I woke up with a start at 6:45 AM, and headed off for the shower. I was dressed when I heard John and Opal's Cummins powered Dodge coming around the side of the house. I went out to greet them, and they were apologetic for making noise when it appeared everybody was still sleeping.
"Don't worry about it", I shrugged, "they probably didn't hear anything, and they need to be up anyway."
Both of our cars were covered in dew, so we wiped them down, and packed a few things before we decided to go ahead and leave. Dad was the only person moving around, and he was busy trying to clean up the hopelessly trashed yard. "You want to ride out with me?" I questioned him.
"Naw, I'm going to stay here and help Darren, until he misses the deadline and realizes he's not going this year."
"Yeah, I understand."
We fired the two white Valiants up, and drove out of the driveway. Our first turn to the right headed us directly into the morning sun, and my windshield was fogging up quicker than I could wipe it off! I had to hang my head out of the side glass just to see anything in front of me. The next right turn took the sun away, and I was able to see well enough to proceed cautiously. Two miles later the engine heat was sufficient to finally clear off the glass, and I could see John's bumper in the distance.
We literally drove less than 200 ft. through the gate, and right into a full fledged mess. We had pulled up to the back of what appeared to be two lanes, with a sign which pointed to the left lane for class cars, and the right lane for Daily Driver and Unlimited, so I pulled up to the left and motioned John to pull along side me on the right. The sign also had an arrow pointing to the staging lanes for "Wait List" cars who would be let in afterwards, but when I looked at the lanes, I realized they were full of cars, and some of those folks were giving me the evil eye!
A few guys came up and explained that the actual line wrapped into staging and out onto the track, and suggested that we back up, and drive through one small opening to get to the back. I declined that invitation, pointed at the sign and held my ground. Many of the faces waiting in staging were the same guys who had pushed their way into the lanes ahead of us in 2011 when Tulsa had no lane directors, so I felt no remorse. Once the line moved past the gore point, and I felt confident we wouldn't have to fight anyone to remain in our spot, I set out towards the front of the line to get our registration sheet, that you fill out, and get signed off to get through tech. The difficulty in that task was running into old Drag Week friends every two cars, and exchanging pleasantries and a few stories with each.
Opal came towards me with two ladies in tow, and said, "Billy, this is Joyce and Linda, Steve Bowyer's sisters..."
Joyce grabbed me in an embrace and said, "Thank you so much for what your family did for ours!"
So, I went from playing the tough guy, to hanging out with old friends, to tears running down my face in the span of about 30 minutes.
I was reminded of the Jimmy V quote, "If you laugh, you think, and you cry, that's a full day. That's a heck of a day. You do that seven days a week, you're going to have something special."
That's Drag Week boiled down to it's very essence, and I was thankful to be on the cusp of another one.
"We saw Dale yesterday", Joyce continued, "Where is Rachael, and the rest of them?"
"Hopefully they will be here soon", I shrugged, They'll probably be the last ones through the gate!"
"Okay, we are going to be here all day, so tell them to look for us!" Linda added.

Once I reigned in my wits, and emotions, I decided I had better check to see what was going on with everyone else. My first call was to Rachael, and I jumped her about where she was at.
"I'm still at Chad's...I got up and took a shower, and I'm ready to go, but I drank all these pansies under the table last night and they are still passed out!
"Good grief! Call your Aunt Kathy and see if she can give you a ride, you need to get the Belvedere out here!"

Next up, I called Dale and didn't get an answer. Then Darren.
"I'm out here working on the truck, James and Dad are helping me, but Dale isn't up yet", he complained.
I had this image of Dale's wife standing in front of the bedroom door with a shotgun in one hand, and his turned off cell phone in the other!