Dodging the Storms With Project 4-Link

6/7/04

irst thing … I want to apologize to Jeff for getting this update to him so late. Not many of you know what I do for a regular job 8 to 5 everyday. I am an auto damage appraiser and this month in Iowa could easily be called “Hell-Month”! We have had several severe hail-storms and currently lead the nation in tornado sightings. NOT A GOOD THING but especially ugly if you appraise damaged cars. Some of the hailstones were 3” in diameter! We are swamped and trying to get that done and two cars prepared is more than a full-time deal. With Andy’s help on the cars and Barb taking care of getting the motor home and supplies in place we have raced every weekend this month. Here is a picture of the inside of our 28’ trailer. YES, it is crowded and it takes us about 30 minutes to get both cars loaded and secured.

This is what fills our “spare time”. The dragster is winched up, supported in the middle with a metal frame and the Vega gets the basic tie down treatment. So far it hasn’t moved in our travels.

The last time I wrote a column we were headed for the NHRA National Open in Earlville, IA for a Top Comp race. We qualified in the top 10 and made it to the quarter-finals. We qualified at 7.57 at 175 mph. The “Project 4-Link” performed great and is performing consistently.

Then we headed for the first local Summit Series race at Cedar Falls Raceway in Cedar Falls, IA. Andy did an excellent job of driving and has a great start on defending his point title as he made it to the finals only to roll through the stage beam when the button messed us up.