We pulled into the driveway about 3:30 yesterday afternoon (I think it was Kentucky time, but not sure...
)3,746 miles in Chase's new Duster without a single issue!
Highlight of the trip was definitely racing at Woodburn with the Killer Bees! When we got to CJ and Linda's place Sunday evening Chase signed up here with the screen name "copperbee"...
It rained all Friday and into Saturday morning. We had reluctantly decided to cut our losses and get an early start home...
We were all packed up, had said our goodbyes and were actually backing out when they announced that racing would begin! 10 minutes later and we would have missed it! 
I made the first pass to show Chase the ropes and then he made a pass with me in the car. After that it was all him.
He was very pleased with the 18.78. I had estimated high 19's or even low 20's... 
With some "bracketing" to find where the light was he whittled his reaction time from a .411 to a .011.
Me thinks the boy is hooked on this Slant 6 Drag Racin' thang. Our "photo journaling" of this momentous trip didn't go all that well...
Wi-Fi access, upload times and lack of technical acumen by yours truly were not conducive to easy updates from the road. We did snap a few pictures along the way with our cell phones and I tried to keep some folks updated on our progress with text messages. I sent a few pictures to those that could receive them. I'll work on getting some posted now that we're home.
Thanks again to the Killer Bees for their hospitality and making sure we were "good to go" on our long trip!
From Doug & Allen going over the car with us and getting us road ready to Edd welding extensions on the mufflers (when he was supposed to be fishing
) and then up to Woodburn where those Oregonians know the importance of functioning windshield wipers... They even put us up for the night! We stayed at the Dutra's the first night, the Jesiolowski's the second night and then the Stoakes' put us up for two nights at the track (our 15 year old tent was no match for the Pacific Northwest rain
) and then Sunday evening at their cool home in Halsey.Bruce and Wendy Pine gave us Killer Bee shirts (that we had signed by all the folks racing at Woodburn
) and CJ and Linda bought Chase a sweet Woodburn baseball cap, patches and stickers. They even gave Chase a set of fenders for the Duster (and didn't charge extra for the Hobo spiders we brought home with us )I could go on and on... Thanks a Million Killer Bees!
Once the racing fun was over Chase and I pretty much just high-tailed it across Oregon, Idaho, Wyoming, Nebraska, Missouri, Illinois and Indiana to make it home to Kentucky a day early.
We did swing by and visit with Mike Jeffrey on our way through Lexington, Nebraska. It was cool to show Chase what "could be done" to get a 3,000+ pound "Stock" car to run 14's.
The Duster ran like a champ the entire way with no issues. It even got up to 24 MPG until we hit the 100+ temps in Missouri and on where it fell down to a trip low of 18. We need to re-route the fuel line away from the headers.
The worst part of the drive was hitting Kansas City at 5 pm and having to put it in neutral in stop and go traffic. I had to keep the RPMs up so it wouldn't die from the overheated fuel line.
I don't know how much our "field expedient" front air dam helped or hurt our fuel economy, but it was fun giving it a try. Don't worry, the embarrassing pictures are coming. Chase removed it within minutes of pulling in the driveway.
The low spot of the trip for me was leaving my "Cookie versus Mater" T-shirt at the Knights Inn in North Platte, Nebraska...
They're checking with housekeeping, but I think I've lost my special shirt. Sorry Rick... I can't say enough how awesome this trip was!
Meeting and visiting with other Slant 6 racers really gave Chase the feel for what this is all about.
Driving across the country in a cool old Slant 6 Mopar with the windows down felt great.
Getting to spend 10 days with my son and introducing him to my favorite hobby was absolutely priceless!!
And now I've got my boy ready to put that whoopin' on yer boy any time he's ready too! 