My Pinks ALL OUT Weekend St. Louis 2008

Whew…. Where do I start: We had an absolute BLAST at Pinks ALL OUT this past weekend. It was filled with a lot of laughter (Believe me I was in TEARS), a lot of fun, a lot of friends and a little disappointment. But it’s all good……. It was great to meet some of the other BBF Forum guys again AND for the first time. I have some video that I’ll try and get uploaded soon.



Thursday. 5 hour trip to St. Louis from KY; we planned on leaving at 8 AM but we were delayed a couple hours getting ice, fuel and money. So on the way Dan Hobbs calls and he’s about 2 hours ahead of us. We finally get to Gateway about 5pm Eastern Time and 4pm Central Time. There’s about 20 or so rigs there already. Later on the Gateway crew moved all of us to a gravel parking lot and lined us up for entry into the pits the following morning. We tried our best to get everyone together so we could all pit in the same area however we lost David Lynch and Derrick Cornish and they were pitted the next row over but still close. I’m getting ahead of myself. Thursday afternoon we (Chuck, Eddie, Rodney, Bill, Tracy and myself) walked over to Pilot to grab a bite at Subway. Tracy is first in line ordering her sandwich when behind us we here Rodney talking LOUD in a voice that reminds you of a spoiled 6 year old saying “Daddy I want a Pizza….. Do they have Pizza here? Daddy, Daddy, DADDY I WANT A PIZZA! DO THEY HAVE PIZZA HERE?!” So we are ALL cracking up, Eddie aka DADDY is shaking his head and the people sitting down are giving Rodney THE LOOK! The girls behind the counter are trying not to stare and are holding back grins and laughter…… So then Rodney starts in on Tracy “Momma, Momma, MOMMA I WANT A PIZZA….. MOTHER LOOK AT ME WHEN I’m TALKING TO YOU!” Now we are ALL IN TEARS!!! Tracy and I sit down in a booth and Tracy pulls up a high chair for Rodney next to Chuck and Eddie, Rodney walks around the corner, Tracy tells him that his seat is at the table and he sits in the high chair LOL!!! I wish I had my video camera with me!



Thursday night we all socialized behind Dan’s trailer, shared a few drinks, some funny stories and a lot of pre-BBF Bash discussions like who was going to bust Bruno first LOL! So then I suggest that we call Nick… I dial his number and get his voice mail “Hey Nick, This is Damon; we’re at this Pinks ALL OUT deal in St. Louis, I just made my first pass and it ran a 5.51…. Later man!” So everyone busts out laughing…… Man we had a GOOD time! Words just can’t describe……..



Friday morning we get in the pits, get unloaded and wait for tech to open. I believe it took about 3 hours before I got to tech. The tech guy and I got to talking and he knows Phillip Oakley so I tell him about the BBF Bash the end of next month. Promoting the event ;-) I must have told 20 people about the BBF Bash and recruited a few more cars like Kevin Meine’s friend in the 62 Comet with a Big Block Ford. Friday night Bill helped him work on his Chassis to get it down the track. Ends up Saturday he went 9.74 and they told him he was done because he didn’t have his license and the cage had not been certified.



Friday I assumed we would get two T&T passes but we only got the one. It was 95 degrees and I was nearly miserable from the heat. But the car ran better than I expected in this kind of heat with a 9.57 at 140.75 mph outrunning a mid 90’s Camaro that ran a 9.83. Friday night we grilled out, drank a few margaritas and socialized some more. Did I tell you we had a good time yet? ;-) Friday is when Dan was interviewed by the Pullin TV Crew, I have it on video but the audio isn’t that great. We could see his head swelling as he was answering all the silly questions “What’s it feel like when you’re racing your car?” asks the TV Crew member “Like getting shot out of a Cannon” say Dan ;-)



