Making The Trip To The DL Nats....... Part 2

The Draglist Super Crew shares friendship and racing every year in a different town and at a different race track! Here are stories and plans for Draglist Nats past, present, and future!
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Mike-Casella
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Making The Trip To The DL Nats....... Part 2

Postby Mike-Casella » Wed Jul 19, 2006 9:09 pm

In part 2 of this adventure, I'm going to skip over all the fuel that went into the tow vehicle, and start with our visit to Gary (Pro70Z28) and his wife Cheryl's home in Coal City, Illinois.

Finally arrived on Tuesday at what was to be our two day stay-over in Illinois. Due to being so early, we were able to just sit back and enjoy the great hospitality of Gary and his family. The car and trailer were parked inside one of his many garages (envy) for our stay there, and left just enough room in the driveway for our home on wheels. The set-up Gary has with his business right in his home is awesome. During our stay, Gary made a few new vinyl stickers for the trailer, and because they came out so good, they make the rest look bad. I'll be putting in my order shortly. We got the history on how the house grew from a very small miners shack, to what it is today. An absolutely gorgeous home. We got to see the famous "Z" project in person, and let me tell you, this is going to be one very bad-ass car when it's completed. Very nice work! I only had one regret during our stay there, I had promised his son Jeff that I would unload the car so he could get a better look at it, and we ended up not having enough time. I guess he'll just have to jump in his new Camaro and drive out here the next time. When Jeff lifted the hood on his car, I just had one of those blank looks on my face, cause I had no idea what I was looking at, I was just amazed at how cramped these new cars are, I was just plain lost. I'm sure he's going to have a great time with his new ride.

We took off Thursday for Iowa. Our first stop was to be "Dale's Tire and More" in Des Moines to have a new set of rear tires mounted, and meet up with "Rapid" Randy Baker for the first time. Dale himself did the job with a smile despite the intense heat. In the past, when I had to remove the rear tires from my car, it was just plain misery, and I was waiting for bad words to come from Dale's mouth when he got started. I walked outside for roughly 3 minutes, and when I came back in, he was rolling the tire and wheel across the shop!! How did he do that so fast!! It must of had to do with all the rubber that I had burned off of them. With that completed we were off once again for Rapid's house for an overnight stay. The trip to Rapid's house was shocking. We drove thru a rain storm that moved in incredibly fast. I called Rapid on the cell phone so he could guide us to his house. During this time Margie was shooting video of the storm. Jumping from one side of the motor home to the other getting as much footage as she could, not to mention getting in front of me trying to drive. And to top it off Dot Dot is trying to tell me we are off route!!

We made it to Rapid's house and parked right beside a Propane re-fueling station!! No worries, we were safe. We went out to dinner with Rapid and his wife Laura that night at one of the local restaurants. Note to self, when you order a grilled ham and cheese sandwich, don't ask them to toast the bread. (What a dope!) That was almost like asking to make sure the Ice Cream was cold, or a glass of water was wet. While everyone else laughed and made fun of me, Laura just had a look on her face like "Oh boy, we got a winner here"

We were warned that Lippy and crew were going to be there bright and early to pick up his car and trailer the next morning, so keep our eyes open for them. Right on time, (sort of) they pulled in. Three people out of the crew I picked out right away, Lippy, his wife Trish, and their son Brandon, and finally Larry and Leon. Outstanding people! My son arrived a little while later and we had the honor of finally meeting John, (Wildcat). Like my son mentioned elsewhere, John is one of the most laid back people I have ever met. His online personality matches perfectly. The one thing I noticed about WC is he doesn't talk as much as he types. I'm not complaining, it was just very refreshing.

Off to the track we went. When we got to the track, we found ourselves pitted right next to the Kansas Twister FED. A simply beautiful car. They had already started on their maintenance for the day, so we unloaded and did the same. Not that there is a lot to do, as most of it was done back home.

The rest of the morning is kind of a blur to me right now, but I do remember some of the rest of the crowd arriving as time went on. Norb and Bonnie Locke pulled in shortly after we arrived with that incredible trip back in time dragster. I can't possibly remember who arrived after that, but there were a bunch of people everywhere.

After getting things in order we were informed that it was time to eat and headed down to the restaurant for supper. I must thank the person that invented the cell phone, for without it we never would have got there. We were greeted at the restaurant by a surprise guest, Barb made the trip from PA. to be with the rest of us!! I was so surprised I just plain forgot her name!! We filled our bellies and even had a small geography lesson too. Something about Antarctica, maybe Lippy can remember. We headed back to the track after dinner to watch some more racing. They have what I think they called The Midnight Madness race where the fun begins at 10pm and doesn't stop till 2am!! I did manage to sleep thru all that.

Holy crap! This is turning into a book!! Good thing I don't talk this much, I'd fall asleep listening to me! I'll put the race day story up tomorrow morning.

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bandit
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Postby bandit » Wed Jul 19, 2006 9:16 pm

Good reading, Mike! I still get a kick outta the tire story! :lol:

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WildcatOne
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Postby WildcatOne » Wed Jul 19, 2006 9:28 pm

Great post, great story, y'all are great people! Thanks! And yes, I talk much better on a keyboard...I didn't know if y'all picked up on that...man, I love being taken on a trip like this. The ProZ and Rapid dimensions are parts of this big story I didn't know about, and it was fun going there in this post. Life is good. WC1
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Iowa Al
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Making the trip to Iowa

Postby Iowa Al » Wed Jul 19, 2006 10:02 pm

Mike,
I am really enjoying the story too.
IA Al

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pro70z28
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Postby pro70z28 » Wed Jul 19, 2006 10:11 pm

We thoroughly enjoyed Mike & Margie stayin' with us. And....... how many people can say they've had a Nitrous burnin' 707 BelAir in their garage. :lol: :lol: :lol: :lol: 8) 8) 8)


............And yes I already know a truck washin' iz' overdue.


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