Darryl, Cindy and Justin arrived a few days before the race to show the car. They decided to try a little fishing before the car show. What they did not expect was the hordes of mosquites that attacked as soon as they got out of the car.

So it was back to the store to pick up bug repellent. The locals stated that this year is the worst for mosquitoes that they can remember. Usually they have a not summer and it kills most of the mosquitoes but this year it has been a mild summer and with some rain. That created the ideal breeding grounds for the mosquitoes. The first night no luck however the second day, Darryl caught a 3 ½ lb large mouth bass. It was great!

Darryl was looking for a boat so the team can fish after the race but no luck so he rented one. Then it was back to fishing and on the way to the lake, Cindy spotted a boat just like the one Darryl was looking for. So after a little negotiating, Darryl bought the boat. So Rex and Justin will have a boat and Cindy and Darryl will have a boat.

The weather was hot and humid for the Lucas Oil Nationals held in Brainerd, Minnesota, August 13-16.

The Hitchman Racing team signed on a new member, Al, a local business man to help out the team for the weekend. His son Gregg also came along and both were a great help to the team. The team headed to the staging lanes in their new uniforms ready to run. Darryl pulled down a 5.61 and was in the ninth position heading to the second qualifying pass. He slowed to 5.69 and moved down to the tenth place.

Rain hampered the races on Saturday and the Top Alcohol Class did not get to make the third qualifying and the first round of competition. It was scheduled to run first round of competition on Sunday morning at 8:45 am however rain came again and the race was put on hold again.  Finally after several schedule changes, the class was run at 5:30. The team was ready for a win. They were matched up against the seventh qualified car driven by Tim Whitely who runs a blown alcohol car that is tuned by Norm Grimes who tuned several years of championships. Both cars were ready and when the lights came Tim left a little early and drew a red light Darryl ran the fastest he had run all weekend and the fastest mph ever at 270 mph. It was the second fastest pass of the round. It was a good run and no hurt parts and the team was ecstatic. Next round came quick and Darryl was set against Samsel who is a friend. Both cars turned on the staging lights and when Darryl put the pedal to the medal, the tires went up in smoke. Oh so very aggressive. That ended the the competition for the team. However it was rumored that Samsel did not pass fuel inspection and the team may have to run. So they rushed and got ready but the report came back after the NHRA officials finished that he was not disqualified. So the team slowed down and now the car is ready for Indy. And the team is ready for fishing for a whole week. This is the team’s vacation race. They try to plan a week of fishing before or after the race and this time it is after. All in all, the team was very happy with the car’s performance and looking for a win at the Indianapolis race.

Fishing was somewhat OK. Tuesday and Wednesday it was cloudy, windy and raining. Rex and Justin caught quite a few but Cindy and Darryl only caught a few. The fishing was not as good as last year until Rex left on Saturday. Darryl, Cindy and Justin went out on Sunday and the fish were biting. Between Darryl and Justin, they caught about 16 bass with Darryl in the lead by 3 bass. Darryl caught a whopper 4 lb small mouth bass by the scale!  The sun was shinning and no wind. It was great. A few more days and Darryl, Cindy and Justin will be heading to Indianpolis.