Angry Goes West: Day 1 is Done.
The first leg of our cross country journey is now coming to an end, which is good… cause’ I’m really flippin’ tired. We hit the road this morning at 7am and drove 467 miles to Akron, OH. Thankfully the Charger ran like a top and according to our GPS we had an average speed of 81.6 mph – not to bad for a a 41 year old muscle car. Gas mileage, as predicted sucked – we pulled a pretty consistent 10-11 mpg cruising the old 440 at 3000 rpm.
Our first gas stop in Pennsylvania proved to be an enlightening one. While filling up I noticed this truck driver strolling over the Charger, Jim Tatum or “Jimmy the Kid” stood about 6 foot tall, wore a black cowboy hat, black boots and sported a Texas style belt buckle with the letter “J” on it, he was from Oklahoma… go figure.
“That Charger’s a ‘68…” he said, “I remember those cars from before you were even moving”.
He then asked what we were doing with this old muscle car all stickered up – “We’re filming a documentary on what pisses people off”… I explained.
“Well then Boy… you found the right f*ckin’ guy to talk to.” – I was rolling!
We BS’d with Jim for a good hour, he told us stories from the road and more importantly, why he was angry – that’s another blog though. I then snapped a pic of Jim and his rig and jumped back Rte. 80 heading west into Ohio. Now unbeknownst to me, the state of Ohio is home to Summit Racing Equipment. I found this out as Johnny and I blasted by it on the interstate.
Once seen though we promptly pulled off, flipped a u-turn and proceeded back there. Over the last 5 years I’ve probably spent enough cheddar there to get a third world country back on track economically so when I walked in there I had to instantly pull back the reigns. This building was the ultimate playground for gear heads. Engines, pistons, suspension components and driveline equipment lined the shelves, it was like some sort of automotive god had an organism and the money shot landed in this building… good stuff.
From there we landed in Akron, OH, which is were I am right now. I’m tired and beat down, but am really looking forward to tomorrow cause’ were headed to the Brickyard 400 at Indianapolis Motor Speedway. It should be a good day.
