We gathered around the Gremlin, as Dale pulled out a universal side door mirror that he had ordered previously. This was the last piece needed to make it DOT legal, and would basically mean our four vehicles were ready to go. Well, ready to go, in Gebhart parlance, I mean three of them hadn't been down a drag strip in four months or more, and the Valiant only had about 30 street miles under it's belt, but hey, we were confident in those, so now we just had the Dakota left in our sights.
"How did it go?" I questioned Dale as he showed off his new 8.50 cert.
"A little scary actually", he shook his head, "A couple bars were really close, and I was nervous!" "Steve's sisters were at the track, greeting everyone", Dale continued, "It was great getting to meet them, and they gave us these", he held out a grey and red plastic wrist band with the words "Good Luck From Steve" on it. I noticed that He, as well as Boone and James already had them on, so I did so as well. Steve's death at Drag Week 2013 was something most of us had not been able to resolve or come to grips with quite yet, and I was hoping that meeting the family, and getting together with all our fellow Drag Week buddies would help with that process.
"Well, dang, now I wish I had went with you."
"They are going to be out there tomorrow as well", Dale assured me, "They are excited to see you and Rachael, and thank you personally. They're excited to see his old 67 Valiant as well, I think it's going to be huge for them to see that car back on the racetrack."