Day six we were all in the pit area by 0630. Dave Matson was starting to pit next to us. I think he'd made a 217 mph. run a couple of days before. He said it was running rich. He also said he had an oil leak somewhere but was working on it.

Anyway we fueled Black Lightning up; Steve and crew loaded her up and headed for the line. I instructed Don to take the liner up to 3500 rpm. in low, second and third gear. I told him this would be around 150 to 160 mph. due to Don's expired "B" license. I wanted to check all three gears under load. I wanted to make the most out of the run so I told him to gas it after the out the back door clock, which is just after the five mile timing clock. I told him to take her up to 5000 rpm so I could get a better idea as to my fuel curve at high rpm. At least the scrutineers wouldn't have a time in excess of 150 mph to raise a fuss about.

The line was finally getting a bit shorter. Many contestants had either broken their toys or had left the salt waiting for the 2005 rule book to be printed, where their pride and joy would be recognized with a number beside their joy's name, which tells the world he or she is the fastest in their class.

So after a two hour wait in line and about another one hour wait for the wind to cooperate, we were given ownership of the course once again. We went through the same drill as before, and I might add that practice makes perfect. The crew were really getting it down pat, and looked very professional. Steve had left about 20 minutes prior and was at the five mile marker. The reason for this is so that he can best position himself in the case of an emergency to cut down response time. When the liner is seen coming into his view he takes the return road at 35 mph. speed limit and follows the liner to the end of the course, helping Don with water, Don gets out of the firesuit as soon as he can. With 100 degree + temperatures and the wind screen acting like a magnifying glass on the rider, it increases the ambient temperature inside the cockpit to around 120 degrees. He's bundled up in a 1 1/2 inch thick fire suit--well, I think you get the picture. HOT HOT HOT! It takes about 25 minutes to load the liner onto the salt trailer and make the five mile trek back to the pit after a run.

The run was made. The liner showed really good handling characteristics, straighter than a string, right down the middle of the course. John and I headed toward our pit. We had the c.b. on and heard the tower report 153 mph. at the 2 1/4 mile, 138 mph. at the 3 mile. No report at the 4 and 5 mile. I thought Don had aborted again. No report from the tower of an abort, so there was nothing to do but wait back at the pit for Don's report. Sonny said that he liner looked really good at the three--very stable. That's where our pit was, at the three.

MacDougall's wife Caroline, commented that it was all worth it to see the liner make it to the other end. Terry Prince said it was only running about 3000 rpm. at the three. He didn't realize that we were limited to a 150 mph run by the scrutineers.

It seemed like forever before we spotted Steve with the liner in tow, approaching the pit. Now came the debrief with Don to give us a blow by blow account of the run. This is what he said as best I can remember. "The liner has lots of torque. It's easy to ride. I took it up like you said. It went right up to 3500 in low, I shifted to second. It shifts good, I took it up to 3500 in second. It accelerates real easy. It's got lots of grunt. Shifted to third and tried to keep it at 3500. It's kind of hard to do because the throttle is real sensitive. The slightest touch and the "R's" go up. I did the best I could to keep it around 3500. After the five I punched it like you said you wanted me to do. The clutch didn't hold and I knew it was slipping. I let up on it to try and save the clutch. It popped out of high when I let up on it. I thought the clutch might hold in second. I back shifted to second and really nailed it full throttle. The throttle stuck and the thing went up to 4500 rpm before I could get the ignition shut off. The clutch wasn't slipping, or if it was I couldn't feel. It really pulls hard Macky." (He calls me Macky and I call him Donny by the way.) He put his arm around me and said, "I think we have a winner this time." He went on to say, "Before I could get it shut off it sounded like it lost a cylinder, and when I pulled the high speed chute I could feel it pulling the liner from side to side. The low speed seemed to work O.K."

One of the crew, I can't remember who, handed me the timing slip. It read 153, 138, 142,151, 000. No speed out the back door was given. We quickly calculated the speed at 4500 rpm in second gear. When Donny goosed it after the timed run, he got it up to around 205 mph, before he had to shut it off due to the stuck throttle.