I wanted to wait until we got home to post about our experience to and from the shootout, but I find myself sitting in a hunting lodge in Humboldt South Dakota with nothing but time on my hands.



Here is the lobby of the lodge which also doubles as a Taxidermy. Pretty cool place, nice beds, showers and a bar!

We left from Jersey on Monday at about 4pm, right after we temporarily fixed the leaky water pump on the truck which had been leaking about 1/2 Gallon of coolant every 30 mins on the way in Friday. We drove until about 11pm Monday then pulled off to sleep for a few hours before starting the voyage again.

Tuesday was a "drive till we cant stay awake" day so I think we did 22hrs and then stopped for rest again.

We were just getting going this morning merging on to Interstate 90, 1400 miles left to go, when we heard a loud mechanical "pop". Not really sure how I want to describe that but instantly started smoking from the exhaust. I dont mean a little smoke either, traffic would not come around the truck as I am sure they couldnt see 10 feet in front of them let alone around my truck. We pulled off to the side of the road to see if we could tell what had happened but there were no immediate signs of anything wrong other than the rediculous amount of smoke bellowing out of the tail pipe. We then limped it down the freeway and pulled into the small town where we are now.



I called the local (30 mins away) Chevy Dealership and they came and grabbed the truck to take it in and see what is going on. So now here I am with nothing to do but think about how much more money this trip will really end up costing us.



As long as my truck isnt a $10,000 fix I still say it was worth it! From the hosiptality of the local racers, track employees, and all the Outlaw Racers this was by far the best trip we have ever made.

I will try to keep this updated as we try to get back to Washington!

 

Sorry for this luck
Hopefully its just the pump that let loose
Not a headgasket.

 

Jesus... Do the beds take quarters???? LOL...



Be safe.

 

Get yourself back to Sioux Falls, alot more going on there. Guessing thats where they towed the truck anyways.

 

hard core...

 

So easy for haters to call out others to come out to race this Etown event. When someone calls out someone next year, we should refer to this post to show what commitment for making a trip like this really means.
Best of luck to you guys in getting back home. Teams like Speedfactory are what I consider winners in my book. The Etown outlaw race should have incentives of half off deposits next year since there's already big commitments and risks like this for teams that are 3000 miles away.

Hope its not that bad and you guys are on your way home soon.

 

ide like to see a big race in the middle that way the west coast arent the only ones traveling to the event

 

oh yeah f350 baby made to pulling lol

 

that chebby is smoking just as bad as the hb!

sorry for the bad luck

 

6.6 Duramax. Hardly doubt its a headgasket problem. I see these trucks days in a days out, and there is really no problems with these so Id like to see what happened here.

Mileage? Trans Temp while towing that trailer?

 

Trans temp was normal, remember we have been driving for 4500 miles at this point and that never changed. When this happened there were no warning signs, just BANG and then smoke. There is oil coming from somewhere towards the front of the motor because it is all over the passenger side axle and front diff. Truck has almost 180,000 on it now.

The truck is at Sioux Falls Chevy and they are going to check it out in the morning.

 

that sucks man. I hope its not too expensive to fix

 

gosh that sucks! Wish you best of luck!

 

These long trips can be hell, that's for sure. 2 years ago we brought Chuck's truck and trailer. 5th gear broke around TN and had to drive the rest of the way there in 4th gear, about 60mph tops. This year on the way back, 5th gear broke in the truck around Virginia. lol

The 'central' shootout is next month at Ennis, November 14th, lets see some east coasters come out!

SF, if you guys are back home by then, and have a motor in the car by then, you should come out! Texas is always a good event in November. I'll cover your entry if you come down.

 

Well I hope all is well guys, Duramax Parts/engines ARE expensive to fix and maintain and thats the only downfall. But it seems with 180k miles its got its use.

 

I thought it was a joke when i got the text message this morning. The Jersey trip has been a rollercoaster

 

does that include crew entry? haha

 

damn that sucks, its pretty rare to see duramax's with engine issues. I feel for you guys. being stranded really blows.

 

It's $400 racer entry, I can swing that but I can't afford to cover the biggest crew in racing! Lol

 

Best of luck to you guys! these guys are a great set of guys thats for sure.

 

You gotta be fricken kidding. I checked, you're about 750 miles SE of me.

Hmm.

 

SORRY TO SEE THIS GUYS HOPE IT WORKS OUT.....BE SAFE........BLESS

 

Good luck guys. Let us know if there is anything you may need from us back home.

 

Damn thats shitty, hope everything works out for you guys, keep us posted im interested in what went wrong

 

Best of luck!

I hope you guys get a break with this one...