I'm only seeing pictures from the track, to the gas station at the entrance of the track. Nothing more to see here. LOL.

That's awesome.

Thats great!

I let Rachael take the lead as we left Martin, and it wasn't long before I was at 3200 rpm just trying to keep her in view. We covered a hundred and five miles, including state routes and a few stop light to stop light towns in just a tick over two hours. Google maps claims you can do it in an hour and fifty-seven minutes without traffic; there was traffic, and plenty of it.
We pulled into La Paz Indiana, and fueled up both cars while Rachael went in and grabbed us some Arby's. She brought it out and handed Dad and I our orders, then plopped back behind the wheel of the Belvedere.
"We don't have time to sit down and eat?" Dad shrugged his shoulders at me as we both cleaned our windshields.
"I guess not Dad", I shook my head, "She must have a hot date in Indy!"

It was 11 miles to Checkpoint #1, a restored Mobil Gas station in Plymouth Indiana, our instructions had the line, "building is locked but everything can be observed from the windows" on it, but apparently the proprietor had heard about what was going on and had the place wide open, with a bunch of friends gathered, and was enjoying all the cars coming through like it was a major holiday! He invited us to drive a block off the route to check out his old time garage, malt shop, and barber shop as well, but we decided to move on.

I called Boone, and he explained that they had stopped to switch cars, then lost a phone, then stopped to eat, and basically they were already fifty miles behind us.

According to the time stamps on the pictures, Boone, Dale and Billy arrived at checkpoint 1 a full hour later than we did, but even so they did the full tour of the place. Then the Duster wouldn't start (fans were on full time because the new bumper blocked the lower half of the radiator) so the owner of the station had them push it down to his old time garage a block away, and charged the battery while they perused that establishment as well.

We covered the fifty miles to Checkpoint #2, A bull statue at the Mr. Happy Burger in Logansport Indiana, in just over an hour. Rachael had missed at least one of the turns out of the right, left, left coming into town and we got crossed up for a few blocks until we saw other Drag Weekers and just followed them. I pulled up relatively close so I could get a decent picture in the dark, but Rachael parked back further. She was walking towards me, the two or three other Drag weekers, and a crowd of 15 or so locals when I made a joke about her getting us lost.
She was instantly belligerent and yelled, "If these podunk little towns would take care of their street signs, I wouldn't have to drive around like an idiot! One of those poles didn't even have anything on top of it!"
I was as furious with her in a flash as I was last year, and I promised myself that wouldn't happen again. I spun on my heels, marched directly at her, and grabbed the back of her arm as I met her.
"Come with me...right now", I blurted out.
"Hey...that hurts!"
"I'm sure it does", I relaxed my grip as she turned and followed me across the street, out of earshot from the crowd.
"Some of those people in that crowd probably grew up here, and are proud to call this place home. They take time out of their day to come here and greet the Drag Week cars, and the first words out of your mouth is to denigrate their home? Does that represent the Spirit of Drag Week? Does that represent this sport, your home, your family?"
"No, I...no it doesn't", She looked away, then looked at the ground.
"Then get over there, play nice, and be your normal, jovial self...and get your pictures so we can get back on the road!"
The directions for leaving Logansport had a left-right-left-right sequence as well, but Rachael showed me an alternate route on her phone that was a mile or two longer but would only require one turn.
"Sure, we can do that if you like", I agreed.
We hadn't driven a mile when my phone rang, I dug it out and it was Pops.
"Yeah Dad, what's up."
"Listen. Rachael is driving off-route, and she won't listen to me. The Motor-home that's been driving the whole route is following us, and she is going to get us disqualified!"
"OK Dad! Tell her to pull over on the shoulder immediately, and I'll take care of it!"
"Alright Son, I'll tell her!"
"Great, my Dad is calling me on the phone to tattle on my Daughter! Which one do I put in time out? Do I need to separate them? I've truly entered the Twilight Zone", I thought to myself.
The Motor-home drove around them, and I pulled in behind them, got out and approached the passenger's side. Dad held up the route sheet and was pointing at it as soon as I walked up to his window.
"Don't worry about the Cruise America Coach Dad, that's just a bunch of Swedes that wanted to follow along."
"Ok, but we're still off route..."
"I understand that, but only for three miles", I pointed at his sheet for emphasis, "then we will come out on this line where it says Indiana 29".
"So we'll be good on the route from there?" Dad confirmed with his finger.
"Yeah, but let me go get the confirmation sheet for the motel, that way we can just drive to it when we get close", I smiled at him and patted his shoulder, "For the first time in the history of Drag Week, I finally got one that's on the route, before we arrive at the track!"
After I gave them the motel information and got back in the Valiant, I finally exhaled. Rachael had remained completely quiet during the entire exchange, and hadn't made eye contact with either of us. I didn't think she had that kind of self-control, but I was thankful for it; then again she might have been planning our deaths!

