Checkpoint #1 was the Warm Glow Candle Outlet in Centerville OH. When we pulled in there for our pictures we had covered 95 miles of our trip, in roughly five hours, with around five stops along the way. Definitely not one of our best legs on any Drag Week. Rachael and Pops were waiting for us, but hadn't stopped for gas yet, so now we were going to be waiting for them to get fuel, so that was very frustrating considering the way they had ran off and left us.

Jim and Dan informed us that they intended to break off from our group and find a motel. Since racing doesn't start until the afternoon on Friday, many of the Drag Week veterans have begun to employ a strategy where they find a motel on the way Thursday, so they can finish the drive in the morning, rather than push all the way to the host track Thursday night. They bid us a safe trip and jumped directly onto I-70 while we went back across the interstate to allow Rachael a chance to fuel up the Belvedere. The station was just closing up, so Rachael ran inside to use the restroom as Pops and I topped off the Belvedere and Valiant from the same pump.

Dale looked like he was getting pretty tired, so I suggested that he and Boone go ahead and go, rather than waiting up for us.
"It's 51 miles straight down I-70 to checkpoint #2, so we'll catch up. You might as well go, because you might be dumping in fuel on the side of the road in forty miles anyway!"
They agreed, and were on their way before the clerk unlocked the door to let Rachael out of the convenience store.