We hit the track heavy late in the season with 4 trips to Lapeer International Dragway in just nine days.  Our first day of test and tune session, well, was better than working that day.  The old saying that a bad day at the track is better than a good day at work, was never more true.

 

  The day started off with a solid performance by the crew to get loaded and unloaded at the track with little or no problems.  It was the first time the crew had been to the track as a team, yet the "rookies" all performed their respective jobs without a hitch.  The driver for our teams first test session, Steve Hodge, was more nervous than anyone else.  But, as he says... "all the butterflies flew away the moment the engine fired up, and I drove the car to the line."

 

  This was the first time the car had been driven at speed, and emotions were high.  Twenty three years since the last run down this very same strip,a dream was about to be realized. The first run was not expected to be fast, or a high speed. The expectations were to get a feel for the car, and how it would drive after the total restoration and handle at speeds above the normally accepted speed of the neighborhood.

 

  Test driver Steve Hodge goes on by saying "The burnout was good, and I cut a good light.  The car hooked up good, and went straight.  I was listening, waiting, feeling every thing that I could. All my senses were on high alert, ready to become aware of anything that could go wrong.  I shifted a bit early, at about 5500, found second gear, and kept waiting for something, anything to happen.  When I shifted to third, thats when the trip down the strip headed south.  I couldn't get third gear engaged, and the motor wasn't happy, neither was I!!   I let off, and immediately knew what the problem was. I finished the run in second, having let off REAL early.  18.33 at 78 MPH."

 

  Back in the pits, the post run diagnosis of the problems began.  The shifter linkage was adjusted and another run produced a 15.33 @ 93 MPH.  But a leaking valve cover gasket proved to be the end of the day.

 

  All in all, the day was a HUGE success.  The culmination of a decades old dream to return the dragstrip had been realized. The 4hodgeracing.com team packed it up and headed home, knowing that the next trip would be even better.