I think that the best way I can summarize what 2020 means to me, in one simple sentence, is this: “Somehow, I managed to not start drinking again.” Holy hell, who pissed off what god? From the start, nothing about this year seemed blessed. We kicked off the year with Summernats coverage that looked like someone stuck a Snapchat filter on because of wildfire smoke and it somehow got much, much worse as the year progressed. Any and every plan that I had, that you had, that we had got put through the shredder, then taken outside, burnt into ash, and blown away into the winds. 2020 sucked, we all know it did. But that doesn’t mean that we can’t make lemonade out of one gigantic lemon. From my perspective, salvaging what was left of this year was the only appropriate option. It wasn’t normal. But it was fantastic. Here’s the rundown, in a very small nutshell, of what this year’s highlights were in my book:

11: Saying goodbye to trouble.

Two cars left BangShift Mid-West this year: the 2012 Chevrolet Cruze and Project Raven, the 1983 Imperial I’ve had for years now. The Imperial had finally ran, drove, and was just about done…but after years of fighting it, so was I. The Mopar is now in New Jersey and the new owner swears that there is a “Roadkill curse” associated with the car, especially after the 360 expired in dramatic fashion. The Cruze, as good a gas-sipper as it was (40MPG!) wound up costing us nearly it’s entire purchase price in parts and labor. Whoever designed the clutch setup in the six-speed cars can burn in Hell. And whoever designed things so that you have to hang the engine by a bar crossing the strut towers while EVERYTHING ELSE is removed from the engine bay? I hope you get the pineapple treatment where you’re going. The Cruze, at least, is a happier story: it’s new owner uses it to commute across state lines to go to school and has been happy with the car.

10: Brought Out Into The Light

After seeing the car sit inside of a shop for eight years, we finally got Haley’s uncle to drag out this 1989 Mustang LX from it’s resting place for a well-deserved restoration and repaint. The car isn’t finished yet but the paint is done and it’s the tedious stuff, like hardware and wiring fixes that he wanted to make, that are eating up the time. I would be surprised if this thing isn’t burning up roads around our neck of the woods by summertime.

9: Just call me Bob-freakin’-Villa.

2020 has been the year of restoration, all right. Shame that very few of the projects involved a car. Instead, in the spirit of the Year That Would Not End, I got treated to restoring the floor in BangShift Mid-West not once, but TWICE, once early on in the spring and once just before winter really hit. Combined, we’ve re-floored, from the beams to seams, 75% of the entire square footing of the house, thanks to black mold. Next time, we’re moving the furniture into storage and we’re letting the fire department use the place for a training house fire for new recruits. I’m still pulling out splinters.

8: The one sane purchase I made this year!

I’m not known for spending my money wisely. Pay attention to my automotive addictions and you’ll understand that quickly. But this year I put some money into a smart purchase. We’ve needed lawn equipment at BS Mid-West for years…the grass grows five inches every time it rains between March and mid-November. We’d been borrowing lawn mowers up until now, because the one I originally bought worked once before the engine fragged out. So not only did we get this John Deere zero-turn, but we bought enough equipment to maintain everything that comes with a lot of grassland. Thinking I’m driving a tank again while hacking through foot-tall wild garlic shoots is just a perk.

Wait. I was never licensed for a tank. Whoops…

7: The Dirty Cougar’s Improvement

Somehow, we never were able to kill the “Dirty Cougar” on our own by caning it around a racetrack. It earned my respect, but it wasn’t meant to be for me. My buddy Chris Conn, however, gave the forlorn Mercury a home and by the summer had brought the Mercury’s performance levels up from “okay for 1987” to legitimately good. Then, this year stepped in and some brake-checking little punk knocked the rest of the front clip off of the car. As of writing, Conn is parts-hunting to get the car put back into shape. If you’ve got good 1987-88 Thunderbird or Cougar sheet metal for the front end, hit me up at [email protected] and I’ll pass the word along!

6: My first eBay vehicle purchase!

It wasn’t my car, but when Haley’s uncle came up asking if I had an eBay account and if I’d be willing to help him buy a car, I couldn’t say no. This 1966 Ford Fairlane 390 GTA was a fun adventure to have right when the world was going straight to hell in a handbasket. It was odd to see such a bright car in such a beautiful location when all you heard everywhere was doom and gloom. The Fairlane is currently slumbering in a garage with quite a few other hot rides that he has, in good company, and I hope to see more of it this spring.

5: Rocky Mountain Highs

Obviously, by Spring we didn’t know if our normal was going to happen or not. We had no idea what races would go on, what wouldn’t happen, and what local or state governments would do in the name of keeping local populations safe in the midst of everything. But with sheer luck, not only did we get to go on Rocky Mountain Race Week this year, but we were able to go on Race Week v2.0 when they put that together moments after Hot Rod’s Drag Week 2020 got filed into the “nope!” folder. Twice this year, Haley and I got to pile into a new truck and road-trip with friends. As an added bonus, I got to see my Colorado stomping grounds for the first time in four years. I didn’t get out much this year but these two events were worth it, hands down.

4: It’s the Great Pumpkin, Charlie Brown!

Out of everything I’ve had planned this year, the way our 1980 Mustang Ghia came together was almost surreal. After the world’s longest five-lug conversion program and three different wheel/tire combinations, we got the four-eyed Fox back to daily drivable and we managed to finally haul an appropriate car down to a Ratty Muscle Cars race this year. The Mustang is currently in winter hibernation, and we’re preparing for next year’s upgrades, which include the adjustable camber plates, a new brake booster and if I have my way, an overdrive automatic. And yes, all 118 furious horses are doing a burnout here…that isn’t Photoshop.

3: Speaking of Mustangs…

Who would’ve suspected that I’d drag home a 1989 Mustang? Until I did it, even I would’ve written the idea off. But with a ton of parts laying around the shop courtesy of the Pumpkin Mustang and a spare 302 just taking up space, this was a no-brainer. Work has been slower on this one than I’d like, but progress is taking place. That 302 is in the engine bay and the water-soaked four-banger is a long-gone memory. The T-5 transmission is (FINALLY) bolted up to the engine and we’re turning our attention to firing the engine off and electrical work. I’m frothing at the mouth to get this one up and going, because there’s years of violent driving that need to happen and this is the car that will do just that.

2: The Return To The Runway

I’m not sure what part of the ECTA Firecracker Mile excited me more: the land speed racing or the fleet of Delta aircraft lining up around the perimeter of the former Blytheville Air Force Base in northeastern Arkansas.

1: Finally, a summary of the whole year…

There were a lot of good things that happened this year but there is no getting around the fact that a dumpster fire with a drip feed of Jet-A wouldn’t compare to the show that 2020 has been. Even up to the last few days, every time I’ve looked at the news feed this year it’s the same reaction. This is the year that was brought to you by the letters W, T and F. Tracks shut down, shops shut down, people lost jobs and have been enduring uncertainty all year long. Whether it’s hit you at home or you know people who have been on the wrong end of this mierda-covered stick, know we’ve been right there with you and we’ve been just as affected. All we can do at this point is to put the period on the end of the story of 2020 and move into the next year. However it needs to happen, 2021 has to be better than this. It will be better than what the last twelve months has been.