Forward
The 2015 tale has been a tough one to write, and I'll apologize for that one more time. The thing is, the way Friday was handled really stuck in my craw, and I don't like being negative or critical of an event that I enjoy this much. I really don't enjoy being negative or critical of the people who put in long hours of preparation leading up to the event, and even longer hours during the event to make it all happen. I have tremendous respect for the Hot Rod crew, the Drag Week crew, and Lonnie Grimm the race director for the effort they put in to make this the highlight of our year!

Combining my disappointment with the end of the 2015 version, and the fact that the 2016 version was a 2000 mile tow, I considered sitting this year out. The problem was, Boone and I had both finished 3rd in our respective classes, so we were afforded an early entry, which is a privilege that is difficult to waste. I only signed up the one car, and informed Rachael I wasn't going to enter the Belvedere, and that I would be at the Bakersfield March Meet when regular registration took place, so she was on her own!

Now, why "the last Hurrah?" in the title? Maybe it's just me being overly dramatic, I'm not sure, but I do know that nothing lasts forever. My brothers and I attended our first "Mopar Only" race in 1992, and thought we would run those types of events from then on. We went to the "Monster Mopar Weekend" event at St. Louis every year from '96 to '02, then just didn't go in 03...we haven't been back since. I started running NHRA Super Street in '99, and chased the Divisional trail hard from '02 to '08... then just stopped, and haven't been back since. We weren't even born in the Gasser years, we were too young and too poor for the KOS era, but Hot Rod Drag Week came around at the perfect time for my family and I to jump in with both feet and have a blast! It has been especially rewarding to share it with my youngest daughter Rachael for the last five years, but my Father's Day present from her this year was the announcement that I was going to be a Grandfather for a second time, so maybe it's her last trip on Drag Week!

At the beginning of last year's story, I put a link to the past editions, and Boone tells me the views on those have doubled and in some cases tripled in the last year. That's very flattering, but I suspect everyone was just bored with waiting for the next installment! In any case, I hope you find these somewhat entertaining, even if just for the pictures.

two hours from March Meet registration and I'm not really sure I want to hit that "purchase" button.... FWIW, you still have Silver State Challenge and Speed Weeks at Bonneville you could take a stab at

No March Meet for me in 2017. A little foreshadowing, but we had a REALLY good 2016 Drag Week, so Dale and Boone are fired up for next year already...we will see.

Since I didn't do a "build up" thread this year, I'll attempt to catch everyone up as quickly as possible as to what transpired the other 50 weeks before we really start preparing for Drag Week.

Drag Week wouldn't be the same without you Billy! But I understand it is a huge commitment time and money wise. Life's priorities change, and sometimes it's just good to experience different things. Have fun whichever way you decide to go.

Jeff

billy, does the lead in pic indicate you are in the process of building a hot [street] rod ?

I believe that is one of the brothers, I forget which one. If you line the Brothers up I could pick out Billy and Dale, I would have to guess on the others lol.

It was great meeting the family Billy! Your tales are once of the major drivers that convinced me to give Drag Week a shot.

Yep, Hemi Joel's tails of riding with Jay Brown also really had my interest.

I have to say that reading Billy's tales got me to want to try it, haven't yet but hope to.
Before his tales, I didn't realize there were classes for the "average", guy, meaning the 10-second and slower crowd, I only remember HR articles about the unlimited type cars, I've never had a HR subscription, so only flipped thru the pages, or occasionally bought a issue.
I got to meet Billy at Spring Fling one year, and at Phoenix last October for HR Drag Weekend, when I ran that.
I look forward to reading his tales, as all of us here do.

Good to see the 2016 tale being spun.

One of the reasons I went this year was because of 131. I was there with Eddie in 06 and loved that track. But DW has changed alot since then. What was once a collection of guys with cars they claimed are street cars that would fall apart a few miles down the road has become a collection of extremely high dollar purpose built cars.

My goal this year was to go and compete with what I believe is a very bottom dollar built car but this year I would be prepared. Have a chassis cert and license. Give it my all. It turned out to be a geat time.Such an experience that I do not think can be beat. This may have been my last hurrah also

Somehow I had missed this thread - been anxious to read it. Saw some of the live feeds but didn't attend in person at all this year. With dad passing in May I just couldn't get up the gumption to go on my own.

There are two different kinds of Drag Weekers..........those who go to participate and have fun and those who go to WIN their class. The latter now and really always has been about purpose built cars for this purpose. Sure some guys get lucky and win their class with not so serious efforts, but that is usually because some of the purpose built stuff falls out.
Each class has an ET range where you need to run to win. If you build to do that, more than likely it's going to be a serious effort piece and keeping it together a week will be hard work and require some luck. When these cars fall out, the more regular cars move up.

Ray mentioned Eddie. He is a prime example. The year he won the overall title, he was not near the fastest car there, nor even the fastest in his class. Just happened to be the fastest car that survived the week. Guys have learned a LOT since then and know more what it takes to keep one of these heaps together for a week. And that recipe is money, lack of sleep, hard work, ingenuity, never give up attitude and lots of LUCK and spare parts. Lutz put a strut on his this year on the side of the road. Maschmeier changed a cam on the side of the road in the middle of the night one year. That's dedication. Think about it..........most racers go home from the track if they break ANYTHING. These guys break any and EVERYTHING and fix it on the side of the road. It's damn HARD work to go fast for a week and drive over 1000 miles

And Ray can say whatever he wants, but a 9 sec N/A smallblock car is NOT a low dollar car. He may think it's a budget car, many would not.

Another thing we see now is guys choosing classes that are more or less "index" classes because of the chassis limits. Street Race big block power adder is an example. No funny car cages are allowed, so that means the class has an 8.50 cap because of chassis rules. Most of the "hitters" in that class have low 8 and high 7 sec rides if they really let them eat. So their goal for the week is take it easy on the equipment, keep it together and run as close to 8.50 for the week as possible. Doug Flynn is a prime example. Backyard built Nova, mediocre at best chassis, fairly heavy, but has a 1000hp best of the best big block on spray. With a tiny shot of nitrous it goes 8.50s like nothing. Has been teens with only a slightly bigger tune. With better shocks, a little chassis work and a healthy dose it would be a 7.50 car

Monte, don't forget all the hours that go into prepping the car BEFORE Drag Week, and more likely then not, the long drive to get to the home track. Most are a walking zombie before the event even starts.

You know as well as anybody Jeff..........THAT aspect is strictly lack of preparation..........LOL!!!

When you wait until the month before Drag Week to get ready, that's what you get...........LOL!!!

Myself, if I was SERIOUS about doing Drag Week, my car would be ready by spring and test it all summer. For whatever reason most don't seem to approach it that way

That's what I did with my new car in 2014...I knew it needed to be on the road by May, and it was. I still came in 4th! but fortunately they split the class and gave me a free ride the next two years

Yaa Monte but it wouldn't make for a GOOD story if you did it your way and wouldn't be able to write about it for MONTHS. LOL

As Frieburger said at the Drivers meeting in 2015: "Welcome to the biggest gathering of cars that did not run 48 hours ago" LOL.

You obviously never looked at my car. From my Dr Diff axles, past my $15 guages to my ebay water pump, radiator and fans. Its as absolute low dollar as it can get. I did buy some new wheels this year though. Billet specialties because they were cheaper than the rest

Yep, 9 sec smallblocks powerplants are available at the corner store...............LOL!!!

Hey, I resemble those remarks.


2017 is going to be different!

Dude, its a hemi. They come stock with like 500hp

Its not a Chevy, Monte.LOL

Not many more low budget than Ray.Does great with what he has.

LOL.....Ray seems to be averse to the fact that while maybe he thinks it's low budget, it takes money to do this.

Lets start from scratch and duplicate Ray's deal. Lets go out and find a decent early A-body. Then cage it, tie the frames, maybe mini-tub it(not sure his is), put a glass hood on it and do enough body work to make it not look like a beater. Install a narrowed Dana with some aftermarket axles. Its got split monos and Cal-Tracks, probably decent rear shocks. What about the brakes, are they drums or Wilwoods? I believe he recently installed a rack and coilovers on the front. Does it have light brakes on the front?

The motor. Solid foundation or not, you don't just drop a late HEMI in an A-body and run 9s. So it's a decent piece. You need a good enough trans to hold that power and the right converter to make it run the number. Doesn't it take some decent ignition stuff to make the late HEMI compatible since you can't put a distributor in it? Got to have a fuel system. Sure your shifter, fans, water pump, gauges and other stuff may be Craigs list or Ebay finds, but the foundation is solid. Might not be a $100,000 purpose built race car, but you can't duplicate it for pocket change and lunch money either.

Lets compare it to Billy's Valiant. Those real early A-bodys are pretty light. It's a solid car with ladder bars and slicks. Healthy small block. Runs mid tens. Ray's deal run 9s on drag radials and probably weighs more. It's no bargain basement junker.........LOL!!!

Monte,
Please refrain from comparing my Valiant to Ray's Black Pearl. I get head-aches and chest pains every time I do it myself!!

I know Ray is very budget conscious, as is Squirrel. It requires more discipline and patience to build a car like that. The other thing it requires is experience, know how, and the gumption to take on parts of the build that force them out of their comfort zone.

I think many of us on here of a certain age take for granted all the knowledge and experience we have gleaned from twenty years of this stuff...and how much money that can save us over a typical checkbook build.

Dale and Boone got stupid when they decided to take the Duster about three months before Drag Week, so there was no time to shop for deals or barter for parts. They dropped 23K in that clapped out shell to make the show...just a point of reference.

Jeremy,
So sorry to hear of your Dad passing, if you had mentioned that earlier, I failed to see it. Seemed both of you enjoyed DW15, and I'm glad for the opportunity to hang out with him at the track.

Even as Dale and Boone were attending the Mopar Race at Tulsa in November of 15, it was clear Boone wanted to move away from the Barnyard Viper, and that made Dale and I nervous. Boone has no qualms about selling stuff when he's ready to move to the next one, but we didn't want to see it leave the family.

