Sunday, November 22, 2009

IT"S A WRAP

What an incredible racing season. It's hard to put into words the struggles, joy, pain, love, passion, blood, sweat and tears that made this season up. We as a team learned more in one year about this amazing sport we love than I could have ever imagined.
We went to the finals in Montgomery, Alabama two weeks ago only to lose to a mid track wheelstand. We were heartbroken for the loss, but nonetheless happy to go to the final. We clinched second in the points standings, And were preparing for a darkhorse run for the championship at the world finals in Steele, Alabama. We got there with our heads on straight and only one thing on our mind. Winning. We put the old hotrod in the number 3 qualifying spot of the absolute fastest limited street field ever. Normally a 4.62 would put you number one. It put us 3rd. There were 2 cars in the high 50's and 8 cars in the 60's. Still we felt awesome. We were only 5 hundredths off of the number one guy. I think by looking at the computer that we had a 57 or 58 in the ole girl. Couple that with my head chopping off ability in the lights and we think we had a good shot. Mother Nature had other plans. Again. It rained all night saturday night and at 9 am this morning they called the race. This is the fourth or fifth rainout this year. Even the rescheduled rainouts got rained out. What should have been a ten race season turned out to be 5. All in all it was a good year. Finishing second against the caliber of competition that we faced all year is a landmark achievement. I myself consider this a learning year. I learned for the most part that "Less is Usually More" That's a direct quote from my buddy Tim Barton. I also learned that a simple 59 cent part can humble the greatest of ego's. I had a blast this season. Made possible by God, my family, my friends and crew, and my sponsors. All of you must see something in me that I sometimes forget. My passion for this sport is overwhelming, And my dream of racing professionally will not seem to go away. For every 500 people that tell me to grow up, and that it's stupid, and that it will never happen, There are those of you out there that call and email and say that I was born to do nothing less. My crew never waivered this entire season. Not in the darkest hour did they once quit or complain. You guys are my brothers. We have travelled this country together, and the stuff we have been through and conquered are what dreams are made of. As we ride down the raod from the final race of the year, one would think that we would be ready for a break, and that a couple months off would do us good. But we can't stop talking about next year. Big Johnson is driving, me riding shotgun with a computer in my lap, and Brian is almost certainly watching sports. We have a very busy offseason ahead of us. We are making the move from limited street to Outlaw 10.5. Robert Abernathy at Abby's Performance Engines has partnered with us to make this possible. We are still seeking a title sponsor for the 2010 season and will let you know as soon as we get the details worked out. We will still run the orange car in a ton of match races and Outlaw Radial Events next year as well. I consider this as another step for me in the direction that I need to go. I will update you guys with photos of the new chassis soon. As well as details of the new engine combination and power adder. I wish you guys a very Happy Thanksgiving.

Thursday, October 29, 2009

The Good, The Bad, and the Ugly

What a week. We pulled into Bradenton Motorsports Park last thursday morning at 5 am. Me and the boys got us about 4 hours of shut eye and then unloaded the ole hotrod for a little more testing on the kawasaki motor. We made three tire shaking hits thursday not really doing anything impressive. The entire powerband on this engine is so much different than the other motor. It makes tremendous power in the bottom, lazy in the middle, and decent out the back. I decided to speed the blower up Friday morning, trying to give the kawasaki motor a little breath on the big end. I felt like we could run in the mid 4.70's in the heat but I knew that wasnt fast enough. The knew blower gears gave us one more pound of boost, which hurt and helped. It made my starting line tuneup more aggressive which could lead to massive amounts of tire spin, but it did sruce up the big end. We went a 4.72 at 164 during testing friday. We were missing something, I just couldnt find it. Then it hit me.Maybe since this motor makes power like a dirt bike, I should treat it like a dirt bike. Maybe we just needed more RPMS. So for the first round of qualifying friday night, I decided to ring the guts out of the ole girl. We left the line at 4000 rpms. I rolled into the bottom bulb and snapped the transbrake button down. The kawasaki sounded like an airplane when I turned loose. She pushed me into the seat and off we went. Now most people might think it's a bad idea to shift a big block at 8500 rpms. But shit the kawasaki loved it. We banged high gear and kept on getting up. We went through the traps in a 4.62 at 165 mph. Goodness goodness, We have a racecar. The ole Kawasaki has now been upgraded from a KX600 to and KX 1200. She just needed a little RPMS. That put us qualified number one with two rounds qualifying on saturday. Me and the boys celebrated friday night like we were rock stars. By the end of qualifying saturday, we were sitting second. Being out qualifyed by one hundreth. That also netted us a much appreciated first round bye run. First round sunday I put in a safe tune up. Bang, 4.64 at 163mph. Just like i told her. I was now feeling like we may have a car to win this race with. WRONG. Secong round during the burnout, the intercooler pump feed tube clogged with ice, allowing air inlet temperatures to reach 160 degrees. This made the kawasaki go from a kx1200 to a kx 250. We only ran a 5.00 and were promptly crushed and loaded on the trailer. What a letdown. This mistake will never happen again. We are in the process of building a water tank that should be on Star Trek, it's so advanced. Im sorry for all my sponsors, fans, and friends that made the trip down. But thank you guys so much for your support. Two companies in particular really stepped up to make the rest of our season possible. UPR Products, And MAC FAB custom wheels both really helped us out coming down the stretch. We couldnt race the remainder of our season without you guys making it possible. I will do everything in my power to make you guys proud. We have Orsca next weekend and from the looks of things, those guys will have their hands full. We need a win to keep the hopes of a Championship alive.

Wednesday, October 21, 2009

Cocked, Locked,And Ready To Rock

You will never guess what happened when we got to Virginia last weekend... RAIN. Thats like the tenth race this year we have been rained out. We did get the new motor fired though. It sounds like a cross between a weedeater and a kawasaki dirtbike. Its only 522 cubic inches and you can tell it. But it'sallthe parts we havelaying around so we will have to use it. I will screwevery ounce of power out of this thing that she can muster. We are on our way to the Outlaw Radial Tire Championship Race in Bradenton,Fla. Big Johnson has the blue goose (our motorhome) in the wind. He has one eye open and the hammer down. Brian is sleeping and doing nothing like usual. Thats only because there are no sports on tv at this time. And i have spent the last 4 hours going over every single tune up I have looking for a way to squeeze this motor like a lemon. We made a couple test hits today before we left South Carolina. The ole girl is slow. The best the kawasaki could deliver was a 4.78 @159.00mph. Which is decent but not cowboy style. The crankshaft howevert is still bolted in so I will find a way to ring out some more. This race this weekend is a really big deal to us. We are all focused like a laser beam and if it can be done, I assure you that we find a way. GPS says we should pull in at 4 45 am. We will test tomorrow evening.