Saturday prior to my first qualifying pass my Crew Chief Bill suggested that we take some jet out of the carb and lean on it a little bit. Went from 93’s square to 90’s in the front and 91’s in the back (Didn’t have another set of 90’s) and the car responded with a 9.52 at 140.5mph, short time improved from a 1.412 to a 1.400 so I was happy it picked up .05 in the ¼ and .04 in the 1/8. The temperature was in the mid 80’s. The car I was racing was a mid 60’s Chevy II called Purple II and I got the hole shot but then he came around me FAST!! I was thinking something was wrong with my car but it felt good??? When he pulled the chute on top I figured he must be pretty quick. He ran a 7.83 at 169mph!!! While in the staging lanes for round two Bill and I walked over to look at his car and talk to him, really nice guy and his nitrous bottle was freakin’ HUGE! Looked like something Bruno would put in his car LOL! Second pass was the arm drop with Rich, I treed the crap out of this S10 that I was racing and it felt like another mid 9.50 pass so the car seemed to be running consistent but since we don’t get time slips I really don’t know. Felt like the best launch of the weekend so who knows, it may have run a 9.49 or something?



Between 6 and 7pm we were waiting for the cars to get picked, we had to wait at the car in case we were called, we only have 10 minutes to get to the staging lanes. So they picked 2 groups of people, a 9.70 class and a 10.40 class from what I could tell. David Lynch got picked for the 9.70 class and my buddy Derrick Cornish got picked for the 10.40 class so it was a win win situation for me with one friend in each class. Meanwhile they call the wheelstanders to lane 8. I go over and ask the tech guy in the staging lanes if I can run in the wheel stand competition, he says to get over here ASAP. So I run back to my car and we pull my wheelie bars off as quick as possible. I get the car up to the staging lanes, send Chuck back for some air and get ready. One of the pullin TV crew come over and ask if I’m in the wheel stand competition and I say “Yes, I just took off my wheelie bars and I’m going to put this F&*%er on the bumper!” and he’s all excited “YEAH, that’s what the crowd LOVES!” So they start; Chuck and several others say that the cars ahead of me aren’t doing anything spectacular and I have it locked up. So I’m all pumped, get up to the end of the staging lane, car is running and I’m ready to pull into the burnout box…….. Guy gives me the cut off sign and says “No more wheelstanders” I have my helmet on so he really can’t hear me but I’m yelling NO! ONE MORE! And hold up one finger! I yell I’M GOING TO PUT IT ON THE BUMPER! But to no avail. Chuck run’s over to Kale and points at my car “That’s the winning car right there! He’s going to put the wheels so far up in the air that I can walk under the car!” but Rich wouldn’t listen. So I’m PISSED! Take the car back to the pits and stew for a while. Dan comes back to the pits as I’m getting out of the car and says “THAT’S A CROCK OF SHIT!”



Now they are announcing that they are going to hot lap the 16 car field through because of a storm that’s coming this way and it will be here in 45 minutes. They ended up picking the 10.40 class and Derrick won his first round but then lost the second round. Some say that the other guy jumped on Derrick and others say the guy nailed Rich’s arm drop. I didn’t get to see ANY of the finals because we were throwing stuff in the trailer due to “THE STORM” that was rolling in. I loaded my car and then Chuck’s while Tracy and Eddie were putting things away. By the time I was finished it was over ;-( But we still had a GREAT time and now I’m looking forward to the BBF Bash more than EVER! We waited a few hours for the traffic to clear out and it didn’t rain ONE FREAKIN’ DROP!



Well that was my Pinks ALL OUT weekend. Thanks to my Crew Chief Bill Mitchell for all the help and tuning advice. Thanks to my wife Tracy for the delicious burgers. Thanks to Chuck and Eddie for letting us stay in the camper and for breakfast. Thanks to Rodney for letting us use his BIG enclosed trailer. Thanks to all my BBF Friends, new and old, for the memories that will last a lifetime. It was great meeting Big D and his son Wes for the first time, Kevin Meine and his friend in the Comet, Mike (Sorry I forgot your last name already) aka 512Fairlane, Dan Hobbs, David Lynch and everyone else that stopped by to say HI. Was also good to meet Jodie Jent who races over at MP Dragway and Bluegrass, I have video of his S-10 spanking a Camaro .



Thanks to all of you guys for the support and good wishes. Word on the street is that Beech Bend in Bowling Green is going to host a Pinks ALL OUT event next year, I'M THERE!



Memories that will last a lifetime.



p.s. Tracy bought a spaghetti strap tank top that says, “Next to his RACE CAR, He loves me BEST”

Thanks Bud for sharing..

I need the 2 passes on Friday.. Hope I get 'em!

Sept 11/12 2009 Fomoso CA