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Seems hard to believe, for me
at least, that nearly a month has passed since my last update here on the
Blog. I truly wish I had more time to devote to reading and writing,
but the hectic nature of this past month has truly put a lid on any
recreational activities, limiting my allotment of 24-hours-per-day to
work, sleep, and moving.
We’ve finally gotten moved into our new place (ACROSS town from the old
one, thank heavens), though we are still in the process of unpacking and
organizing and reorganizing and all that. I’m pretty sure I almost
wore my poor Ram 1500 out last week, as I averaged 12 trips per between
home and apartment for a couple days.
Moving is a royal pain in the hind-side, and there is no way anyone can
dispute that. Unfortunately for me, this was my 9th or 10th move.
If you want to look at the upside, however, all of my moves have (usually)
been for the better.
The world doesn’t stop for those who must move, so I suppose I should
elaborate on my goings-on in the Monster Truck world over the last few
weeks, though I’m sure my readers won’t mind my Reader’s Digest style of
blog this week; even as you read this, my spare time is limited.
View from the cab of my
tractor shortly after backing onto the dealership’s lot in Branford.
The road you see the cars on is a four-lane uphill road.
Following the Springfield Jambo, I hauled the Raminator R/T all the way
out to Connecticut with Dale Benear as my passenger for a
one-day-only-super-double-ride-truckin’-throw-down at Branhaven C-J-D in
Branford, CT. I must admit, however, that the trip was indeed worth
it, as we made friends with most of the staff (especially the Mopar
SpeedShop guys). The only “tough” part of the gig, if you could call
it that, was stopping traffic on the four lane-wide uphill road that the
dealership was on, so that I could back our rig onto the dealership’s lot
via the one front driveway entrance. Oh, and this was all in a
rainstorm, to make things even more fun. However, they didn’t give me my
CDL just because of my good looks (go ahead, its O.K. to laugh at that);
with help from expert spotter Dale, we backed all 70+ ft. of Freightliner
Century tractor and Great Dane trailer onto Branhaven’s lot in one shot.
Yeah, I know, we’re just that good. And speaking of good, the SpeedShop
guys made me a hell of a deal on a really sweet Mopar Direct Connection
jacket, which now graces my coat closet (too hot to use it now!).
Attempting to locate a
stranded kitten in the infield of Lima’s Allen County Fairgrounds.
Allen Pezo holding “Lima the Cat” shortly after plucking him from the
trunk of a crush car.
The entire Lima lineup on the front stretch prior to Friday night’s
freestyle show.
The Lima Jamboree would be next on my schedule of events, and it would be
a weekend I’d just as soon forget. A great track, great weather,
great trucks to run against, and exploding drivetrain parts made for a
very frustrating weekend for our intrepid crew. Not to say that we
aren’t working on improvements (which of course we are), but I believe we
are truly pushing the envelope of the integrity of 50-year-old heavy truck
parts. What the future has in store for new parts I’m not really
sure, but I’m tired of changing rear ends, I know that much. Our new
axles worked superbly (obviously), as they outlasted a pair of their ring
and pinion brethren. One neat side story from Lima was the discovery
of a very very young kitten in one of the crush cars prior to the start of
Friday night’s freestyle-only show. Mat Dishman, HBR crew guy and
younger brother of Geremie Dishman, heard what sounded like a cat meowing
frantically from within one of the crush cars. A small crowd of
drivers gathered around as Mat and I located the trunk latch and popped
the trunk of the Ford Taurus that would soon be meeting its demise.
Despite tasteless comments from a handful of the Monster Truck drivers
that had joined the crowd (they insinuated that the kitten should be left
in the trunk of the car), the troubled black kitten was quickly scooped up
by Allen Pezo and Mark Hall, both of whom are documented animal
“enthusiasts” (Pezo’s affection for animals is pretty obvious, and it
should be noted that both “Predator” and “Raminator” have animal ties in
their names). Custody of the kitten was unanimously granted to the
HBR team, as a fleet of black cats already prowls the Champaign, IL shop.
