As I sit down to type this month's Draggin' Thru, it's only the beginning of January and another brand-new year. By the time you read this, though, it will be March, and the '05 show season will already be underway. If all goes well, this year will be a very special show season for me in many ways. Hopefully, you'll get to see my S-10 at a few shows because we've made progress, getting it closer to completion. It's always very exciting when a long-term project begins to come together and the end is actually in sight.
The S-10 was my first mini-truck. Obviously, I went way overboard when I decided to turn my very first mini-truck into something that no one has ever seen before. Last night, I had Chinese food for dinner, and when I cracked open my fortune cookie, it read, "A great pleasure in life is doing what others say you can't." Right away, I knew how true that was.
When I first began the buildup of my S-10 in 1999, you should have heard how many people said that the things I wanted to do were impossible (including many of the shops I talked to). Back then, there wasn't even a DOT-approved 22-inch tire, much less the low-profile tires they have now, including the Nitto NT 555 255/30ZR22s I'm currently running. We recently took some new measurements, and the body drop on my Dime is more than the conventional 3-1/4 inches needed for an S-10 - it's actually almost a 4-inch body drop, with 22s all the way around, making it the only S-10 to tuck a 22-inch lug nut in the front. Finally, after six years of innovative ideas, one-of-a-kind fabrication, and so much help from so many awesome people, Project It's About Damn Time (BDON22S) should make it to SEMA 2005.
That's the first reason for excitement, but there are a few other reasons why this show season will be better than ever. Last year, I felt a definite momentum building from other people working toward finishing their long-term projects in 2005 as well. I think this year is going to put all other years to shame with the caliber of rides that are rumored to be finished. This will also be the second full show season that I'm going to be spending with you. That's right - more hangin' with all of the mini-truckers I met during the '04 season, more states and shows to visit, and much much more draggin' to add many new states to the MT Road Trip Road Dot collection.
Needless to say, I'm really looking forward to this year. If everything goes as planned, not only will my S-10 finally be hitting the show circuit, but I'll be in the process of doing some things to my daily dragger to get it back on the road 3-1/2 inches closer to the ground. After the exhaustion of finishing up the year and getting the last few issues wrapped up, it feels really good to have some excitement again. I look forward to getting out there and meeting many more of you, so make sure you come up and say hey. This year, I think I'll break the 50,000 frequent-flyer-miles mark, and I might actually get a free flight to Podunk, Misery, or something. So, get off your butt and finish your ride for this season. You'll be so glad you did. L8!