Farting in the face of adversity tour

Air time, originally uploaded by Wagons of Steel North.

A wiser man than me once said “if you don’t know where to start; a good place might be at the beginning.” So our story unfolds on Friday July 28, 2006 at 5:30 am gearing up for the big trek from Wagon’s of Steel North HQ. Although we’ve done this sort of trip a million times, something just didn’t feel right. I started the day by forgetting the proper receiver hitch in town that needed to be retrieved, and then promptly made a pot of coffee all over Chris’ kitchen floor. We finally got under way with all jinxes to our back. About twenty minutes out of Grand Forks while powering up a hill in the mighty Polara we heard a sound that could only be described as smashing bottles with a chain. Chris and I glared at each other in fear and pain. We immediately pulled to the side in time to see oil spewing from the back of the pan….she’s done. Not being the quitting type, we sent the boys off on a mission for cell service and rescue in Grahams 330 support wagon. It was now 9:00 am so I had a beer and waited. A little while later the team returned with news that a friend was borrowing Mode’s (team member not present) ’78 Jeep wagoneer and was coming to our aid. Within three hours, help had arrived and poor Malbotia was dragged back to HQ for further analysis.
Back on the road and all is well, right…well…pretty good I guess, except our maximum speed is maybe 45 mph and every hill means fuel vapor lock. We did manage to figure that one out by resting a full bag of ice on the frame rail over the incoming fuel line, atta boy Chris. Needless to say we made our destination in under 15 hours….well worth the extra time I assure you!
Saturday morning always comes early for me knowing that the race car needs to be checked over and jets changed for racing at sea level. Racing also starts early due to the high car count and the fact that they want everyone to get at least three passes in. Tech went smooth even though our belts were expired (woops) and we were off to staging almost immediately. First pass was a mid 11.70 followed by two slightly quicker runs, the last being an 11.63. Cocktail hour ensues and we fade to black.
Sunday morning the entire grounds awoke to torrential rain, it was a dismal sight to say the least and I felt sick to my stomach. Around 12:30 it was clear and they had the track dry but we sat in this bubble of passable weather that could change at any moment. We all went straight to elimination because of the time, no qualifying pass for us. Everyone seemed to be going faster and red lighting so caution was the word of the day. We dialed our same time as our last pass of 11.63 with plans of lifting if need be. The first two guys handed me the win with a red light and round three I won like a champ by lifting huge and almost nailing my dial. My last pass I broke-out big time even though I lifted (too late apparently) and still ended up going our fastest E.T. of 11.51 and our quickest sixty foot of 1.59. Had I stayed in it I may have run an 11.48 but we’ll never know. We made it to the last six cars standing in our field going four rounds at our all time favorite track. The team was all a-glow and we all went our separate ways, reminiscing on the events of the day.
p.s. editor’s note….the 1st official record of the front tire leaving the ground on launch!

Polara Pat