As I was contemplating how I was going to make room for the Barnyard in my fleet, my buddy Darryl decided he wanted to sell his 69 Dart. This is a great street car that has completed two Drag Weeks, and has a great fitting chrome moly bar, which wraps around a very nice bench seat interior. Like Boone, when Darryl decides to change directions, it happens fast.
"How much are you wanting for the Dart?" I asked Darryl. His sell it now price was 2k less than I felt the car was worth.
"I'll take it." I told him, with finality.
"You will? What's Holly going to say about that..you've got too many cars already..."
"Leave that to me...can we do that thing where I pay you but don't pick it up right away?"
That brought on serious laughter from Darryl, "Sure, sure, but if she asks me, I'm not lying to her!"

I had already bought tickets to The March Meet in Bakersfield California, mainly as a way to entice Boone to bring the Barnyard out to Phoenix more than anything, and I had told him I wanted the Truck, and we would figure something out when he arrived.
"Your all-aluminum Indy low deck engine for starters..." Boone began negotiations.
"Not. Gonna. Happen!!"

I was dreading the phone call to Boone when I bought the Dart from Darryl, because that greatly depleted the funds set aside for the Barnyard.
"I'll take it", Boone told me with finality.
"You'll take what? The Dart? What are going to do with it?"
"Put a big block in it. Run Nines."
"It's a nice small block car with a bar!"
"What are you going to do with it", he laughed, "I want to be there when you try to explain to your wife that the Barnyard and Darryl's Dart are being added to the three other toys you already have!!"

So do small block Chevy's. At least that's what the owners tell me.

dang, treed by ksj! LOL

Thanks for the story Billy!! Looking forward to more.

I believe Ray ran S/G on the NHRA tour for awhile, hence the statement that his drag week car is low buck!

Great looking Dart, Billy, please carry on.

Dale killed another piston in the 440 at the Tulsa Mopar event in November, and decided to swap in the 547 Mega Block wedge that he had traded for right before we left for DW15.
This is about the 4th or 5th used race engine deal Dale has pulled in the last couple of years, and while the other ones worked out great, he was due to get bit. Upon fire-up, it was clearly on seven cylinders, and a compression check revealed a couple more that were down considerably, so he pushed it into a corner for the long winter.

I had unloaded the Valiant into the back yard, and the Belvedere went under the carport, and became a storage unit.

Boone, Dad and Mom came out to visit for Christmas/New Years, and we took on the huge project of bathroom re-models, and a dumpster to clean up the back yard, so car stuff was secondary, but I did manage to get the Barracuda, and the Valiant on jack stands.

It was surprisingly early in 2016 when the announcement for the dates and tracks were released by Hot Rod for Drag Week. Like Ray, I was intrigued by the opportunity to not only move US131 from my "Tracks I've visited" list to my "Tracks I've raced at list", but also the opportunity to add the two Ohio tracks to that list as well. The downside was the 2000 mile tow to the starting facility, but since I had an early entry, I knew I was going.

I received the early invitation on Feb. 27th, and the announcement was made that registration would open at 9AM. Saturday March 5th, while Boone and I would be at the March meet, as a point of reference, open registration for 2015 wasn't until April 26th, so things were happening quick.

With a week to go before the March Meet, I decided perhaps I should try to figure out why the trans-brake had quit on the Valiant. This was especially important considering I was entered in D Gas, a four tenths pro tree, 10.60 index class, and I certainly wasn't going to hit that tree on the foot brake.

I dropped the pan, and had my son push the button. It didn't take long to figure out that the solenoid wasn't getting power. Once I began investigating the wiring, it became clear that I had lost power to quite a few different areas, so I removed the passenger seat to allow me to look at all my spaghetti wiring under the dash. About an hour in, I discovered the single fuse holder I had used to splice a hot wire from the working race car wiring to the long dead factory wiring. It had previously hung down for easy access, but when Aaron was re-wiring the ignition box in Indy during DW15, he had wire tied it up out of the way. I pulled the cover and found a blown 20 amp fuse, replaced it with a 25, and we had a working trans-brake once again.
"So", my son shook his head, "This car has been sitting in the backyard for five months, two of those on jack stands...because you had a blown fuse?"
"Well, sometimes diagnosing the problem is the biggest hurdle!" I tried to rationalize.

With the change of ownership on the Barnyard, we had to rectify the situation of the "borrowed converter", so Dad and Boone backed the 727 up, and Dad pulled out his JW billet 9", and they slid in an Ultimate 9" that I had picked up in a trade from Dale a few years earlier, so I guess you could say I picked up the Dodge "less converter". I also had to supply green accelerator pumps and blue bowl gaskets for the twin 750s as they were leaking fairly good when Boone fired it up after the converter swap.

We arrived at Bakersfield's Famoso Drag Strip Thursday to get pitted and tech in. Friday morning was our first shot at the track. The chip was at 3600, and the Valiant tossed the front end up fairly high on the leave, the 1.413 was the best 60' for the 428 to date, and the 1/8 mile was 6.582-102 compared to 6.596-103 on our gold standard 10.39 pass at Indy. In short she was on a good pass, I was looking over as we pulled past the big block Dart at 1000' when I heard a noise and saw a flash of white. I looked forward at my naked 950HP holley and hinges, the hood was gone! My reaction was to lift, and coast to a 10.52-114 while I wondered how my steel hood with stock latching mechanism had just left the car!

We really enjoyed the March Meet, hanging out with Jay and Fred, meeting Gary E, and eating all of Chassisman's food, but I had more questions about Drag Week 2016 than I did answers by the time we returned to Arizona.

The family called repeatedly to update us on their attempt to get entered when preregistration opened. Darren, Dale, and James had all got in. John and Opal had not, along with several other friends who have attended in the past. It was tricky to find the link, and quite a few people were disappointed as it filled up in eight minutes.

Mom and Dad loaded up the Dart at Darryl's once we got back, and I began the painful attempts of explaining to my beloved why they had left and the Barnyard was still in Phoenix.

In addition, Boone started pirating my parts locker. That 230 400 block? Yep, those MW ported Indy SR heads with Racer Brown rockers? Gone, Pro-Gram cross bolt caps? You were never going to use them, 1000cfm Demon? Indy low deck intake? 4150 Big Shot plate? Like a dang kid in a candy store!

So Billy, what are the future plans for the Barracuda and the BYV?
I envy you for all of the toys, but would not look forward to all of the future work getting each one ready in that Oven you live in.
Jerry

Billy, is that the same barracuda your brother and Wade had?if so, I came real close to buying it. I missed dw16 as the Ogles trunk monkey. With loosing Jason, they busted their tails getting the two cars back together. I spent dw watching dw live feeds from my wife's hospital room. So this year was biter sweet. If you're interested, I still have a low deck indy tunnel ram collecing dust.

Jerry,
It should be pretty obvious from reading these stories...I'm not really any good at the whole "planning" part!

The Barracuda checks that "I've always wanted a full chassis, strut, 4 link car" Box. It's cosmetically challenged though. I'm having a difficult time moving past that, and just putting it together with all the parts I have, and racing the thing.

I took the Barnyard Viper to the Cruise on Central in April, a couple of car shows, drove it to work, and gave friends rides in it, but I hadn't really planned to take it to DW16, because I wanted to make several upgrades to insure it was solidly in the tens on it's next outing.

Disaster struck in July however, when it was sitting on the street in front of my house and Rachael ran over it in her Ranger! She was taking our dogs to the groomers when the Husky jumped from the back area to her lap.

Bill,
You know how Drag Week is, while I did talk to Dillon and Charley a few times, it wasn't nearly as much as I would have liked. I think Jason would have been proud of the effort they put in! Dillon explained your absence with a painful look on his face, finishing with..."it hasn't been a good year for Team Ogle".

This is a different Barracuda, Dale picked this car up around 2003 as a roller in Texas, for a friend who wanted a S/ST car. I did mange to buy an Indy low deck tunnel ram this year, now I just need to send it to Monte for a couple of foggers.

The body damage to the Barnyard wasn't horrible, but she caught the header with her front wheel. Anything but the headers! She says her insurance will pay, but I didn't even know where to start, so I shoved it in the back and decided to revisit the issue after DW16.

Meanwhile, Boone was using me up like his own personal checkbook: "I want one of those Andy F A-body engine plates" OK. "Have you ordered my 440 Source 512/400 stroker kit yet?" Yes Boone, it's on the way. "You put that Hughes cam on a 110 lobe center right? With lightweight EDM lifters? Yeah, Boone, anything else?

Crazy as it sounds, Late June to early July is typically when the Gebhart Brothers tend to look around and say, "How many spots did we sign up for Drag Week!"
That's when I saw the pictures of the 24 Dodge on Dale's face book page.
"Boone traded his 75 Scamp, and some parts for it", was the answer I got from Dale. I knew as soon as I heard the news, the Dart project for Drag Week was dead...and I had just ordered a set of Hooker fender-well exit headers for him!

Boone has always talked about a 30's Mopar coupe, and this was going to change his focus completely. He called me a week later, "Hey..um...I sold the Dart."
"You what?"
"Yeah, I flipped it, just the way I got it from you."
"You kept the parts, what are you going to do with all the BB-A-body specific stuff?"
"I think Dale and I are going to put his old Duster together for little Billy".
"Why would you get involved with that!" I was exasperated.
"Dale is motivated...he's going to buy all the stuff from me, and all the parts to finish it, I'll just be supplying my motor, and help, then I'll have a ride for DW16!"
"That thing's an absolute pile! Did you make a profit on the Dart?"
He told me how much...It shouldn't bother me but it does, I always trade the stuff I have to my little brothers for exactly what I have in it, and they constantly turn the stuff and pad their pockets.
"You know that 24 is a two or three year project, maybe more right?"
"I know...but this is the one!!"
"For Dale and I's sake, I hope you're right!"

