Great story guys! Keep it going!

Walmart at 11 pm monday night and a worn out trunk monkey

Wally World in Tucson.....

Fun to read the Drag Week stories again, thanks for writing it out Jeff.

Looks like you guys got the fancy C6 seal too, the one with the dust boot.

No doubt you're enjoying the journey, hopefully Joel doesn't mind you playing a little Motley Crue? Wait!....i think you said no radio? I may have talked a buddy into finishing his car to run Dragweek 2022. The vid I saw from Norwalk looked like a fun variety of classes. Almost looks like an affordable car can be nearer #3 or so?

I guess that all depends on your definition of affordable lol.

Who needs a radio? Not Jeff and Joel! CLICK HERE

I took a portable radio in 2012 on my first drag week. The car had flowmasters then and at one point when we were running 4000RPM on I-40 trying not to get run over you couldn't even hear it. The exhaust is quieter now but we never carried the radio again. I'd always be turning it down thinking I heard something anyways lol.

While the route on Day one mainly kept us on 4 lane Highways, Day 2 sent us on some smaller 2 lane roads. While I was looking over the route sheet, Joel asks me where the first stop was, and what were we looking for? "Says it's a Loves gas station, about 90 miles away." Thinking to myself, that's probably the most boring check point they could have found. We have stopped at some interesting roadside attractions over the years, and this was going to the bottom of the "interesting" list for sure. While in route, we caught up to some other Drag Week cars, and they obviously were members of the 50-55mph club. The Coupe isn't happy running 50-55mph. That requires being in 4th gear, and with the T56 Magnum being faceplated first through forth gear, it leaves a lot of slack in the transmission. It works perfect under wide open throttle, but under part throttle, the slack makes the car jerk around quite a bit. With fifth, and sixth gear fully synchronized, they do not have that problem. "First chance I can get, I'm passing these guys" Joel tells me. "OK". As a safe spot open up, so do the Eight Holley 94 two barrels. We go around the first car about 70-75 mph, and Joel backs it down to around 63mph. The Coupe is running decent. Oil pressure looks good at 70lbs, water temp is around 150*, and oil temp is 170*. It's actually a very nice day out, and THIS was the nice part of Drag Week. I mean what could be cooler for a gearhead? Cruising in a old school Hot Rod, with a 392 HEMI stuff in it, and to make it even more wild, 8 carburetors sitting on top of it? We approach a couple more 55mph club members of Drag Week. Both pulling trailers. "You'll get around one if your lucky, but we have a turn coming up in a couple miles." I told Joel. A safe spot open up, With a loud CLANK, Joel shift the T56 into 4th gear, and opens the HEMI up once again. He wasn't having anything to do with just passing one car, he was going around both of them. As we were coming up to the second car, I glanced at the GPS speedometer on Joel's phone, and it said we were doing 94mph. We went around both cars like they were tied to a tree. They just gave us a thumbs up, as we waved when we blew by them. A few miles up ahead, we were stopped by a train, and the cars we had quickly passed, were right behind us. A few people used the time to get out of their cars and stretch out. Our first check point wasn't too far away at this point. I still can't believe they were having us go to a Loves gas station. "We'll get gas there." Joel said. When we got there we could see how much gas we had used, and calculate how much we would need for the remaining 200 miles. With the train finally passed, we were once again on the move. "Gas station is on your left Joel". "OK, I see it." We roll up to the gas pump, and get out. Right behind us another Drag Weeker pulled up to the pump next to us. I hear Joel, "TONY! How are you doing?" Tony McDonald was also running in the Hot Rod class in his very cool 38 Dodge pickup, powered by a 340 Mopar with a 5 speed trans. Joel and Tony, have known each other through the H.A.M.B. (Hokey A$$ Message Board). "Tony tells Joel that when he was behind us, he was getting something sprayed on his windshield?

Oh, oh... Wonder what that is?