Friday, October 16, 2009

Back in the Saddle (Almost)

Two wekes ago when we blew everything apart under the sun, sucked. The last two weeks have been like midevil times. We thrashed all week following rockingham, overnighting just about every internal part in the engine, Got it done in the middle of the night friday night, and then they called the ORSCA race due to race. We were really bummed out at first but in the end it would prove to be a blessing. We decided that since we had a fresh motor that we would go test for the Shakedown at Etown race this weekend. Which is a 1/4 mile race, So we went down to Valdosta, Ga last sunday to do some testing at SGMP. In the back of my head I still couldnt justify as to why the motor tore up the #6 piston last week. I mean it broke the piston in half. We had to sleeve the block and everything. But we chalked it up to a broken lifter and could find nothing else wrong. So we unloaded Sunday at SGMP and made a nice smooth lazy pass. I just wanted to get some data on the motor. Pulled it back to the pits and pulled the plugs and damn if #6cylinder wasnt torn up again. One pass and smoked the same cylinder. All tune up data looked good. The rest of the plugs were perfect. Me and the boys were really pissed. We drove home 5 hours at like 90 mph. Snatched the motor back out and apart. It was worse than I thought. Number 6 detonated so bad that it egged the cylinder and split the block. What the hell? So now were up the creek again. We are supposed to leave thursday for englishtown, nj and we have no motor. Not to be detered, we scrounged around the shop looking for used motor parts. What do ya know, there in the corner was last years ez street motor. Old faithful. She needed a little freshening, and she is way smaller than our good motor, but we figured we could piece her together. Robert at Abby's Performance Engines really helped us this week. He dropped eveything like he always does when I need him, and jumped right on it. We bored the block, got a new crank rods and pistons. Basically a new shortblock. It has been a long exhausting week, but at 3 am last night, we finished up. Well almost. Guess what. Shakedown rained out also. Im so tired of rain. All this work and favors for nothing. Once again, always the optimists, we decided to find somewhere dry to race. The pushrods just came in and we are on our way to Virginia Motorsports Park. I cant belive we are taking a brand new engine 7 hours to a race and it's never been fired, but we are. I think I found what keeps breaking the engine. We will see. I replaced almost every piece of electronics on this thing. Yall keep your fingers crossed. Sorry for the short post but I have only slept about ten hours this week am due for a little road nap.

Monday, October 5, 2009

The Sky Is Falling

Have you ever had a weekend that you wish you could just step back to friday around noon and stop, and do something completely different? Almost everything that could break this weekend, did. Me and the boys headed to Rockingham, Nc for the Holcomb Civil Wars race. We decided to use this race as a tune up race for next weekends ORSCA race. It turns out that we need way more than a tune up. We need an overhaul. I'll start you off from the beginning. Friday night we unload and pull around for first round qualifying. I smoked the tires and pedalled the car early and ran it to the 1000ft mark. It ran decent but something was wrong. Turns out we broke the torque converter. So just for good measure, we put in the spare trans and converter. First round qualifying saturday morning, all was well until we shifted into high gear and there went the new transmission. Smoked another one. We thrashed and changed transmissions again between rounds of qualifying and got her ready. On our next shot I blew the supercharger up in the water box during the burnout. So we missed that session. Next we changed blowers and pulled around for the last round qualifying for saturday. The car launched straight and hard but right past the shift it laid over like a wet noodle. It was skipping pretty bad so i shut it off. Turns out we broke a lifter and two rocker arms, and bent some pushrods. Now I am thinking that this blows and I should have just went fishing. On top of all this suckyness, My Georgia bulldogs got beat by LSU. Well we couldnt get the lifter out of the block so after about 6 hours of wamming and framming we welded a piece of all thread to it and jacked it out. So another all nighter later we had the motor put back together, and ready for action sunday morning. Now at this point i am fairly certain that all the bad luck is behind us, and that we are ready to do some racing. WRONG. Next pass out we kicked the rods out of the side of the motor. I was actually relieved that the weekend was over. I feel like we fought hard all weekend, and Chris, Brian, and Fatboy never gave up. We do have a problem though, We have an ORSCA points race this weekend coming. So who knows what we will do. I will take the motor out and apart tonight to see what left and whats usable. Hopefully we can piece something together by saturday. I have a theory on bad weekends like this one. We will call this a Steveilosophy. I believe that anytime a man has too much "FUN" or more fun than he is supposed to, that he must pay it back. I think that fun is like a line of credit at the bank. Everytime you have alot of fun, It's like taking taking out a loan against your fun account. This overexertion of fun must then be paid back through various ways. The thing I hate most in this world is losing. So therefore my pennance for paying back the Fun is a weekend like this past one. Over the past two years, Me and the boys have had a massive amount of fun. Therefore the fun must repaid, So hopefully after this week is done I will once again be square with the fun, And we will be ready to move on to more fun. So think about that next time you are preparing for some fun. Sometimes payback is hell. All in all we are in good spirits. Its refreshing to be under the gun again. Motor updates coming soon.

Monday, September 28, 2009

The Race To The Chase

Well for all of yall that live in the south, you completely sympathise with me when I say RAIN RAIN GO AWAY. I dont know of hardly a day when it hasn't rained in the last month. Between all the torrential downpours and flooding, little racing has been done. The Orange car hasnt even been started in 3 weeks. Me and all the boys are going stir crazy. Me and Chris have been busy working on a new business project, While Brian has been constantly glued to the tv, and has earned the new world record for the most sports watched ever. I mean it's sometimes ten hours a day of sports. I wake up and there he is in the chair. It's sportscenter, followed by gameday, and then more sportscenter, followed by ten thousand games, and then game highlites of the ten thousand games he's watched, followed by the game recaps of the highlites. And then..............Sportscenter. I have been working on the new transmission for the hotrod, which is almost done. If the rain ever stops long enough for me to unload the car from the trailer I will put it in. I am pretty fired up about it. Its built a from scratch unit utilizing the new 1.125 nasa 2 input shaft. So hopefully we can curb the parts breakage a tad. Me and Johnson are on our way to Nashville Tn as I write this to film a Tv show with the Orange car. And by goodness if you pull up weather.com , you will find hardly no rain in the southeast this weekend. Which means only one thing.. WE ARE GOING RACING. We cant wait. Brian is even gonna leave the living room long enough to climb in the motorhome and turn on the tv. Next weekend is ORSCA and we are using this weekend as a test session to get our minds back right. We are only two rounds out of the lead in the championship standings and are really hungry for a win. We have three races left so all the cards are on the table. Its time to put up or shut up and we have never been more ready to put some folks on the trailer. Look for more frequent updates as racing escalates this fall. This is my time of the year. October has always been my month. The air is crisp and so is our attitudes. Its down the home stretch we go, And with 6 straight weeks of racing coming up, Its going to be exciting. See yall soon.

