Holy Cow Tractor Pulling Team

Monday, August 30, 2004

Hicksville, OH

Got a little behind. Bought a new DVD-R for the computer and the necessitated upgrading windows, which involved reformatting the hard drive from FAT-32 to NTFS, and in the process of installling everything again, I picked up a worm, and it has just been like that.

Anyway, Hicksville. One of the best power tracks in the nation, as far as I am concerned. Tedder was test hook and made a fantastic pass. They agreed to watch one more before opting to heavy the sled. Next up was Don Deane who DQ'd, so the left the sled set where it was. 8 of 11 of us made the pull off.

I was balanced right for the first pass, but a little nose heavy for the second pass. Everything else we well. Barga's, naturally, won, though not by as much as usual. Diekman made a nice pass for 2nd, and Tedder took third. Krider has his best pass of the year and took 4th, and we ended up 5th. 9 feet sepperated the top 5, and less than 2 between Tedder, Krider and me.

Wednesday, August 25, 2004

Greenville, OH
Again, made it to the pull without incident. Again, a poor showing for the Cow. I am really looking forward to another brake locking up or something :-)

Anyway, this was a 4 motor hook (GN Limits) and there were only 3 of us there is GN dress, with the other 7 tractors running a 3 motor configuration. The first bad thing was the sled, Singer. He is a local boy and the fair board lets him work this pull, but I really think this pull could be outstanding if they brought in a regular GN sled or even Indiana's Challenger or Ohio's Trackboss. The problem with the sled is that the weight box goes way back under the operators platform, completely behind the axles. What this means is that the pan has very little weight on it. When the tractors (or trucks) take off, the pan usually doesn't even touch the ground until at least 100'. The problem with the modifieds is that we have so much power, we need the sled to pull down on the tractor to load the tires and give us extra tractor. This sled doesn't do that. What they need to do is place a few thousand more pounds of weight in the front of the pan.

Any, Deane first our of the gate and has a hard time getting going, but has a decent run at 288' or something. Everyone that pull goes a little farther, and finally 5th hook Alan Judy gets it out to 355' or so, which is silly for a 3 engine tractor in a 4 motor class. It is obvious that everyone will full pull, so they reset the class making me test hook.

I am watching the tach and feeling the tires and trying to feather the throttle until it hooks, but the engines seems to rev up to quick be because there isn't enough tractor to hold them back. Finally, it seems to hook and I open it up, but it just doesn't feel right. The engines seems to be really laboring, but I don't have the ground speed I expect, then I see lots of white smoke (unburn alcohol) from the right rear motor and crawn to a stop. Broken blower belt. Since I'm test hook, I turn it down, and run back to our trailer to get tools ready to change the belt while Stacey drive the tractor back. On the way back, I hear the announcer say that I broke not one, but two belts. Oh oh, should have kept the hook, no way to get it fixed then. Waiting at the trailer for me was Jack, the HSTPA guy in charge of our entry trailer, his son, and Mark was on the scene shortly after. I grabbed belts and tools. Jack started on the front motor, and I realized I have to drop the coupler and remove the fuel pump from the rear motor to get the belt in, probably a 2 hour job at a liesurely pace. We have about 20 minutes or so. We get the front belt on, but I only got half the bolts out of the coupler and it was getting close to the time for us to pull again, so I knew I wouldn't make it, since I wasn't even 1/2 way. So, in order to lose as few HSTPA points as possible, I needed to beat Mike Schoenemann. I knew I couldn't get around Ed or Don, but at least beating Mike would save 1 point. So, we opted to run on two motors with my 4 motor gear.

Mike only scored 125', So I was going to shut it down at 150' or so and save the motors for Hicksville. I backed to the sled and being way down on horsepower, actually had a halfway decent hole shot, hooked up, and got some ground speed goinging, at least until the weight box crossed over the axles on the sled and transferred the weight to my hitch. Then, I needed the other 2 motors, but still managed to drag it out to 185, just a few feet shy of my first hook. In hindsight, I should have kept my first hook, but I didn't realize how much work I had ahead of me at that point.

The other thing I didn't realize was how much they tightened up the sled. Barga pulled like a 380 on their first hook and finished 3rd after the sled reset with a 215. They tighened the sled up like 200'. I didn't see anyones run after the sled reset, so I can't comment there, but Diekman won, follow by Jostock, Barga, Deane, and Judy. We finsihed 9th, beating only Mike Schoenemann.