The 62 Valiant
As I began to prepare the Valiant for a fifth Drag Week journey, fixing or building a new hood was the first hurdle, but it wasn't my only concern. After the 128 mph at Indy, the mph had seemed to fall off, so once again I wondered about the health of the front clutch pack in the 904. The constant battle with engine temp was still on my agenda as well, as it seemed worse on the last drive of DW15.
I wanted to change up the scoop, and to that end had ordered a reverse tear drop, and a Pontiac SD scoop from VFN fiberglass, but were told they were 10 weeks out! My fiberglass guru agreed to make a mold from my last good 62 Valiant hood, and I took it to him about 6 weeks into my wait for the scoops. He finished making a mold and popping out a hood quicker than VFN got the scoops to me, so he used another mold he had on hand to add a RTD scoop.
I was happy with the initial mock-up, but when I attempted to mount a 16" ram-air breather, it became abundantly clear that it wasn't going to work! The Valiant hood slopes off so fast towards the front and the sides that a scoop to cover up a large diameter breather would take up most of the hood!

Digging through my shed, I found an 11" K&N filter with a 5" element. I was taking the car back to my fabricator, as he had agreed to mount and paint the hood for me, and I figured that would be better than the tiny 6" breather I'd been using with two stacked 2" elements.

So, it was back to the old scoop, as more of a necessity than by choice. The scoops finally arrived from VFN a day before Brian called and said the car was ready to go.

With the hood on the car, it was time to deal with all the other issues that I had ignored for the last 10 months. Chief among those was the decision of what class to run. The ladder bars limit my choices to Modified, or Pro Street, and neither of those classes are broken down by small block or big block, so I'm at a disadvantage already. The fact that I've been able to snag a 2nd place plaque, and a third place plaque out of my four trips had more to do with the number of finishers than it did with how competitive my combo was in the NA classes.

So I asked myself, "even if I showed up at the 2016 edition of Drag Week, ran 10.30's all week in Pro Street NA, and squeaked out another 3rd place plaque would that make me happy or satisfied"?
The answer, being completely honest with myself, was a resounding "NO".

That 9.86 in the Shootout had proven to me that the Valiant was a legit 9 second street car, and my goal for 2016 would be to prove that to the rest of the world. So, the nitrous would be on for the whole trip, and I would be in Modified Power Adder...a class full of 7 second turbo monsters that were going to eat the Valiant for breakfast...oh well. Now that we had settled on a class and a goal, the first hurdle to jump was to get the cage certed.

Pics: the new hood.

I checked the Wild Horse Pass Motorsports Park schedule, and saw they had a "Drift and Drag" event coming up on August 20th. A quick call to Division 7 chassis inspector Ed Brady confirmed that he would indeed be in attendance at that event, so I had a workable plan.

I jumped up early that Saturday morning with the intention of getting the front end aligned, as it was towed out a good deal after the wheel stands in Bakersfield. None of the local shops had time for me however, so that was a bust. I decided to drive the Valiant the 32 mile trek to WHP, and as soon as I got it up to highway speeds, there was a healthy vibration which felt as though it was from the back of the car. The drive took well over an hour as I had to stop five times and cool it down from 230 degrees. Shortly after I arrived at the track a late evening thunderstorm rolled in that threatened to cancel all racing anyway, so I decided not to bother pulling the exhaust off. I cleared tech, and Ed told me to make a few runs, and he would certify the cage once I was done, insinuating that if it failed he didn't want to send me home without getting to run!

With the exception of unloading all my tools and lowering the tire pressure, I entered the lanes exactly as I had drove the car to the track. The F250 in front of me bounced the suspension hard enough to dislodge all the dirt and mud he had collected in the wheel wells for the last month, so after I finished my burnout, I sat and waited for them to sweep the mess up. I was about the 10th set down, and nothing to this point gave me any confidence in the track so I decided to leave on the foot brake at about 1800 rpm. She spun fairly good for the first 30 feet, and when I shifted to second I could feel the return of the vibration that plagued the drive out. Just past the eighth mile the vibration had worsened considerably, and I was convinced one of the Quick Time Pros was out of balance, as I've made enough passes on slicks to recognize the symptoms. Right before the finish line, the passenger side rear mini-quicklatch that we had used to secure the new fiberglass hood on all four corners, let go and the back of the hood on that side lifted about two foot, immediately sending my heart into my throat at the thought of losing yet another hood. I rode the brakes hard, and the hood settled back down. The time booth gal handed me a 10.98-122 slip, and I drove straight to Ed's area to get my cage certed...I couldn't get this night over fast enough.

Pics: Old breather and hood, new breather and hood.

I had removed the x-bars from the back of the Valiant when I converted it to a street car (they attached at the same basic point as the down bars, and both sets went all the way in the trunk) since, by the rules they were redundant. They had measured .134 thick with my caliper, so the sonic check shouldn't be a problem if that tubing was used throughout the car, but any cage installed in the early nineties is a roll of the dice in my experience.

I held my breath as he tested all the main tubes, and ran his fingers around all the top welds, since my cage has no gussets.
"It's all good Billy, so you can lay down some nines on Drag Week this year", Ed announced with a big smile on his face. He loves Hot Rod Drag Week, and follows it on the internet every year.

On the drive home, the temperature hovered between 210-230, and the passengers side rear quicklatch came loose every time I exceeded 60 mph.

When I woke up Sunday morning the 21st, I had thirteen days left before "hell week" began with my trip to Tulsa, and my confidence in the Valiant's readiness had just been shaken to the core. I ordered a new Milodon high volume water pump and high flow 160 degrees t-stat from Summit that morning, then I drove the Valiant to my oldest daughters house to babysit the grandson. It seemed to be pulling harder than ever toward the center line, and I noticed a flare up on the two-three shift at half throttle! This was really going south in a hurry.

The trans fluid was about a quart and half low. The Strange 1350 front yoke doesn't have a plug in the back, and fluid runs down the splines and onto the ground anytime the car is resting at an upward angle...like in my driveway, or riding on the back of the two car trailer. The bad news was, if it was low on Sunday morning, it was low on my trip to the track the night before, so I certainly wasn't doing that front clutch pack any favors. I pulled the radiator out, and took a hole saw to the support areas which extended in front of it, looking for any help in cooling I could find.

I stumbled upon what was probably the biggest culprit of my worsening cooling problem quite by accident. With only seven days until "hell week", I was finishing up the install of the new water pump. I tightened the alternator down with the belt as tight as I could get it, so I could use the belt to grip the water pump pulley while I tightened the four bolts down. The first one was barely above finger tight when the water pump pulley slipped in the belt. I pushed down hard on the belt and tried again, but the pulley slipped easily, while the belt gripped solidly to the alternator and engine pulleys.
I removed the belt and inspected it closely, the sides were burnt quite severely, and the inside of the pulley groove was polished to a brilliant shine. I went to a wider belt, which rides high in all the pulleys, but nothing was available in between, as the O'Reilly's salesman explained that the choices in V-belts were drying up considerably...yet another reminder that my car and I are quickly becoming dinosaurs!

The quicklatch problem was remedied by replacing the latch piece, I had banged it around some trying to remove the hood by myself and it felt completely different than the other three, or a new one, but this didn't leave me extremely confident in them.

When I loaded the old girl on the trailer for the trip to Oklahoma, I still hadn't addressed the alignment, or vibration, or transmission issues, but this was the first Drag Week trip that I drove it on the trailer in Phoenix under it's own power, and I wasn't sure that was a good omen, or a bad one!

The 67 Belvedere
The Belvedere wasn't making the trip to Hot Rod Drag Week 2016, period, exclamation point. The 2015 results had pretty much closed the door on a no-bar car qualifying for the quick 32 in Street Machine eliminator, and Skippy had asked Rachael to marry him on New Year's eve, so if she wanted to make the trip again, he could pay for it.

I hadn't touched it at all since pushing it off the trailer and into the carport following Drag Week 2015. I didn't feel comfortable replacing the drive shaft without checking out the 727, and the poor 440 is very tired...it pushes oil out of every orifice when the nitrous is applied!

Then, the grumblings started from Oklahoma about the first of August, "There's no way we are going to have enough cars running to fill all four of these entries, so you better get the old girl ready for one more circuit!" I could read between the lines though, what they really meant was, "without the Barnyard pulling a trailer, we need a dependable drag week mule"!

At around that same time Rachael informed me that she was definitely going, she had the vacation scheduled and she had a plane ticket to Tulsa on Thursday night of hell week.
"The Belvedere will only be entered if one of the other guys drop out", I explained to her.
"I don't care, I'll be a trunk monkey then, but I'm going!"

My original idea was to drag the Belvedere back to Oklahoma untouched, and have my brothers help me swap out the transmission, but as Hell Week approached I was very concerned about the workload they had left on their cars, so I changed it up a bit.

I always attempt to be ready to leave for Oklahoma on Friday evening, as soon as I get off work...and it never happens. I typically get loaded up on Saturday, and head out that night or early Sunday morning. With the old 12 valve '93, and the two-car tag trailer, I'm limited to around 62 MPH, so it's usually a 24-26 hour trip and I pull into Dale's yard early Labor Day morning.

I decided to do the trans swap in the comfort of my own carport instead, and avoid the mess at Dale's for a few more days. The CRT 727 with RMVB was yanked, and the old 727 with forward pattern Trans-go TF-3 was installed. This was the same transmission that had cost Rachael and the Belvedere a DNF on day 1 in 2013, so I hoped Dad got it right this time. Rachael was appalled to realize I hadn't swapped out the slightly burnt shifter cable at the same time, but I explained that it wasn't completely ruined. She mumbled something about me going under the car if it failed during the week, but I was too busy wrapping it with black electrical tape to really understand her.

I fielded calls all weekend from the brothers about when I would arrive to help them, and they were really not happy when I didn't roll out of Phoenix until Tuesday morning, the sixth of September.

I was hoping now that winter settled in you'd have time to start on this again....