We rolled up to the Baymont Inn and Suites in Indianapolis a little after midnight, and Rachael was snoring in bed thirty minutes later. She had pretty much carried her bag to the room, showered, and crawled between the sheets, without muttering more than five words. I was beginning to suspect that her actions and mood of the entire evening was based on nothing else other than pure exhaustion!

I took my shower then called Boone to see where they were at. They had just left Logansport, so I gave them the exit number for the motel and went to bed with the phone near my head.
I'm not sure if Boone's call woke me, or if it was the rumbling of the Gremlin entering the parking lot. I pulled on a t-shirt, and went to open the door at the end of the building to let them in, so they wouldn't have to walk around to the lobby.
"It was nice of Rachael to leave the lights of the Belvedere on for us to find our way in here", Boone shook his head as he entered the door.
"You're kidding!"
"Nope", Dale laughed, and set down his first armload just inside the door, "we were trying to figure out which parking lot went to this motel, and there was the Belvedere with it's lights on!"
He headed back out to the Gremlin, so I looked back at Boone and shrugged, "What took you guys so long?"
"Dale lost a bolt out of his ladder bar, so we spent some time at a gas station repairing that. Other than that it was a pretty smooth trip".
I gave Dale and Billy the spare key card to Dad's room, then Boone and I returned to ours. I fell asleep almost as soon as he started his shower.

2nd pic: Duster oil change residue, next morning...

Day 4, Lucas Oil Raceway, Indianapolis, Indiana
We were sticking with our plan, sleep in late, show up, make our hits in the last hour, and hope that was good enough.

Dave McKenna (OUTLAWD), Ray Meyers (sixpackgut), and Ross Dudley (ross) were sticking with theirs too. Ray and Dave squared off in the third set down the fabled 1320. Dave treed the flat black Barracuda, then put his 66 through the traps at 11.63-114.9. Ray and the Black Pearl drove around the grey Belvedere early on, but his 9.96-134.2 wasn't going to be good enough to hold off Sias' Mustang, so he would be back for another.

Ross pulled his Road Runner alongside Dennis Taylor's Retro Nova a few pairs later. Ross was good with his 11.95-111, but despite running nine seconds quicker than the pass he turned in on Wednesday, Taylor would come back for more after going 8.15-171.

Dale, Boone and I were gathered at a small round table in the continental breakfast area, tossing down synthesized juice and carbs. Dale looked pretty hammered, and I was trying to get an explanation as to how we arrived at the motel several hours ahead of them.
"It started when Boone lost his phone after we stopped to switch cars", Dale explained.
"I was following Dale in the Gremlin and I was driving the Duster again, when we went over a set of railroad tracks and I saw something black fly off the roof of his car. Several miles later I decided I better try to call him and figure out if it was anything important, and as Billy and I rummaged through the Duster looking for my phone, that's when it hit me that I left it on the Gremlin!"
Dale nodded in agreement as he swallowed another bite, "So, at that point, he's following Darren and I, but he can't call us to pull over, so we were another five miles down the road before we stopped."
Boone furthered the story as Dale forked another section of his double stacked waffle, "We talked Darren and Shari into returning to look for the phone, while we stopped in the next town and had supper at KFC."
"KFC?" I looked between the two of them, incredulous, "That's the best you could do?"
"Billy's choice", Boone explained, "He was pretty adamant as soon as he saw the sign, so we just went with it".
"Where did you guys stop and eat, that was so much better than KFC", Dale asked with a knowing smile.
"We didn't, Rachael got us Arby's to go, but you knew that already. Dad must've said something", I discerned.
Dale laughed, "Yeah, he said she was moody, driving off course, wouldn't stop...he didn't sound too happy with her, when we were talking in the room."
"She really got under his skin yesterday", I explained, "I thought I might have to make Dad ride with me for a while, but we made it."
"We have to thank her for the homing beacon she left on that allowed us to find the motel though", Boone laughed.
"What do you mean?"
Dale stuck his hand up to cut Boone off, "So we took the exit like you said, then we turned right at the first street, but there are three motels and four restaurants around here, with all the parking lots intertwined, so we pulled beside each other to figure out which one we were supposed to be in."
It was a race to see who would get to the punch line apparently, and Boone took the lead at this point.
"So I told Dale that it looked like a Drag Week car sitting in the far lot with it's head lights on!"
"We drive over to investigate, and it's the Belvedere...headlights on, driver's door open about a foot, just sitting there!" Dale finished with a flourish.
"Wonderful", I exhaled, "That had to be a good two hours after we arrived!"
"Probably two and a half, because we had more issues after the second checkpoint", Dale continued.