This was a poor show for the fans, and while the track wasn't great, I think a modern sled would have made a huge difference. There were a lot of really great tractors here, but we all looked like a bunch of idiots because that sled just wouldn't allow you to get the horsepower to the ground until it was too late.

Lima, OH
Well, we made it to the track with out a breakdown on the truck, so you know right away that we will have less than a stellar pull. Yep, that was the case. This time it was all me, your driver. I misread that track in a big way. Now, to be honest, the track was not great, but it was consistantly not great for everyone and 5 other people found a way to make do. There was no starting line and everyone had a rough ride getting going. I was nose heavy and never really hooked up. Oh well, nothing broke and we got a check. On to the next one. The top 6 were Barga, Soisson, Stahl (who had probably the best looking run of the one's I saw), Jostock (also nose heavy), Deane, and finally me.

Wednesday, August 18, 2004

Berrien Springs, MI
As usual, I was looking forward to this pull because of the unique indoor/outdoor track. This is not a point and shoot tractor pull like many, but a real drivers track where the most horsepower won't automatically win you a pull.

But let me back up to the day before. Adrian, MI was the previous night and also the Wolverine pullers mid-season meeting. I don't have any problems with having meetings or whatever throughout the year, but I strongly feel that competition rules should be voted on only once in the season and preferably at the end of the season. First, the season is fresh in everyone’s minds, and second, any changes required, due to rule changes, have about 9 months to be implemented. I don't like Michigan’s "change the rules at any meeting" policy, and I certainly don't like the "change the rules midseason" ability. I personally feel this COULD be used as a method to penalize a dominant tractor or unpopular driver who is leading a points race.

I didn't buy a license this year for several reasons. First, my new job won't allow the freedom of time off like in years past. Second, I didn't agree with Michigan’s decision to try to level the playing field by giving 200lbs of weight to each wedge head engine, meaning 600lbs for me, while requiring no change for the dominant hemi's and quad T-53 tractors. I like Indiana's rule where everyone changes a little. That being said, I don't agree with Michigan’s rule, but I do support it and built my tractor to pull at 8,100 lbs. Obviously, I did my homework with my win at Coldwater. Third, I didn't like the seeming random interpretation of the rules, specifically the decision for payout at the rain-shortened final 2003 pull at Hillsdale. Lastly, and the straw that broke the preverbal camels back, was the decision to let Dave Snyder run in Grand National Tractor at the state level. Again, I am not against the decision to let him run so much, as the way the rule change was not brought up when the entire mod class attended back to back meetings, and then voted it in at the next meeting when most mod members were not present.

So, without a license, I couldn't vote and with hauler problems needed the time to work on it. Two items were discussed, one was to no longer allow Snyder to run and the second was to revert back to RN rules. Now, I talked with quite a few people that were at that meeting and honestly don't understand how so many people can sit in the same area and see and hear completely different things.

In any case, Snyder was denied the right to pull. I am on the fence on this one. I was upset at the decision to let him run, so I was glad to see his variance revoked. However, in watching his run at Coldwater, I also recognized that we was way over-handicapped and didn't have a chance at even placing in the top five. So, in the interest in getting more vehicles, maybe Michigan should have tried something else.

I am really upset that the change to RN rules went back into affect. I am taking this one personally. I acknowledge that no one specifically brought up my name, but I still feel I was targeted here. Of all of the tractors that were eligible to get some or all of the additional 600lbs of weight, I was the only to take advantage of it. You can say I won at Coldwater, but there were 3 in the pull off and neither Barga nor Diekman came back. If you make the leap of faith that the pulloff would have finished with the same distances as we pulled it out, Barga would have won by about 15' and we would have just beaten Diekman by about 3'. I still think Barga may have too much of an advantage, but it was a huge step in the right direction. Also, like I said at the December meeting, I think the Allisons were penalized too much. You also can't judge a rule on one pull. But, I think with a little tweaking, Michigan was close. More often than not, I heard the Michigan rule was changed to encourage pullers from other states to come to Michigan. With a few rare exceptions, all out of state pullers are either from Indiana or Ohio. Currently, all of the Indiana pullers, except me, were supporting Michigan, and the Ohio pulls that historically supported Michigan either continued to support Michigan (Barga, Diekman, maybe Soisson) or no longer were running at all (Miller, Schalitz). So, I don't know whom they thought they were going to attract. In any case, the idiocy of the decision cause me to pull Saline, Centreville, and Hillsdale from my schedule.