Worried about the possibility that the transmission was leaking again, I crawled under the Coupe, and took a quick look. Everything looked good. No visible signs of anything leaking. No idea what it could have possibly been? While at the gas station, I watched the cars we passed just a few minutes earlier, take their picture to prove they followed the route, and instantly pull back out, and hit the road. Meanwhile, Joel was busy yacking it up, and mentions he needs to use the bathroom... Well at least we weren't trying to pound a new seal in the back of the transmission. Joel walks out of the gas station with a fresh gallon jug of water. "Are you a Camel?" I asked. "Saddle up!" he replies. Tony said he would just follow us on the route, since he was running solo. Roughly another 100 miles up was our second check point of the day. The Coupe was starting to run a little warmer, but we just figured that the air temp was rising as well, so it wasn't a concern. 165-170* was nothing to be concerned about, but it was higher than before. The second check point was much nicer than the first. It was a parking lot next to a lake. Plenty of room to have Drag Week cars fill the area while pulling trailers. We chatted quickly with others, did a gas check to see where we were at, and determined that we'd need to stop one more time. Tony, once again said he was getting a liquid spray on his windshield. Another check under the Coupe, and nothing was obvious? So we once again, hit the road, and found a nice small gas station. What looked like a small station turned out to be a very cool General Store. Once inside they had everything. While I was inside looking around, Joel was out taking pictures of his actual look alike, and this one wasn't to be confused with Blake Shelton. Joel also made friends with a cow. He wasn't about to try milking it like he did in 2015, when it turned out to be a bull, and gored him. Joel, and Tony found their way into the store, and Joel asks what I'm looking for? I told him I was looking for something to mess with Jeff Oppenheim, and I found the perfect thing to do so. A 4 foot long feather duster. Joel asked "What are you going to do with that?" "Zip tie it to Jeff's parachute mount while he's at the hotel." Joel advised me that once the joke starts, that there will be repercussions, and he didn't really want a part of that. I told him it would be fine. Jeff's a good sport. When we got outside, Tony gave me a weird look, and asked, "What's that for???" "I'll tell you later." LOL.

We once again wedged ourselves back in the Coupe, and got back on the route. Tony was closely following behind us. With less than 100 miles to go before we got to Indianapolis Raceway Park, we were feeling pretty good. The Coupe was running decent, maybe a little warm, but humming along. I was surfing Facebook on my phone, when all of a sudden felt the racing harness tighten way up, the tires on the Coupe started to howl, and Joel was steering the Coupe like Sammy Swindell in a Sprint car. I looked over my left shoulder to see where Tony was, and I see him going down the ditch past the turn. Dust is flying everywhere. I looked at Joel, and asked 'What the hell was that?" "Almost missed the turn!" ALMOST??? "Where is Tony?" I asked. "He's back there. Ship shape, no problem."

Not too much further up the road, and the temp on the HEMI is now climbing at a much faster rate. It's getting close to 190* on the water, and 200* on the oil. "We need to make a pit stop Joel." "I'll find us a place where no other Drag Week cars are going to stop." About a block off our route, Joel finds a small park/picnic area. Tony follows us. And we all park in the grass. Tony quickly hops out, and says, "For sure you guys are leaking something." We told him the HEMI was starting to run hot. Joel got a concerned look on his face, and said that he might have made a mistake retorqueing the heads the night before. Joel opened up the radiator cap, and it was almost empty of water...

Jeff. I am Sure Billy would be proud of you! You tell a great story! Keep it up!

