After an uneventful trek to Wendover, gassing and feeding stops and the usual waitress peering out the window and asking, "What is that thing on the trailer?" We had arrived at our destination. The Chevy truck was 3,300 miles the worse for wear since leaving Wichita, the home of Black Lightning.

The now three month old Black Lightning , who had been sired by Black Lightning number five and number five by number four and so on, was to compete for the first time with the reigning champion, "The Bonneville Salt Flats" many of the hopefuls that compete for the crown in their class pull up lame for one reason or another. Three mighty Vincent steeds went for the crown this year at Bonneville, each with far more potential to achieve the task for which they were bred. Rest assured that the trio will be back in the hunt for their crowns in 2005. Again rest assured that each will achieve their goal without a doubt. Now my reason for making such a bold statement is not that I have a crystal ball that foresees the future, but I do understand what makes the world go around, and that is "dedication" and "perseverance." The only thing that will change my opinion about the evolution process required to set records is if one of the current trio puts their bike on the trailer and says she hasn't got the horsepower to do the job. And that, boys and girls just ain't going to happen. There is always the potential of an unforeseen weak link, or human error--that's racing. But going back to the dedication and perseverance factor, the weak links eventually go away. So hang in there. don't go away, "Gone With the Wind" was a long movie, but nobody left until the credits were given and the caboose was put on the screen, "The End".