James and the 70 Challenger

James has been Dale's co-pilot for the last 3 years. He was signed up for the last two years with his 70 Challenger (my old race car). After not finishing the car last year, Dale vowed it would make it in 2016, and had basically been ignoring his Gremlin over the last few months. From an outsider's view they seem to be stuck in a constant cycle of "we need to upgrade that" on nearly every component of the car, and that has bogged down any real progress.

With less than a month to go, James hurt his back at work...once he was on worker's comp, and under a doctor's care, they informed him that he wouldn't be allowed to take his vacation that he scheduled six months earlier. He rushed himself back with just two weeks to go, but re-aggravated the injury on his third day back, and was out. He implored Dale to finish the Challenger and take it without him, but Dale declined, so both the Challenger and James were sidelined for Drag Week 2016.

The Ruster Duster

Darren and Dale purchased this car from a friend of mine in 1984, it was their first car. Dale was just 14, but before he turned 16 he had bought out Darren, and the car was solely his.

When I dropped a 440 in my 73 Cuda, the Duster ended up with my low compression 340 to replace the slant six. After a series of 340s and 360s, I convinced him to go 440 in 1995. After just two years as a BB car, with a best of 10.74 (street car with a plate) he sold it rolling for the money to buy his first back halved, ladder bar race car, a 70 AMX he still owns today.

Twelve years later, he got a call from the guy he sold it to, asking if Dale wanted the car back because his Grandpa wanted it out of his field. The opportunity to get your first car back was one Dale couldn't pass up, so he grabbed a trailer and brought it home. He decided then and there it would be his son's first car.

I tried to talk him out of the idea. It had been sitting without tires and wheels, so the bottom of the quarters were in the soft, moist Oklahoma dirt and were rotted away. It still carried all the dents and scars from Dale's formative years, as well as all the mistakes he made on his first foray into hot rodding.

I had located several rust-free AZ bodies, and tried to convince him to just take a few parts from the original car to build his son a new Duster, but he was not deterred. Until Boone presented him with the opportunity to take it on Drag Week 2016, I really felt like the car would be destined to languish away in his backyard, always on the back burner. Now they had five months to turn it from a scrap heap relic into a functional 9 second street car. Dale's old personalized plate for the car was "Sizzler"...it seemed appropriate now because it was on the front burner, and the fire was turned up high!

My Brother in Law just got a book self-published, and sent me a nice hard back version with a cool glossy jacket. I'm really jealous, I really want to write a book, but it's always been one of those things about five years in the future. Now I've spent half my day reading articles on the 'net about self-publishing, e-publishing, and the whole process.

If you think getting people to agree on how to build a 600hp 440 is hard on this site, wait 'til you try to get opinions on the process of writing a book!

it might be a challenge to get a book published, but one thing can not be disputed, you have the ability to write a great one !

From the very beginning of the Duster revival project, time and money were stacked against them, and it was obvious some shortcuts would have to be made if the car had any chance of making the show. Dale had installed the Direct Connection kit for moving the springs into the frame rails years ago, but retained the stock slant six Duster leafs. With a 440 for power, Dale recalled that it wasn't the most stable package.
"I found a set of SS springs", he told me on the phone one night as we were having a long distance planning session, "I think they are the 3400 pounders, but they are cheap and the owner brought them to me."
"I'd rather have the Hemi A-body spring. What are those, the 002 and the 003?"
"I get that", he agreed, "but I just need to get this rear-end taken care of as quick as possible. Do you think I need to back brace the 8 3/4 housing?"
"Duh", I laughed into the phone, "Boone wants to go nines right? You need to do everything you can to help it survive! What third member are you guys putting in it?"
"Found a '71 3.91 in a bunch of parts we bought, it's got the 7290 yoke and a sure grip, so it will work", Dale surmised.
"A factory third member with a cone type. Are you crazy?"
"Look, I'm running out of money fast, and I've got to get this thing put together!"
"I understand", I made a decision not to beat him up at that time, "but you know those springs will have it sitting high like an eighties bracket car."
It was his turn to laugh, "It IS an eighties bracket car! With the exception of a big radiator, exhaust, and a tag, that's pretty much exactly what we are throwing together here!"
"What are you doing for rubber?"
28 X 13.50 Hoosier QTPs on ten inch Pro Stars", he recited.
"Still with the Pro Stars, eh?" I had sold him all my old ones ten years ago, and he still seemed to end up with them on every car he had.
"I like to think of them as 'timeless'!" He defended his choice, "I still had a spare set of fours for the front anyway".

Jay Brown, who you know from Drag Week, had a book published a few years ago with his FE engine dyno testing. He's on his second or third printing. I know he learned a lot from the experience. He would be happy to talk to you about it I'm sure. You can e-mail him though his business - jayb@fepower.net

Billy Do you think I have a chance of living long enough to read your book?

Thanks, Kevin.

Ross,
That is a fair question. I think the Road Runner keeps you young and you have good years still in front of you, but as slow as I have been writing lately, it makes me wonder if even I would see it through to completion!



Dale often spends 50-60 hours a week at work, and he was also tasked with building all the motors they would take on Drag Week 2016. The 512 for the Duster was the first to get his attention. Then he had to assemble Darren's 512 for the Charger, and finally try to find time for the Gremlin engine.

Part of the difficulty has always been getting parts in a timely manner, especially with this many projects in the pipeline. Dale makes twice as much money as the rest of us, but steadfastly refuses the use of any credit cards, having learned everything he needed to know about such temptations in his early twenties. So, occasionally the flow of needed parts is stymied by the flow of income into his account. He's a patient, disciplined man who plans accordingly, but his brothers do not possess any of those three qualities, sometimes this leads to problems.

"I need a CSR shield, so we can install the engine and trans in the Duster, and start getting all the other stuff fabbed up", Boone complained on the phone.
"I thought Dale was buying everything for the car?"
"That's the plan, but he has a pretty large list of stuff to order already, and he says the shield is two weeks out. I can't wait that long, and I know you have one that you bought used six months ago with a fresh cert. Just mail it to me."
"Yeah, that's not going to happen. New ones are available now, just order it!
He talked me into ordering it on my card, even though I explained to him that I felt I had paid the Barnyard Viper off in full. It was probably good that I did, as the process of getting the low deck, raised Indy exhaust port 512 with the 2" Hookers and an AndyF engine plate did not go as smooth as they felt it would.
Dale took great pride in the fact that he had installed his old 440 without cutting the "shelf area" on his Duster's inner fender wells, but that wasn't the case with the new combo. Another problem area was the radiator. They wanted to run the big 55GPM Mezziere electric pump. The thick engine plate combined with the long water pump, and a thick aluminum radiator featuring a huge shroud containing two electric fans meant it was impossible for the radiator to fit in the stock location. The time constraints for completion dictated that alternate plans would not be explored, it was time for the family to "get their hack on"!

they'd thought they died and went to heaven if they had my old Sho Gun remote pump set up....

Had one of those on a 73 Cuda I raced for a while, Jay. Not sure it would flow enough for a street deal though.

The Gremlin
Other than engine work/swapping, the Gremlin was untouched from Drag Week 2015. So Dale had a grand total of five passes since he had added lighter springs to the new front end setup, and now he would be running an engine about 75 lbs. heavier. The 547 that he picked up along with cash for his 572 Hemi, had turned into a complete nightmare.
Once Dale got the World iron block tore down, he decided to move from the 4.395 bore, straight to 4.500 effectively building a 572. He wasn't exactly comfortable with the spray bar oiled Jesel rockers, so he went with his oldest set of Indy -1 castings, that he has had around since the nineties.
He found himself waiting so late to order a cam that he was limited to whatever solid flat tappet grinds Comp had on the shelf, and he ended up with a 290@.050, .650 lift dinosaur that probably had two inches of dust on the box before they mailed it.

The fact was, the Gremlin was a more of a plan B, safety net deal in Dale's Drag Week 2016 approach, and the 572 was more of a "what parts can I toss together in 2 weeks, and make this happen" last ditch effort.

I pulled in front of Dale's house a little after 1pm on Wednesday afternoon, feeling as if I'd used up every bit of the respite from fatigue a three hour nap on the seat of the 1 Ton in a Texas rest area had afforded me. Dale had installed a new whistle in his ditch, and added a driveway at the end of his property which would allow much easier access to long rigs, in theory anyway. I quickly discovered that he hadn't bothered with grading out the new white crushed rocks covering the whistle. When the trailer tires came off the humped up rocks, my dove tail trailer used the end C channel like a grader's blade to drag the top 5 inches of rock into the yard with us. The rocks, in turn, destroyed all the tail and clearance light wire that usually sits undisturbed within that same C channel.
The second thing I noticed upon entering the yard was the large, mature shade tree at the end of his property. This tree has provided the work area and base of operations for my Hell Week adventures for the past five years. Apparently the ravages of Oklahoma wind had bested the tree sometime in the last twelve months, and the top of the tree was lying in the spot I usually park in.
I climbed out of the truck and slowly stretched out my legs and back, then ambled towards the shop. Boone, Dale and James were inside, working on the Duster.
After a little small talk, I asked where I could park the Valiant to start on the rear suspension. They agreed I could pull it onto the pad in front of the shop.
"What do you need to do to it?" Boone asked.
"Jim Sam told me the rear was an eighth out the last time he aligned the car three years ago, so I need to get that straight before I take it back to him for another alignment. Since James is here, he can cut the safety tabs off the ladder bar, then weld them back on when we have it done."
"He's building a pan protector for me first", Boone explained. "We put a big aluminum pan on this thing, and I need something to come down off the k-member and keep it from getting crushed by road debris."
"So", I laughed, "an armadillo killer, of sorts?"
All three of them chuckled at the name. Armadillos had entered into Drag Week lore a few years earlier, when Gary Putnam's Pro-Charged Fox body ran over one on the day 1 drive. The resulting damage hampered his effort for the remainder of the trip, and good armadillo jokes have been prevalent in DW bench racing ever since.

