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- Feb 1, 2008
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So there I am minding my own business heading over to Napa to pick up an O2 sensor for my daughter's car when I pull up to 4-way stop. There's a guy in a little pickup stopped at the cross-street stop sign on my right. It's his turn to go. He pulls across and turns left onto the street I am on and is now heading the opposite direction that I am. As he turns the corner, he sees my truck and gives a little throttle blip.
He is driving an S-10 pickup with a nasty sounding V-8. I roll my window down so that I can hear him as he slowly drives away. He blips the throttle again while shifting into second and chirps the tires. Now in all fairness, I had planned on just picking up my auto parts and then heading back home, but that second throttle blip just couldn't be ignored...
So, I do a U-turn and go into pursuit mode so that I can at least talk to the guy and ask what motor he is running, blah blah blah, etc. It's a 4 lane road with a double yellow center-stripe (2 lanes each direction). It takes me a bit to catch up to him as the guys directly in front of me in both the right and left lanes are driving side by side at around 25-30 mph (a-holes). Once I get through the traffic I pull up behind him and listen. He definitely has a manual shift, and what sounds and looks like 3" dual exhaust. I don't catch his eyes in the rear view, so I'm not sure he even notices me.
I innocently change lanes over to the left lane and pull up beside him while he remains in the right lane. The light ahead turns red. We both pull up to the light and we are both the first vehicles at the light. The remaining traffic starts to pull up behind us making neat 4-car lines in each lane. I roll the passenger window down hoping he will do likewise so that I can chat while we wait for the light to turn. I can hear that he is cammed and has loud mufflers.
I have my head turned 90 degrees to the right and I am staring at this guy, but he won't look over. He appears to be between 65-70 years old, hardened from work and the sun. He looks as if he could be a retired prison guard, or maybe just a pissed-off old farmer. He had the countenance of a statue and looked a bit like Donald Rumsfeld. He won't so much as turn and look even the slightest in my direction. I can see that he is looking at something straight ahead and then glancing to the right occasionally.
It was then that I realized that he was watching the light. He was looking over to see when the cross street's yellow was going to hit so that he could be fully poised to strike.
As soon as the yellow lit up, he shifted in 1st and brought up his engine rpm up ever so slightly. He didn't even so much as blink. I quickly roll up my window and focus on the red light dead ahead. It seems like an eternity as I wait for the green.
Four....three....two....one....Go! We both floor it. He lights up the tires immediately providing a smoke and kicked-up-rock show for the cars behind us. I spin but then take off. My Cal-Tracs make my truck hook hard. I pull him, one length, then two. I redline in first and then when it shifts into second (QC, auto) there is a gentle hump in the road and my tires break loose and give the tail a little wag. I see him in my rearview mirror. He shifts his manual into second right at that same hump and does the same little tail wag.
We both stay in it 'till about 80 mph and then back off as this was a fairly residential area. I pulled him two lengths in first; he caught up to one length behind me. And, then I pulled him two more lengths in second. All in all it was a pretty decent race, considering.
I tell you what though: don't underestimate an old grandpa in an s-10 pickup. I bet he catches a few people by surprise.
He is driving an S-10 pickup with a nasty sounding V-8. I roll my window down so that I can hear him as he slowly drives away. He blips the throttle again while shifting into second and chirps the tires. Now in all fairness, I had planned on just picking up my auto parts and then heading back home, but that second throttle blip just couldn't be ignored...
So, I do a U-turn and go into pursuit mode so that I can at least talk to the guy and ask what motor he is running, blah blah blah, etc. It's a 4 lane road with a double yellow center-stripe (2 lanes each direction). It takes me a bit to catch up to him as the guys directly in front of me in both the right and left lanes are driving side by side at around 25-30 mph (a-holes). Once I get through the traffic I pull up behind him and listen. He definitely has a manual shift, and what sounds and looks like 3" dual exhaust. I don't catch his eyes in the rear view, so I'm not sure he even notices me.
I innocently change lanes over to the left lane and pull up beside him while he remains in the right lane. The light ahead turns red. We both pull up to the light and we are both the first vehicles at the light. The remaining traffic starts to pull up behind us making neat 4-car lines in each lane. I roll the passenger window down hoping he will do likewise so that I can chat while we wait for the light to turn. I can hear that he is cammed and has loud mufflers.
I have my head turned 90 degrees to the right and I am staring at this guy, but he won't look over. He appears to be between 65-70 years old, hardened from work and the sun. He looks as if he could be a retired prison guard, or maybe just a pissed-off old farmer. He had the countenance of a statue and looked a bit like Donald Rumsfeld. He won't so much as turn and look even the slightest in my direction. I can see that he is looking at something straight ahead and then glancing to the right occasionally.
It was then that I realized that he was watching the light. He was looking over to see when the cross street's yellow was going to hit so that he could be fully poised to strike.
As soon as the yellow lit up, he shifted in 1st and brought up his engine rpm up ever so slightly. He didn't even so much as blink. I quickly roll up my window and focus on the red light dead ahead. It seems like an eternity as I wait for the green.
Four....three....two....one....Go! We both floor it. He lights up the tires immediately providing a smoke and kicked-up-rock show for the cars behind us. I spin but then take off. My Cal-Tracs make my truck hook hard. I pull him, one length, then two. I redline in first and then when it shifts into second (QC, auto) there is a gentle hump in the road and my tires break loose and give the tail a little wag. I see him in my rearview mirror. He shifts his manual into second right at that same hump and does the same little tail wag.
We both stay in it 'till about 80 mph and then back off as this was a fairly residential area. I pulled him two lengths in first; he caught up to one length behind me. And, then I pulled him two more lengths in second. All in all it was a pretty decent race, considering.
I tell you what though: don't underestimate an old grandpa in an s-10 pickup. I bet he catches a few people by surprise.
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