So, we leave from work on Monday to head to Berrien Springs. Within 10 or 15 miles, we blow an exhaust gasket on the truck. Not something to strand us, but just an annoyance, a LOUD annoyance. We are on the road to the fairgrounds and on of our crew calls on the cell phone asking where we were. He mentions that because of the rule change that this is no longer a co-sanctioned pull. Now I am pissed. Obviously, this whole mod rule change has ruffled feathers throughout the organization. For the next hour, I try to get a definitive answer on what the co-sanction decision is. Everyone is ready for a fight and there is a lot of yelling and screaming, even though most of it is unprovoked and simply an outlet of all the underlying tension surrounding this class. We have a contract and the pull is co-sanctioned. End of story. I can't accept the fact that the Indiana pullers were trying to get me to leave only to better their position in HSTPA points standings, so I don't really know where the rumor got started.

The next excitement came when we were getting ready. The tow back tractors were trying to get everyone staged way to early. We counted at one point 4 tractors parked on the road waiting to get into the hot pit area simply because there was no room inside. I know they don't want us in a public area with the engines running and with NTPA reiteration of the no-refilling rule following the scale, we are just concerned about getting ready too soon and not having enough heat left in the engines. Finally, the pits open up and we can't get 2 motors to fire. After the Coldwater pull, the tractor was filthy and we did something we don't normally do, wash it with a hose. I tried my best to keep water away from the electronics, but apparently two coils got wet and refused to work. I only have 1 spare plus the one from my "dead" 4th motor. Luckily they both were dry and we got all started, but now the mod class is ready to start.

Again, everyone we talked to advised us of something completely different. I was supposed to pull 3rd, but there was no time and no room to get to the front of the line. We asked the entry clerk if we could drop 6 or to last, and she said no problem. I am pretty sure she had a radio. One of the hot pit tow tractor drivers said I couldn't drop and tried to get me to the front of the pack, while the hitch measurement guy said I was dropped to last. Finally, the starting line flagman saw when it was my turn that I wasn't ready and dropped me to last. That was the correct decision and the way the NTPA rulebook reads. You have two chances to go past 100'. I just used one of those chances, meaning I can't shut it down and make another attempt, which is fine by me as I have only done that twice anyway.

OK, now this pull, if you are not familiar with it starts in a stage area which is basically a large pole barn without ends. The first 150' is indoors, and the last 150' is outside. What this means is that the dirt is subject to different conditions and usually the indoor dirt stays moister and hooks better than the outside dirt. So, the real key here is to be a little nose light inside and really carry the front indoors, so you can continue to carry the front outdoors. However, if you are too light indoors, you probably will have control problems and either DQ or really have to work to stay between the chalk, hurting your performance. If you are not nose light enough, then front end will be pinned to the ground when you exit the building and you lose traction at the big end of the track. Most tractors were really having a hard time with the hole shot and carrying the front way to high. Diekman made a hard turn to the right, but the front was not that high. Don't know why.

We had everything planned for 8,100 lbs, but now found ourselves at 7,500 (well, really 7,400 as that scale notoriously reads 100 heavy) I weighted the tractor perfectly. It wanted to swing right and I was hard on the left brake, a tap on the right and then just flew out the gate. We won with room to spare. But again, Diekman I am sure would have been right there if it wouldn't have went right on him. I don't know if it was track placement or something broke or what.

So, then on the way home, we are about 1 1/2 hours from home and a pickup pulls up next to me and flips the dome light on. He is waving and pointing, so I pull over and he follows. He says I am spraying sparks on the road and they are coming from the right side of my trailer. Front right wheel is smoking really badly, just like the rear did on the way to Marion Co less than a month ago. Another locked up caliper. So, we limped on down the road to Plymouth, IN and go to a well-lit shopping center. I surveyed the situation and just like before, the brake wouldn't release, wore out the pad, and got the rotor and hub so hot, the oil seal melted and all of the hub oil drained out. I knew I couldn't fix it then because it was too hot, we crawled in the camper and went to sleep. At 5:30AM, we got up, replaced the brake shoes, packed the bearings in grease, ate breakfast at Bob Evans, showered, and still made it to work by 10AM. Luckily Stacey packed an extra set of work clothes for me.

