Sunday Sunday Sunday

I was a little nervous leaving the truck down there unattended, but slept like a rock anyway. Got up at 0'dark 30 and headed south back to Newport for competition day. They run practice from 8 until 10, then hold opening ceremonies and run competition from 11 until they are done.

We stopped in Boswell for breakfast as is our tradition. Ate a good breakfast and as we are walking out of the restaurant a guy walking in asked if we were headed to the hillclimb. Now the old truck is already down there so we are in dad's truck and nobody is wearing anything that would tip anyone off as to our destination so it kind of took us aback. We told the guy yeah that's where we were headed and he said "Yep, you guys go every year" so apparently we make an impression in Boswell the one weekend a year we eat there.

We got to Newport about 8, found the truck exactly where we left her, uncovered her and fired her up. She started without too much difficulty and we headed into town to get in line for a practice run. I offered dad the wheel and he declined, saying it was my truck and I did most of the wrench work on it. Nate even gave up his seat up front for the practice run so Dawn could sit up front and work the siren. Dad, Nate and Cody loaded up in the back and up we went. Another uneventful run. She sneezed through the carb a few times but she powered right up for another run in the 82 second range.

We brought her back to town and the real circus began. They were trying to stage all the vehicles for the competition runs. This wouldn't be so bad except for the fact they had 280+ vehicles and only about 2 blocks worth of staging area, that being the case and the fact they run the fire trucks toward the end I got stuck out North of town. The problem with that was I had to babysit the truck pretty much all day instead of watching the other cars run so I didn't miss when they wanted me to bring the truck up. Not a big deal but I'm going to come up with a new plan for next year.

We finally get the call to bring her up and get in line, our class is next. Mom and dad go down toward the base of the hill to get some decent pictures while the rest of us load up in the truck and get in line. I was last to run in our class so I had a pretty good idea what I needed to run to get close. As I'm moving up my heart started beating quicker and it's show time. I found it was not all that different of a feeling from suiting up for a sports event. It's the same kind of butterfly feeling.

We get on the line and the queen gives me a commemorative hat pin and wishes me luck. Turn on the headlights and the red flashing light and wait to go. The starter asks if I'm ready and points to the tree. Red, yellow, yellow GREEN and we are off. I felt like I cut a pretty decent light (time starts when the green comes on) and make a good shift to third. The downshift to second went good as well. The only thing I would have liked to do different was once the hill started leveling out at the top I stayed in second gear a little long and floated the valves so that cost us a little bit. On the way back to town they stopped me to give me my timeslip. 78.98. WOW shaved off 4 seconds. I was VERY happy with that run and figured we were good for 3rd in our class.

Parked the truck and watched the rest of the runs and then it was time for the trophies. They give out trophies for the top 3 in each class so we stuck around figuring we were going to run 3rd. Got to my class and said "in 3rd place in a 38 chevy" and my heart sank since we have a 32. Thought I must have miscalculated. Oh well, win some lose some. But then he announced "2nd place in a 32 Chevy, Bill Boldman." Apparently the 3rd place truck, which beat us on time, must of had some penalty points added, but I'll take 2nd. Posed for some pictures and proceeded to head north to mom and dad's. Nate and I were the brave ones to deal with the chilly conditions on the way up there. Truck ran strong all the way back with no issues.

For our first competition I couldn't be happier. For only having the truck 3 weeks it was something in itself just to show up, let alone take home 2nd in class. We fulfilled a dream my dad has had for the last 16 yrs and had an absolute blast. It was quite a bit of stress with as fast as we had to throw it together, but we pulled it off. Monday was kind of an odd feeling though. With as much fun as we had I was really glad it was finally over. I'm not sure I realized just how much stress we were under to pull it off. Then at the same time as being relieved I was giddy with the possibilities for next year and wishing it was next year already.

Now all that is left is to make a few improvements to the truck and have some fun with it next summer with the ultimate goal of returning to Newport in October. Hopefully we will have her running better and the Half Fast Fire Company can make an even better showing next year.