This olelongrooffan Loves thejeepjunkie

So this morning this olelongrooffan rolled out of my California King bed in the enormous master suite here at the Taj Mahal and prepared to head down to Daytona Beach to watch Delana and Kevin Harvick, Kenny Wallace and others play a friendly game of volleyball.

But before doing that, I popped online to check out potential opportunities for suitable employment for this olelongrooffan. I found one that looked pretty promising and, although a temp job, I completed an online application and then headed on down to the beach.

As a result of those actions, I missed out on the game but did get to catch those celebrities standing under a sun shade, similar to the ones thejeepjunkie owns. In the above image, that is Delana "I wear the firesuit in this family" Harvick partially seen behind the dude in the khaki shorts while Kevin is interviewed by a TV crew on the right.
I also got an image of Kenny Wallace during an autograph session.

This olelongrooffan then turned and headed out to Kevin's Nationwide Series showcar parked between that sun shade and the surf. Another race car on the beach but not nearly as cool as these.
Kevin and the TV crew were out there also.
While this may have been a show car, those wheels have obviously had a few lug nuts installed and removed as evidenced by the lack of paint surrounding them.
Now, I have this to say about that. While I am not in charge of Rheem's marketing department but it seems to this olelongrooffan that a sponsorship based on pool and spa heaters is a very focused one and I guess they believe a bunch of Nationwide fans have pools or spas that need to be heated!
Yeah, I'll stick to the purchasing department.

So, this olelongrooffan's fancy smancy twenty-four dollar ebay cell phone vibrates in my pocket. It is thejeepjunkie.

"Whatcha doing longroof?"

"Just hanging at the beach with Delana Harvick."

Well Counters that just cracked him up.

"What are you doing jeepjunkie?"

"Just calling you to tell you to head over to that NASCAR transporter just north of the track."
"What for jeepjunkie?"

"You do remember that you have to pick up your track credentials in person, don't you?"

"Hot D*mn jeepjunkie. See you in a bit."

So this olelongrooffan gets in my oleragtop and heads over to that transporter. The sweet young lady behind the counter in that rig was very pleasant and kindly issued this olelongrooffan the following:
Now, I am pretty confident I don't need to tell those of you Counting Along With Me out there that this is an excellent pass and know this olelongrooffan will be all over the Daytona International Speedway the next three days. Everywhere except, as noted at the bottom of that credential, the grandstands. No, I don't think I will be disappointed.

And this, among many others, is one of the reasons this olelongrooffan loves thejeepjunkie.

And don't worry Counters, I will

Celebrate Life.

Dale Jr.'s Party

So, this weekend the Greater Daytona Beach area is host to the NASCAR Series in the form of the Nationwide Series Subway Jalopeno 250, the Brumos 250 (actually a Grand Am Series Race) and the Coke Zero 400.

Well, there are numerous events scheduled this weekend and one of them is the National Guard Tribute with Dale Earnhardt, Jr. at the historic bandshell down in Daytona Beach proper.

As this olelongrooffan is always trying to expose you Counters out there, hey kashgar! get your mind out of the gutter, to the NASCAR lifestyle hands on, I thought this Wednesday evening I would head on down to see what could be seen.

I parked the oleragtop on the beach just north of the bandshell, much like this olelongrooffan had done here, and headed south to the event.

Once I had shaken that Atlantic Coast sand from my sandals, I ambled on down the boardwalk, well actually it was a paver brick walk, and stumbled upon this "Government Motors" (okay, no further comment) rig.

Complete with US Government issued license plates.
At first, this olelongrooffan thought the National Guard was responsible for the transport of Lil E's show car
but then I remembered the Guard was putting on an exhibition or two at this event also.
Of course, the next hauler to come into sight was the one responsible for transporting that Hendricks owned show car from place to place.
Man, this olelongrooffan has to figure out a way to get that gig.
And Hendricks is sure proud of their association with the National Guard.
So I stepped around the front of Jr's show car hauler into a sea of humanity.