But wait, that's not all. After the workday is done, I try to leave and discover the starter is stuck and will not engage the flywheel. This is now the third problem to occur in the last 14 hours. All I can say is I am glad we don't pull for another week.

Friday, August 13, 2004

Coldwater, MI

This pull had excitment on and off the track. To start with, I drove the Hauler to work to give me a jump start on the pull. I have traveled about 1 mile when I heard a noise and pulled over to investigate. The belt that runs the air compressor had fallen off. I thought maybe it just got loose and didn't see anything else wrong. The belt was a little worse for wear, but I thought it would at least make the 3 hour trip to Michigan. So, I put it on, tightened it up (but no too tight) and started the motor. The belt immediately flipped upside down. Thinking I didn't get it tight enought, I tried again, this time really tight. Same thing. But, the belt was running good without slipping and the air compressor worked, so we headed off like that. I was thinking some of the damage was causing the belt to flip. The Air Compressor is only used for the air ride on the truck and trailer, so I can probably go quite a without air. I DO NOT have air brakes.

We get to Coldwater and see the belt if again off. Now it is obvious that that compressor is not aligned with the other pulley and I quickly locate the problem. Three of the four bolts attaching the compressor bracket to the head are missing. No big deal. Get a new belt, put in the three bolts, good as new. Naturally, the belt is closest to the engine, so the other two belts in front need to come off. I get the belt off and had it to a friend who is going to run into town. Before they leave and I try to put in the missing bolts. Hmmmm, they won't go in. I completely remove the bracket and see the problem. The bolts didn't fall out, they broke off, with the small threaded end rusted in and slightly below the head surface. Bummer. This is not something I can fix in the pits. OK, don't worry about the belt.

We head off into the fairgrounds and find our friends, Grant and Lori Wonders and their family, along with Lee Swift and his family. We had some good food at their annual pre-tractor pull get together. Congratulation to Lee's daughter for winning Grand Chamption Rabbit.

OK, back to the pull. So, this is our first Michigan pull of the year. Per the Michigan rules, Barga and the Hemis and the Allisons run at 7500 with a 20" drawbar. Dave Snyder was there with with two Grand National Turbines. He was to run at 7500 with an 18" drawbar. Each Wedge Type engine got an additional 200 lbs, which is typically 600 lbs for a 3 engine tractor (like us, Krider, Stahl, etc). Also, a 4800 hp turbine also gets 600 lbs, which includes every turbine but Barga. So, 11 tractors are here. We have Snyder with his 2 GN (i.e. "4-engine") turbines, Barga with their quad T-53 tractor, Diekman and Boyer with 2 potent Allison tractors, Tedder with his new tripple Hemi, and Krider, Stahl, Craig, Schoenemann, and me, all with wedge motors. Schoenemann is still short 2 motors, and Craig is short one, so they probably are out of the mix, but everyone else has a good running tractor that has won in the past and should have a shot. Noteably absent is Don Deane who destroyed a rear end the previous night.

The track was a little sandy, but the Super Farm put on a good show. They had trouble keeping it straight, all of them drifting right then hooking left in the 150-200 range. My experience is that our higher wheel speed and longer wheelbase keeps that from affecting the mods. The TWD class had a real hard time hooking to the track, especially out of the hole, but again that seems to be a small tire vs. large tire issue.

As we went across the scales, the scale man noted that we were the only mod that weighed 8100 lbs, everyone else was in the 7500 range. OK, allow me to step up on my soapbox.

For the last 2 or 3 years, there has been a constant undercurrent of dissatisfaction with the change to allow the hemi tractors to run 3 motors with 8-71 blowers and the exception to allow 4 T-53 turbines that greatly exceede the 4800 hp limit on turbines. There really wasn't a problem with the Allisons, but if we can propose a rule to dial the hemis and T-53's back some, the Allisons probably can be dialed back a little as well. Finally, for the 2004 season, Indiana and Michigan each adopted rules, albeit different ones, that were intended to level the playing field. The RN circuit and Ohio made no changes.