Furthermore, Allen had his Beagle dog with him, which pretty much ruled
out that option. We all kind of took turns throughout the weekend
keeping a watchful eye over the cat, as it slept and ate in a makeshift
kennel we had fashioned inside of one of our haulers. I’m happy to
report that the kitten is doing well here in Illinois, and is slowly
learning to respond to his name. What is his name, you ask? Why,
Lima the Cat, of course.
This stock tough-trucker used the right pedal generously Friday night…
…and it would result in a tailgate-planter which led to this rough
rollover.
Fill-in driver Charlie Pauken used up his share of spare parts in the
Traxxas T-Maxx machine, as he relentlessly pushed the truck to its limits
in freestyle all weekend long.
Andy Hoffman and his signature reverse wheelies in the Nitemare Chevrolet.
Mark Hall airing out the Dodge Raminator during Friday night’s show.
Intense racing was a trademark of this year’s Lima event, as it is every
year.
Geremie Dishman was not deterred when it came to getting big air in
freestyle.
The Hall Brothers pits in Lima.
A visit to our good friends in Milford, PA would come the weekend
following Lima. Milford C-J-D has hosted a Raminator car crush since
Raminator’s inception in 2002, and has hosted the R/T every year since
2004. Despite persistent rain showers and oppressive humidity, the
fans showed up in droves to see Mark Hall perform a pair of his signature
car crushes, and enjoy a few laps around the dealership’s back lot in the
R/T. I even managed to get pulled over by the Milford Police!
Truth be told, the local cops had someone pulled over on the road right in
front of the dealership, so when they had released their quarry I sent
Darrell over to see if they would be interested in staging a mock traffic
stop in front of the dealership, which they gladly did. I got off
with a “warning”, informing me that the R/T exceeded Pennsylvania’s
bumper-height law, I had no working lights, turn signals, brake lights,
excessive tire size, rear steering, and open headers. Oh well.
Rich Blackburne, driver of the Demon monster truck, even managed to stop
by Friday to hang out with us during the day, and grab a late dinner with
us Friday night. Rich is hilarious to hang out with, and it was good
to see him, which I had not since the Hobbs, NM race back in March.
The R/T in action in “The Back Yard” in Milford, PA.
The local Milford Police thought they could have their way with the R/T…
The view the officer got from yours truly. Actually, the local cops
were great sports, and got a big laugh out of the entire deal.
Mark is known for blasting through the deep troughs in “The Back Yard” in
Milford.
Mark putting on a show for the fans, Friday night in Milford.
This all brings us to this past weekend, and a very special gig in
Charlotte, MI with the Raminator R/T. Dave Howe, the big boss around
Beacon Sales C-J-D in Charlotte, decided to throw an all-out party/open
house in honor of his daughter Keisha’s graduation from high school.
Where to hold the party? Why not in back of his house, in his
10+acre back yard? One day Dave sat down and figured, what with the
big catering spread, all the chairs and the big tent, the sno-cone, cotton
candy, and popcorn machines, and 300+ guests, that he needed a couple more
things to distinguish this party from any other. Why not add a
brand-new 2007 Dodge Caliber R/T, and the Raminator R/T? Darrell
Wagner and I had the privilege of giving rides to all of Dave’s guests, as
well as partaking in the great BBQ. But the true high point of the
weekend had to be the look on his daughter’s face when she was surprised
with her graduation gift, which of course was the new Caliber R/T.
And, thanks to Dave, DW and I had the honor of driving her new wheels
right up to the party. I’m pretty sure there’s still a mark in the
back yard where Keisha’s jaw hit the ground.
The R/T awaiting the party guests in Charlotte.
Making an altitude change.
I took it upon myself to use all of the 10+ acres of available space that
I could.
Darrell, Keisha, and I shortly after delivering her new Dodge Caliber R/T.
DW and I arrived home early Sunday morning, and then it was back to the
“real world” for us. For me, more unpacking, washing my truck,
letting my animals run around for awhile…all the things that make my world
go ‘round. Until next time (not sure when that will be!), thanks for
reading.
As always, Rock Hard.
- KD
Email KD and let him know what you
thought!!
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