"What is your concern of re torqueing the heads Joel?" His concern was that MAYBE, be redoing them, it messed up the Copper head gaskets, and it would be leaking water into the oil? I crawled under the car and took a look at the oil sight tube, and it looked like the oil was clear, and not milky. It doesn't take much for it to look like a milkshake, so nothing was going on there. We looked over the water lines, and one of the lines coming off the head, had some white residue, like it had been leaking, but not enough for the engine to be down over a gallon of water. We took all the water we had, and filled the radiator as much as we could, and then Tony brought us enough from his cooler to top it off. With less than 80 miles to go, we figured we could make it to Indianapolis Raceway Park. Once there, we could stop at a parts store, and get a bottle of sealer, and put it in the radiator, and hope it held for the remainder of the week. The break was actually nice for a change of pace, and it was a lot of fun talking with Tony. Wanting to get to our Hotel outweighed the break though. "Lets hit the road!" Joel told me, and we crammed ourselves back into the Coupe. Water temp went way down, and the oil pressure raised up 10lbs from being cool again. We quickly got back on the route, and headed towards IRP. It didn't take too long, and traffic around Indy got worse, and worse. We came to a stand still at one point, and I had the door wide open to get some air moving through the Coupe. I'm sure the lifeless souls in their Prius's were wondering just [censored] we were doing, and how dare they drive such a menace to the environment? We survived, but the temp gauge was climbing once again. Figuring it might just be from sitting in traffic, but we would need to find a parts store ASAP. The temp didn't go down much as traffic started to move once again. Something was going on with the engine, and being this far from the home track, and Truck/Trailer, wasn't the best feeling. A little ways down the road we were somehow separated from Tony. His GPS route planner took him a different way ours did. How that happened, we have no clue? Shortly after that the skies opened up, and it started to rain. Not wanting to drive in the rain on basically slicks, and having flashbacks to 2018, Joel wisely pulled off the Freeway. Not 2 minutes later a concerned motorist pulled up behind us, and asked if we needed help? "No, we are just trying to avoid the rain." Joel, then limped the Coupe to a empty parking lot, and we got out the Route sheet to make sure we're on the correct path. We were, and as fast as the rain came, it was gone. I wiped down the windshield of the Coupe, and we headed back to the Freeway. We located a ORielly's Auto on the phone, and headed to it. Tony had got ahold of Joel, and said he would meet us there.

As we got closer to the parts store, it was quite clear, that we were not in the nicest neighborhood of the Indianapolis area. Joel pulled the Coupe into the parking lot, and I told him I'd stay with the car and look things over. Tony pulled in right behind us. As I was looking the HEMI over, I could not see anything that looked out of place. Tony walks up behind me, and says, "Did you see that? A drip of something just hit the ground." A ha... A clue. I crawl under the Coupe, and see where the leak is coming from. Joel had installed pushlock hose fittings on the oil cooler lines, and it looked like it was coming apart. I told Joel to grab some hose clamps inside, and just make sure he only got the essentials. "You think I'm an idiot?"... As Joel walked into the store, Tony looks at me, and asks "Do you want a beer?" It's hot, a muggy... Of course I want a beer! Tony extracts a ice cold Old Milwaukee from his cooler, and hands it to me. I like Tony.

While BS'ing with Tony, waiting for Joel, we discussed where he was in his class. I told him he was in 5th place, but not far out of 3rd place. It's too bad he took a bad pass on Day 1, since he forgot to take off his air cleaner. Had he taken it off, and made a normal pass for his truck, he would have clearly been in 3rd place. There was an outside chance he could still pull it off. "Why did you tell me that? Now I have to try!" I wonder what is taking Joel so long? Never mind it's Joel. Nothing usually goes fast paced with him. I told Tony I'd be right back, as I wanted to see if Joel was telling the parts counter guy how he looked like Blake Shelton. (Which I can 100% guarantee, had no clue who that was). "Joel do you have the hose clamps?" "In the box. They are already rung up, so you can grab them." I scooped them up, and headed back out to Tony, and the Coupe. I grabbed the needed tool, opened up the hose clamp to wrap it around the hose, and laid down on under the HEMI, and installed the clamp. As I tightened it up, water started POURING out of the fitting, down the hose, and my arm. Luckily it wasn't boiling... OH OH... That's not good. I quickly removed the clamp, and as I was doing so, I noticed the end of the hose rotate. I reached up with my other hand, and sure enough the AN fitting was loose. I got on my phone, and called Joel in the store. Told him to hold off on buying the Ceramic sealer, and we found the water leak. I grabbed the All16th's wrench we had bought on day one, and tightened the hose fitting back up. I'll have to blame Joel for that one, as I've never put a wrench on those fittings. Maybe Joel forgot to eat his Wheaties that day?