I unloaded the Valiant off the trailer and with Boone and Dale's guidance, drove it through the maze of cars until I could line it up with the pad in front of the shop. I grabbed my jack, and a pair of Dale's stands, and raised the rear of the car.
Every part of my body hurt, I really just wanted to go in the shop, sit in a chair and trade stories with the guys while they worked on their stuff, but time was at a premium and if my junk was going to be ready, I was going to have to be a little selfish. When I pulled the rear tires off, I immediately noticed that the sticky weights had been ripped off the inside of the passenger's side tire. I say "ripped off" because there was a scratch mark across the wheel just before and after the area where the weights had been dislodged.
"Well that explains the vibration I had on my last pass", I explained to James.
"What would've knocked those weights off? You taped them, I'm sure", he responded.
"Yeah, the gray duct tape and weights are still on the other wheel", I explained as I peered into the wheel well and let out a low whistle.
"Did you find the problem?" Boone bent down close behind me.
"Yeah, that bolt probably took out the weights when it decided to abandon it's post!"
His gaze followed my finger, and he shook his head, "the upper ladder bar mount on the rear is missing the bolt! Didn't it feel any different?"
"Yeah, it sure did". I paused to recollect, "it shuddered hard on the last leave, and didn't even attempt to pull the wheels, then it pulled harder to the center line than it ever has on the drive home, but I thought it was all in the front."

I pulled the driver's side ladder bar out of the car completely, and James cut off the safety tabs. Then we extended the front heim out an eighth, re-assembled it, and James welded the tabs back in the proper place.

"Can you put the tires back on so we can move it out of the way long enough to get the Duster out of the shop, and the Gremlin in?" Boone was standing over me asking the question, and was clearly surprised by my negative reaction.
"We discussed this before I even parked here! I explained quite clearly that I had a long list of stuff to do to the car!"
I stormed off towards my rig, with him following close behind.
"Look, plans change, everything is in flux right now. If we don't get that Gremlin in there now, Dale is just going to keep working on the Duster, and forget about taking the Gremlin. That can't happen, he busts his butt on everyone else's projects, and he deserves to take his car. The Duster is a long shot at best, but the Gremlin will go together easy, so we need to get him on it right now."
"I looked the Duster over as soon as I arrived", I gave him my best and honest opinion, "There's too much left, it isn't going to make it!"
"I agree", he shook his head, "but Dale won't give up. The Duster needs to go to the muffler shop tomorrow, so that's why it's coming out. Until it returns with new exhaust, Dale needs to be on the Gremlin, nonstop!"
"OK, ok, I get it. Is that why Michelle and Will have been here cleaning on the Gremlin for the last hour and a half?"
"Yeah", Boone smiled, "Had to call in reinforcements, and they know that the Gremlin has to go together tonight!"

We moved the Valiant, pushed the Duster out and Will, Michelle and Boone began guiding the Gremlin into the shop. Dale motioned me over towards the Duster, to help him cover the engine with a moving blanket.
"What do you think?" He asked in a low tone, motioning towards the Duster as he eyed the other three to make sure we wouldn't be heard.
"It's too far away, we'll have to kill ourselves to finish this car!"
"Then that's what we have to do! Little Billy has the week off from school, and he intends to ride shotgun with Boone!" His face was barely able to control the emotion boiling under his dark glare, "This car will go, I don't care about the Gremlin, the Charger, or any of your stuff, this is priority one!"
"OK, fine", I slapped him on the back, and bluffed with the best smile I could muster, "We'll make it happen!"
He walked into the shop and closed the roll-up door behind him.
I turned towards the Valiant, thinking to myself "this is an abbreviated week, but this is going to be a very crazy seventy-two hours ahead of us!"

With the Valiant relocated next to my trailer, I looked at the rear tires in relation to the wheel well opening and began to think something wasn't quite right.
Boone was working on his little Tow-Me trailer, and had all the tires, wheels, drums, and hubs removed. We've beat on that poor trailer for more than twenty years, so I supposed it could use the maintenance.
I called him over for a second set of eyes. "It looks like the passenger's side is shoved forward and is further out now, and I'm not sure why", I explained.
"Did you re-adjust the diagonal link after you moved the ladder bar?" He asked after a cursory look underneath.
"Uhh...Nope!"
We checked it with a tape measure, X pattern, and it was way off.
"You really didn't expect to just bolt the diagonal back in place..."
"You were rushing me! Besides, I haven't slept all night! I tried to defend myself.
"Well, get it back on stands, so we can adjust it".
"What are you doing to the trailer?" I changed the subject.
"The bearings were all loose, the brakes are shot, the tires are shot. Figured since this is the longest drive we've made to start Drag Week, I'd rather fix it here than on the side of the road".
James came out of the shop, clearly disinterested in helping Dale work on an engine, and joined Boone and I beside the trailer.
"At our shop in Phoenix, we've had to replace many spindles on semi-trailers that were ran for a long time with loose bearings", I explained to them, "the inner race will spin on the spindle and eat it up. I'd hate for you to put new brakes, bearings, and tires on the thing if the axles are screwed up."
Boone ran his fingers over the spindles a few times, then laid on his back to look at the bottom of the spindles. "The bottom is darn near flat! you're right these axles are shot. I wonder if Dale knows someone in town that has new axles in stock."
"Boone, do we really have time to be rebuilding a trailer? We really need to concentrate on the cars", I explained.
"I'll bring my trailer over in the morning", James volunteered.
"This trailer is the only one that will pull the Drag Week trailer", Boone complained.
"I did notice that the Duster now has a receiver hitch", I teased.
"More of my handy work", James confirmed.
"With those 3400lb springs, I think the Duster would pull it fine, but now I'm not sure how we will get it to Ohio", Boone shook his head.
"We'll be fine without a trailer on Drag Week Boone, just as long as we have at least one B-Body, we can bring everything we need!"

The Drag Week trailer has become as diverse and customized as the cars themselves. In the early years you had rented U-Hauls, Harbor Freight bolt togethers and pretty much nothing in between. Now they are limited only by a cubic feet rule, and the builder's imagination. Equally as diverse and imaginative, is how many of these small trailers arrive onsite for registration day. Some are standing on end in a pick-up bed, some are in pieces and have to be assembled on arrival. Watching all this equipment arrive is a spectacle unto itself.

James and I put the Valiant on four jack stands, and we removed the front tires as well. I was switching back to a new pair of 165/80s on the front to replace the 185/60s that had been pressed into duty last year. We adjusted the diagonal link, and amazingly the 9" looked like it was straight in the car again.
Boone gathered up all my rubber, along with a few of his and Dale's, and headed out for Robertson Tire in Owasso. This trip to our favorite tire store seems to be a rite of passage for every Drag Week.

I spent the time waiting for Boone to return by unloading all the stuff out of the Valiant, Belvedere, and 1 Ton that I had hastily tossed in before the trip to Oklahoma. I sorted through it with importance placed on the tools and supplies needed to do repairs to the cars this week, then I would have to sort through all of it again to pack it away for the trip to Ohio. It's an arduous task which could be much easier if I possessed even rudimentary planning and organization skills.

Will and Michelle bolted the tires and wheels back on the Valiant as the last remaining light from the sky was fading away.
"We really can't do much for Dale in the shop, he's down to small stuff on the engine, and all we were doing is trying to keep him awake!" Will explained.
It was obvious that James, Will and Michelle were ready to call it a day, so Boone hastily hooked up to a trailer and coerced them into assisting us with loading the Duster before they left.

I stretched out on my trailer and put my head in my arms as Boone tied down the Duster.
"You about done?" He asked.
"Yeah, now that it's quiet, dark, and everyone is gone, I'm really feeling it!"
"Are you going to sleep here or at my house?"
"I'll go to your place", I explained, "Dale appears to have a full house right now, so I don't want to put him out."
"You're gonna have to suck it up then", Boone chuckled, "because we have to get in that shop and keep Dale moving on the Gremlin!"
"I'll sit in a chair and talk, while you help him put it together. Will that work?"
"I would expect nothing less from you!" He laughed again.

When we entered the shop, Dale was putting the engine plate and water pump on the engine. He carefully placed the gaskets on both sides of the plate, with silicone on the multiple mating surfaces as well. We helped him hold everything in place while he started the bolts, then I eased back into a folding chair as promised.
He had the bolts nearly tight, then suddenly he stopped and let out a "what in the heck is going on"?
"The aluminum water pump housing is hitting the Milodon gear drive cover", Boone pointed out.
I had my head back and my eyes closed, but added my two cents anyway. "I thought you already had this engine in the car once?"
"I did, and it leaked water around the engine plate...that's why I was being so careful with the gaskets this time! Apparently I just cranked the bolts down that time, and since the engine had problems, never investigated it further."
I leaned forward and rubbed my face, "So...what are the options?"
"Space the water pump out", Boone suggested.
"I'd have to space the bottom pulley out too, and then change the alternator mount", Dale shook his head. "I'd like to avoid that altogether, I've got too much time into getting all that to work right the first time!"
"Pull the timing chain out of the 440...you know the stock cover will clear". I looked at the two of them, and began to worry this was a make or break moment, backwards was not a direction that interested them at all.
"I re-used the gear drive because I couldn't get the gear off the crank", Dale explained. "This engine was a nightmare to take apart. We had to chain the engine to the hoist legs, and use the hydraulic ram to remove the intake! Everything was glued together, and I was so aggravated by the time I got to the crank...I just left the gear on. I'm willing to go yank the stuff off the 440, but I'll be done if that gear doesn't come off!"

It took Boone and I nearly as long to find a puller in Dale's messy shop, as it did for him to return from the front garage with the cover and timing chain set off the wounded 440.
When he walked back in, I was trying to find a place to set his new fiberglass hood for the Duster.
"What do think of all my fiberglass?" He managed a weak smile, "You said there was no way I would get it all in two weeks!"
"Yeah...I'm amazed, I figured AAR/Stinger was just trying to get your dollars when they said it would make it on time. Looks like they were true to their word!"
"Hood, deck lid, and both bumpers", he pointed to stuff scattered throughout the shop, "and I'm thrilled with the quality!"
"Not a single piece installed yet, though", I retorted as I sat back down in my chair again.
"You get the gear off that crank yet?" He changed the subject.
"I'm just here to supervise..we need a bottle of nitrous to cool the crank, and a torch on the gear...it'll pop right off!"
"How about we just try the puller first?" Boone interjected.
I leaned back and closed my eyes again.

