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The latest update as of August 25, 2014


On the road


What possesses people to do strange things? Ask a mountain climber why they risk their lives climbing up the side of a large rock and the answer is invariably "because it's there!" Similarly, why would someone jump out of a perfectly safe airplane and hope their parachute opens before they collide with the earth? "It seemed like a good idea at the time" is the obvious time. So how do you explain why someone would decide to hop in their car and drive across America, zigzag back to the midwest, head north to Canada, drive back to the east coast of the U.S.A., then for kicks - WARNING - bad pun ahead - drive Route 66 all the way to California and then up the west coast to home.

If anyone has an answer to that question, let me know, as two days into my latest "Xcellent Adventure" I'm just starting to doubt the wisdom of this journey. There's all sorts of good reasons to do it: attend the 60th anniversary U.S. Nationals, see a PDRA race in the heart of Pro Mod country (Rockingham), see one of eight wonders of the drag racing world, The Texas Motorplex, check out the social scene in St. Louis and join in one of the true happenings of dragdom: the California Hot Rod Reunion.

All good reasons, but when you start connecting the dots the reality of the task become evident. Let's start with 2500 miles from North Vancouver to Indianapolis and just three and a half days to do it. Do-able, but that leaves me with just a few hours to recharge my batteries before the tour-de-force known as Indy will keep me going full-tilt for nearly a week. After that, the races are much closer together and the long days behind the wheel get much shorter.

Until the leg from New York to Bakersfield that is. But I've got five whole days to cover the 3000 miles between the coasts while traversing as much of the original Route 66 as I can find and for as long as I can handle the slow pace on ancient roadways. There are a few respites along the way though, like four days between the Rockingham and Charlotte races and just 70 miles between them. Plus 12 days off the circuit, with a sidetrip to Peterborough, Ontario to connect with my girlfriend who's flying out from Vancouver, so we can spend some time visiting her relatives, and then a full week in New York City before the banzai charge to Bakersfield.

The travel "blog" isn't set up yet but there should be enough time to do it tonight when we get to Sheridan, Wyoming at the end of the second leg of this roadtrip to remember. Tune in regularly for daily - we're really going to try to stick to that schedule - updates. For all the drag racing news from this trip, as always go to the Northwest's source for drag racing news SpeedZone Magazine.