turn to hit the Summit Motorsports Park tarmac, the SME guys printed eighty time slips in roughly thirty-five minutes, not only a credit to them, but the track personnel as well.
One interloper, Matt Grant, managed to successfully sneak his Modified/PA 2007 Mustang through the SME staging lanes and blasted an 8.468-165.97 in the middle of the 10.00 and up class, thoroughly confusing announcer Brian Lohnes, and everyone watching.

The parade of eleven second Mopars in the SME class started with Rodney Munchiando's black small block 68 Dart GTS with an 11.77, and was followed up by Randy Juliani's 66 Coronet at 11.79, Scott Abbott's 70 Road Runner at 11.60, and the red Challenger Hellcat with an 11.20-125. Clark Lamb's 68 Barracuda has turned in 20 official Drag Week time slips in the previous four years, but the 11.12-121 at Norwalk was the best ever, so the stroker small block build was beginning to show dividends. It took Charlie Ogle two hits to get an 11.15-123, as his gold Challenger belched smoke and struggled to an 11.83 on his first run.

I cropped and zoomed in on Clark to try and figure out what he' s looking down at as he hits the 60' mark of the track. Is he texting his wife back in Tulsa? Going on Facebook live? Perhaps he's got the laptop in his lap and he's adjusting the timing and fuel curves on the fly? Whatever it was sure had his full attention!

It doesn't leave particularly hard, and it has radials on all four corners so you don't have to steer much. I had done the hard part already so I was watching it on the live feed.

Actually the tach is mounted in one of the large rally dash holes, your picture makes a good case for a shift light in a higher location lol.