"What is the problem Joel?" Thinking something is wrong with the car, and we'll have to dig into it, once the gate opens. Joel tells me he can't find his helmet. Now I know I saw it somewhere... so after a couple minutes looking everywhere we could, it hit me, that the helmet was behind the drivers seat of the truck. The truck that was still in Minnesota... It was the one thing that didn't get swapped over when we had to ditch Joel's old Cummins, for his work truck. "well you better get on the phone, and see if someone has one." We both got out our phones, and looked for a motorcycle shop that carried helmets. Almost every single placed closed at 4:00 on Saturday, except one place. Fox Powersports in Grand Rapids Michigan. They were and hour drive away, but Joel told me lets load the car, and head that way. Once the Coupe was in the trailer, I got everything strapped down, and Joel started calling. We pointed the truck and trailer out the gate, and headed to Grand Rapids as fast as we could. It was now 4:15. Not sure how we were going to make the hour drive in 45 minutes pulling a trailer, but it was our only chance. Yet we still were not able to get ahold of Fox Powersports. As Joel put the hammer down, he continued to call. He kept getting sent to voice mail. he left a message, but as the minutes drew closer, and closer to 5:00, we really started to get worried. FINALLY at 4:55pm someone in the apparel department called back. Joel explained to him that he needed a SNELL 2020 helmet, and did they have one? They had a couple to choose from, but Joel knew nothing of the brands. HJC was one of the choices, and I told Joel that is what I have, and like it, but at this time, he just needs a helmet... Then Joel asks what color they have... Thinking in my head, you'll take a MFing PINK one if that's all they have... Black or Blue are the options. Joel says he'll take the Blue one, and could he pay for the helmet on a credit card, and have them leave the helmet outside, and we will pick it up 20 minutes after they close? "Sure" says the guy on the phone. So we give him the CC info, and he tells us everything is good to go. It's now 4:59pm. Whew... We arrive at Fox Powersports, and drive to the right side of the building like instructed. Low and behold there is a guy sitting on his trucks tailgate, holding a helmet bag. He didn't feel comfortable just leaving the helmet outside, so he waited for us. My guess is he wanted to just see the fools that drove all the way from Minnesota to Michigan, for an event that required a helmet, and forgot it at home. Who knows, but the guy was a Saint, and we can't thank him enough for the kind gesture.

So now the question is, do we head back to Stanton, and make it for the rest of the test day, or do we head to Martin, and wait for Tech day for Drag Week? Joel says we have to test the car before Drag Week, so Stanton it is. We pull back to the gate at Stanton around 7:15pm. The lady at the front gate greets us, and says "That'll be $45 dollars for the test night, and one crew. Here's your tech card. Fill it out, and put it in the drop box over by that shed. We don't have a tech inspector because of Covid." Joel pry's the cash out of his wallet, and I think I saw a tear in his eye, as he handed the money to the lady. That money had probably been in there since the late 80's when his wife gave him the wallet for Christmas. We pull in past the gate, and Joel asks where we should park? I tell him as close to the staging lanes as possible as I don't want to be walking 1/2 a mile to get to the starting line to video the car. There are maybe 40 cars at the test session, and Joel pulls near the staging lanes, and then quickly turns away. "Where are you going?" I ask. He said there is a generator there, and I don't want to listen to it all night. so he drives away, and pulls into the nicely mowed grassy area, next to a Turbo powered Saturn. As soon as I get out of the truck to start unloading everything, the Saturn fires up. Now I have a question for the turbo racers on the board. Do Turbo cars need the oil, and water temp to be 210* before they make a run? because the guy next to us was so trying his best to achieve that. Not much more annoying than a 4 cylinder car with a massive turbo, and the straight pipe exiting the driver side front fender, aimed right at our pit spot. I looked at Joel, and said "This is much better than a running generator."

With the Coupe unloaded, Joel fired the car up, and drove it around the pits some, seeing if he could get a starting point on his Doohickey Soft Lok clutch setup. This gave me time to walk around, and get away from the Turbo Saturn noise, and see what was there for Mopars. Not too far from us was a really nice 1969 Dart, so I headed that way. The car was powered by a INDY block low deck 540ci, with EZ heads. Very nice combo, and the car was put together very clean. Great guy to talk to as well.

Joel got busy installing a new battery he had picked up in Grand Rapids on our way to Stanton. Knowing his old battery was going bad, he tried to have one shipped overnight to Stanton. No such luck. Can not ship a Lithium battery by air, ground freight only. luckily a Batteries Plus in Grand Rapids had exactly what he needed. Unlike the Eight 2Bbl carb linkage on the Coupe, the rest of the stuff on the car is simple to work on. It didn't take Joel long to get the battery switched out. He eventually made his way to the staging lanes, and pulled into the burnout box. When he sidestepped the clutch the 392 HEMI sounded OK, but not great. The Coupe got a little sideways, but nothing too bad. Joel staged the car, and when it went up on the 2 step, you could still tell there was a slight miss fire. The car bogged some, but then took off. After 2nd gear, and into 4th, you could hear the motor laying over big time. One advantage of only about 20 cars left on the property, is that it was dead quiet now. I made my way back to the pit area, and waited for Joel to arrive. And waited, and waited... Wondering if something happened? Not sure. Joel had his phone with him, and if the car was broke, he could call me from the top end, but nothing. Finally after about 10 minutes, Joel pulled up and I asked what happened? He assured me that the engine had laid over on the top end, but when he got his time slip, the car wouldn't restart. The battery was going bad. Joel put the battery charger on right away, and then it was decided we should run all the carbs out of fuel, and refill the bowls with new fresh stuff. We also changed out the spark plugs, and then Joel headed to the lanes once again. By this time it was getting late. Around 10:30, and would most likely be the last test pass of the night. The Early HEMI sounded a little better now, and the burnout was straight as Joel 's first attempt was in 2nd gear, and this time was in 3rd gear. The wheel speed helped. Joel staged the car, and as the light went Green Joel dumped the clutch, and the rear of the car bounced quite a bit. Shock adjustment off? Not sure, but it once again laid over on the top end.

It didn't take nearly as long for Joel to get back to our pit spot as before. but once he got out of the car, I could tell he was drained, frustrated, and not sure what to do. "Now what?" I asked. "I don't know.. Lets load up, head to martin, get some sleep, and think it over in the morning." Sounds like a good plan to me. "By the way Joel, we MUST be at the track in Martin Michigan on Monday morning no matter what." I told him...