My personal opinion is the rule changes were made in the wrong location. I think something should have been done to restrict horsepower on particular engines and leave the chassis rules the same. We proposed a blower overdrive limit on the hemi's and a restrictor plate on the Allisons. There was no good answer for the T-53's. However, what we came up with is a variation of weights and drawbars. OK, not my first choice, but my vote was heard and I will support the decision of the club. What I like about Indiana is that each combination has to change a little. What that means is that no one tractor is faced with major changes, but everyone makes a small change so for the first few pulls everyone is at the same small disadvantage dialing in their new combination. What I don't like about the Michigan rule is that the majority of the tractors, the run-of-the-mill 4800 hp turbines and the quintessential triple wedge tractor have to make a major change of adding 600 lbs while the relatively few number of T-53 and hemi tractor have to change to make at all. This gives them a big advantage early on. But again, this is the rule that was voted on, and my voice was heard. I voted for this rule because it came clear and no other alternative was being considered. So fine, this is the hand I was dealt, and I am going to play it.

It became obvious that Deane and I were the only two running the 7800 lbs in Indiana and we were running neck and neck. He would beat me one week because he out drove me, and I would come back and out drive him the next week and beat him back. It was really fun. Deane is one hell of a competitor on the track and a good friend off the track and this is what makes pulling exciting. My thought was that, like the rules or not, I am going to try to win. I am going to build my tractor to those rules and squeeze every last foot out of it on the track. I bought a stack of ring and pinions and changed gearing after every run for the first few hooks. I developed computer models and spent hours going over past run histories and feeding that information into the models. I created graphs and charts and spreadsheets and more models. And to be truthful, I didn't have a clue what I was doing, but like a successive-approximation equation, I was honing in on a solution in a piecewise-linear fashion. My models got better, my charts and graphs got cleaner and correlated better, and I was learning. Deane was doing the same thing, albeit probably in a less precise manner.

Now, after a lot of hard work, I think the rules work. I was within feet of Barga at Frankfort, but I could have done better and so could they. Deane was way out in front, but he also out drove us all and deserved the win. Again at Coldwater, the ones that are working with their tractors and running at the limits of the rules are all clustered close together. It is exciting pullling for the drivers and the fans.

Now, this fall there is going to be a lot of talk about rule changes at the NTPA level. Some people are going to say either Indiana or Michigans rules don't work. I say phbbbbbt. For the two of us that are trying, I think the rules have leveled the playing field. The real advantage of this rules as written is that no one has to spend a lot of money. The wedges don't have to buy more expensive blowers (i.e. 14-71) or run their stuff so hard that it is constantly breaking. And the last year dominating tractors (i.e. the T-53 and hemi's) also don't have to make expensive changes to their engines (i.e. lower horsepower T-53's or changing compression ratios on a hemi to compensate for less boost or whatever the Allisons would be required to do) Sure, everyone may need to change ring and pinion, by they are $350 brand new from Rife Heavy Duty in Winimac, IN. I can change a ring and pinion in about 6 hours reusing the same pig and carrier. Not a super expensive or super time consuming process.

OK, off my soapbox and back to the pull.

First up was Barga. The question in my mind was how well the track would hold up. Right out of the hole, Ron hammered the tractor and dug twin trenches 6" deep for at least 100'. Wow, not going to be much track left at the end of the night. I think Ron would have made it well into Indiana if they hadn't thrown the red flag. It started misting rain and they agreed to watch one more tractor. Tedder was next up, still blowing a little fuel, but again full pulled (I think) and they reset the sled. Then we went through the tractors, with no one getting a full pull. The rain misted off and on, just enough to be miserable on this 53 deg night, but not enough to effect the track. We hooked to the sled, immediately grabbed a hold of the track and picked up the nose and made a very fast straight pass, probably the best of the year. The distance was 309.7'. Michigan runs the 310' rule, so we are "on the bubble." We are currently in the pull off, but if three tractors go past me, I don't get to come back. I needed another .3 feet for a guaranteed pull off. I had no idea what I needed to do for tire pressure, nose weight, or gear ratio. I made a guess, and go pretty close. My math models seem to work.

