They say that time flies when you are having fun, and while this reporter would have to agree with that, I might also add that time also flies when you are very busy and under pressure.  As a matter of fact, I think time might actually achieve supersonic sub-orbital speeds at times, as opposed to merely flying.  But regardless…

So much has transpired since my last correspondence, and though I would surely love to recall for all you (three or four?) readers, I digress; it would be just too long for you to read in one sitting while remaining comfortable (and for me to write in this short evening of mine!).  So just what have I been up to in the last month or so?
 

Geremie Dishman in Rammunition, Uvalde, TX.

Following my Georgia trip (recounted in the “Lemon Drops” article), we received word that an event services person’s clerical mistake would force Raminator out of the fourth annual Mopars at the Strip event in Las Vegas, NV.  Disappointing as it was, Darrell and I shifted gears and prepared for three consecutive weekends of action in Texas.  I definitely look forward to returning to Las Vegas again this year, as my photographic talents and tastes have matured since my last trip, and I would love to try my hand at capturing Sin City in all of its glory, or lack thereof.  We headed out mid-week for Uvalde, TX, our first stop on our Texas tour.  Uvalde is home to Cecil-Atkisson Motors, who had hosted a single Raminator car crush last year around this time.
 

Mark Hall in Raminator during the Uvalde car crush.

Mark and Geremie put on a great car crush exhibition, while Darrell and I handled the ride truck and its associated duties, much to the delight of the large crowds that flocked to the small town dealership both days we were there.  We took some time to enjoy the local Mexican cuisine, most notably “Vasquez’s”, which took its name from owner and dinner entertainer Enrique Vasquez.  A vibrant and energetic man, aged well over 70 years, he had us laughing quite often before, during, and after our supper with a form of “comedy” that was, well, purely his own.  Just another name, face, and personality added to my memory banks, though one of the few that will surely stand out as time passes.

The Sunday following Uvalde we stocked up on snacks, supplies, and video games at the nearby Wal-Mart Supercenter before making the short trek north to the semi-rural community of Fredricksburg.  After deciding on the most recent edition of NHRA Drag Racing for Playstation 2, it seemed fitting that I should also replenish my stock of video game / movie watching food.  Darrell and I had put a dent in our initial cargo of consumables, so rice crispy treats, crackers, cheese, juice, water, cherry limeade, and bubble gum all made the cut when it came time to crack open my wallet for the slightly-less-than-eager woman at the checkout counter.  Geremie and Mat also picked up the NHRA game in addition to NASCAR 2006, though I’ve not yet taken the time to totally dominate either of them in both games.

The fairgrounds staff welcomed us Sunday afternoon, and we found a safe and secure spot to park the rigs while the current occupants of the fairgrounds packed up and left.  Seems a major regional craft show was being held the weekend before the race, and we happened to stumble upon the final hours of this all-too-amazing sale of the century.  Truth be told, I wisely avoided most of the entire ordeal until the cherry limeade was gone and the first few races of my new NHRA season were complete, at which time a walk and a restroom break were in order.  Potpourri gives me a headache, so I only ventured through a small section of the show on my way to the men’s room.  It never ceases to amaze me the kinds of things people spend their money on (monster trucks?).
 

A beautiful Texas sunset near Kerrville, TX.

The week passed by fairly quick for me, as my time was about equally split between Fredricksburg and the nearby town of Kerrville, where I had the Raminator R/T on display for most of the week.  Mornings spent at the fairgrounds cleaning and working on the trucks, afternoons and evenings spent on display talking to the fans and signing hero cards and hanging out with a really diverse and interesting sales staff at Crenwelge motors.  I made sure each evening to take a small walk around the area, just to clear my thoughts and enjoy some (sort of) fresh air.  No wireless internet connection was available, so my late-night focus shifted from chatting to friends online to reading Neil Peart’s Ghost Rider (a fantastic and emotionally moving read, by the way).
 

The R/T on display in Kerrville, hanging out with a new Dodge Caliber.

The racing began Saturday around noon or so in Fredricksburg, so Darrell arrived around 9:45 in the morning to help me load the R/T up and haul it back up to the fairgrounds to meet up with the rest of the team.  Staying alone in Kerrville at night in the R/T hauler definitely helped me complete my reading in record time, though I can’t say much for my qualifying efforts at Bandimere in the NHRA game.  I awoke early Saturday morning, long before Darrell arrived, to take a walk to the nearby river that runs through Kerrville.  I followed what seemed to be a regularly used path, and arrived at a fairly new bridge that led out into the middle of the river to “Tranquility Island” or something along those lines.  The lack of any mechanical and people sounds added to the island’s credibility regarding its name, and the beautiful ducks, geese, and blue herons were the icing on the cake for this photographer.  Little did I know that such a calming and rewarding morning would lead to one of the longest days at the race track in memory.
 

004.jpg The river near the Dodge dealer in Kerrville.



An early morning sighting of a blue heron.

