What ever happened with the couple trying to get a ride to Erie?
The couple was helped by Pure Diesel Power with a ride for both people and their truck to Erie.
As for all of the comments on the roller, lets see you get one that meets the budget the size we all want, it is not going to happen. I just got off the phone with Sunbelt Rentals, a company I deal with on a daily basis, and for a larger roller, at my rate, it is $500/day before delivery and pick-up. Which would you rather have, a larger roller, or a larger purse.
The trucks fire was very unfortunate. It is true that the fire truck was brought over to put out the fire as there was no fire extinguishers close. I have the entire ordeal on video from when he got the green light on the sled to when the fire truck pulled away. It was 5 minutes and 30 seconds give or take a few seconds, exact timing I can get when I get the video onto the computer. When there is an emergency a second feels like an eternity.
The guy that put the fire out, Mike, was there to photograph the event for NADM and Gearhead Productions LLC. He is a volunteer fire fighter and you could tell as soon as he saw the fire he put the camera down and went to help.
Mike could tell me better than most the quantity of water used, as he was running the nozzle on the hose. I know that his quantity had to be close, as it only took a few scrapes and the track was back.
If Gene had not moved the individuals that I had told to move prior to him the crowd always seems to grow where they think they are OK. There is a reason that we leave a shutdown area, and rope it off as best we can. You never know when an emergency is going to happen. The chain could have broken on the sled, the weight box not come up, or any number of other problems and a truck could have went flying down the track and put these individuals in danger. In fact, I had moved a few individuals in a gator that was parked in front of the fire truck earlier in the day. If there had been a gator, atv, or the like parked in front of the fire truck it could have even taken longer to get the fire put out on that truck.
All of this aside, every year I look forward to this event, as it is the closest to home for me. This year was great, we had good weather, a large crowd, good deals on vendor alley, and large quantity of trucks competing. Every year I meet new individuals at these events, most of them become someone I like to call a friend, there are very few I find that are not friendly.
We have a very tight knit group in Diesel Motorsports, I have seen guys helping their competitor in the pits figure out an issue, fix a problem, swap parts, and even loaning parts so someone can make a pass at the drag strip or a pull on the track.
All of this aside, I look froward to the future of the sport, and will try my best to help make it bigger and better for the future generations in any way I can.
Travis Hoene
Gearhead Productions LLC