Under ominous skies the crew unloaded the cars into the shop that was so graciously provided by the gang at Advanced Suspensions. When the locals come out to tell you that "the storm" will hit in about 45 minutes, you'd best heed the warning! Skies open up, thunder & lightening and all the power goes out.. the guys scramble to get cars, parts, mule etc covered. It was quite the comedy show! As the first of several storms passed, word came that the Rain Date for Kokomo had now been canceled - so, everyone opted to head out go fill the " road houses" with fuel, dump tanks and to locate a restaurant for dinner. Driving out of the industrial park, less then 1/4 mile a huge tree had been struck by lightening, split and burned down the middle. Wow, little was it known there was so much damage. SO much for dinner out - power was out all across the area. What's more fun then everyone gathering in a parking lot, bonfire in RIch's fire pit and ton's of leftovers for dinner.
Dinner and a movie - better then a movie was the show that Mother Nature was presenting in the sky - incredible lightening strikes and the roar of thunder as it rolled closer and closer! 4-5-6 rain drops and then a downpour - huddling under the 5th wheel of Rich's rig, the Moose Party continued!! It wasn't until the 1/2 gallon bottles of booze were being pushed down the driveway by the gusty wind and the massive downpour that everyone decided it was best to go inside. As the sun rose on Tuesday morning it was kinda s surprise to the Moose Crew, that they had been experiencing the side pieces of a tornado!! Driving thru town displayed pieces of evidence all over that indeed, a tornado had come thru!!!
Tuesday there was calm - George, Chris & Tom headed out to The Speedway - Rich, Jim, Dave and Laurie had the joys of doing laundry, grocery shopping and parts searching for Chris and RIch's "road house's" that had both experienced some mechanical failures - Chris.. no a/c in the truck and the generator mishap and Rich had a propane line break. What's the saying - duct tape will fix anything? So does JB weld, a few hoses and a group of guys that seemingly could fix anything.
Relaxation over - and get on down the road to Terre Haute, "The Action Track". Also at the fairground was The Fair - and somehow the Moose Rig ended up on a wrong road, finding them dead ended in a Chick-FiIl-A parking lot. Maneuvering the 75 foot long rig outta that tight spot, but if anyone could do it, it was Tom. The carnival atmosphere made the excitement around the race program even more eventful. Watching the kids enjoying the rides, fried everything and the towering ferris wheel gave the night a festive feel. Next crew member up to draw the pill!! Whelp, 26th out of 37... 5th in the Heat yet again!! Semi event - started 10th and finished 7th,,,,
Putnamville – we’re running out of crew member to draw the pill---and the luck hasn’t turned around much, not even here. But Jakes qualifying laps were good enough to be 16th quick. Starting in the middle of the Heat Jake got the car in a transfer spot when on a restart a guy decides that he should rearrange the front end of the 92 sprinter. Get the car off the track and the guys fly into action, replacing the front end and a few other parts to get the car back out in time for the Semi. Running a great line, Jake crossed the line
2nd and on to the Main!!! Moving forward and right in the middle of the pack – where the action was fierce, Jake found himself the victim yet again. Finishing the Main Event in 20th!! Two more to go ----
Bloomington - 19th in qualifying gave Jake a front row start in the Heat Race. Green flag is thrown and on a track that has no walls, the inside poll sitter drifts up the track and basically moves Jake to the crest and over the edge the edge he goes. No damage to the car, but on a track where there was no passing... he'd have to run the semi.... With really no passing to speak of and rain drops starting to fall, the semi was stopped with just a handful of laps to go..... and the main event not rescheduled. The massive amount of rain that fell in a short amount of time found many of the haulers having to be towed out of the pits. With the groudn already being saturated from previous rainfall Tom had out down plyboard under the jacks, great thinking, as he was able to get the rig out without the need of assistance. By this time the rain had stopped and Tom being wide awke from Mother Natures cold shower decided that he'd point the hauler on the road to Haubstadt, the last race of the trip. About 40 minutes into the drive, a car that was going the other way on the road started honking and gesturing gto Tom - large plumes of white smoke were coming from the back of the trailer. Tom, JIm & Laurie piled out grabbing the fire extinguisher and in a panic running to the trailer. After one of the previous races Dave & Tom had seen that a "perch" that holds part of the trailer air bag in position was cracked, just a bit, but had been ok when the guys had checked it at the 2 previous tracks. Apparrently it had broken and the axle had fallen some and was rubbing causing all the smoke. Thank goodness for the Good Samaritians that made Tom aware of the problem, and it wasn't a fire!! Gimping the rig down the road a bit farther, locating a closed ma & pa gas station, Jim & Tom dug out the welder and McGeivor ( Tom ) did a repair that hopefully would get them to the next rack and home!! It's amazing the stuff Tom can do!!!
Haubtadt - the last stop on this voyage. Pulling into the track early, George came by to give Tom & Laurie a ride to the airport in Evansville in search of a rental car. Not realizing that Indy was over a 2 hour drive in the other direction of heading home, the decision was made to rent a car and Jake, Dave, Jessica and Laurie would leave Haubstadt after the race, drive to Indy and get some shut eye at the airport. You sure wouldn't think that finding a rental car at any one of the rental companies would be a problem... wrong!! Finally, Avis to the rescue!! A friend of Laurie's has a business in Evansville, so the 2 made a detour and ventured off to see Bill and his Lucas Oil Center. A beautiful facility - featuring services like a Jiffy Lube but also a car wash area. Grabbed a bite to eat with Bill ... discussing his decision to make the move from California to Indy. Was it the right thing to do? DId he long to be back in California? His answers were somewhat surprising, as he was very glad he had made the move. Weather in Haubstadt was stifling - 97 degrees and 85% humidity !! How did people live in this? This was gonna be pushing the envelope even further on the Moose Crew who was already worn out and dripping wet from the humid, hot, sticky weather. But asides from all of this they were amazing, yet again, Rich, pill drawer again.... qualified 23rd...giving it his all, Jake missed that dratted 4th place direct transfer spot again, by 1!!!! Semi main.... YIPPIE!!!! 5th and a transfer to the A. Coming in from the 12 lap semi there was concern, as the rear brakes were a fiery red ball and the engine was running really warm!! Let's at least take the green and see how the engine responds -- Jake started towards the back of the Main and had picked off several cars, when the temp gauge was showing warmer then what would be comfortable. SO, Jake ended Indiana Sprint Week, taking his own checkered flag in 20th. In conversation after the races with some locals, overheating is not uncomman for engines at this trrack, some even go as far as somehow devising a fan system for the engine. Hummmm. worth looking into.
Tom & Jim took their seats in the rig and headed down the road towards home. Jake, Dave, Jessica and Laurie took to the highway on their way to Indy to catch the 7 am bird.
All in all this trip was fantastic. Sure, didn't make every show, but Jake was on tghe move at each and every track, gaining notice from the National Drivers and making many many new fans. TIt was such a treat to see so many old friends that live in the mid west ... Brad & Justin Marvel, Christine Shuman, Keili Shuman and her 3 little ones, Duece Terrill. Christa Hines, Casey, Ed ( who recently made the move from Ca to Indy) Bill, and to the many new friends that have been made.
There can never be enough words to thank the entire Moose Crew for using their vacation time to make this trip. It was a venture that none will easily forget and made this group of peeps even stronger then they were before!!!