Saturday in Fredricksburg is a day I would just as soon forget.  Mark Hall’s Raminator truck chucked out all three drive shafts, the front ring and pinion, and the transfer case in mid-air during his first run of the weekend, en route to his victory over Chris Bergeron’s 25th Anniversary Special Events body (a.k.a. Brutus) truck.  The carrier bearing, which is mounted between the rear and center shafts, failed at a very inconvenient time, much to our dismay.  Drive shaft loops, brake calipers and their respective mounts, u-joint shields, threaded holes in the front axle housing for the ring and pinion, and the carrier bearing cross member all bit the dust in a matter of one or two seconds, if that.  Those fractions of seconds of destruction would keep our crew thrashing and Mark welding late into the night, until we were finished and went to bed around 1 a.m.  Adding to that was Rammunition and its own breakage, two axle shafts and a rear drive shaft during the first show’s freestyle session and a rear locker during the second show’s racing program.
 

Mark Hall defeats Chris Bergerson in Fredricksburg, Saturday.

Geremie Dishman hands Avenger a loss during the Texas Jamboree.

Geremie chopped the tree down on Mark, but would eventually fall short at the finish line.

Sunday, however, would be a triumphant return to victory lane for our team, and deservedly so.  I awoke early Sunday morning with some kind of 24 hour flu bug, and spend a good portion of my day doubled over in an isolated restroom in a fairgrounds building.  The heat became oppressive as the day went on, and though I tried gallantly to drink plenty of water and sno-cones, it seemed to be to no avail, as my body simply rejected anything I tried to give it.  With dehydration concerns in buried in the back of my mind, we headed out to the race track Sunday afternoon for our only shot at salvaging what had thus far been a horrible weekend for Raminator, and a frustrating one for Rammunition (Geremie did make a final-round appearance on Saturday).  Round by round both trucks cut through the field and met in the finals, with Mark Hall edging out Geremie Dishman in a very close race.  Mark had to overcome a hole-shot by Geremie, but a slightly better gearing choice in Raminator would prove to be the difference in no-man’s-land, as the red truck pulled away for the win.  Both trucks also freestyled very well and thankfully escaped with no breakage.
 

Mark airing it out during Sunday’s freestyle session in Fredricksburg.

The Gillespie County airport, next door to the fairgrounds, the night after the Jamboree.

Mt. Pleasant, TX was my scheduled gig for the weekend following Fredricksburg, and it was decided that we would drop the R/T hauler off at the dealership there, head home in the rest of the rigs, get some rest at home, then head back down with the 004 Rammunition truck to meet back up with the ride truck.  And that is just what we did.  Friday morning Tim, Darrell, and I departed Illinois and headed back down I-57, I-55, I-40, and I-30 to Mt. Pleasant, home to Elliot Motors.  Saturday would be my first gig in the 004 Rammunition trucks, as I would perform both the car crush and give rides.  We had found out shortly before the gig that Dale Benear would be returning to our team, though he and I would now be sharing seat time in the 004 truck.  High noon came, and I suited up and headed out to the car crush area to take a crack at some real MT driving for the first time since the summer of 2005.  All I can say is it felt really good to be using my new Bell safety gear that had been sitting in my living room for nearly three weeks, unused.  While I realize that my hard work for HBR has always paid itself off every day, one way or another, I truly feel that the road I’m traveling now is one whose rewards are not only realized, but felt.  The car crush went off without a hitch, no mechanical problems of any sort, not even a tweaked sway bar.  With that, we called it a day and made our way home.
 

A dramatic Oklahoma sunset, captured en route to Mt. Pleasant.

Doing the R/T shuffle.

Getting ready to try out my new HANS Device for the first time.

The RII test gives you one last chance to collect yourself and focus on the task at hand.

We spent the rest of the next week catching up on all sorts of different projects, everything from motor work to building the new lounge and shower area in Darrell’s display hauler.  Easter Weekend brought a rare but much appreciated break in the schedule, and it gave us all a chance to unwind a bit.  Saturday I headed up to Paxton, IL to have Dale Benear assist me in installing my Infinity BassLink T, which is an all-in-one unit that combines a bad-ass amplifier and three 10” subwoofers, with an independent volume control.  Now I jam to my Rush, Godsmack, Rammstein, Linkin Park, and Beastie Boys tunes louder (and “bumpier”) than ever.  Amanda and I also took some time out to hang around with Travis and his family at their house in Paxton.  Travis’ youngest son Devin, who has traveled with our team in that past during the summer months, had come down to visit his dad for a couple days, so it was cool getting to see him again.  Though our interests and abilities vary greatly regarding mechanical things, our mutual interest in Gran Turismo 4 and how to conquer its ridiculous endurance races always gives us reason to talk shop.
 

While on “Easter Break”, some cool stuff happened, including the delivery of Mark Hall’s brand new street beast, a 2006 Dodge Ram Heavy Duty 3500 MegaCab dually with a Cummins turbo diesel.

The factory window sticker for this truck reads: “This truck built especially for Hall Brothers Racing”. Pretty cool, eh?

And in other news, a semi hauling 6,000 gallons of water filled with fish ran off of I-57 right by our shop. Messy, messy, messy.

