[rboyle]

After years of staying home as family demands were necessary I brought my oldest daughter to watch her Uncle race when her softball tournament got rained out nearby. He had a fleet of cars at that race and out of all of them she said she'd like to drive the Stocker he had there.
I told him if one becomes a available for a reasonable price to let me know.
When one did it was in Florida, I'm in NY so my best friend made some concessions and arrangements and next thing I knew I was flying to Gainesville to buy it. He hauled it to the Sportsnationals in Belle Rose and I was going to race it there.
What a great experience. I flew in and we did the test and tune. I made 10 runs. First run I did everything wrong, lifted my foot off the gas twice and shifted early. I got better every round and we picked it up a little each run. Fixed a few gremlins and changed plugs and timing, adjusted the valves etc. My last run of TnT I ran a 12.31 on the 12.30 index. Next morning was first qualifying shot andI don't think I slept at all.
Well I was the first pair down the track figuring we might need all the time between rounds possible. I left on the last yellow and it auto shifted then as it got to 5200 rpm started to vibrate a little, I shifted into 3rd hoping to clear it up and wham bang bam, silence. We t down the middle of the track all the way to the first turnoff since I thought I might run over the oil and spin or not be able to stop.
I shut the track down for an hour at least. Kicked a rod, cracked the trans in 3 spots, spit the driveshaft out and broke the yoke!
Thank God for ALL the help from my best friend and family!
Overall though it was an amazing experience! Got to eat Cajun food every day, ride in the Thrilla, a personal tour of the bayou, a pig roast! I think they put on such a great race and experience.