Dumbo The Flying Elephant

[Frank Castros]

Are we there yet?

[Larry Hill]

Wow what a day racing trying to get to Beach Bend. We were working in the piles program. You thi pile goes here and this pile goes in the trailer. Time to load Dumbo he always wants top shelf stuff. At about 9:00 am the door dropped to the ground. I unlatched the last latch and the heavy door hit the ground hard enough that it bent under its own weight. If the door would have hit me I would be a foot shorter and in the hospital.

It turns out that over the winter the hoist ran broke a 3/8 Cat eye bolt and ran the battery down. Plus it was all Jamed up and had to disassemble to-get it out of the trailer We spent all day chasing parts and making it fit. It had remote control and a plug in hand held controller. End of the day we had it under control. Finished loading closing the rear door and noticed the flap is still down. The door won?t go down or up. We quit for the night and wil get back to it in AM

[tommy d]

Saw a stacker door slam down on a coworker once. Someone had been working on the cable and had it disconnected when my guy gave the door a yank it slammed down on him.Broke his back and ribs and ruptured other stuff. Took four of us to lift that door off of him. He survived but was off work for several months. So glad you're ok.

[Larry Hill]

It gets way better, the truth is stranger than fiction. I?ll fill y?all in after we get to Indy.

[Larry Hill]

We?re at Indy after a quick trip to the local track on Saturday. But to roll the clock back to to Friday around 9 PM when the door would not move. The cable jumped the spool and disengaged the dog by wrapping around the shaft so tight it held the door in place. Patsy call Chris and asked him to help us at 6 AM Saturday morning. We are still trying to get to BG for Q3 Saturday AM. Needless to say we didn?t make it. In the meantime we shimmed the winch to remove the high side on the motor end. Removed half of the cable so as to keep cable within the spool. Taped the cable in place with a small ball pean hammer to give it memory on the spool.
It has preformed well since.
Got parked at Indy, arrived today at 5 and got parked by 5:30. Had Dinner with friends and I?m heading to bed. Tomorrow agenda clean car and fresh tires.

We are parked next to the Boss Ken Miele

[Larry Hill]

Today was a good day with friends and new acquaintances. The cat?s out of the bag, Jim and Pam Marshal are racing my red 1986 Chevy Pick Up truck. We were able to keep it a secret all summer long. How well it qualifies is up to the qualifying gods. I don?t know about other classes but whoever wins FS/D will be more than deserving. It looks like last year, 17 Chevy COPO?s vs the Dumbo Dodge.
Win, lose, or draw, it?s Indy with dog eat dog competition and a congratulatory handshake at the end of the track, with the underlying thought of I?ll get you next year.
It?s bed time for the Elephant Trainer.

More tomorrow

[Larry Hill]

Fresh rubber from the great Goodyear team, these folks work there butts off at the track. Caris a little over weight due to the fat as driver and no place to adjust. Q1 today.

[tommy d]

Camaros be stalking Larry first round of class.

[Larry Hill]

All the COPO?s vs the elephant. Mr Vic?s stuff if way fast and he has had equal time to sort his new car out. I knew this year would not be much fun since he had 2MPH on us last year. This year his ET is in line with his MPH and that?s bad news for the rest of us. We tried to head him off at the pass but all the horses didn?t show up. Everyone will have some fun but not as much as others.
Safe racing to all.

[Larry Hill]

Well we are in the FS/D Class final?s. Mr Vic blew the tires off and Butter went straight down the track. I had the bye and took the green. It is the Elephant and the Butter COPO.