The reason Joel took so long inside the store, was he was going to install a new fuel pressure gauge, and was trying to get all the parts needed to mount a gauge on the cowl, so he could see what it was reading going down track. Once outside, and a box of parts in hand, it was determined that it was going to be too big of a pain to attempt. "Lets get to our Hotel" were the words I was waiting for Joel to say. First we had to stop by IRP, and our daily route would be complete. The next morning the drive from the Hotel to the track, could be accomplished anyway we wanted. The route had us take some nice side roads, with plenty of trees, and shade. We made it to the front gate, and Day 2 was officially in the books. Sort of... Only a few minutes upon arriving at IRP, a familiar Drag Weeker pulled in behind us. "Matt! how are you guys?" "Doing good." "What time did you guys leave Norwalk?" Matt said around noon. We left 3 hours ahead of him, and Lance. With a shocked expression, "And you guys are just getting here?!" "Yup." I'm pretty sure both Matt, and Lance, were happy we didn't call them again on Day 2. Joel then decides we need to borrow a 5 gallon gas jug from Tony, and it was only a few miles to our Hotel. Great... I guess I know where that is going. The trip to the Hotel was pretty simple, other than not having any spare room with a 5 gallon fuel jug in my lap. I still can't remember why we even needed it, other than Joel wanted to torture me? It was nice arriving at the Hotel before the sun set. We had heard there was a storm coming through later on, so we needed to adjust the valves right away. Joel made a phone call, and got us a Pizza delivery on the way. Thinking the beer Tony gave me earlier on tasted way too good, even for Old Milwaukee, I better see if I could go buy some more. A gas station was within easy walking distance of the Hotel, so I made my way to it. Not a single cold beer in the place. I could buy it warm, and find out a way to cool it down, but that wasn't really an option. I was then told a liquor store was just a couple miles down the road, and they would have cold beer. I told the clerk, no thanks. I've already walked 58 miles in the last few days. As I made my way back to the Hotel, more people had arrived, and one of the cars had a crowd of people around it. Most of them had Drag Week shirts on from years past, and they were way to clean to be participants this year. "Want a beer?" One of them asked. "You are a saint" I told him. "That cooler is full of ice cold beer, and since you have a wrist band on, you can take as much as you want." The guys had mostly competed in Drag Week in the past, and since they were local, they figured they would hang out, and meet up with old friends, and make some new ones. They had a stack of Pizza boxes on a tailgate of a truck as well. I grabbed a couple beers for me and Joel, and went back to our room to eat our Pizza. The A/C was a nice welcome for a bit. Daylight quickly turned to night, and Joel got busy doing his thing to the Coupe. I probably spent more time than Joel wanted me to, talking with people, and just hanging out. Hey, we are on vacation after all.

Wanting to make sure we got up early for the next day, I headed in, and took my shower. When I got out, Joel was just getting to our room, and told me to look outside. The skies had opened up, and the Coupe was getting a good soaking.

Great story Jeff and some cool pics!!

Wednesday's 5:00am alarm went off much too early, and the weeks lack of sleep was taking its toll. I knew if I was struggling with it, Mr. 8 hours wasn't going to be doing well either. I figured I'd get up and get dressed right away, and make my way to the Hotel lobby area, and see if any breakfast was out. Told Joel to get up, and get moving. "No problem, we're on Drag Week, I can do this!" So I left, and walked down to the area where breakfast is normally served, but was told that wasn't served until 6:00am. We won't be waiting for that... I figured sleeping beauty was going to need his morning coffee, so I grabbed a cup, filled it, and made my way back to our room. When I entered the room, Joel was in the bathroom, and apparently he was taking Tuba lessons. Didn't know where he had that stashed in the car, but I didn't want to listen to more of that. I grabbed my bag, and told Joel coffee was on the table, and I'd meet him outside. I also grabbed a hotel towel, so I could wipe the Coupe down, from the rain the night before. I'd like to apologize to the cleaning crew at our Hotel. That towel wasn't coming clean, no matter how much bleach was used. I'm sure the damage Joel created in the bathroom was even worse...

