Saturday afternoon saw the arrival of the Hindleys to Dale's back yard. John (Johnnyrotten, Moparts) was supposed to be my co-pilot for the 2013 edition of Drag Week, but work obligations had kept that from happening. In 2014 he purchased Steve Bowyer's 67 Valiant from his surviving siblings, and had talked enough about Drag Week that his wife Opal decided to make it happen.
She had contacted me early in the year, and I kept her up on all the info needed to plan the trip, and get them registered. She went to John's work and scheduled the vacation time, got the registration taken care of, all as a secret, so she could give it to him as an anniversary gift!
I had offered the opportunity to store their tow rig at Dale's so they could avoid trying to find parking at the Motel, then the impound thing at the track Monday morning. They rolled in with John's parents following them in a mini-van. All seemed in good spirits following their jaunt from Tucson, and excited about the adventure ahead. They unloaded the 67, and disconnected from the trailer, electing to leave the car, trailer, and most of their supplies and drive the empty truck to and from the Motel. I knew John had made all the necessary adjustments to his Valiant to handle the track portion, coming off his victory at MATS in the sportsman class, but was concerned about the street worthiness of the machine. He merely laughed, looked around at our motley assortment, and commented, "You're worried about mine?" He motioned at the Dakota, "Tell your brother that John Force wants his tires and wheels back!" It was good to see the long trip had not dampened his sense of humor!

Mom and the girls made their return, but Rachael only hung around about an hour or so before her cousins from her mom's side came by to pick her up. "Give me some money Dad, we're gonna hit a few clubs tonight", she smiled.
"Rachael, registration starts early tomorrow!"
"I know, don't worry, I'll be here in plenty of time!"
With that, she was off again, to who knows where.

John and I agreed to leave Dale's at 7:30 AM, so hopefully we could get in the Registration/Tech line early, as I explained to him that it usually took most of the day to get through, and this year would feature a third more cars than ever before. Once they left, I looked around, and realized Darren was still under the transmission...this was not going to end well!