09/03/2026
Well this has been a journey getting to this point. What started out as one pulling truck then became two pulling trucks and now we got to introduce a third one as last Thursday night Dave got to debut Joint Custody, a 1967 Chevy powered with his new motor built by Mr. Dan at Rhodes Performance out of Somerset. Four years have passed since Dave was last in his truck Nothin’ But Trouble. It probably seemed like an eternity for him. I know he grew extremely tired of truck pulling not being in the drivers seat and always working on Daisy. He taught me a lot about our sport and some of the things that most people don’t even think about such as tire pressure, distribution of weight. Things that first seem very complicated and confusing and sometimes still are in one form or another. Slowly I have learned some of these things however there is still a lot to learn. One of the most important things is driving and knowing how to drive your truck. There is so much that goes on when you get in the truck sometimes it easy to lose sight of your plan and forget a step and that could very easily be the thing that stops you from winning your class, not about getting in the truck, hooking to the sled and then punching the throttle once you get the green flag. There is a science to everything that goes into these trucks and I don’t think you ever stop learning.
So this adventure started in October of 2025 when he was getting restless about his parts not arriving after a year of waiting so he saw a truck but wasn’t quick enough and it sold. Along came Joint Custody out of Indiana, below Terre Haute. He and the owner talked several times and he decided that’s what he wanted. The family that owned it were farmers and were in the middle of harvest so once that was done I drove out to pick it up and bring it home.
Dave was defiantly not all about this truck once it came home. He parked it in the garage in early November and hadn’t even gone down to look at it. I told him it was awesome. Totally loved it, a 67 Chevy. No motor but that wasn’t a problem as he had his Big Block Chevy motor sitting just waiting. After a few weeks Dave’s original parts he ordered suddenly showed up. He was a little irritated as he just spent the money on the new truck. May 18th of this year he finally decided it was time to get things rolling so he brought it up to the work garage and things just started to come around. There was a good amount of work to get this truck ready and he was crippled in the fact that he had me as a helper. Not having the knowledge of what to do without guidance made it twice as difficult for him but I didn’t let that stop things. I worked harder to prove my point. If you want me to do something, show me or help me I’ll get it. Sometimes I think he still doesn’t get it because he’ll say you can’t get it and I just become bullheaded and will try my best to prove him wrong. It’s about a 50/50 outcome. He has been fortunate to have the friends that he does because they have played important parts in getting it to where it is today. There have been many factors that have both gone great and others that have been just wrong. Yesterday was a struggle from the moment we went into the garage. The dry sump was leaking oil. Tore it apart and back together, still a leak. passenger side tire was still loosing air, these tires were screwed to the rims to keep them from slipping, not from going flat, a plate that had been cut had to be recut twice to allow for a hose to now fit properly. There were other things throughout the day that just weren’t right, as the heat and humidity made it miserable to be working in the garage. Time ticking away as the track was almost two hours away. Leaving later than he wanted but made it in time. Got the truck unloaded and went through the tech inspection and now time to get ready. First thing of the trailer. Dave drops a shim when he is installing his gears, tried a few things, magnets etc but no luck. Dennis and Little D ran back and forth and finally Little D figured it out and retrieved it. Next situation, he had no steering when we loaded it at home. He had steering but it was manual and takes forever to turn, he had no hydraulic steering. Thinking the whole way down trying to figure out what it was, a blown fuse, a solinoid gone bad, not sure. Eventually that riddle was solved and the loose ground wire was connected and steering fixed. Turn around and someone says you have a flat tire, now mind you the right front tire has been giving us issues however this was the front drivers side tire. By this time we have Dennis, Little D, Dan and Chevy, Cory and Cory Jr, Dave, myself, Earl, Bob King and a couple others I don’t know in our pit trying to get the truck jacked up to where the tire can be situated and held to start accepting air. First the truck wasn’t high enough so we tried different things even digging the ground out so we could get other things under the jack stand to raise it up. Finally someone grabbed a bigger jack and was able to get the right height to maneuver the tire. Once it started accepting air Chevy started to take the screws out and I grabbed them off of him and put them away. What a pain in the ass those things are. I am taking the other ones off today and the won’t be going back on. Served no purpose in my book. Once that was done it was already time to go to the scales and line up on the track. Driving on the scales, the passenger side tire was partially off the scale so you have to be extremely careful or you could slip off and just buckle your rim, crisis averted there. Truck was 150 lbs heavy so got that adjusted. Then time to measure the hitch. 