Finally getting around to documenting my Drag Week experience. For those that don't know, Hot Rod Magazine puts on a week long event with 5 days of drag racing and road tripping between tracks each day driving your race car over 1000 miles. I've wanted to do it for years and while this isn't an ideal drag car, you can drag race anything.
Friday 9/9/16:
Finished packing. That's 4 wheels/tires, a floor jack, stands, every tool I could think of, spare parts, welder, cooler, and clothes for a week.
Saturday 9/10/16:
Loaded up with my buddy T-bird Mike and drove 6 hours through the pouring rain to National Trails near Columbus. Surely nobody thought I was going to trailer it down, lol. Found a couple water leaks but that was the only issue for the first 360 mile leg leading up to the official week.
Safe and sound outside the first hotel. We were within walking distance of a Texas Roadhouse so we got some decent food and crashed for the night.
Sunday 9/11/16:
Got to the track at around 9am for registration day. Did I forget to mention that I was only on the waiting list and not even officially in yet? Got some wrong information from an official and almost didn't get in but thanks to the nice lady at the registration booth I finally got in the tech line at 4pm.
Ran into the man himself, he'd helped me out the week before when I was testing.
Still waiting in line.
9pm after being at the track for 12 hours, I finally got through tech, paid up, and registered for Drag Week and got the sticker to prove it! Back to the hotel to meet up with our other buddy JP who was spectating and splitting rooms with us. By the time we were at the hotel, everything was closed so we had to order in pizza and just about passed out in the lobby waiting for it. Hanging out in the sun at the track for 12 hours is no joke.
Monday 9/12/16:
Get up early and head to the track, unpack, switch tires, head to the drivers meeting.
At the drivers meeting we found out that our class would run 2 hours after the start of the other classes. This turned out to be a blessing because we could sleep in most days. This particular day started late because the ambulance didn't show up on time. Finally got called to the lanes, made a 11.54 pass and called it good, packed up and hit the road, success!
Stopped to fuel up outside the track and a guy with a Grand Wagoneer stopped and took our picture. Someone on Facebook recognized me and tagged me, small world. Also met a really nice couple with an early Mustang towing a trailer that we ran into several times throughout the week.
First checkpoint, Benders Food & Spirits in Massillon, OH.
Second checkpoint, Fountain Inn Park in Mansfield, OH.
Pulled into the track in Norwalk late, found these guys changing a starter at the gate. They'd shut the car off to take a photo and broke the snout off the starter trying to start it. They had the situation handled so we grabbed some crappy fast food and met back up with JP around midnight at the hotel for the night.