With the Coupe wiped down, unlocked, and the tarp removed from the engine, we were ready to go. Out walks Joel with a smile on his face, 3 bags in one hand, and his must have pillow and coffee in the other. No Tuba? I told Joel I had to bring the towel back into the room, but I was afraid. It would have to be a quick open the door, and toss in the towel while holding my breath. luckily, I made it out unscathed.

It was a pretty easy drive to the track gate. Once we got into the gate, the train crossing guards started flashing. Could we have possibly made it? Maybe. Was Joel taking a chance that the Holley 94's wouldn't bog at the worst time? No. The train was moving slowly by, but once it passed, it wasn't a big deal, as the gates getting into the pits were not open yet, and a line had formed inside. Less than a minute passed, and the gates opened up. The train didn't hold us back at all. As we went through the gate, Joel was handed a tech card. "Fill this out, and bring it to the Tech shack." Great, just what we need, Joel wandering around trying to find the Tech shack... He can barely find the Tower at the tracks we go to some times. Joel wheeled the Coupe into the pit area, and tried to find a spot that wasn't flooded with water. We both got out, and did our thing. Empty the trunk, Air cleaners off, mufflers off, header extensions on, passenger seat out, spring rubbers out, and fuel check balls switched over. As I was dropping air pressure in the tires, Joel fired the HEMI up, and started revving it up? The header tube was aimed right at my head. i quickly backed off, and looked at Joel, and said "What are you doing?!" "Draining the carbs." "Could you warn me first?" I'm not deaf like him, and I'd like to keep it that way. "Sorry." Quickly changing the subject, he asks "Hey where did they say tech was?" "In the staging lanes." Joel grabbed his snowmobile suit, shoes, and helmet, and made his way to the staging lanes. I walked as usual. On my path to the lanes, Jim Forbes was switching tires on his Nova, and we said hello, a few words, and I kept moving. It was fun talking with Jeff Oppenheim, and Dan Nissen in the Lanes for a bit, when my phone rang. I looked to see who is calling "HEMI Joel". "What do you need now?" "Can you walk back to the pit, and get my GoPro?" "I told you, you were in charge of your GoPro's." "Can you just go get them?" i hung up the phone. More walking... It takes a little effort to find your pit spot after leaving it, as all you can see is stuff piled up all around, and small trailers filtered in every other pit spot. You have to find the pile of parts, tools, and other crap that looks familiar. The easiest thing to look for for me, is the exhaust from the Coupe. It has a distinct look. I find the GoPro, do a 180, and walk back to the staging lanes. "Here you go Joel." handing him the case. "You'll have to set it up, I don't know anything about them." I think I mumbled something about Joel's wife being a Saint... "Hmmm?" he says. "Nothing. I'll take care of it." About this time the track went hot, and cars started going down. I went as fast as I could to get the GoPro set up, and in the car. The first 2 lanes had moved fairly quickly, and the third lane the Coupe was in, started to move now. I wasn't about to leave with GoPro case, and bring it back to our pit spot, so I gave Joel a fist bump, told him good luck, and made my way to the starting line. The Coupe made the corner from the staging lanes, under the famous bridge at INDY. At the bridge, you are about 12-15 pairs of cars back from the starting line. Maybe 3 or 4 more pairs of cars go down track, when all of a sudden it goes silent. i look down track, and a newer Mustang is pulled over to the wall, and rumored to have broken a rear end. This might take a while. Joel stays in the Coupe, and waits it out. i walk over to the passenger door, and open it so he can get some air moving through the car. While we were talking, and joking around, someone from Hot Rod magazine walks up, and asks me if he can take Joel's picture? "He's not Blake Shelton's Stunt Double after a bad accident, you know." The guy starts laughing. Not wanting to pass up an opportunity to get his picture taken, Joel smiles for the camera. The photographer walks away, and I start giving Joel grief about it. "I wish I had my comb right now. The Paparazzi always comes around when I look my worst." I reassured him he always looked that bad. The tracks flat bed was loading up the Mustang, and another familiar face arrived. This time it was Calvin Seith. he was also taking pictures. We met Calvin at Drag Week 2018. Great guy, and fun to talk with, and he absolutely loves the HEMI Coupe. With the Mustang removed from the track, cars were able to makes runs again. As Joel made his way to the burnout box, I found my place at the gaurdrail. I think I turned the GoPro on? Well to late now... Joel staged the Coupe, and brought the HEMI up on the 2 step, and when he dumped the clutch, the car bogged, but was moving forward. The scoreboards lit up with a 10.61 @ 129 mph. Slowed down again. Would that be good enough, or would we have to struggle to get another pass in? i started walking back to my pit area. As i walked by the concession area, i glanced to see what they had for breakfast. Not much. Everyone gets giddy about being at INDY, because of it's history, but not me. Wish we were at Norwalk yet. Love that place. I got back to the pit just before Joel, as the pits and return road combo at Indy are on opposite sides. It's a goofy mess if you ask me. Joel parks the Coupe next to our stuff, and climbs out. "Are you going to take that, or make another pass?" "We are in survival mode. No sense in trying to catch Mark, and we are safe over 3rd place by over a second. I'm going to turn in the slip, and hit the road." Just what I wanted to hear. Time to get to work, and do my thing.

