Posted by: Jack Beckman, Valvoline/MTS Dodge
As promised, I have lots to share with you all. Actually, I am about 12 days behind in my blogging, so I am catching you up slowly to the present. All right, let’s move on …
The race in Richmond was stout, as the E.T.s were the best ever for the 1000-foot era. Our numbers were even better than the timeslip read first round, as I rolled in a bit and cost us a couple of hundredths. We probably were a high 4.01 or a 4.02-flat, which puts us right at the top of the floppers. It was very surprising to smoke the tires in the semis against teammate Capps, but fortunately I was able to pedal the car and get it down the track. As a driver, the two best things you can do is win on a holeshot or successfully pedal the car, and it felt great to be a bigger part of that round win. The Valvoline/MTS crew has made me look good for so long that I feel I owe them, big time.
Unfortunately, our fuse ran out in the final, where no amount of peddling was going to catch Cruz. The fan in me was happy for the entire Rahn Tobler-led team, but the racer in me really wanted that win. Still, we closed some ground on Wilkerson and are keeping this championship countdown plenty exciting.
In keeping with our traveling history lesson, we made a stop at the site of The Battle of Five Forks. Before you visualize five 19th Century American soldiers going at each other with their silverware, the “forks” refers to five roads converging near the center of the battlefield.
In my blog about Antietam, I commented on how tough it must be to get accurate reporting in the chaos of war; that’s one thing, but one would think that recording existing information would be fairly easy, and absolutely essential. I guess I’m just anal when it comes to the details (that sure isn’t a good visual, is it?), but if it’s important enough to record, it’s important to be consistent. Case in point: the marker at Five Forks (again, the roads, not the dinner implements). It reads that 10,000 Confederate troops battled 50,000 Union soldiers, but literature that I read elsewhere on the same battle puts the Union count at 22,500 or so. What’s the deal? Perhaps the date, April 1st, is a clue (bad joke).
The best part about Richmond was all of the friends and family that were in attendance. All told, I had 23 relatives and “friendlys” on site, so I know it was loud in the stands. Jenna’s mom Cindy flew in on Friday and joined us for the race and more ...
The worst part about Richmond was leaving. Not only did we not get to take our pictures in the winner’s circle, but my penance was having to drive all night Sunday to get to Delaware. Cindy’s family, including parents and sister Kathy live there, so we made a vacation out of it. Kathy is dealing with pancreatic cancer now, so her and her husband George have their hands full. We thoroughly enjoyed spending time out there.
I got to go to lunch with George and his gang, and these guys were hardcore racers and fans all the way back to the late ‘60s. The stories were great, and I think some of them were even true! I accompanied Grandpa Bill to his Fire Chiefs meeting in Pennsylvania, and met many a wonderful firefighter. I gave a speech about what I do, all of the protective equipment that we drivers wear, our fire suppression systems, and the NHRA Safety Safari and what they mean to us racers. Firehouse chief Guy Swift even gave me a scale-model 1946 Dodge fire truck, and Bill and I got to pose next to their very impressive equipment. The amazing thing, especially living on the West Coast, is that nearly all of these guys and houses are totally volunteer. How about that for some heroes?
We also hit the local pumpkin festival with the family, and Jason insisted on hitting the nearest zoo to check on the animals. Then it was time for Cindy to catch up on “Grandma time” while Jenna and I saw the sights.
I have never ventured into historic Philadelphia, but it was well worth it. Just a couple of blocks from Independence Hall is the house where Thomas Jefferson would author the Declaration of Independence. Independence Hall technically is called the Pennsylvania State House, as that was it’s moniker when our nation’s most famous document was receiving all of its “John Hancocks” (clever, huh?).
To be quite accurate, we weren’t even a nation at this point, just a bunch of colonies, wanting to be independent states, not quite sure what a nation should be. Anyway, old Indy Hall was where both the Declaration of Independence and the US Constitution were adopted. Here’s some cool trivia: Hancock’s name appears on the Declaration as the largest signature because he was the acting President at the time. Not in quite the same definition as we have used the term since Washington was elected, but President nonetheless. In fact, Hancock’s name can also be found on the Articles of Confederation, which served as this “country’s” guiding charter from 1777 (okay, ratified in 1781) until we adopted the Constitution in 1787.
Also, there were 11 Presidents (more if you count before the second Continental Congress formed) before Washington took office in April 1789. The room that the Declaration and Constitution were signed in is very austere, nothing like the grand and elegant state rooms that would become more common once statehood was granted (more on Capitols later).
We saw Betsy Ross’ house, we saw Ben Franklin’s fingerprint all over the city, we saw the second bank in the US, and we saw Mr. Franklin’s tomb. Strange how it was covered with change, like how folks throw pennies into fountains for good luck. Why wouldn’t people leave one hundred dollar bills on Ben’s grave … that would seem more appropriate?
We saw the Liberty Bell, which has a fascinating history. That “defect” that has made it so famous really isn’t all it’s cracked up to be (more fourth grade humor). It had suffered a hairline crack due to a casting flaw, and the accepted repair method in the day was to widen the crack by drilling it out. That sufficed until the chasm began to grow once more, so the bell was retired. It even toured the country back in the early 20th century.
We walked over to Washington Park, which once served as a graveyard for slaves, and later for Revolutionary soldiers who were war prisoners once the British took over Philadelphia. Apparently thousands were buried here (far more on each side died from disease and exposure than from actual combat), and there is a monument to the “Unknown Soldier”, as so many were not identified.
We had some fun as well as finding out about history: all of the signers of the Declaration (I think there were 56) have statues in a nearby museum, so we hung out with them awhile. Jenna had no idea that Ben Franklin was so friendly (he was quite the lady’s man), and I didn’t know that Oakley had sunglasses way back then. Please don’t tell on us to security!
I sat down at the President’s desk to take care of some blog writing duties while Jenna got her proctology exam for the NHRA physical. We toured the old City Hall, where the US Supreme Court met from 1791 until 1800 (I believe that’s when it was moved to Washington, DC along with the Capital leaving Philly).
Yep, we got lots of stuff done in a short period of time, probably because we didn’t have to chase the little man all over the place.
Lest you think that Jason was neglected, let me correct you. Grandma and the Great-grandparent gave him plenty of attention, and mom and dad chipped in as well.