Monday, August 24, 2009

Cooking The Bacon

We headed to Atlanta Dragway in Commerce, Ga this past weekend for Orsca. Me and the boys were really in high spirits, even though we havent been fast in two months. We have really been fighting mechanical gremlins and this weekend would prove to be no different. We unloaded and puttered down the track first pass to a nice smooth lazy 4.89. Normally if I get down the track early in the weekend, look out. Second pass i pepped the tune up a little and the sixty foot dropped almost 5 hundredths, but the car drifted right about a hundred feet and i had to abort the run. But the look in Brian and Johnsons eye was unmistakeable. They knew we were right where we needed to be. We adjusted the rear of the car just a touch to make her track straight, tied the front end down, stacked all the weight we had in the nose of the car and decided to see if we could rock the house on our last test pass. Now i dont need much talking into stuff like this. So i put a tune up together that if it didnt flip the car over, should run in the 4.60's . I burned in hard and backed through the smoke. Brian and Johnson put me dead in the groove and gave me a thumbs up as they shut the doors. Little did I know that we were about to blast into the record books. I let loose and the orange car jumped out the hole like cheetah chasing a gazelle, I passed the 330 mark with the tires still dangling, I knew I was freaking flying. I blazed past the 1/8th and rocked the scoreboards with a 4.53 at 170 mph. A new Drag Radial World record. I was so excited that I drove the car back to the trailer. I had already blown my voice out by the time the boys got there. We partied like rock stars most of the night before heading to bed feeling invincible, ahhh but as they say, all good things must end. Saturday I eased back on the reins just a little for safety, First round qualifying we went a 4.67 at 171.99 mph. Which was awesome considering the air was bad and the track was slick. We decided to sit out the second session, feeling good about our number one spot and wanting to limit parts breakage. Last session we again went for the moon. The car left harder than it ever has, and was on another shot, until I shifted to high and the car stood sraight up on the bumper. I pedalled her and eased her down. We were still sitting number 1, and feeling like we were in good shape. That was the last of those feelings. First round Sunday we had a bye run. I had an awesome sixty foot and was straight as an arrow, all was going to plan until the orange monster shifted into high gear and rung the input shaft in the transmission off. We really dodged the bullet here. I yelled at the boys on the radio to get the spare trans out the trailer. We thrashed and changed transmissions in record time. I still wasnt worried, having confidence that my tuneup was dead on. We burned in second round and I was in the zone. I tiptoed the car into the lights and flash, I was off again, Like a bullet i shot down the track,and then the worst happened again. The spare trans gave up the ghost and I lost the round. We were headed home early. As disappointed as I was, I kept telling myself that it just wasnt meant to be. The competition in Limited Street is red hot right now and we love it. We are counting the minutes till the next race. It's easy to praise your sponsors in the good times, but in times like this weekend when we went down and they all called monday morning to tell me they were still proud of us and are with us, we realize once again how fortunate we are to have the support of some great companies and individuals. We are a low budget team, and without you guys we could not race. Thanks again to Procharger, Mickey Thompson, The Supercharger Store, Upr, Grp rods, 2Keys Customs, Aiken Augusta Paving, Abby's Performance Engines, Torque Converter Services, and Stainless Works.

Sunday, August 2, 2009

From Hero to Zero, and Back Again

Sorry it's taken me so long to update my blog. I have been on vacation in mexico without the internet, or telephones, and let me tell you it was amazing. Just what i needed to get me back in the game. Anyways, back to last weekends ORSCA race. Can you imagine the absolute delight of me and my crew when ORSCA announced last month that one of it's cancelled races was rescheduled at my home track in Jackson, SC. We couldn't we believe we would be so lucky as to have all the limited guys come to us so we could lay the smack down on their ass. Well thats how I imagined it anyways. Fast forward to thursday before the race. The car had been sitting in the paint shop for almost a month, So we were testing just to kinda shake the cobb webs out of the ole girl. I was trying a new blower and a few new things with the tune up and having no luck getting down the track. The car was shaking the tires so hard it hurt my back. So saturday came and we decided the smart thing to do was put the old blower back on, and go with some safe proven tuneups for 1st round qualifying. I mean this was my home track and i have enough testing data on this surface to just about tell you what the car will run to the thousandth for every race condition you could think of. So first round I put a soft tuneup in it, It left good then pulled hard right around 30 ft, causing me to pedal three times and only running a 5.17. What the hell was up? I went over the car from front to back checking shocks and struts and found nothing. So I'm thinking, maybe the track? Maybe a drop of oil under the tires? Maybe a fluke? Second round qualifying, it left hard, went a hundred feet and smoked the tires. Now we are panicking. Both of those tuneups that i had just tried would go down a mud road. So now im thinking, maybe the tires are shot. They had very few runs on them but maybe sitting for a month had an affect? So we changed tires for last round qualifying. Desperate to get down the track for some hope at a good qualifying shot. Now had this been just a last round qualifying round I would have loaded a mid 4.90 bull crap tune in, Something to just put us in the middle of the pack. But, This wasnt just an ordinary round of qualifying. This was also the final round of eliminations for the Montgomery race. I was racing Jeff Paulk in the car killer, So I couldnt just take it easy. My balls wouldnt let me. I put a mid 4.60 tune in and we crossed our fingers and hoped for the best. The tree came down and i didnt move 2 inches before i smoked the tires. He took the win and what made it really bad is that the track was really good. I mean exceptionally good. I knew something was wrong with the car but i couldnt figure it out. We were up shit creek without a paddle. Qualified dead last. At our home track, in front of my sponsors and my friends and family. I was blindsided. It was like the civil war when all the yankees came down to watch the Battle of Bull Run, expecting an easy victory, and the south came out swinging and kick stomped that booty. Anyways i didnt sleep saturday night. I was determined to find out what was wrong with the car. I started taking things apart and found two bent control arm bolts in the rear suspension. I guess all the tire shake thursday bent them. We were however on the wrong side of the ladder. Having to run the all the heavy hitters if we were to go any rounds at all. I put a low 4.80 tune up in for 1st round eliminations and prayed alot. I had an extra long pep talk with the hot rod, explaining to her that i was sorry for bending her and that she deserved better and that it was ok to crucify me in qualifying, but this was showtime. I burned in hard figuring that if we went out first round, at least we put on a good show. We staged and off we gallopped into the sunset, straight as an arrow, and pretty quick, We won the round with a 4.80 on a 140 degree race track. It was like we won the final round already. That was the first full throttle pass we had in the car in over a month. But next round we were up against Jeff Paulk, the car killer. Again. The Orange car was looking jazzy and Big Johnson and Brian were still sore from the last nights ass crushing and looking for some get back. I pepped her up just a tad, Not wanting to overpower the super hot racetrack. We both lit the bulbs and I tore out the gate like a banshee. Winning the round with a 4.77. Now we were on track but like all good things, there is always a catch. There was all kinds of electronic noise in my run data. Meaning that something was going on in my ignition box, or Efi box. The computer was spiking all of the sensors and inputs during the run. This is bad for many reasons, First the computer was adding and taking away fuel and timing all over the place. The rpm were showing erratic which put the car into different cells on the timing map, Also it was turning on rev limiters sporatically from the MSD box. All in all we now have an inconsistent car. So i went through everything trying to find it. Nothing. I took off all the rev limiters, and tried to program a timing map that would not be so sensitive. In the third round we squeeked by only running a 4.88. But we were off to the semis, bad news was that we were running the number one qualifier. I had no idea what to do about the box malfunctions. So i went old school and turned off the fuel correction, programmed the same timing in the whole map, which is bad. Basically threw the kitchen sink at the thing. We staged and launched and I took off like a bullet. But at 100 feet it shook the tires and i had to pedal. Only running a 4.87 to his 4.77. BUT WAIT. My win light was on. He had redlit, giving me the round win. I hate to win like that, but at this point i'll take em however i can get. We were headed to the final. Who would have thought it? We were facing the master of disaster, Eric Dillard. He had just trashed my Limited Street record in the last round and was on top of his game. We burned in hard and long. I was really feeling good. The track was awesome and i had the car set on kill. We staged and i drilled the tree. Cutting a .015 light and putting up the best 60ft time we had ever had. I was an entire car length out front at the 80 foot mark, But then all things turned to poop. I smoked the tires like a funny car and he blasted by winning with a 4.67 to my 5.00. All in all it was still an amazing day. We were happy to just be racing past the first round. I wanna thank my boys for not giving up and trusting me. Brian, Big Johnson, Wingnut, and Dad worked their tales off this weekend. So you may be asking yourself, or have noticed, how we seemed to make it to alot of finals this year, but have no win yet? It's true, We have been to nine finals so far this year, and not a single win to show. I can't tell you why this is, or how. but I promise i will figure it out. We head to Atlanta, August 23-25. Its time to get the monkey off my back, and in Atlanta, The monkey gets it.