You know if you would show up at the Regular time this wouldnt happen.LOL

I was in and out for the next couple hours, sleeping in between small talk. Boone finally nudged me awake to get in the Coronet and head to his house.
"I wanted to help him get the engine in the car, and mated to the trans", Boone explained as we drove away, "he should be able to handle it the rest of the way".
"What time is it?" I finally questioned, only barely coherent.
"Three AM", he confirmed.

Thursday

I woke up around 8, took a quick shower and kicked Boone out of bed. We grabbed fuel in the car, a cup of coffee, and some breakfast at the QT near his house, then went to Drive Shafts Inc. to drop of a 1350 yoke for the Belvedere. We ordered a 3" steel shaft with a 1350 solid U-joint up front, and a 1350/7290 combo in the rear. That would be much better than the stocker 7260 shaft with the 7260/7290 combo that Rachael killed last year.

When we arrived at Dale's to take the Duster to the muffler shop, the Gremlin appeared mostly complete, but Dale wasn't around. His stepson Cody informed us that he had only went to bed about an hour before we showed up, so we decided not to bother him.
We mated the trailer up to the muffler shop rack, and just pushed the Duster straight back off the trailer.
"What does he want on here?" The muffler guy questioned us.
I just shrugged and pointed at Boone.
"I thought Dale called you", Boone looked startled, "I thought it was all hashed out".
"Well, he scheduled an appointment, and told me to just run it down the sides and turn it out in front of the rear tire, but I don't recall what size he wanted."
"Three inch, I guess", Boone decided.
"I'm out of three inch stuff", the muffler guy explained, "So you'll have to run down to Grand Prix and grab some mufflers and reducers if you want to go that route".
Boone threw his hands up, "Alright! We'll be back as soon as we can."
"Dang it Boone! I'd have brought my empty nitrous bottles if I knew we were making a trip to the speed shop today", I complained.
"Never fails to happen during Hell Week!" He shook his head as we drove away.

We dropped off the parts at the muffler shop, and ran by Wal-Mart for some more "Cherry red" paint cans, so we could make sure the Duster was all one color (sort of).
We went back to Dale's, and scuffed up the fiberglass parts for a quickie paint job. We nearly had them all sprayed when Dale walked out in the back yard to finish up the Gremlin.

"When are you guys bringing the Duster back?" Dale asked us straightaway. "I've got the glass guy showing up here in an hour and a half to install the new windshield and all the chrome trim!"
Boone explained the situation with the three inch exhaust and Dale went completely ballistic.
"I told him and I told you, I wanted three and a half! How hard is that to comprehend!" He paraded us around to the back of his shop, "I've got three complete three inch systems right there I could've modified or used parts from if that's what I wanted!"
Boone's mouth was ajar and he shrugged his shoulders with his hands uplifted, but he waited a moment before he spoke. "I didn't remember that, and you didn't write it down..."
"Well, I'm not paying for those parts!" Dale shook his head, "You can put them on a car of yours when we get back from Drag Week!"

When Boone and I returned from picking up the Duster at the muffler shop, the glass guy was already waiting in Dale's back yard. We rolled it off the trailer, and he started working on it immediately.

Dale had the Gremlin pushed back out of the shop, and we fired it up to break in the cam. I was looking at my phone to time how long the engine had been running when I got a text from Rachael that she was ready to be picked up at the airport in Tulsa. I stole Boone's Coronet to go retrieve her, and made Cody take over the duties as official time keeper on the 572's break-in procedure.

When Rachael and I pulled in Dale's back yard, the sun was fading from view fairly fast. They had already moved the Duster back in the shop, and the front end was back on the Gremlin. Just seeing the Gremlin in one piece, and the Duster with a windshield and all the front and rear window trim reinstalled, made me feel like we just might make it! Michelle had been installing the fan and shroud on the Duster radiator, but she passed those duties off to Boone, and turned to Dale.
"You promised me a ride in the Gremlin!"
"I did", he nodded his head, "and I do need to take it for a test drive and buy some gas, so we may as well cruise down to the station."
"You and Rachael need to grab some tools and help me", Boone suggested, never looking up from the radiator.
"Uh..actually I think we are going to load the Valiant on the truck and trailer that you just rolled the Duster off of, so it will be ready to go to Jim Sam's first thing in the morning for an alignment!"
"Good idea, but help me set this radiator in the car first, then I'll help you line the Valiant up on the ramps", Boone insisted.
Rachael tossed her hands in the air, and gave a disgusted grunt,"I'm standing right here, Boone!"
"Ok, you can help me put the radiator in...but girls don't guide cars onto trailers, that's a recipe for disaster!" Boone started laughing as Rachael gave him an elbow to the ribs.

With the Valiant loaded up and cinched down, we retired to the shop to watch Boone and Dale continue to work on the Duster.
I took a chair and struck up a conversation while they removed both valve covers, "So, I've only saw Dad for about five minutes since I arrived...".
"He's knee deep in helping Darren get the engine back in the Charger. He parked the motor home over there, so we haven't seen much of him either" Boone explained.
"When did the engine get assembled?" I shrugged, up to this point I really knew little of Darren's effort to make it.
"Last weekend", Dale laughed, "He brought it over here in his Dodge R/T and we pretty much tossed it together on the tail gate!"
"You had the block on an engine stand for a week before that didn't you?" Boone questioned, as he opened a box with "Pushrod Factory, Reed Springs MO" stamped on it.
"No...that was the problem, he brought over the rotating assembly, with the new rings and bearings first, then asked me to grind and gap the rings for him so he could assemble it".
"No way", I exhaled.
"Yeah! So when I explained to him that I had to have the block in order to gap the rings, he decided to bring the whole thing over and let me help him do it here!"
"Must've been eight people with their hands on that thing", Boone chuckled.
"Yeah, for sure", Dale pulled his glasses off, rubbed his eyes and pinched the bridge of his nose as if trying to recall a deeply buried memory. "The two of us, Darren, Dad, Cody, Will and Michelle. It was definitely all hands on deck, but it went together fairly quick".
"I want to build an engine someday", Rachael shook her head. "I miss out on all the fun!"
"Well then get over here and help me get these rockers back on the head", Boone motioned her over.
"But don't dent that pristine fender with your baby bump", Dale added.

I was falling asleep again in my chair, and if we were going to beat the crowd to Sam's Alignment and Brakes in the morning, I needed a good night's sleep.
"Boone, I think Rach and I will take the truck and Valiant to your house tonight. So we can get to Sam's early."
Dale looked up in surprise, "You're going to park the Valiant over at Boone's? In the ghetto?"
"I'll back it up in the drive...it'll be fine."
"So you're going to bail, and I'll just drive the Coronet home?" Boone shrugged.
"Yeah, I mean, Rachael and I have like three stops to make in town, and that way you don't have to be stuck with us."

We left Dale's around 11pm and even so, it was just after midnight when my head hit the pillow.

Do the brothers follow along with your recaps that you do here?Just asking.LOL.And will they ever learn that DW happens the same time every year?When I sat with the clan on Friday I was expecting to get invited to a bonfire,roast marshmallows and sing songs you were all in such a great mood. LOL

ksj,
Darren has threatened to sue me for libel on more than one occasion! When I told him I was thinking about doing a book, he gave me his lawyer's name and number. I think he was just joking...maybe?

Friday
I awoke to the sound of tree limbs rustling outside, and the rumbling of an impending thunderstorm. Rachael and I left without waking Boone, and arrived at Jim Sam's shop thirty minutes before he opened. He takes in alignment work on a first come first served basis, and three years ago when I was in this exact same situation, it took half a day to get the Valiant on the rack. I figured the best way to avoid that was to get there first. We almost had the Valiant off the trailer when the clouds opened up and it started raining.
Jim waved us over and then explained that it would take a few minutes to get all the cars out of the shop before he could take us in.
"It's a mini mopar car show coming out of there!" Rachael exclaimed as Jim carefully backed out a Challenger, a Charger, and a convertible Dart GTS, among others.

"The back eccentrics on the uppers slipped", Jim pointed out as he had the Valiant on the rack. "That's why she's towed out so bad, but everything else is tight."
"Yeah, had some high wheel stands." I explained. What about the rear? We tried to correct the alignment on it."
"Looks like it's straight in the car, but it's toed in a little on the passenger's side, so I'd say the housing is bent a little!" Jim commented as he spun the wrenches to make the necessary adjustments on the front. He had me out in less than an hour and refused any payment.

We had the Valiant back on the trailer when I got a call from Drive Shafts Inc. that the Belvedere shaft was ready to pick up.
"I'm going to have to break drive shafts more often!" Rachael exclaimed when the young man brought out our new drive shaft. He smiled and blushed, then gave us our bill.

"What was that about", I asked Rachael when we got outside.
"Did you see his arms when he carried that thing out? He was smoking hot! Then when he bent over! What a butt!"
"Oh good grief!" You're engaged and pregnant", I admonished her.
"Well, I'm certainly not blind! I can still admire", she laughed and blushed as she climbed in the truck.

Love the workbench

I am starting to wonder how many alignments Jim charges for. I know I have paid for one on my car and the other checkups have been waved off, same with my Dad's car.

Our final stop was Grand Prix, to top off all the nitrous bottles. The owner of the speed shop and I were discussing the March Meet while his crew was changing out mother bottles. Mike Cox pulled his 53 Ford Gasser in front of the store and walked towards the door.
"Here's a Drag Weeker! Do you know Mike?"
"Yeah...I guess Mike sold his Henry J, and went back to his trusty Customline." I shrugged, as Mike entered with a smile and hand extended.
"When are you headed for Columbus?" He asked as he motioned towards the Valiant on the trailer.
"We aren't even close", I laughed. "We still have two cars that haven't even had the engines fired yet! What about you?"
"I'm loading the Ford as soon as I get home, and we are staying at a friends in St. Louis tonight. It's a long pull, you know!"

