Fort Washington Expo

by Mike Steele

I attended the Expo on January 17th from 11am to 2pm. A lot of people were there. I found the Gumout #30 parked in the Pennzoil section. I talked to a gentleman sitting there about when Derrike would be around but he said that he would not be there. With the rain wiping out Busch testing on the previous Thursday, the Bahari' Racing plane was flying him straight from Daytona to Talledaga. So DC was a no show.

Mike Cope was there the whole time signing for all. Apparently, he runs the Slim Jim car in the BGN this year. They had a little of everything there form Super Sprints to Micro Sprints, Go-Karts to Monster Trucks, the latest Taurus, to cars from way, way back. They even had the car used for land speed records at the Salt Flats that looks like a big black cigar and Hydroplane boats. Something for all.

Cars on hand were the #30, #3, #24, #44, #22, #1, and one of Richard Petty's old #43's. I did take two pictures of the #30 so let's see how they come out.

Oh yes, the Hooters girls were there also for pictures and as Ed Norton says "Va va va voom Ralph!" The whole day was fantastic. I did not take my 7 year old son because I thought the ride and the fact his 2 friends cancelled at the last minute would bore him. I spent 5 hours driving for 3 hours at the show. But when I got there I missed him being with me. When I got home I told him no matter what, next year he goes.

You see pictures of the #30 on the web. But seeing the car in person will make the next couple of weeks drag for me. I am ready. And with Derrike's test results, this year could be real nice.