All aboard!!! Tom, Jim & Ray piled into the rig – rendezvoused with Chris and Grandpa who would be caravanning down the highway with the Moose Rig and meeting up with Rich somewhere on the road. as he got a head start with his 5th wheel earlier in the day. Of coarse, road trips are never as smooth as silk and Rich was the unfortunate one to have the first road sanfoo…. 2 blown tires in Flagstaff!!! Back on the road after a several hour delay, but still ahead of the other travelers. Ahead of one storm, with another storm behind them the road warriors trudged on – smooth sailing until crossing into Oklahoma, where there was massive downpour of rain and hail, slowing them down to a snails pace. Thursday afternoon all the “road houses” arrived in Indy where they met up with George (Mr. Ram/Bull) who had driven too, but made a few nostalgic stops on his way before joining the guys. Dave, Jake,, Jessica and Lauri flew into Indy late that evening – and everyone settled in for several hours of much needed sleep before they’d tackle the 1st sequence of 3 races.
Prior to heading to the 1st track at Gas City, some of the crew headed off to visit a long time friend and sprint car guru, Bubby Jones. Being able to take in some of Bub's worldly advice is priceless and proves to be such an added bonus to the teams arsenal of knowledge. During the visit at Bub's Jake popped back into he trailer to get some parts and found the main wiring panel smoking !!! Chris & Dave flew into action, deactivating sources that could of been the cause and figured a way to jerry rig a repair that would hopefully suffice until a new panel could be purchased. With some of Bub’s tricks tucked in the crew’s set up book, the Moose Herd headed up the road to Gas City.
Pulling a pill for qualifying is a huge piece of the puzzle, where in the rotation you go out to qualify, is key – a bad qualifying time sets ya behind for the evening. And yeap, going out way at the end of the 40 ish field of cars, saw Jake 27th. A 8th place heat finish and a semi finish that saw the 92 just missing the Main Show.
Whelp, on to the next one – load up and high tail it up the road to
Kokomo…. Arrive at the track about 2 am, a few hours sleep, awake to the smell of bacon sizzling at a nearby motorhome. Sorry guys, Lauri doesn’t cook breakfast!!! Being at the track early and rolling out the cars attracted many lookie loo’s who came by to chat – and pass the time in the hot sun. The ever friendly Moose Crew welcomed all with driver cards, the ever popular tootsie pops and finding time for
Any and all who were so appreciative that the Team had made the trip from California. T-shirts and Moose Stickers were in high demand…. Under threatening skies 46, 410 teams filled the pits in Kokomo. It’s time to fire the crew member who’s drawing the pill!! Another late draw – this time timing in n 37th place. Jake again opened the eyes of many as he missed the direct transfer to the Main by only 1 position. Running the last chance race – and crossing the line in 2nd, advanced the 92 to the Semi. Starting in the back of field, 5 laps in and Jake had already passed 6 cars --- he’s gonna make the transfer!! SO, much for that idea, as the sky opened up sending all the cars to the haulers and crews scurrying to get equipment loaded as fast as possible and get outta there before rigs would get stuck! Rain date was scheduled for Monday – one of the days off.
The forecast for Sunday in Lawrenceberg was pretty ominous – calling for major thunderstorms… so the crew headed for a large parking lot where they’d spend the night and see what the morning would bring. Oh what’s that!!?? A Steak N Shake – rumor has it they’re open all night!!!! Yippie!!! A drowned group of Moose’s invaded that pour restaurant. Never did get the all milk shakes,that were ordered, but a good time was had by all!! What would a road trip be without a trip to Walmart? Chris in search of parts for a generator that had stopped working in his “road house” and just general Walmart shopping to stock up on water etc. The trip to Lawrenceberg was about 2 hours – enjoying the awesome scenery, the rolling green hills, the farms and fields of corn made the ride realize what a cement city we all really live here in Southern Cali. On arrival to Lawrenceberg the looks on everyone’s faces dropped. As Jessica explained it – the track looks like a Pringles Potato Chip!! High bank then the straightaway dips down and goes uphill to turn 1. What????
This was gonna be interesting….to say the least. Appointed a new crew member to pull the pill-it helped!! Yes,13th quick. Heat race – damn, missed locking into the Main by 1!!! Semi time… running in a transfer with a hard fought battle, 2 cars in front of Jake tangle and Jake has no where to go but up and over. He's ok -- making that his first flip in a sprint, and a 10th place finish.
Finding out that the race at Kokomo had been rescheduled for Monday, the team loaded up and headed back to Indy, where the gracious people at Advanced Racing Suspensions offered a place to park the rigs, & a shop to work on the cars.
If you aren’t bored yet…. The story continues…..