I eased the Cummins powered 3/4 ton off the rocks and into Dale's back yard. I made it about thirty feet when I felt the rear tires spinning, and we slowed to a stop. I shut the truck off and stepped out for a look. The front tires were about three inches into the soft mud left by the morning rain, and the rears were simply skimming off the top layer.
"What's wrong?" Rachael asked as I reached for the drive shaft in the back of the truck.
"We're stuck, and I'm not going to tear Dale's yard up trying to get it out. We'll just wait for the ground to dry up some, and get it back here in a couple of hours."
We threw a plastic tarp under the Belvedere, which was still on the two car trailer, and crawled under to install the drive shaft. Once we bolted it in, I dumped in a few quarts of trans fluid, then had Rachael attempt to start it so I could check the fluid level on the fresh 727. The 440 hadn't been fired in a year, so I had to dump fuel in the 750 to get it to finally pull enough from the tank to run on.

With the sound of the 440 running in the backyard, Dale stepped out of the house, and motioned us inside for breakfast.

He should post that pic in the"clean room" discussion.

Thanks for the story Billy!

Good stuff, keep it coming.

Dale sat at the table, and looked out the dining room window towards the scattered automotive debris that covered an acre and a half. He had recently dropped 40lbs., which was already paying huge dividends health wise but this morning it only added to the worn down, disheveled look on his face. The profound lack of sleep, combined with the weight loss left his eyes sunken, with pronounced wrinkles at the edges of the dark circles surrounding them. His entire face was nearly devoid of color, but a smile still toyed with the corner of his lips.
"Why do we continue to do this to ourselves?" He pointed toward the plates, then to the scrambled eggs, biscuits, and gravy on the stove.
"I've always made it a point to tell people that we are smarter than we look, but the evidence is overwhelming to suggest otherwise...", I caught myself laughing at my own joke.
"Very sad, and very true", he took a sip of his coffee, "How much do you have left to do on yours".
Rachael set a plate of food in front of me, and asked if I wanted coffee.
"He's capable of getting his own", Dale retorted.
"Naw, he's really not", Rachael laughed then offered Dale a refill, before sitting down with her own plate.
"Oil change on the Belvedere, if the trans works right when we test drive it. The Valiant is good. Where are you on the Gremlin?"
"It runs", he replied, "but those 4.10s in the Dana are howling like crazy! Not to mention they are going to be way too low for that 572. Last year, I was trapping 150 with the 440 at 7500! I really don't want to spin a 572 that tight, and I have a brand new set of 3.73's sitting on the shelf out there with no time left to install them".
"Speaking of time." I took a moment before broaching the subject, "We need to agree on a deadline for getting out of here tomorrow, I can't do the routine again that we did before the trip to Bowling Green. This is the longest trip yet to a starting track, and I don't want to hear any scenario that has us arriving in Columbus thirty minutes before the cut-off of the tech line!"
"What did you have in mind?" He cradled his cup in both hands and looked me in the eye.
"Well, I've got a 62 mph rig, and no co-driver, so I feel that I need to hit the road by noon tomorrow at the latest!"
"I can help you drive!" Rachael threw her hands up in disgust, my inability to trust her behind the wheel of the 1-ton was becoming an increasingly sore subject.
"That's fair", Dale agreed, "but I'm not going to bail on the Duster".
"I'm just saying I may have to leave you guys behind then...If you guys leave later than that, you can run 75-80 if you choose to, and I simply can't", I explained.

We were all putting our dishes in the sink when my phone rang, it was Boone calling. We had a short conversation, then I briefed Dale and Rachael.
"He's showered and ready to leave his house, but he can't find his wallet. He went out to make sure he didn't leave it in the Coronet, but the door was open, and it appears someone rifled through all his stuff on the console and passenger's seat."
"I told you he lived in the ghetto!" Dale shook his head.
"Well, he can't imagine that he left it in the car, so he wants us to check around here...look in the truck, the shop, the Duster, otherwise he's going to stop at his bank on the way over here."

I walked out to his truck, and checked the cab out thoroughly, then I fired it up and tried to ease forward out of the mud. The yard had dried just enough to allow me to get the thing moving, and I pulled it around back so I could unload the Valiant.
I joined Dale in the shop, where he was searching for Boone's wallet on the shelves and in the Duster.
"The last time I saw it", Dale pointed to the roof of the Duster, where the AAR hood was now resting. "He left it up here on the hood."
I was leaning on the back of the car checking out the trunk area. They had a giant plastic fuel cell mounted as far forward in the trunk as possible, the outlets were plumbed with steel braided hose to a huge MagnaFuel ProStar 500 pump and filter, but nothing beyond that.
"The fuel system isn't plumbed yet?" I looked up at Dale.
"No...not wired either, fuel log/regulator up here in the front isn't fully plumbed yet...it's going to be a long day", he shook his head.
Rachael walked in with a big smile on her face, "I've got good news, and I've got bad news!"
"Out with it", I implored.
"I found Boone's wallet, but he left it out on the back of our trailer, so with this morning's rain, it's soaked through and through!"
"I'm sure he won't mind", I smiled at her as I pulled out my phone to call him.

Boone rolled into Dale's backyard well after noon, and made his way into the shop to check on the Duster.
"Darren called me a while ago and said he wasn't going to make it", Boone commented.
"He says that every year, probably just wants some of us to go over there and help him", I concluded.
"He's just frustrated, I think he stripped out one of the bolt holes that thread into the trans case".
Sounds about right, his 'magic elbow torque wrench' never has been calibrated for aluminum threads!"
Dale guffawed then added, "I resemble that remark!"

Boone started discussing a wish list of things he wanted Rachael to pick up for him, so I decided to excuse myself from the shop so I could finish up on the Belvedere. I'd been under it for about fifteen minutes when Rachael came out and asked for my bank card so she could pick up a few things for us as well. Boone came out a few minutes later, added something to her list right before she left, then made his way over to where I was working.

"What are you doing now?" He asked somewhat tersely.
"Figured I'd change the oil, and take it for test drive". I explained
"You know, if you would have showed up here Sunday night, with your stuff ready to go, we'd have had a much better chance of getting all our cars done!" He spun around and headed back to the shop.
"Wow! I'd have expected that response from just about anybody else in Oklahoma before I would have seen it coming from him", I thought to myself.

I spent most of the afternoon concentrating on my cars out in the yard and avoiding the shop entirely, mainly because I was still miffed at Boone's attitude. When the sun went down though, it didn't make any sense not to get in the shop and see if I could find something to do. Dale's son Billy was out of school, and fired up to help on "his" car, but I could tell he was driving Boone and Dale crazy as they worked on the front of the car.
"Billy, what do you say we figure out how to get this new fiberglass trunk lid mounted on the car", I motioned him towards the back. He was receptive to the plan so we broke out the new hood pin kits, and I turned the kid loose with a drill to make holes in virgin fiberglass! Since I live twelve hundred miles from my nephew, and his Dad only has him part time, I came to realize that this was probably the most involved I had ever been with him, and I really enjoyed it, despite the buzz of activity that was going on around us.

Made me chuckle. "If you would have showed up here Sunday night,wi th your stuff"

Made me chuckle. "If you would have showed up here Sunday night,wi th your stuff"

Donnie, the website was doing stupid things, and I thought I was going to lose my post, so I just submitted it, then edited it once I re-booted.

At around 11pm, I grabbed Rachael and told her it was time for us to bail. This would be our last chance to get a decent night's sleep, and I wasn't going to waste it.
"We'll drive the Belvedere over to Boone's, twenty-seven miles will be a good practice run", I told her as we jumped in. I explained to her three times that she had to remember this trans was forward pattern. Then as we were jumping out on the highway I pulled it back from second to first again.
She stuck her hands out and grabbed the dash as the car threw her forward. "What the heck, Dad!" she shouted.
"Just giving you an example of how catastrophic it can be if you revert back to a reverse shift pattern...".
"You are an idiot", was her immediate assessment.

"I'd forgotten how much I enjoy just driving this car", I looked over at her and smiled before we arrived back at Boone's place. "I can't believe I let this thing sit in my car port for a solid year without touching it."
"Yeah, 365 days for what? Eight hours worth of work? You bum!" She tossed her hands up in feigned disgust, but she had a smile on her face.

Saturday

The first thing I noticed when I drug my carcass out of bed Saturday morning was that Boone had never came back home. That was not a good sign.
Rachael and I pulled our laundry out of the dryer, packed our bags, and jumped in the Belvedere. We hit the McDonald's drive through for breakfast and rolled into Dale's around nine.
Boone and Dale were still working on the Duster, and both of them looked like Walking Dead extras. An hour later, Boone headed to his house to get a shower, and pack his clothes for the trip.
My cars were loaded, ratcheted down on the trailer and Rachael was helping me pack away all our supplies, when Dale asked me to help him break the cam in on the Duster. I looked at my phone to track the amount of run time we put on the 512, and realized it was 1:07pm...already an hour later than our agreed upon Noon deadline!

Dale was spraying water on the radiator, and the 512 was humming along at 2500, when the black paint on the fender wells above the headers started bubbling up, so we shut it down for a while.