If you followed that link about where this olelongrooffan had parked, you will notice that area where all those Transporters were parked

Well, this evening it was packed with tons of people, both literally and figuratively. I mean to tell you, in typical NASCAR fashion, there were very few adults who were less than a biscuit shy of 2fidy, most of the kids were just plain ole pudgy and the remainder were covered in permanently engraved ink. Sorry about that Grandma.

But, I have to say this, nearly everyone of those fans were holding a refreshment beverage or retail bag from one of retail outlets originating in the Ocean Walk Shoppes, the host of this event.
Now, I have this to say about that. Any event that generates tourist derived dollars in this part of Daytona Beach, or any host town of any event, is appreciated by the, predomonitely, locally owned vendors and this olelongrooffan was glad to see it. Of course, I was also happy to see the el cheapo bottle of water, derived from my local Belaire Plaza based Publix, a Florida based employee owned grocery store, in the pocket of my pseudo bush jeans shorts.

So, here this olelongrooffan is standing in the courtyard of this historic bandshell, just a few hundred feet from the shores of the Atlantic Ocean and it's always generous onshore breezes and I am sweating my *ss off. Trying to get some images for My Fellow Counters but unsuccessful, mostly due to the obtrusive wind blocking NASCAR fans standing eastward this scrawny ole man.

Now, even though the prodigy of the Man Who Made Alegedly made NASCAR (and I may not regularly disagree) was getting ready to come on stage to replace that local rock band, this olelongrooffan had to step away and head to the beach for a bit of fresh air and to, generally try to cool off a bit.

Well, while I was out on that Atlantic beach, Dale, Jr. came on stage to the delight of those enthusiatic fans and I was happy for them.

After all, I was closer to him earlier this year and he felt no need to perform for me, just to be himself with his compatriates in his chosen profession.

And, after he exited and the crowds had thinned, I was able to get some, almost, unencumbered shots of the
new decal paint scheme of the number 88, and Honorably National Guard sponsored
Hendrick's Motorsports entry into the Coke Zero 400 Chevrolet Impala.

Complete with front spliters
and rear spoiler.
As I was getting ready to head back to the oleragtop on the beach, before it was impounded, I thought I would get a few shots of the historic bandshell

and an entrance to the grounds from the beach.
Oh yeah, tomorrow, it is volleyball on the beach with Delana Harvick, who wears the pants in the family, her husband Kevin, Kenny Wallace, Matt Yokum and many others.

And just know, Counters, this olelongrooffan is just plain *ss happy to find this stuff and continue, along with you, to

Celebrate Life.

Happy Birthday

and not just to TheGoodAttorney, although on this date in 1963 he was brought into this world. That's right Counters, the same year as my olestationbus!

But no Counters, this blog is about another birthday, one that occurred on June 29, 1956. Because, TheGoodAttorney, thejeepjunkie and this olelongrooffan just aren't into celebrating our birthdays these days, after all, we Celebrate Life every day and you should too.

Now, I am sure you Counters are wondering whose birthday we celebrate this warm, at least for this olelongrooffan, Chamber of Commerce kind of day?

If you Counters out there remember, this olelongrooffan takes pride in the fact that I am able to traverse the countryside and seldom have the need to travel on the Eisenhour Highway System.

I have blogged about it many, many times.

Well, Counters, today is the birthday of the signing of the Federal-Aid Highway Act on June 29, 1956.

Yeah, this olelongrooffan is confident this has absolutely no significance in your life but I happen to find it quite interesting. H*ll, even my friends at Happy Hour here at the Taj Mahal thought it was quite fun.

Now, even though this olelongrooffan doesn't traverse that Interstate Highway system as much as everyone else out there seems too....

I am appreciative of what the creation of this highway system has brought to our society and our automotive society....

