This is going to be a long post, even for me, so pretty much everyone should hit the back button on their browser. You've been warned.
I wasn't supposed to go to the $2017 Challenge. My wife was supposed to be back at work, and I was supposed to be watching the kids. A couple weeks before the event Dusterbd and I were talking about me cutting a bit of vinyl for him and he mentioned that he had room on the floor in Gainesville. A week out, business finance people dragging their feet, and I was a go to attend. I made some shirts for the team and started to get excited.
The trip was just shy of 900 miles, a pen of baby hogs dropped off a pickup in front of me on the way, and the hotel was swarming with police when I arrived. I found Challengers in the hotel restaurant drinking, and we moved outside to look at cars for a bit before bed.
The next morning was the parking lot. I "helped" with the parking lot build by removing a shackle bolt that they were about to attack with a grinder and using the adhesive removal wheel for a bit. A bit over an hour cleaning the free probe with Gameboy, helping Pat put decals on the Datsun, and cut a few stickers for the Nelsons. This is where I want to apologized to Calvin Nelson for my inability to get what he really wanted out of the stickers. I was low on talent and equipment to get them right and I learned a LOT about why his cars do so well. He knows what perfection is. As the evening progressed the car was registered and teched. We applied all of the stickers in the fading light of day because Tom has opinions about "you people". We were offended. Having passed tech we loaded the car. I use the term "we" loosely for this whole writeup. I had nothing to do with the car. I've still never touched it with a wrench. I made some stickers, wrote a paragraph for the build book, and attached myself like a barnacle to a group of talented hard working guys.
The next morning I was recruited to tow the free Probe to the track. It turns out they sort of ruined the truck during the parking lot build. Oops. Gameboy headed over with me and we narrowly averted disaster when we checked to wheel straps on the tow dolly only to find one loose and the other completely off. Thank god gravity is reliable. There is surprisingly little to say about the competition day. I continued to meet people. The car needed timing adjusted and tried to self disassemble the clutch linkage. Normal car stuff. Alan drove the fast autocross runs, and said that the right front was light among other things. This was later confirmed on the scales. That's how good these pro drivers are. The car did ok, something like 16th, and we (meaning the rest of the team) worked on the car to get it ready for the drags in the evening.
The drags were as non dramatic for us as the autocross. Duster managed to get a good launch and hit both shifts on exactly one run, and that was the fastest. Apparently finding gears on a floor shifted three speed truck transmission isn't as easy as you might think. Who knew? I had a fantastic time sitting in the stands talking to Ovid and Flem and Pete Gossett and a bunch of other people. It was a little disheartening to watch the track deteriorate. I know that both of the Nelson cars had more in them.
The next morning was concourse and cleaning. When the body on the Spirit was cut there were gaps left above the rear wheels, these were used by the tires to fill the entire back of the car with the loose contents of the parking lot. As the only member of the team who didn't already hate squeezing past the cage it became my job to climb back there and clean all of them up. Now the whole team hates squeezing past the cage. The car was clean. The speech was made, and the car was pulled out for a photo shoot. Regardless of what happened after that moment, that's about the highest praise you can get at a Challenge.
I spent the rest of the day giving away old GM manuals (thanks to everyone that took them, seriously, you made my life so much better) and talking. While introducing myself to someone Gameboy finally figured out that I was mazdeuce. I spent two days with the guy and he only knew my real name, I need to wear a nametag next year.
We finished 9th overall. No trophies, but the winners clearly deserved them more than us, no arguments about that, the scoring and judging for the event was spot on. The banquet was great, I wanted to stay and hang out, I wish I had. I needed to head down the road a couple hours so that I could safely make it back home the next day. I need a co-driver for next year.
There's more to tell, so much more. Duster snoring like he has a medical condition (which he might), Dallas and I talking about taking care of a heard of small children, Steve and his library of absolutely amazing racing stories, Duster's mom making us lunch in their motor home both days and his dad being one of the nicest and most knowledgeable people I've ever sat across from. I didn't drive a car on course all weekend. Many offers but for my own reasons I turned them all down. I never even sat in the drivers seat of the Spirit. I was there as an observer, a helper, comic relief, and to meet the people that I've been talking to online for years. I accomplished that in excess. I'm still not sure I have the time to build a Challenge car of my own. I know a LOT more about the process now. Where to start, how to make a car go well, the level of fit and finish necessary to get to the top of the sheets. If I didn't have a yard full of work that needs to get done, I'd be hitting craigslist rather than typing this out. I'll be back though. I already put next years event on the calendar. Maybe I'll find a Houston team to help. Maybe the boys from North Carolina will let me sleep on the floor again. Maybe I'll just help with the parking lot build. I'm convinced that a friendly smile and a firm handshake will keep you covered in grease all weekend. It's impossible not to get sucked in the madness that surrounds you.
Thanks to everyone. To Duster and Dallas and Steve for accepting me as a team member. Thanks to all of the parking lot builders for letting me grab tools without any knowledge of my ability to use them. Thanks to Pat and the Nelsons for their hospitality and kindness. You don't always get to sit down with the people at the pinnacle of an event and have them just shoot the bull. Thanks to the Suddards, Tom for talking with me about electric cars, Marjorie for not letting me stack boxes of books in the GRM trailer, I tried. JG and David for tolerating a group of car obsessed toddlers for about 36 hours longer than anyone should have the patience for. Get used to having me around, I'll be be back.
