He did let us take his photo with the S-10. However, he declined to pose with the infamous DRO correspondent, saying, "I don't think that would enhance my career." Smart man, that Officer Bill.

Carl Sandburg and Wyatt Earp, two wild and wacky guys who would have loved DRO's poetic flair and quest for truth and justice, were from Galesburg, Ill. We cruised by their humble homes but closed the night by visiting Rick Jones' fabrication shop. Rick gave DRO a guided tour of his spacious new facility, where 18 employees are bending, shaping, molding, fitting, painting and spiffing up a handful of hot race cars. Rick's shop is just down the street from a Maytag plant and a prison, but Rick's boys aren't lonely like the Maytag repairman or busting rocks. They were busting their buns to get some Pro Stock cars ready for Reading.

DAY 3

We go from Maytags to Amanas. Nestled among the pastoral villages of the famous Amana Colonies in Central Iowa, between Iowa City and Des Moines, is the major-appliance factory. The colonies, settled about 150 years ago by Germans seeking religious freedom, like to show off their "communal society."

They have wineries, woolen mills, cabinet and furniture shops, a bakery and lots of arts and crafts foo-foo. In West Amana, we did witness a gigantic solid-walnut rocking chair that was about 15 feet tall. Its massive footstool is nearly waist-high, but it was fun climbing onto it, sliding all the way back into the chair and feeling much like Lily Tomlin stage character Edith Ann, the bratty little girl in the oversized rocker who dispenses unsolicited philosophy.

We found some antique tractors, too. Jim Stoltz, a good sport and Harley Davidson enthusiast from LeSueur, Minn., who was vacationing with wife Maddie, hopped up in the seat of one and pretended to race the Camaro. That was far more exciting than our foray into the cornfield, where we tried to hear corn grow. Corn farmers say you can do that, and maybe you can. But I'm turning a deaf ear to their ears.

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