Wednesday, July 22, 2009

It's Hammer Time

Holy smokes this off time has killed me. I thought i was ready for a break but four weeks of off time is slightly excessive. The Hot Rod is out of the paint shop and she looks top notch. Van and Neil at 2Keys Customs slap laid it down. Orsca comes to Carolina Dragway this weekend and I think we are ready. Updates to follow

Monday, June 29, 2009

The Heat Is On

Down here in the south, we are in the midst of a massive heat wave that we call summer. It is routinely 95 plus degrees during the day. Thoughts this time of year often turn to beaches and tropical vacations, but not on my team. We went to the finals at the PTRA race last weekend in Mooresville.We got beat by 7 hundredths of a second in a dawg fight of a race by my buddy Flyin Brian Mcgee. But we picked up 30 points on the points leader and are still tweaking the hot rod. I am having a problem making the ponies gallop in this hot stanky air. But I think i am headed in the right direction. The orange car is in the paint shop as we speak getting a new look. We have a month off before the next Orsca race, and will be giving the orange car a break for a couple weeks. We almost have the new 68 camaro done and may test it this week. It is called the Cowmaro and you will see why when we bring it out. It will be a monster and i can't wait to lay down on the honker pedal.

Thursday, June 18, 2009

BREAKING RECORDS AND PARTS

Remember in my last post i told you guys that the orange car was gonna be a handful, Well it was. We got to Montgomery Motorsports Park at around 7 friday night ready to shake the ole girl down one time. I knew i had it flying thursday night at carolina, but was unsure if my tuneup would work at another track. Well shortly after we got there a tsunami of biblical proportions busted loose. It rained like 5 inches. So no testy testy friday night. Saturday morning Tsunami number two hit. It rained from ten am to 3 oclock. Finally around 6 we were ready for our first qualifying shot. No testing, just straight down to business. I figured if we were gonna show these boys we were serious, now was as good a time as any. I rolled through the water box and Big Johnson gave me the signal to drop the hammer, I stepped down on the honker pedal and burned in hard, rolling to the 330 in a cloud of smoke. I gave the camera guys sitting on the wall a thumbs up and backed up ready to rock the house. Brian got me dead centered in the groove, I eased into the beams. It's crazy how a sport so violent and wild as drag racing requires you to be so delicate and gentle. I mean when we stage the car it looks like i am treating that thing like a delicate flower whose petals could be easily knocked off if i am too harsh. And then half a second later, i am trying to sling the crankshaft slap out the motor for 4 seconds. Anyways, I launched hard and straight and we lit the clocks on fire with a 4.679. Thats a new Orsca Limited Street World Record. If we backed it up. Second round qualifying i became my own worst enemy and tried to run 4.20's and knocked the tires off about 200 feet out. Third round i picked up my balls and stuffed them back in my pants and screwed my head on straight and ran a 4.682. Which backed up the record and gave me a boost of confidence going into eliminations on Sunday. We had the first round bye and again i let my balls overwhelm my good judgement and smoked the tires. Once again Brian and Big Johnson calmed me back down. Second round we won with a 4.68, Third round we won with a 4.74. She was on a serious pass but about 300 feet out it broke another intake valve and backfired the blower.I wasnt sure if the motor was hurt or not. We only had about 15 mins to get ready for the semis. We thrashed and changed blowers, and just ran the rocker arm down on the broken valve tip hoping she would hang on. Evidently the backfire hurt something else because it was running like doodoo. We absolutely got lucky in the semi's when our opponent went red. The orange car would have made the pass but probably not fast enough to outrun him. I couldnt believe we were going to the finals. I found that the crank trigger gap was 150 thousandths off the wheel. I didnt know if that was causing it to run bad but we adjusted it and fired the motor in the pits and damn she sounded good again. So we towed around, ready to get down to business. I loaded in the baddest tuneup i had. If we got beat, it wasn't gonna be because we got outrun. I was strapped in the car ready with my fingers crossed when one of the two cars in front of us oiled down the whole track. Now it was midnight on Sunday and the track said it would be a hour or so before they could get it cleaned up. So me and Jeff Paulk decided to split the money and run for the points and the trophy at the next event. Kind of a bummer but we were slap worn out. We drove all through the night, getting home at 6:30 am monday morning. I stepped out of the motorhome and got in my tooltruck and worked 12 hours Monday. Which for the record absolutely blows. Anyways, its thursday and we have PTRA this weekend in Mooresville, Nc. I talked to my buddy Phil Shuler who is a Top fuel crew chief for Schumaker. We think we have the valve problem identified, we are going to put a complete top fuel valve setup in after this race and see if it hold up better. We really need to win the race this weekend to stay in points contention so you may see some crazy stuff going on.

