Dawn of Saturday (one week ago, the night after University Avenue) arrived, fresh and rosy-fingered. I hooked up with my buddy Eric for the ride to Rock Falls, Wisconsin. We planned on meeting one of Eric’s friends, Lyle, in Hudson, WI. Eric has a Grand Prix GTP and Lyle has a Fiero with a GTP (3800 SC) motor. They were eager to see how their cars would do on the drag strip. Only one thing stood between them and quarter-mile bliss: helmets.

To race at Rock Falls, one must wear a helmet. Eric planned on wearing Lyle’s helmet. Unfortunately, when all three of us were in the East Metro, Lyle phoned to say that he forgot his helmet. He suggested that new helmets be purchased accross the river in Hudson. Hmmm… where does one purchase a helmet in Hudson at 8:00 a.m. on a Saturday morning? For that matter, what store is open at 8:00 a.m. on a Saturday in Hudson? Ah-ha! Fleet Farm! Sure enough, the Hudson Fleet Farm was open (filled with throngs of people, no less) and sold helmets. DOT-certified helmets, that is. Why would this be of concern? For Rock Falls, as with almost all sanctioned amateur motorsports, a helmet must be Snell approved. If a helmet does not bear a Snell sticker, it cannot be used for racing. For a variety of reasons, mere DOT certification is insufficient. This presented a problem: where else can one procure helmets at (now) 9:00 a.m. on a Saturday in Hudson? Time to whip out the ‘ol cell phone to consult the wireless web. After a quick visit to the yellow pages, we ascertained that St. Croix Outpost was open, in Hudson, and carried Snell-rated helmets. After a quick stop there, we continued on our way.

Rock Falls was filled with cars. Nowhere near capacity, mind you, but a healthy showing nonetheless. Almost all of the cars racing were trailered in, tuned as dedicated drag vehicles. The GTP and Fiero felt decidedly out of place. Eric and Lyle did some runs, came back, iced down the superchargers, and watched the big guns go by. Among others, we saw a 9.2 second modified snowmobile, a 9.4 second Hayabusa, many 10-second muscle cars, and an 8.8 second top-fuel-esque dragster. V-8 power dominated the day, which, as an aside, was warm, humid, and sunny. The Fiero ran a best of 12.92s, and Eric would rather I not mention his E/T :-). I took several photos of the event (sorry about the low quality!).

It was a fun time, and I’m glad I went.