Adding to my already sad collection of semi truck accidents, this poor hand laid it over on I-44 in Missouri. I spotted this one on the way to Pryor, OK. Not only do I try to analyze what caused these semi truck accidents, but I use them to serve as a reminder of what can happen if you aren’t careful.

After another week of work at the shop, Travis, Dale, Darrell, and I headed out for our most recent stop: Pryor, OK.  Mayes County CJD hosted a two-day car crush and ride truck event, again, to the delight of two decent swarms of fans.  Dale took reigns of the R/T for Friday’s event, while I commanded the 2000HP Rammunition during the 7p.m. car crush.  Again, I can’t stress enough how fun it was!  Though my nerves are always on edge leading up to the crushes themselves, all of that goes away once I make my first hit; the only thing I can liken it to is the first play of a football game, for those of you readers who have played the game as part of a team.  Prior to a car crush, my nerves are strong not because I am scared or worried that I can’t do a good job, but more so in regards to not tearing up my equipment and making sure the spectators and my crew stay safe.  However, just like the first hit in a football game, the first hit of a performance is all it takes for me to get warmed right up and go to work; honestly, though I am far from the skill level of my teammates, I feel very at home and comfortable in the trucks.  The initial hit of a car crush is also very akin to the violence one’s body experiences (and dishes out) during the first play of a game; that first shock of kinetic energy, gravity, force, and strength wakes up the human brain in a way that few other things can.  Some of us respond and thrive off of this type of activity, so I suppose there is some correlation between my enjoyment of contact sports and driving a monster truck.
 

Getting ready for the Pryor crush, Friday night.

Ahhh….nothing like the first hit on fresh cars.

About mid-way through my performance, I began to relax just a tiny bit and begin really having fun with the truck, and trying a couple different things in an effort to improve my learning curve. For galleries of my Mt. Pleasant and Pryor gigs, check out the Monster Blog Photo Gallery.

But let’s not get too in depth into the psychology of driving a monster truck.  I have to tell you about the incredible Mennonite food we enjoyed while in Oklahoma.  I don’t have much to say about it other than it was really, really, really good.  I should note, however, that the homemade rolls were beyond impressive, as was the sweet tea.  It is quite an accomplishment if you can get the four of us to shut up for as long as we did, but the good folks at the Dutch Pantry in Choteau, OK did just that; and my hat is off to them.
 

Messing around with B&W again can be fun.

Dale Benear, this week’s special host on “Unique Whips”. Watch as he cruises a Dodge dealership parking lot in search of the exit so he can go to Sonic and get his teammates lunch!

On a more serious note, following lunch, Dale took his turn rollin’ the bones on Saturday, as he performed a great car crush for the fans.

I should note that while en route to Pryor, we made a stop at the Four States Truck Accessories shop in Joplin, MO.  In case you don’t know, Four States is home to the Chrome Shop Mafia, perpetrators of the hit CMT series “Truck My Truck”, in which ordinary semi tractors are customized beyond the wildest dreams of both the viewers and the truck owners.  Think “Overhaulin” plus an extra few thousand pounds and several more tires.  Rigs like the “Mobsled” Freightliner Classic XL have graced the pages of trucking magazines, trading cards, and are regular hits at major trucking shows.  It was our turn to impress, however, as most of their shop and office staff took turns admiring the outside (and insides) of our two haulers, and discussed ways to “shine up” the appearance of our Freightliner Century-class tractors, via the use of (what else?) chrome.  Who knows, maybe you’ll see Raminator on “Trick My Truck” one of these days.  We noticed one poor fellow had a late-90’s Grave Digger picture card in his office, so we made sure to hand out plenty of Raminator/Rammunition cards and stickers, ensuring that the Four States staff was properly equipped with quality monster truck memorabilia.  In return for our efforts, the staff kindly equipped us with some slick CSM t-shirts and trading cards.  Much thanks to them for their kindness.

Saturday in Pryor, Dale and I reversed driving roles, and we put on essentially the same show as Friday, though Dale was able to enjoy a smoother ride over the cars as I had taken the liberty of beating them down pretty good the previous evening.  Saturday evening we pulled out of Pryor, and headed into the wind once again as home beckoned us.  Warm weather and sunny skies welcomed us as we arrived back at the shop Sunday afternoon, to enjoy an evening off before getting back after it Monday in preparation for the Erie, PA Monster Nationals event, which is coming up this weekend.
 

Oooooof!

My apologies to those who enjoy reading my updates (you sad, sorry people…just kidding) for the abbreviated form of this update, as you no doubt can imagine all the other small stories and details I’ve omitted for the sake of time and space (that’s all there really is, isn’t there? Time and Space?).  Also, my apologies to those who might be short on time or patience for the length of this piece.  I’m currently in the process of moving from our current apartment to a house elsewhere in Rantoul (a bigger one, thankfully), so that is consuming a lot of my “spare” time.  Top that all off with trying to keep the MTRA newsletter running, working at the shop, traveling on the road, and completing the normal household jobs; that’s why they call me a workin’ man.  I guess that’s what I am.

As always, Rock Hard!

- KD
 

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