Friday, June 12, 2009

Alabama Bound and Down

Well we are loaded up and headed west. As i type this, Big Johnson is behind the wheel with the pedal to the metal, Brian is in the back sleeping like he always is at least 12 hours a day, And i am staring at the laptop looking over tuneups and fuel maps. We tested the car at Jackson last night and boy let me tell you, She ran like a wildabeast. We only made one hit and i told the boys that that was all she needed to do this weekend. So we are all in high spirits. I cant wait to get there and rock the box tonight.If the track is good the orange car should be a handful.

Thursday, June 11, 2009

The clouds have parted

It's crazy how my mood and overall demeanor is directly affected by how my hot rod is running. My mom says i have motor oil flowing in my veins. Anyways, I tore the engine apart and i think i may have found the slowness. The valve springs were junk, along with one bent exhaust valve, (because the valve springs are junk) and the cylinder head was warped pretty good. Possibly to due the overextension of my right foot on the gas pedal. Abby's Performance got my heads fixed up yesterday with a new set of springs, a valve and a fresh surface. We slapped the motor back together last night and i will bust the ole girl off when i get home from work this afternoon. Then if all is well, I have the sneaky suspicion that we will probably head to Jackson, Sc tonight to make a couple test hits before we leave for montgomery in the morning. I cant wait.

Monday, June 8, 2009

Getting ready for ORSCA

A quick recap on last weekend. We were racing in our hometown, at our hometrack. We unloaded friday night and made two hits. Decent et and Mph for the air and temps we were running in. But i didn't feel that it would be fast enough to win. So i took the Supercharger Store Gear drive apart and changed the gear ratio inside, speeding up the blower in attempt to combat the bad air. Saturday morning, first qualifying pass we went a 4.92 @ 156. Second round i whittled on the ole girl a little and sped up slightly to a 4.91. Which put us qualified number one. But it was however a very tight field. I really leaned on the car pretty hard during each round of eliminations. In doing so i popped a head gasket in the semi's slowing to a 4.96. That still was enough to muster the round win but we were headed to the finals against Jeff Tyson. He has won the last two PTRA races and is deadly consistent. At this time i didnt know that the head gaskets were toast, i just knew we were down on power. I tried to compensation power with a big balls tune up in the finals. We both staged and i took the slight advantage off the tree, but that was the only time i was out front. I smoked the tires about ten feet out and Tyson cruised down for the win running a 4.93. Congrats to those guys, They know how to win.So we have Orsca Limited Street this weekend in Montgomery, AL. The engine is apart (again). and ill be up all night all week (again). I need a vacation.

Thursday, June 4, 2009

Summertime Stretch

Well as most of you know, thrashing is something me and the boys are pretty accustomed to. It's practically a way of life. We completely overhauled the engine the week before thae Atlanta Orsca race, only to have it rain out. So here i sit with a fresh engine and nowhere to abuse it. Sure the last three weeks have been filled with piddling here and there, We got the new nose and hood put on and did a few odds and ends, but no real excitement. I am bored out of my skull. It is a fairly widespead fact that i have the slowest golf cart in the free world. I mean we will be riding at max speed and some kid on a tricycle with training wheels will blow past us, I have even been beat by girls. So i decided on monday that enough is enough, With no thrashing to do on the car, I have turned my attention to the golf cart. The ole Ez 25 is getting a transplant. I pulled the engine apart, ported the cylinder head, decked it .065 thousandths, tuned the clutch, reworked the carb, and tweaked the exhaust. I should have it back together tomorrow and ready to test in the neighborhood. If the damn thing doesnt run when i get it back together, Its getting a Procharger. Anyways, we have Ptra this weekend at our home track in Jackson, Sc, followed by Orsca in Montgomery, AL next weekend. Then Ptra the following weekend in Union, Sc. So finally downtime is almost over and we get to do some head bashing.Also for all of you that emailed about t shirts, i should have them in two weeks or so. I ordered another 200 so we should be good. The car should go in the paint shop to get her new dress sunday if i dont blow it up saturday.