1/4” too high. Adjust turnbuckles on the rear, stuck of course. Ended up kicking them to get them where they needed to be and let me tell you that 1/4” seemed more like a foot. Ok head to the track get parked have to take passenger side tire down to the same as the drivers side that was flat. That took forever and I never did get to take all the pressure out. Thankfully after I called it a few colorful names, the front tires held their own and made it home with the air still in them. Have Dave his jacket and helmet and off he went. I was literally melting because it was so hot and humid, Carrie told me to just breathe. Seemed impossible and I could just feel the heat in my face. Jumped across the track and waited. Dave got lined up and banged the sled, here we go, is this ever going to end? Little D jumps on the track to help him back in since there are no mirrors at all on the truck. Please let this truck made a good hook and get down the track with no problems. Well there is the green flag, rpm’s up, headers are screaming and out of the hole he comes, didn’t get on it quick enough but let me tell you when he cracked that throttle that truck lit up and rolled smooth down the track. It sounded great and looked great. He had an amazing run for only being in the truck for about 5 minutes driving on the trailer before taking it down the track. He was disappointed that he waited a little too long but he did an awesome job handling the truck and the power behind that motor. When he got done I asked him if he wanted me to take the truck back and he said yes, he was worn out and drenched from the heat in the truck coupled with his fire coat and helmet and no air. Cory and Cory Jr hooked the truck and towed me back to the trailer. We headed back to pick him up but he was already almost back to the trailer and overheated. He got in and sat in the air for a bit while we went back over to the front stretch to watch and hang out. After all was said and done he finished a strong 5th out of 9 trucks which is great but he always tells me, if you ain’t first, your last. Cory, Cory Jr and I got the truck tied down and ready to go. Charles stopped by for a bit to chat and then we all parted ways and headed home. I got to drive home and the first 10 minutes from there to Sheetz was nerve wracking this creeking and making noises, traffic, darkness and my passenger seat driver giving me directions on how to drive, give me a break already. Was ready to go home but needed a pit stop and something to eat. Oh now the truck says it needs DEF now, put that on the list before we leave. Spent a bit there eating, talking, cleaning out the trash and going back in to get the DEF I paid for and walked out without, oh well, I was tired, hot and ready to be home with the dogs. So all things done off we go. We talked and laughed but the biggest laugh of the night was how Dave said about how his coat didn’t fit and was no way gonna zipper. It was so tight that he thought the sides were gonna rip. The sleeves were short and he was stuck in it when he got out of the truck because he was sweating so bad from the heat and I guess maybe because I had picked up the wrong coat hanging in the garage and gave him my coat which was just a few sizes too small. Whoops my bad. Well all in all it was a great day and experience and it would not have been possible without the graciousness and kindness of the following people who made last night happen. We could not have gotten him on the track and get in that great first pull without your help. Thank you so much
Love you all
Mr Dan
Dan, Carrie, Chevy & Sierra
George and Andy
Dennis and Little D
Earl and Bobby
Cory and Cory Jr
Dave B
Also to the friends of friends who came over and helped even not knowing us
Thank you all so much, your kindness and willingness to help a fellow competitor all the while letting your trucks sit while running back and forth from ours to yours looking for a solution among all the misfortunate events that took place on Thursday at the Greene County Fair in Waynesburg PA.
We talked on the way home while I was driving and we laughed when we looked back on everything that transpired from the time we got up until we arrived back home. What a day it was., but good or bad he was able to get the truck loaded on the trailer last night and onto the track at Greene County Fair to have an amazing first pull in the new truck. He finished 5th overall with a distance of 331.73’
Great job babe
Thanks again to everyone for making this possible
Looking forward to the next one
Much Love
Us❤️💕😘