By the time I almost had everything switched back to street trim, Joel had made his way back. I was proud of him that he didn't get lost this time. He got right to doing his job, and we were ready to hit the road. "Well, Saddle up Partner!" Joel fired up the HEMI, and we were one our way out the gates of Indy. With the transmission leak fixed on Day one, and the water leak fixed on Day 2, which turned out to be a minor fix, we were feeling hopeful, and excited to hit the road early once again. "There is a Casey's gas station just down the road from here" Joel said. We took a right out of the gate, and as I looked over the route sheet, I hear the normal CLANK of the trans going into 2nd gear, CLANK of 3rd gear, and the DEAD silence. The HEMI quit running...

The one liners you're putting into these are absolute gold!!

First of all, it wasn't a tuba. It was a trombone....

Prior to leaving for drag week, I had spent about 1/2 hour trying to figure out how to operate the GoPro, but I couldn't find the instructions, there is no switches or dials, and only 2 little push buttons. No way to intuitively figure it out. At least I figured out how to remove the battery and put it in the charger. (:


At Indy, after turning in that crappy time slip, I was kinda wishing we were in a horserace for position, so that I would HAVE to go back and try to improve. After all, I know the car has 9's in it, and my MPH was way better in 2018. But considering the standings, hitting the road now was the prudent thing to do.

I did eliminate the top end power loss. I figured it was running out of fuel on the big end. So I turned up the fuel pressure. The Norwalk pass where it laid down was at 5 to 6 psi. With the scoops and carb screens off, and the engine idling, I slowly turned it up while watching inside the carbs. At 8 psi, 2 carbs were leaking fuel into the carb throat. At 9 PSI, a 3rd one was starting to leak. So I locked it down there, with a plan that I would switch the Mallory 140 fuel pump on and off, regulating the fuel level that way until I staged the car. JOEL, JUST REMEMBER TO TURN IT BACK ON!, I kept telling myself. That worked, but still the mph was off. I wonder why, hmmm....

Here is a pic I found of me and Jeff working on the coupe:

Thanks for taking the time to share your adventures with us. I truly enjoy following along and look forward to the day I can experience Drag Week myself. -Trent

Thanks again for taking the time to type this up. Great story!

Great story Jeff and Joel! Thanks for sharing the story and the pics!