billy, do you know [or anyone else for that matter] any details on that "rat" 46-48 plymouth "coupe" ? is that a shortened sedan perhaps ? what about power plant info ? times it ran ? thanks all !

moparx,
That's Matt Donovan's "41 Pontiac", it's been shortened 21 inches, and the front clip has been pie wedged. It sits on an S-10 frame with a 388 SBC for power. He's ran 11.6 with it previously, but a blown head gasket kept him in the 13's for Drag week '16. He has ran Drag Week in the past with a beautiful 70 GTO Judge.

My phone case has a magnet built into it, it's a pretty handy feature. However it causes as many bonehead moves as it prevents. It's kind of a helpless feeling when you see your wife drive off with your phone stuck to the side of her car.

"What happened to you at the second checkpoint?" I implored Dale to elaborate, but the waffle had his attention again.
"We actually weren't at the second checkpoint too long", Boone took over the discussion, "it was a pretty crazy scene there, so we left pretty quick!"
"What do you mean", I asked, deciding not to explain how it went for us, as I was in full information gathering mode at that point.
"There a was a local police car in the parking lot, and an officer in full gear, so we assumed he was on duty, but he was clearly a car enthusiast. Still, we were on our best behavior when we pulled in. Then crazy Nick climbed all the way to the top of the bull statue to take pictures. Right after that Clark pulled out in his seven second Camaro, and does an eighty foot burnout leaving the place, so we decided not to hang around too long and tempt fate!"
"Yeah, but it was Nick Plewniak and Jeffrey Lutz in that little Honda that saved our butts an hour later in a gas station parking lot!" Dale jumped back into the story, as he wiped his mouth with a paper napkin.
"How was that?"
"Well, Darren and Shari baled on us after the second checkpoint, so Boone and Billy were leading and I was following along in the Gremlin", Dale explained.
"He was slow as heck and I had to keep waiting up for him", Boone interjected.
"I just chalked it up to being really tired at that point", Dale shrugged, "but I could barely keep the Gremlin in my lane at anything over about fifty mph, it just seemed like it was taking way more effort than usual."
"We pulled into a station beside the Honda a few miles later, so I could try to wake up, and Nick noticed that my passenger's side slick was rubbing on the front of the wheel well", Dale shook his head.
"Between the three cars, all we had was my little 2 ton Walmart floor jack", Boone laughed, "which wouldn't even raise the Gremlin up high enough for Dale to get under it!"
"So I looked under, and the bolt on the front of the ladder bar is gone. Then Nick crawls under enough to see the backside, and finds the bolt lodged between the bracket and the bar, but we still have to shove the rear end back far enough to get the bolt lined back up and worked through the brackets and the rod end."
"Mind you", Boone jumped in gesturing with his hands, "all this is taking place with the car supported on this spindly little jack with 12 inches of travel, and not a jack stand to be had!"
"Nick, all 5'5" and a buck thirty, crawled under the car, and is using his leg to push back on the rear end with all his might, while I tried to reach under enough to fish the bolt through", Boone continued, "It was pretty sketchy!"
"I was holding onto the car with a death grip", Dale smiled,"just so scared it was going to fall off the jack and pin one or both of them!"
"Once we had it in place, then we had to figure out how to secure it, since we didn't have any nuts or washers that would fit, and Nick came up with the idea to use zip ties. He put small ones on the threads, and bigger ones around the whole bar end, and that's how we made it to the motel."

pretty cool that particular "pontiac" has been cut down to give an approximate side view from a distance of a 40's "plymouth ! [at least to my old, blind eyes] "imitation is the sincerest form of flattery " . i like that car. i'll bet it's a blast to drive ! sounds like a simple, fun, easy to maintain combination, while saving the hulk from the scrap heap.

I'm still wodering if there is going to be some follow up on the metal in the oil........or is that just "normal" for drag week.

Dwayne I was wondering if in a few more runs down the track we would get a look at what's inside the engine?
I would be "concerned" for sure!

Don

Boone plotted a course to the nearest auto parts store, to pick up supplies to do an oil change, and Dale scanned through his phone for a hardware store. That left Rachael, Pops, and I on our own to head for the racetrack.
"I've got it entered into my phone, if you just want to follow me", Rachael suggested.
From her first turn, I felt we were going the wrong way, but it wasn't until I saw the Speedway looming in front of us that I realized her mistake. I quickly drove the Valiant past the Belvedere, motioned for her to follow me and pulled into a nearby gas station.
I jumped out and approached her door with a shake of my head and a smile, "Jay, we are going to Lucas Oil Raceway, not Indianapolis Motor Speedway!"
She grabbed her phone and changed the desired location, "Aha...and that is in the exact opposite direction!"


