Good eye Tony...that definitely changes the narrative for sure, funny none of us recognized that at the time!

After we ate lunch, I convinced Dad to take my newly arrived Hoosier Quick Time Pros, my wheels, and my old M/T tubes back to Robertson Tire to get them mounted, I gave him some cash to take care of it, but when he returned he gave it back, explaining that since they'd done the others for free, they took care of mine also, and wished us all the best on our Drag Week adventure!

I grabbed a cordless drill, and a small bit, then started drilling the bead through each hole to give the wheel screws a chance to bite into them. The first tire went great, and I had all the wheel screws installed quickly. I was on the last hole on the front of the second one, when I apparently lost focus and pressed harder than usual. I felt the bit sink quickly, and reflexively yanked it out cursing...sure enough I heard a small hiss! Since I'm the only one in the family that runs tubes, I always bring a spare, but I didn't want to use it right away! I was angry, so I spun the Schrader valve out immediately, grabbed some tire irons, and made quick work of the tube swap. After I had it back together, and the screws installed, I turned my attention back to the injured tube. I installed the valve, put air back in it to find the puncture and there was nothing wrong with it! Apparently the sound of escaping air was air trapped between the tube and tire, and I reacted before I took the time to figure that out! At least I still had a spare tube.

Dale had my axle assembled, so Skippy and I installed it, adjusted up the rear drum brakes, then bolted on the new rubber. Once that was done, I had him grab the torque wrench and torque all twenty lug nuts.

Skippy then begged Boone for the keys to the Scamp, so he could go pick Rachael up at the Airport.
"Whoa", I exclaimed, as I looked towards the Belvedere that I had worked on for maybe an hour all day, "is it that time already?"
"Yep, she'll be landing in thirty minutes", Skippy beamed, clearly proud of himself for surviving this part of the week in Oklahoma without her.