Originally posted on August 7, 2018.

Well, I will say that I do not want to spend another week like the last one again.  I wound up taking last Thursday and Friday off to help out.  Now when Mike needs my help actually tightening bolts and performing other mechanical tasks on a car then that is desperation.  We were expecting the graphics team and the fuel system expert to get their tasks done and were far from ready.  It was “all hands on deck” working every waking moment and Mike slept very little.  Many thanks to our daughter Shannon and son-in-law Adam for making themselves available for whatever needed to be done. 

Now, drum roll please.  Mike is on the way to Utah as of 3am this morning.  The engine finally came to life yesterday afternoon.  We spent Sunday chasing a major water leak before Mike Kopchik could spend meaningful time with Mike on cranking the engine.  Adam and I both converged on the shop at about the same time and the engine had just fired up.  We were excited to say the least.  The whole trip had seemed to be in doubt for several days.  This is not to say that everything from here out will go smoothly.  The streamliner category is very complex.  We could have difficulty getting through the “tech” inspection or could, at any point, have issues with the car that will put us out of the event.  Many of the record holders worked for years to finally achieve a record.  And most of them live on the west coast so have participated in the Speed Week and other annual events repeatedly.  For now, we are excited to be able to make the trip.

I was saving what I have referred to as the “graphics” as a surprise.  Basically, as with many racers these days, we chose to wrap the car instead of painting it.  Mike chose to base the graphics on two topics.  The first, which you see in the second photo, is that this year marks the 70th running of the speed trials at the Bonneville Salt Flats.  The second (and equally important in Mike’s life) is that the project is in memory of the legendary Homer Galloway and Johnny King. Homer and Johnny were royalty to Mike when he was a boy.  They both lived in the Lydia community and raced in South Carolina and neighboring states.  They were very competitive, won many races and fueled Mike’s love of all things motorsports-related. 
Here are a couple of photos showing the graphics but one of it totally completed will have to wait until we get to Bonneville.  The engine work was going on at the same time the graphics team from Frontline Designs was doing their work so the completed pieces were never all in place at one time.

Please be in prayer for Mike as he and his brother, Marshall, make the 2200 mile trip.  I spoke to Mike earlier and they were in Tennessee.  The route out and back has been carefully selected to avoid sharp ascents through mountainous regions.  Part of the journey this time was arranged so Mike could pick Marshall up on the way. 

I will keep you posted on our adventure . . .