Monday, May 11, 2009

LETTING IT ALL HANG OUT

Boy what a weekend of highs and lows. We pulled into South Georgia Motorsports park just after midnight on Wednesday. We probably would have gotten there sooner if the stupid GPS hadnt sent to timbucktoo down a wrong road. First thing Thursday morning we warmed up the hot rod and towed her to staging. Let her rip with a 4.82 striaght off the trailer. We were pretty fired up to run that number after thrashing all week. I was just happy that no parts fell off. I tweaked and screwed on the ole girl a little, and the next pass she lifted up her skirt just a little more and laid down a 4.78. Two back to back passes with nothing falling off. Holy crap. Then luck turned south. After two slow 5 second passes I was bum fuzzeled. The car was all of a sudden super fat out of the hole, and I couldnt figure out why. I went over all the maps and past tune ups and was pretty lost, So i called up the Grand Pumba of boost Chris Tuten, and we put our heads together and found something in my tune up that was causing the problem. Its was so stupid of a thing that i won't even tell you, But most things generally are simple. It goes to show that no matter how smart we think we are, we never can know it all. Anyways, Next pass back in the game with a 4.82, followed by a 4.78. So we finished where we started and were fairly consistent. We were in high spirits thursday night, which in turn led me to wake up with a mild headache friday morning. We had all day to test friday, but i was pretty confident. I told Brian, and Chris that if the hot rod ran good on the first hit that we were done testing and would wait for first round qualifying. 4.78 right off the trailer. We were ready. They called us to staging at around 7 pm for first round qualifying. I was ready to go cowboy style with the tune up. I figured we had a decent base, why not go ahead and lay the wood. To my surprise the boys agreed with me. Now this is dangerous territory. Me wanting to throw caution to the wind and light the candles, and Brian and Big Johnson not fighting me. I put my Mad Scientist tune up in the ole girl and drug her to staging. Burned her in like John Force just for good measure, and staged her up. Lights came down and off i went.She was cooking when she went into high gear and never stopped. 4.65 @164 Mph. Boom that put us number one. I blew my voice out hollering at the boys over the radio. We were on cloud nine. Saturday we huddled together and talked about how we wanted to proceed. We decided to play safe and back her up a little. Second round Qualifying we went a 4.69, followed by a tire smoking in the third round. We were still number one heading into eliminations but i was pretty nervous cause of the recent tire smoke. I backed her down a little more just for good measure. We had a first round bye. I knew the instant I turned loose of the brake that I was on one hell of a pass. The orange car snapped me in the seat and never let me back out. When she shifted to high she never stopped dangling the left front tire. I buzzed the clocks with a 4.609 at 165.39 MpH, a new stock suspension world record. I am always talking shit about have the baddest stock suspension car in the world, well now we have it on paper. Talk about being on cloud nine. I walked halfway back to the trailer up the return road before Brian, and Chris scooped me up on the golf cart. Although our excitement was overwhelming, we had to get down to business. We won the second round, but only went a 5.35 due to multiple wheelstands. The next round was one of the most heartbreaking moments ever in my life. I was racing my old buddy Terry Elam. He is one of the most honest, nicest guys in drag racing and has the absolute most beautifully built stock suspension car i have ever seen. We staged and launched and off we went, side by side. We both had awesome 60 foot times. We were side by side still at halftrack. The Orange car started making it's move about 4oo feet pulling half a car, then I smoked the tires like a funny car at the traps and had to pedal. Terry took the win with a 4.71 to my losing 4.73. I was still way out of shape from smoking the tires and had to drive the shit out of it to keep it off the wall. I got it straightened out and looked up and the was Terry's car on fire. I locked the brakes up beside him and snatched open his door as he was getting out. The track put out his fire and and my heart sank when we looked at his car. Although not a total loss, its burnt pretty bad up front. He told me it will be fixed, and i am certain by his drive and determination that it will be just as beautiful as it ever was. Then in remarkable show of sportsmanship, Terry bypassed the scales, forfieting the round and allowing me to be reinstated to the next round. I didnt know whether to be happy to be in the race or devastated because my friends car was torn up. I have been in his shoes and there arent too many things in the world more sickening than tearing up your baby. I would have much rather stood behind his car and cheered him on the next round than for his car to be burnt. Anyways, My motor was hurt. When the car smoked the tires in hit the rev limiter hard must have hydrauliced a cylinder. It was had 75 percent leakdown on one cylinder and 50 percent on several others and was smoking pretty bad. We towed to wounded girl to staging for the semis, We squeeked by that round only mustering a 4.95, but we were off to the finals. I decided to get really aggressive on the good cylinders and really get after the tune up. I basically stopped caring about the motor and put her in destruction blow up mode. We were racing John Kolivas, the number two qualifier and all around nice guy. We both staged and left together and the orange car blazed down like she didnt give a damn or even need 8 cylinders, taking the win with a 4.63. But now she was hurt worse. We won the Boosted race, and as a bonus, we were to take the top two boosted cars, and the top two nitrous cars and run a four car shootout for even more cash. I had to run a nitrous car first. I left the same tune up in the hot rod, taking the win, but slowing to a 4.73. She was eating herself from the inside out, and now we had to run Kolivas again for the second time of the day. I left themotor cooking tune up in, hoping that she had just one more pass in her. It took me about 20 seconds to get her started in staging and boy did she sound raggedy. I decided to take a shot at the tree knowing I would need all the help I could get. The tree came down and i hammered it, going red by .012. But it wouldnt have mattered anyway, Kolivas went a 4.67 to my 4.95. he deserved the win and ran one hell of a pass. We got paid pretty good for winning the Boosted race and for finishing second in the shootout, Hopefully enough cheese to fix the car. Thanks to my crew and my sponsors for sticking by me through the tough times, and to Donald and Amanda Long for putting on such a bad assed race. I took the motor out and apart last night and we need some pistons, and rods. I have ordered what we need and with any luck the rods and pistons will be in on thursday. We have to leave friday for the Orsca race in Atlanta, so look forward to me burning the midnight oil. I guess I wouldnt have it any other way.

Wednesday, May 6, 2009

It's ALIVE

Well i got the new cylinder head in last night. Pulled and all nighter and a half. Got the motor put back together and back in and busted her off at 5 pm this afternoon. Boy she sounds good on 8 cylinders. I ready to kick the tires and light the fires. We are about to pull into South Georgia Motorsports Park for the Outlaw Radial race. We are a tired group but excited nonetheless. It is gonna be one hell of a race this week and i cant wait to get knee deep in the middle of it. We are testing all day tomorrow. Ill update yall tomorrow night.

Sunday, May 3, 2009

Licking my Wounds

Well so much for trophys, and records, and the competition going home early. All we did this weekend was break parts and us go home early. I mean this was one of those weekends that would have been much better spent fishing, or at the beach, or even digging ditches. Friday we loaded up and headed for mooresville, nc. I was feeling like a champion and everyone was in good spirits. We pulled into the track and as soon as we got parked a bandwagon of Hooters girls invaded our motorhome. It turns out that Big Johnson's wife had set the whole deal up for his birthday. Me and Brian and Fatboy were just glad to be there. After some of the best wings and cake on the planet , and some cool photo's, they were off. I'll have a few of the pics up this week. There ain't much to compare with an army of Hooter girls in KILLINTIME Racing tshirts. Anyways, that just about where the fun ended and hell began. First pass off the trailer friday night the old girl was on a pretty decent pass when poof. the engine shut off and i coasted the rest of the way down the track. Turns out we broke a shaft in the gear drive. With no spare I was certain that we were screwed. Now this next part can be confusing, but here goes. i called a buddy of mine (that chooses to remain anonymous for reasons u will find out later). Turns out that he had the part we needed on his race car. The problem was that his car was 5 hours away from me. And he was two hours from his car in a gentlemens establishment of questionable stature. Well i conned him into going to his shop at about 5 am saturday morning and taking his car apart. Then i enlisted the help of just about everyone i know to relay the part to North Carolina . Which got there about 30 minutes before the first round of qualifying. Well we wam bam thank you mammed the car back together in record time and pulled her to staging. Brian said he was feeling good about it, Johnson said he was'nt sure, and me and Fatboy were ready to roll some heads. I burned in and launched it. It was smooth and clean and slow as molasses in january. It only ran a 5.02. What the hell? So we dragged her back to the trailer, and I got to digging. Turns out we had two fuel injectors stopped up. After borrowing more parts from a fellow competitor, I was dancing around like i circus monkey. I just knew we had all the crap behind us. Second round qualifying, i made it about 200 feet down the track and then i heard something in the motor that sounded like a pinball machine. i shut it off and once again with a heavy heart dragged it back. We broke the tip off of an intake valve. Not to be discouraged we borrowed yet another part from another competitor, And proceded to snatch the head off for some super speedy cylinder head surgery. We got it almost apart and found a crack from the valve guide all the way to the spring seat. Well that was it. the towel was tossed in and the grill was fired up. Shit if we cant race worth a shit, then i figured we would do something that we do know how to do EAT. So now I'm back at the shop and about to pull the engine and take it all the way apart. We have to leave on Wednesday for the Outlaw Radial Championship race in Valdosta. All in all it's not looking good. Me and Brian will be burning the midnight oil all week. If any off yall see me walking around and happen to get a glimpse of the ugly monkey thats riding around on my back, then please swat him off. Cause we need some good luck this week. Updates to follow. Talk at u soon.