Boone returned with all his stuff, along with some bad news.
"Darren just called and said the Charger is out, they started to fill the radiator and the water went straight into the pan!"
Dale leaned forward in the Duster, shaking his head. "I told him he should've used a different block!"
"OK, you told me he left water in last winter and the Indy heads were cracked, so he bought a new set", I looked back and forth between both brothers with my hands on my hips. "Now, you're telling me he tried to re-use the block?"
"He waited so late to get started on it...and the only machinist that could get it done in time doesn't have the ability to pressure test anything. We checked it out and it looked fine, he told Darren to take it somewhere else and test it if he wasn't comfortable..." Dale's voice trailed off.
"So, what's the plan now?"
"Dad is coming over to help me drive", Boone explained, "Darren and Sherri have already taken vacation and planned for this, so he's going to get cleaned up, packed, and just follow along in the Ram R/T like he did last year".
"Well, I guess Rachael and I better get on down the road then, because you guys sound like you're on the 'drive 90 and show up at the last minute' plan again."
"I'm not going with you Dad!" Rachael shook her head.
"What do you mean?"
"Dale is a zombie, he's been awake for 36 hours, little Billy doesn't have a license, and unlike YOU...DALE'S not afraid to let me drive his rig! So I'm hauling the Gremlin, and YOU are on your own!"
"Were you in on this double cross as well", I questioned Boone.
"I may have suggested it", he managed a weary smile, "not really sure, we're all kinda tired and all...".

Family being what it is, I stuck around until they were nearly loaded before I jumped in the twelve valve and headed out for Ohio. The 1 ton was on empty, so I stopped and grabbed 25 gallons of diesel two miles from Dale's place. I looked down at the receipt before I put it in my wallet, "3:14pm, Whew, three hours behind already!"

I can run 67 mph comfortably with the old Cummins, but I don't have weight bars or a sway bar on my tongue pull two car trailer, and above 62 it likes to shuffle around a bit. Traveling by myself, I'm a grinder, so I just put it on 62 and go until it runs out of fuel. That strategy got me to the Flying J at Sullivan Mo. a tick after 9pm. 331 miles at 13.5mpg, it's hilly Ozark country, so I was happy with that. The 24 ounce coffee was a good 6 ounces of hot chocolate, but that seems to delay the amount of time I can run on a straight coffee diet before it starts tearing up my stomach. The next leg took me through St.Louis and Indianapolis, until I pulled into the Speedway at Knightstown Indiana, 346 miles covered on that tank. We'd lost an hour crossing into the eastern time zone, so it was 4 Am local time. I'd been in constant contact with the brothers, and all of them seemed to be doing OK, they had been within twenty miles of catching me a few times, but they were all stopping more often than I was.
Ten miles later Darren blew around me, then Dale caught and passed me somewhere after we crossed the Ohio border. Rachael had been following Boone at a sane speed while she drove, but with Dale awake and behind the wheel, they were moving along pretty good. It was dawn before I entered Columbus, but on a Sunday morning the traffic was light.

Now, according to Google maps, from the time you exit I-70, onto Ohio 37, and then take a left at the traffic light onto US-40 and arrive at the entrance of National Trails Raceway, you will have covered two miles in roughly three minutes. Google didn't account for the other 350 Drag Weekers intent upon doing the same thing apparently and when I arrived in the small town of Luray, with it's one traffic signal, these outlaws from across the globe had brought the sleepy little town to a stand still. Worshipers seeking to arrive at the Luray Christian Apostolic Church were not thrilled with us.
I decided that sitting in a left hand turn lane while everyone filled the intersection going right on red from the other direction was a bad idea, so I went across the road and did a u-turn to come back the other way. Turned out to be a worse idea because the line was over a 1/2 mile long from that direction. It wasn't all bad, because I was catching cat naps between each time the line moved. An hour and a half later, I finally arrived at the entrance shack to the track. A small car ran up beside me to cut in line, and the driver flashed a card and lanyard at me, then he stuck his head out and explained, "We're the tech officials, and we need to get in there ASAP!"
I waved him by and thought to myself, "If those are the two NHRA track tech officials, how many cars have made it through registration since the gates opened two hours ago?"
I would have my answer soon enough.

Wow, Billy, you are on a roll! Keep up the good work!

After reading all the trials and tribulations that the "G Clan" goes through(put them selves through?) in a mad thrash right before drag week begins, I can't help but think of "dog years".
You know, a dog ages 7 years for one human year.
Seems like the way the G Clan does it there has to be some added wear and tear on the body and mind. I don't know what the correct ratio would be, but it sure seems like maybe they're getting 3 or 4 drag weeks worth of blood, sweat, and drama stuffed into one drag week.

Great story telling as usual Billy!!

There is a group of Drag Week participants who always arrive at each track on time, with a cup of coffee, clean clothes, and a big well rested smile. They stand around talking about getting to the motels before dark, then sharing pizza and beer in the parking lot while everyone else arrives. I don't think it would make for quite as interesting a story, but I sure would like to try a Drag Week like that just once!

As my stories have expanded every year, I like to think I try to tell as complete a story as my memory allows, and I try not to gloss over the gory details of what happens when you show up unprepared or things don't go your way. After six years of doing this, I've also been made acutely aware of the fact that writing and posting stuff on the internet about real people and real events does not take place in a vacuum. Generally the response has been favorable, but when you are critical of the processes or handling of certain issues, sometimes people may feel said criticism is unjust.

One such area is Drag Week tech. I think I've been honest in my reviews, but perhaps I should've been less vocal about it on certain face book sites and web boards. It's just that it chaps my hide when some DW rookie comes on the internet trying to get approval for something he's done to his car which may change the class he's put in, or asking about some rule in the NHRA rule book which only applies to Pro Stocks at National Events, and everyone always refers the poor guy to Keith Turk, which to me is like advising your friend who won five thousand cash in a street race to call the IRS and ask if he should report it on his taxes, or asking the prison warden if it's OK to bring in contraband!

One of the things that I've pointed out (many times, on many sites) was the fact that the Hot Rod Tech sheet only had one line for the NHRA tech official to fill out, which simply listed the minimum ET which the car was allowed to run. My argument was, "How serious do you think they are about enforcing the NHRA rules when this is all the sheet has on it!"

Now, you may look upon me as a scofflaw, or a rule bender, or even an outright cheater, but I've always approached tech at any event much the same way a batter faces a pitcher or a receiver goes up against a defensive back. As such, you want to scout your competition, so anytime I arrive at a track, I like to go up and watch a few cars go through tech and figure out what the procedure is, and what each inspector is looking for. All of them have specific favorites they like to check for, and all of them have a clock in their head as to how long they can spend on each car. Is the inspector a talker? Do they like to start at the front of the car, or with the paperwork, or with the safety gear? Knowing all this before your car is next in line is key to hiding the things on your car that aren't up to specs, and trust me, in 32 years of attending drag strips, I've never had a car that was 100% legal.

So, while most of our crew was unloading cars and gear, I made my way to the head of the line to watch. It appeared to me that the Drag Week staff was watching me with a wary eye as I was lurking around, but perhaps it was only my own guilty conscience. I didn't like what I saw. In years past they had one NHRA tech who was just running around between the cars in line checking the boxes on each sheet and handing them back to the drivers, then the final check was lights, horn, and the street stuff. This year everyone was required to fill out a full NHRA tech card in addition to the Drag Week sheet, and the two NHRA techs were doing full inspections after the cars cleared all the Drag Week street stuff!
This meant it would be harder to slide things past the gendarmes, if that was your intent. The second consequence was, that it would take longer to clear registration, on a day when they were getting a late start and there were a record number of entries. Sunday was shaping up to be a long, grueling, interesting day!

I just thought you guys figured if you didn't do it this way that you wouldn't feel like you were getting the full DW experience.

Btw...... I'm a buyer when the book comes out!!

It was great meeting you and your family at Martin MI Billy.

Dwayne I figured this was like a contest, to get them amped up FOR the contest!
Don

You might be on to something there.
Like a right of passage ritual...... Where you have to prove yourself worthy before being allowed to go to the next level....... DW itself.

and everyone always refers the poor guy to Keith Turk, which to me is like advising your friend who won five thousand cash in a street race to call the IRS and ask if he should report it on his taxes, or asking the prison warden if it's OK to bring in contraband!
ROFLMAO!!!

Not to take anything from Billy's great story but this is a good tale of one participant's adventure.

This post is a recap of the Hot Rod Drag Week experience by Hilborn’s EFI Specialist Andrew Starr. He drives a very nice 56 Chevy, but Mopar driver Scott Abbott and his wife Kim played a big part saving Mr. Starr's bacon on the road Day 2.

It does a very good job of capturing the essence of Hot Rod's Drag Week.

http://hilborninjection.com/drag-week-2016/

GREAT read! Scott and Kim are great people also. Have always enjoyed talking with them the last 2 years.

Yes! I got to know the Abbott's in the staging lanes at Bowling Green (2013?) when Scott won the Daily Driver (now Street Machine Eliminator) Top 32 race and Clark was fourth. We have seen them at every Drag Week since.

Bill

Awesome read, thanks for sharing Bill!!

Nick,

Glad you enjoyed it, I just stumbled across it on the Hilborn site.

It was nice to meet you on Drag Week this year.

Bill

Likewise, Bill! Curious to see if some of the regular DW guys here are going to enter in 2017.

I've been "recruited" for 2017. Unfortunately, as support for brand X. Still looking forward to it though!

Thanks Billy, Drag Week is on my bucket list.

Nick,
I am sure many will be there, but most will want to see the track listing first.

I sure would like to see Larson back in Unlimted.

After finishing five years straight Clark is planning to take the year off, however if it starts in Tulsa he might reconsider.

Bill

It doesn't...

GLD?

Not surprised but where does it start...

I've been sworn to secrecy.

Ask a Russian

If you really have the inside edge as to tracks etc for dragweek do you know when hot rod will release the dates and tracks for the 2017 event ?

Safe bet is the full week after Labor Day, which would make it the 11th through 15th this year. Not confirmed though.

Bill, it seems that Doug Cline/Joe Barry/Larry Larson are going on Rocky Mountain race week instead of Drag Week. I think that version has an actual payout for the winner, not sure if that is their motivation or not.

Joe and Michelle are hopefully taking 2 56s on RMRW and its in their back yard.Last year they skipped DW because they were not able to pull their son out of school.

Long drive up to Cordova this year!

Think this year I'll just go to the start in Cordova.Been 8 times and need a change.Think I'll enter RMRW as I've never been to Kearney or Pueblo.Jim,if you route has you coming through T-town and you need anything let me know.