At this point we are in the pits getting ready for the pulloff. I can see the track clearly from my pit space, but of no perception of distance. I can't always hear the announcer. Diekman makes a great pass and pulls a 306 or so. Barga makes another pass and exceeds 310'. I don't know if it was 311' and that was all he could do, or if he shut it down at 340'. So right now, I am in second place and Diekman is on the bubble. Boyer brings his Allison tractor to the line. This was the old Bollinger Money Pit. When Steve drove this tractor it was, in my opinion, the baddest twin Allison in the nation. I don't know how different it is today than when Steve drove it, and I don't know how Ed drives vs Steve, but I know that tractor is capable of winning it all. I know it can beat Diekman which still have the same rules, so it should make it at least to the 305' and beyond range. He hits it hard of the hole and the tractor bounces baddly from right to left one wheeling on each side and bouncing wildly for the first 100' or so. Then it settles down, but finishes way back. Ed is learning and when he can learn how to settle that tractor down out of the hole, he should be up there.

Snyder make a pass with each of his GN tractors. The 18" drawbar just kills him and he can't hook to the track. Both tractors finish way back. I don't really know what can be done to allow GN tractors to run on the state level, but drawbar doesn't seem to be it.

So, that leaves just the three of us in the pull off. Glen, the starting line flagman walks up to me and says that neither Barga or Diekman can come back, so all I need is a measureable pull. I move the sled 20' or so for the win. Barga had already made 2 passes and didn't think he had enough battery left to get started the third time. I think he didn't want to force me to make a hard run and then him not be able to get started and not to be able to compete. The Barga's are class people. I don't know what happened with Diekman, maybe too hot still? I really understand their concern for hurting thier motors because they just can't get on the phone and order new parts for next day delivery like I can. Those engines are WWII vintage and when they are out of parts, they are out of parts. The Diekman's are also class people and I understand their decision. Naturally I am happy with the win, but I really wanted to win it the hard way, but beating them on the track. Dan Nearpass did his, usual, superb job of a sled setting and got exactally 3 in the pull off. It is unfortunate the fans didn't get to see it. I didn't get a results sheet yet, but I think 4th place was pretty far back.

OK, now the trip home. When we last visited, we discovered we didn't have an air compressor. So, we had Scott Tedder pump up our air tanks and we would see how far that got us, perhaps all the way home. Well, around Auburn, IN the ride started to get rough. We had a small 12V air compressor, but no way to connect it into the haulers air system. I tried a Wal-Mart to get fittings, but they didn't have what I needed. Across the road was a Home Depot. I knew they would have the right stuff, but didn't open until 6AM. So we parked in the let, set the alarm clock on the cell phone, and snuggled into bed. At 6AM we were browsing the plumbing department, bought the requred fittings, and 40 minutes later, the little air pump had the storage tanks full and ready to go. We stopped again on the south side of Ft Wayne to regharge, and made it the rest of the way home without a hitch. Luckily the tractor survived and this weekend will be spend pulling the head to extract the broken pieces of bolt.

Thursday, August 05, 2004

Terre Haute, IN
This pull was part of the Farm World Expo, the largest farming trade show in Indiana. A huge crowd was on hand and it was a very nice facility. The day started with most of the northern part of the state getting pounded with rain, but Terre Haute kept dry. The forcase also called for late thunderstorms as well. So they didn't start working the track until late, thinking that keeping the track closed would mitigate any rain. Well, the rain never came. So, the result was a rush job to prepare a track that just couldn't get enough water on it. The track proved decent for the Light Super Stock class, but when the modifieds rolled on the track it was a different story.

Ed Stahl was test hook and wild ride with the nose way in the air and a path from side line to side line. The decision was made to heavy the sled up a little to try to slow the tractors down and provide for a safer show. That put me in the test hook position. I tried a different spot on the track and one wheeled most of the way. I had to shut it down to stay in-bounds. Naturally, I turned the run down. Krider was next and made a better looking run, but only managed 244. Schoenemann, still on one motor, went 127. Tedder was there hoping to capitalize on good luck the night before as Cassopolis, but that wasn't the case as a blower belt broke about 150' and he only managed 210. Deane lined up and made a fantastic pass, the best of the night. He still only go out to 281. Stahl did better on this go around, but the tractor still was "active" going down the track, and finished at 267. Last up was us. We picked a new spot on the track and moved some nose weight back. It was a less than picture perfect run, but put us in 2nd at 271. The top five were Deane, us, Stahl, Krider, and Tedder.

I think with the right track preperation, this could have been and excellent pull. I hope they have us back next year and the weather helps them out.

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