Tuesday, April 28, 2009

Preparing To Lay The Wood

We are off to to Mooresville, Nc this weekend for a little PTRA racing. It's the second stop on the tour and im ready to turn on some W's. Friday is Big Johnson's birthday. He said he wants a trophy for his birthday, So i put a just a tad extra in the old girl for the weekend. Look out for the competition to go home early and records to be broken.

Wednesday, April 22, 2009

STARTING OFF ON THE RIGHT FOOT!!!

As most of you know, Our official points season started last weekend at ZMAX dragway. It was the first stop on the PTRA tour, and we did pretty decent. Ill skip all the details due to time constraints, but track was absolutely the worst racing surface i have ever raced on. I'm not going to go into detail here because it is a new facility and I am sure with time they will get it figured out. Anyways we qualified number one with a 4.88 @163. Made it all the way to the finals and lost. The car smoked the tires downtrack in high gear. But we did manage to set both the E.T and MPH records. All in all it was a good weekend. I learned alot about the car and some of my competitors. I am really fired up about this weekends race in Orangeburg, Sc. It is the first race of the Orsca season and the whole team is stoked. I cant wait to see where we stack up in limited street. I get to take the reducer out of the blower and let the big dog eat. The competition will be fierce this weekend and i think we are gonna need all the help we can get.

Monday, April 13, 2009

LIGHTING THE CANDLES

Boy what a weekend. After 54 long and exspensive passes with the new motor i finally got a base tune up this weekend. We were in Jackson, Sc for their Grudgefest and 28 inch tire race. First pass off the trailer I told ole girl to go from a to b with no screwing around. I bumped in and turned loose and off we went. Just like she got tired of all the tire smoke and wheelstands and busted transmissions and oil pans and said to hell with all that. Me and Johnson have come to the conclusion that she only like to be raced on race day, and not tested. I wanna tell yall what she ran so bad but you will have to wait till next week . More on that later. Anyways we made a few adjustments throughout the day only to get quicker. We won the race by default when my opponent suffered a broken transmission in the finals. Well that should have been the end of the day, But wait. yall know we are rednecks and cant leave shit alone. This was grudgefest, and i was in a ass cutting mood. So I went looking for the biggest baddest non wheelie barred car at the track and boy did i find it. I thought them boys were gonna faint when i told them i would run them with the teeny weeny tired orange car. Well after much hackling and and haggling and pissing and moaning, we ending up running for enough to just about pay off the national deficit. We pulled into staging and i was feeling really cocky and they were too. Johnson told me to rip their head off on the tree. He said we would need it. Boy was he ever right. We burned in and i waited about twenty minutes for them to clean out all 25 stages of nos they had on the 700 inch king sized gorrilla tarantula motor. They finally purged 3 bottles off and pulled into the beams. I pulled right in on top of them. Cocked the hammer on ole Lucille, and went to mat. That magical flash of three amber bulbs lit the night sky as we both turned loose. Now anybody that has every ran a grudge race for big cheddar knows that feeling you get when you turn loose. No matter what is going on in the world. Nothing matters and nothing can break your desperate concentration to get to the other end first. Off we went. Our lights were almost identical but them having all that motor and NOS pulled a sixty foot like a pro mod. There is no more sickening feeling in the world than watching someone drive off from you when you have your foot in the floor and there's nothing you can do. Then pulled me a car and some change by the 330ft mark. I was feeling like all was lost and that a second mortgage on my house was inevitable. And then the pulling stopped. Lucille reared here ugly nasty head and it was like being shot out of a cannon when the old girl went to high gear. I think i felt the earth spin the other way for just a split second. I was charging hard but was running out of track fast. It was gonna be a photo finish , I dumped the chute at the mph cone and as the chute blossomed, that Big Bright Glowing W came on loud and clear in my lane. It was the second drive by murder of the year. All the NOS in the world cant keep you out front when The ole Procharger gets wound up. Two weeks in Orangeburg yall will find out what it's all about. So with full pockets and a smile on our faces we headed home. The track gave me one of those huge checks thats like 5 feet long which is the coolest thing ever. We have one more match race this thursday and then it's time to hunker down this weekend at the PTRA Season opener in ZMAX. Those boys better bring their A game cause im feeling froggy. Wish us luck.

Tuesday, March 31, 2009

One for The Money

Well as most of you guys know, The first ORSCA race of the year was cancelled due to weather. And while i am not one to tell mother nature her business, I sure was read to get the hanky panky on. On the race track that is. We tested at rockingham two weeks ago at the Holcomb Civil Wars race and did decent. Although i still dont have the new combo completely figured out, i did see some bad ass mile per hour and some super fast back half numbers. this all adds up to the fact that the power is there. It's just up to me to make the best of it. So now we have a couple weeks off before the PTRA season opener at ZMAX, followed by the ORSCA Re opener at Orangeburg. So what do we do with all this idle time, We are gonna roll some heads. We have a locked match race this weekend, in Macon, Ga. which should be a damn good race for some pretty decent cash. And then next weekend is Carolina Dragways Grudgefest. Which we fully intend on finding some poor lost soul to tango with. While i love class racing, I also have to respect my roots, which is hardcore nasty bad assed stanky grudge racing. The fans love it, I love it, and most of the time the guy in the other lane hates it. LOL It will be a fun light hearted couple of weekends before we get back down to business. With any luck we should have the car in the paint shop in the next couple weeks. I cant wait to see what Neil and Van are cooking up for the 09 paint scheme. See you guys at the races.

Sunday, March 15, 2009

The Calm Before The Storm.

First, Let me start off by thanking those of you that were instrumental in getting the car back going after i bent her up. Big Johnson as always was first on the scene when the work started and the last one home after it was done. Chris bell, Brian, Fatboy, Brian Canada, Mike Kandefer, Dennis, Jeff Miles, and Cheri. Im sure there are others that im forgetting, You guys inspire me. Another huge thanks goes out to Jeremy at UPR racing products. (UPRproducts.com) He supplied the complete new mustang suspension after the crash and let me tell you, it works. I was amazed how the car handles and drives. The 1.18 sixty foots on 28 inch tires and stock suspension are unbelievable. Not to mention that at 160 miles per hour the ole girl drives straight as an arrow. Bottom line is this. Anytime you can spend your money with a company who creates a superior product(made in the usa) and that has the customer support to stand behind that product, it's a win win.
The opening week of the racing season is at last upon us. Finally. We got the car back going last week and went to Darlington to run their stock suspension race. We did pretty well making it to the semis. I got a few more bugs worked out of the car. The engine is really making big power.. and im not talking about like it feels peppy or it i think it'll run. Im talking about neck snapping nuts out power. I wish i could tell you guys some E.T's but i have a few heads to thump off in the grudge world first. Yall will all get a taste of what we're working with this weekend in Rockingham. We head there for their civil wars outlaw race on friday. While this is not a points race for us. I am using this as a "tune up" race. The following weekend is our season points opener for Orsca.So this weekend will show us where we stack up against the rest of the field. I am counting the minutes till we all pile in the blue goose and head east. Nothing makes me tick like heading out of town for a race. We are going to test thursday night in carolina. Ill let ou guys know how she runs. I hope to see alot of you this weekend. it's supposed to be sunny and 75.

