But the same could not be said for this big dopey Snake fan after the finals, for, as we all know, Don STUPIDLY switched lanes with Gary Burgin after the Ault & James 'Vette had puked a motor in the Modified final.  His hazing of the tires had it decided before it was over, and the place went nuts, which made the walk to the car for me seem like something out of a Charlie Brown cartoon, only it was a crestfallen me walking dejectedly with gigantic HAA-HAAs!! surrounding me. 

The ride home was fairly uneventful, well, if you consider running out of gas a half-hour from home on the bleep-side of Elgin, Illinois, having to scale a fence behind a quickie-mart to abscond with an armload of pop bottles that I cashed in at the neighboring gas station for another gallon and a half to limp home with. Yeah, just like I drew it up on the chalkboard, bucko! 

And THAT, race fans, is how the 22nd Annual U.S. Nationals was for me: my first solo trip, first whiff of teargas, and the first and ONLY final round Prudhomme lost that calendar year of NHRA racing. All in all, a pretty good day at the office.

Thanks for reading, support the advertisers and sponsors that back Drag Racing Online, the best racing website on the planet. I AM Chicago Jon, hope to entertain you again sometime soon, til then … C-YAAAAAAA!!