Ten minutes into the Class Car session, Jason Doisher's turbo ls powered Mercury wagon bled fuel all over the burnout area, when an injector o-ring failed. Fifteen minutes later David Pearson's 70 Charger broke something in the driveline at the launch, and had to be pushed behind the wall. At almost 9:00 AM, nearly forty minutes into the session Matt Grant's low eight second 07 Mustang put out a huge fog bank of oil smoke from the 330 on, as it struggled to a 10.0 run, and came to rest at the emergency turn-off. It appeared to have an under hood fire when it stopped, but thanks to Matt's quick thinking, and two diligent track workers they extinguished it quickly. Minutes before that it had been announced that the first session would end at precisely 10:00AM, but the resulting clean-up took forty-seven minutes. Lonnie Grimm's adjustment was announced five sets into resumed racing, as Brian let everyone know that the cut-off was extended to 10:30.

The next pair up was David Meyer, in his "Northern Bel" 66 Plymouth and Ray Meyers in his "Black Pearl" 67 Barracuda. Ray has an uncanny knack for working his way back up for a second hit when he needs one that defies the odds, but whether it's muscle (his co-pilot is huge) or money (perhaps a well placed twenty to a racer or track official), he's certainly not going to divulge his secret to me! Both of them ran near best numbers, and were ready to start their final journey to the home track.

Hot Rod Drag Week 2016 Indy by Jeff Bradley, on Flickr

We rolled into Lucas Oil Raceway a little after Ten AM, found a pit spot with plenty of room to spare, just off the main entrance where Boone and Dale could easily find us and began unloading our stuff onto the ground. Nearly as soon as we started, I heard Brian Lohnes' voice rise perceptively as he announced that Jay Meagher's 2JZ powered 97 Toyota Supra was on fire and sliding in it's own oil just past the finish line. A quick chute deployment and great driving kept the dark green, seven second, small tire monster off the wall, but the oil trail started at about the 1000 foot mark and extended all the way to about five feet from the sand trap.
We had both cars unloaded, and the pipes off the Valiant by the time Boone and Dale showed up.
"It's awfully quiet", Boone commented.
"One of the Supras oiled the track, pretty bad", I explained.
"They were still in the first session?" Dale shook his head, as he grabbed my floor jack and began dragging it over to the Gremlin.
"Yeah, from what I've been told, they already extended it once, and were about fifteen minutes away from calling the Street Machine Eliminator cars up, when it happened."

It was a forty minute clean-up, and the announcement was made that the first session cut-off had been moved back all the way to 11:30AM, virtually guaranteeing that no SME cars would see the track until Noon. The natives were getting restless, and even Hemi Joel found time to get away from his Ford buddies and come by to check on us.

The first set down after the clean-up featured Dave McKenna's 66 Belvedere.
"Is that OUTLAWD?" Boone asked, looking up from draining the oil out of the 512.
"I thought he was on the 'early run, one and done' program", Dale chimed in.
"Up until now, he has been", I agreed, "but this is Indy, home of the Big Go, so maybe he wanted more than one run down the fabled track."
"Then he got a front row seat to an extended oil clean-up" Dale laughed.
"The Drag Week Gods are fickle, I'm sure if that's the worst thing that happens to him all week, he'll take it", I shrugged.

I had changed the bottle in the Belvedere for Rachael, changed the oil on the Valiant, and was pretty much just standing around at that point, when Boone noticed me fidgeting.
"Are you going to try and get a hit in the first session?"
"No, they are calling for a hard cut-off at 11:30, and the lanes are stacked full after that clean-up, so it would be a waste of time. I'll just wait for the final session with you guys!"
"Good point, I guess...you've already made that drive back to the pits once, and you weren't very happy!"
"I think I'll grab my camera and get some pics...we never seem to get quite enough!"

I walked over to David Pearson's 70 Charger first, as I had heard the call go out for an 8 3/4 third member earlier. We had a 3.23 we brought as a spare that I would offer if they could make it work. When I made an inspection of the parts they had on the ground beside the car though, I realized we couldn't help them. What they really needed was a correct length axle! The first 1/4 inch of male splines on the axle, and the outside 1/4 inch of female splines in the third member were sheared off. With no more contact than that, I was surprised the 13 second, 4000lb machine had made it this far!