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Scattered Thoughts and Images from Grand Bend |
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The trip to Grand Bend, Ontario, Canada actually began on Monday night in the CompetitionPlus chat room. Joe Konigshofer is a regular visitor in the room and during the evening, I volunteered to transport his Pro Stock motor from Jon Kaase's shop to the track in the back of the travel van. You would think that an addition of 800 cubic inches would make my van go faster but it got slower uphill. Imagine that. After detouring to Atlanta to get the motor, I was actually ahead of schedule, so I spent the afternoon with my friend Robert Killian. Robert is another Pro Stock driver that is not running at this time. As luck would have it, in a conversation he had the day before, there is a possibility that Robert may be back on the track this year. The look on Robert's face was priceless when I drove up in the van. Robert said he was wondering how in the world I found out about the conversation when he had told no one. Robert saved my life and the Konigshofer's motor when he found a bad tire on my van that we replaced before finishing the trip. 1,100 miles seems like a long drive, but I have some of the most stimulating conversations with myself and it doesn't seem that long. Oddly enough, a good soft jazz station or a classical station makes the trip just fly by. How bout that one? Hillbilly race nut from South Carolina likes classical music. I was tempted again at 20 miles south of the Kentucky/Ohio border. There is an exit for the Big Bone Lick State Park . One day I am going to turn there. Just to see for myself. 02:53 on Thursday morning just south of Toledo there is a bakery near the interstate that caused me to snap completely alert. The smell no..not smell .AROMA was unbelievable. I don't think anything can beat the smell of baking bread wafting through the morning air. However, the Ohio cop wasn't interested. He made me leave the area I had staked out on the shoulder to enjoy the odiferous emanations. I gained 2 pounds. I got through Toledo in record time. The closing movement of Mozart's symphony #31 in D major was crashing through the van and I was unknowingly moving along with it. Eyes wide open, face pulled back in a grimace, foot pressed to the floor. I went through the outskirts of Toledo at 97 mph. Konigshofer's motor in the back was screaming. It had never gone that fast and made left turns intentionally. The lady at the border asked the usual question. Nationally? License plate number? What is in the bag on the front seat? (camera) she wrote that down without looking up. What is in the bag on the floor? (laptop) she wrote that down without looking up. What is in the back of the van? (spare motor) She looked up! Pull over under the flashing lights, we need to look at that. She was attractive. I was hoping for a body search. No luck. They just wanted to check the serial number on the motor. Gave me the ok and I was gone, feeling unfulfilled. Wednesday at noon. The temperature at the track was 85 degrees. The teams started arriving, enjoying warm dry weather in Grand Bend for a change. Wednesday at 5pm, the temperature was 58 degrees and raining. Here we go again was the prevailing feeling. By the weekend, the weather turned out just great after all. I did something this year in Grand Bend for the first time in 5 trips. I sweated. I loved it. If you miss your turn going to your hotel, and aren't paying attention, you can be in London , Ontario and enjoying a scenic ride through every single street at midnight on Friday. London is a very lively city. However, the three guys trying to rob the ATM machine were taken aback when I approached them to ask how to get out of the city and to Strathroy. Something happened at the track that I thought would never happen in Grand Bend. Bruce Beigler and I were pelted with rocks during the long TF oil down on Saturday night. Security was called and dispatched the 10 or so drunken teenagers. Bruce is a very mellow individual but I did see a sparkle in his eye. I think he wanted the security guard to toss the kids over the fence into the grass so that he could show them some Canadian immediate justice. I told the guard also that I wanted them tossed over the fence to me. He said he had his money on me for two reasons, the kid was falling down drunk and I was pissed. I had cause to doubt Travis Reynolds ability to judge distance. He placed cones to indicate the distance photographers could walk down the track to take pictures. The cones were supposed to be around 225 feet from the start line. They were at about 150 at one point and I pointed out to Travis (in the way only an old geezer can badger a youngster) that his math skills were suspect. Turns out that the cones were originally placed correctly, but had been moved to mark the locations in a wheelstand contest. I will apologize to Travis later .on second thought let him suffer. Quain Stott made a life-long friend. 7 year-old Jacob Langlois had his picture taken with Quain during the winner's circle pictures. I got an email wanting a copy for Quain to sign when they make a special trip to Milan in a few weeks. Just to see Quain and get the autograph. Personally, I don't think you can beat a weekend in Grand Bend. The crowd, the individuals within the crowd, the weather (never thought I would say that), the fact that you can double the speed limit on the roads and no one seems to mind. I am going to be able to make all three Canadian events this year. I think that is great. See ya track side
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