I mean, if there was never a Federal-Aid Highway Act, would we ever see advertisements such as this

or this classic double page print ad such as this one classic in Life magazine
And although this creation was long before the passage of this act, it's creation was certainly done during the FDR reign and he was an early proponent of the National Transportation Network.
And, certainly, this bridge would never have been proposed without the represented Highway Administration Act
Yeah, this is a bridge over the Hoover Dam, which in itself was an engineering marvel.
I mean, check this out.
Imagine some dude, or dudette, sitting in an office and designing this in the abstract...
then having construction workers, following a detailed set of plans, actually constructing this
in the field at just a few hundred feet above the surface of Lake Meade?
And bringing it all to fruition on yet another span of the Interstate Highway System.
Just awesome, I must say.

So we have that Civil Engineering marvel.

But, as previously mentioned, what about the service vehicles?

This huge *ssed tow truck would never have been engineered if those International trucks in that ad had never been concieved.
Nor would have this one!
But this olelongrooffan has this to say about that.

If it wasn't for the Eisenhower Highway System, I would never have seen the World's Smallest Bicycle, placed on the rear of this minivan, probably carrying a group of dwarf clowns to the Circus down in Southwest Florida.
But, then again, if this olelongrooffan stayed on that Highway System I would d*mn sure never have seen this billboard
out there in Never, Never Land that most don't seem to have the pleasure of getting around to in this world we live in.

And, because of this, this olelongrooffan gets to, really,

wish the TheGoodAttorney and the Federal-Aid Highway Act a Happy Birthday and to

Celebrate Life.

Some People Will Do Anything To Get Into A Golf Tournament

I'm thinking of you Horsefarmer.



You can get the whole story here.

And unlike this Hoon, tonite I will still be able to

Celebrate Life.

"Sad"

This olelongrooffan has absolutely no idea why the hosting site of By The Numbers has decided to add the tag "sad" to every post I did between mid September, 2009 and June 17, 2010.

It is another mystery this olelongrooffan looks forward to solving.

No worries though, this olelongrooffan, although "sad" is proliferating this blog, still knows how to

Celebrate Life.

It's A Doodlebug!

Those of you Counting Along With This olelongrooffan will remember while I was down at the Rods On The Hill 2010 last weekend, while looking at that old Firebird, I spotted something I had never seen before.
Now, I'm sure there are some of you out there who might believe you know what the vehicle in the above image is. I knew I had no idea what it is and contacted Daniel Strohl over at Hemmings for his input. It was necessary.

Way back in the 1940's, long before robots, computers, cell phones and the like were around, my Good Ole USA was involved in this thing called World War II. At the time, rationing was the rule of the day and there was rationing of dang near everything including rubber, gas, nylons and, surprisingly, tractors.

Ever seen a 1942-45 US produced civilian automobile? It is highly unlikely as production ceased on all non military related vehicles in early 1942 to make way for the construction of "War Effort Vehicles" including planes, ships, trucks, Jeeps and more. All of Detroit's production facilities were converted to the war effort.

So, those ingenious farmers needing replacement tractors and located all around our fair country invented what is known as a "DoodleBug". Not one was duplicated as every farmer out there had a different need and a different donor vehicle.

However, an example was spotted, for the first time by this olelongrooffan, at that show down in Holly Hill, Florida.
It is a rare sighting down here in the Southeast portion of these United States. It appears there is a strong representation in the Northeast as noted by Daniel Strohl here on a blog he did a number of years ago on Hemmings.
Apparently, a truck rear end was added to a shortened Model "A" frame and this was the setup for a period correct "DoodleBug". An interesting juxtaposition of body styles, that is for sure.
And, as Daniel pointed out, nice Mother In Law seat in the back.

It was interesting find that day and know I will never forget the DoodleBug but finding something new to me in this automotive hobby this olelongrooffan loves so much allows me to really

Celebrate Life.

Steam Whistle Pilsner

Just a quickie. For more click here.