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| HOT ROD WEEKEND 2007
by trapperjohn at 4/23/2008 5:54:07 AM
The weather couldnot have been better for the Third Annual Hot Rod Weekend at the GulfportDragway. We left Alabama on Friday morning and enjoyed a nice drivedown to the coast. The ol’ '51 Chevy purred like a kitten all the way even pulling the camper trailer.
We got to Gulfport about lunch time and had to swing by Darwell’s in Long Beach for lunch. We toured Hwy. 90 and saw a lot of new construction going on since the last trip. We stopped by Ronnie’s Automotive and visited with him for a few minutes and all is well at his shop. Always good to see old friends.
We got to the track and found Jimbo hard at work getting things setup and ready for the weekend. Also there we found my two brothers, Mitch and Mitch, haha, you guys are a trip and the three of us together are too much.
The movie crew was hard at work doing the movie thing and it is scheduled to be out around November '07. “Change 2” is the title at this point so watch for it at an independent theatre near you. These guys were busy all weekend and some of the cars that showed up for the weekend were used as extras in the movie.
The drag races were a hoot as several, myself included, of the old cars took a spin down the quarter mile asphalt. Not much of a equal match in most of the runs as there was a big lead at the end of the strip in most cases. Being able to carry a passenger was also a new twist, just like the ol’ Skool street races of old and the ladies really enjoyed the action.
I never found out about the chilli cook off but the batch Tracie made up was first rate. That may have eased Brian’s pain about frying the clutch on his second pass down the strip but I’m not sure. Lot’s of nice cars on hand this year. A much bigger crowd and it can only get better as the fourth annual will be same time, same station next March.
Friday night the band, 4ROCKSOUTH, set up and kept everyone entertained until the wee hours and then all of a sudden it was as quite as a cemetery, just like somebody threw a switch and everything stopped. That did make for some good sleeping though as the little trailer was put to good use.
Saturday was a repeat of the good times and good racing and since it was also the regular Saturday Night races at the Dragway we were treated to heated action on the strip into the late night hours.
Sunday afternoon we had to break camp and load up for the ride home. It was hard to leave as things were still in progress but we had some miles to travel. We stopped in Mobile to feed the Chevy and then pointed it north on I-65. Everything went fine for awhile but then it started faultering on some of the hills with the trailer in tow. It would not take the extra pedal needed to pull the trailer up some of the grades. We did make it to the mile marker 83 exit before the fuel pump justvfinally quit working. So, it’s late Sunday afternoon on an exit ramp beside the interstate and where do you get a fuel pump for a 56 year old car? Well, if you look in the trunk there would be one there, the Boy Scouts were right, be prepared. With a couple of guys stopping to see if they could help we got the fuel pump switched out and with a little gas from one of the guys who stopped we got the carbs primed and a the ol’Chevy fired right back up. One of the guys who stopped commented on how well it seemed to be running and my comment back to him was I thought it was supposed to run that well. After all it has taken us to the Gulf Coast several times a year for the last few years and maybe it was about time for something to go wrong. With the problem solved we headed out again and had no more problems for the rest of the journey. By the time we got back up and running Brian and Tracie were behind us again and escorted us on into Montgomery on what was an enjoyable trip to the coast for us all. We hope to see you all again next year.
Happy Trails,
Trapper John
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