Monday, March 2, 2009

Heading to Wall Mart

In the back of every racer's head whether he admit's it or not, is always the fear, or at least the thought of crashing. That moment where a controlled chaos becomes an uncontrolled nightmare, Where you go from driving, to simply being a passenger. Yesterday i got a glimpse of that. All you that know me know that i am not scared of anything. I define the word fearless in and out of the race car. And at times, it bites me in the ass. I'll start from the beginning. The new engine has been together almost two weeks now and has proven to be quite the challenge to tame. In redneck words. This thing is a beast. As of last friday, I had yet to make a full throttle pass. There seemed to be no amount of power or adjustment that i could take out or put in that seemed to work. The car was extremely violent and bad mannered altogether. So we changed torque converters. Now let me tell you, this thing is tight. And it seemed to really load the engine. Which is what i was looking for. So friday night i decided that since it was raining in most of the entire southeast and most of the country, that i would just simply drive where the sun was. Well it happened to be sunny and 85 degrees in orlando, fla on saturday. So at 6 am saturday morning, I woke up and decided that i was gonna race if i had to drive 500 miles to do it. My buddy Wes said he would go so i tore out at a high rate of speed and headed south. I picked him up in Jacksonville fla and we made it to the track just in time to miss first round of qualifying for the Battle of The Brands Outlaw Radial class. We unloaded and I put the laziest tune up i had in and second round qualifying we finally made a full throttle pass. It was slow but i was happy. Last round i pepped it up a little and picked up 4 tenths. That put us 3rd. And all was well. Sunday morning the weather absolutely went to shit. It rained for two hours, then got cold as balls. The track cut all the classes back from quarter mile to 8th mile. For safety, The wind was blowing 30 miles per hour. Well first round I burned in and staged the old girl for the first round of competition of the year. After Lopping the other guys head clean off on the tree we both proceeded to smoke the tires and pedal. I was sideways going thru the traps taking the win by two hundredths of a second on a holeshot. Boy i was fired up. I knew the track was marginal but man it got loose quick. So the next round i took out all the power i could. i used the same super lazy tune up from second round quailfying. I knew that if i just went a to b then i had a good shot at winning the race. I staged and once again in steve jackson fashion cut the tree down with a chainsaw. The car launched hard and straight. The old girl was on a rail. then the shit hit the fan. About 400 feet out the car shook the tires. The guy i was running also had problems earlier on. I pedalled the car, straightened her out and the wacked the throttle. Up Up Up and away we went. It stood straight up at roughly 140 mph. I lifted and when the car came down it was pointed straight at the center line and straight at the other guy. In the blink of an eye i made an instinct decision.I snatched the wheel straight toward the wall and smacked the throttle to spin the tires and stuck it straight nose first into the wall. It was either lose one car or both. I decided in that split second to keep my car out of his lane no matter the cost. The car rebounded off the wall and again went toward the center and again i snatched it straight into the wall. It spun around about three times hitting the wall each time. I really took a shot. Talk about sore today. I can hardly move. The car appeared to be totalled out. But i never crossed the center line and didnt hit the wall till after the 8th, and won the round. What a shitty way to turn the W on. I was disqualified because i couldnt cross the scales because the car wouldnt roll. I loaded up my junk and my pride and headed north. Driving all night and getting home at 5 am this morning. I was certain that the car totalled and my season was over. The first ORSCA race is three weeks away. Then like they always do, my boys came to the rescue. My crews endless devotion to my dream amazes me constantly. you can always tell who your friends are when the shit hits the fan. We win and lose together in everything we do. And not just in racing but in life as well. I woke up at 8 am to the sound of a beating and banging in the shop. I walked out and there was Big Johnson and Chris Bell disassembling the whole car. I didnt even ask them to. The just showed up. I hobbled off to work. By 10 am the car was completely stripped. Neil and Van at the paint shop said the would do whatever it took to get us going. Brian (stickman) Canada donated a parts car at no charge . The car is now on the frame rack. I will know by the morning if it can be fixed or not. We have three weeks to get this thing or something running before the first race. So its time to do what we do and get busy. Updates will follow. In other awesome news, We picked up a new sponsor this weekend. I will make the announcement later in the week.

Wednesday, February 4, 2009

Getting it in Gear

I am very excited and pleased to announce that The Supercharger Store has come onboard as a sponsor for the 2009 race season. I have heavily relied and depended on their gear drive time and time again on my road to the 2008 championship. Going fast and having durabilty don't always go hand in hand. We drag racers generally abuse our performance parts to the brink of failure. I am no exception. The SuperCharger Store gear drive has withstood the punishment and abuse of drag racing time and time again. We raced the orange car in excess of 300 passes last year. You heard that right. 300 runs. Not many parts could or will ever stand that kind of abuse. Our gear drive performed perfectly will little to no maintenence. As a matter of fact, I am about to change the oil in it and bolt it back on the engine for another full season. Not only does the unit provide durabilty and absolutely look bad ass, but the most important thing is performance. We all know that losing friction is gaining power. There is not a more efficient and consistent way to drive your Procharger than with a Supercharger Store Gear drive. Not only do we have the best product on the market, but we have the best service too. Terry and Bob are always just a phone call away. How nice is it to pick up the phone and actually talk to the people that designed and built your product. Couple flawless performance, durabilty, and the best service around, and you aren't making a purchase, you are making an investment. Terry and Bob, thank you guys so much for putting your faith in me to represent your product. Together we are gonna be a handful........

Friday, January 30, 2009

Action Heating Up

Boy the time is almost at hand.... The days here down south are sometimes warm enough to make me think race season is close. Our first race is only 3 weeks away. I cant wait. Im like a bull in a china shop. I am ready to smell some tire smoke. Last night i bolted the new cylinder heads on the new engine. Even if this beast does run worth a toot, it still looks bad ass. Me and the whole race team got a huge shot in the arm this week, as the announcement of two new sponsors came in. We would like to thank and welcome Procharger/ATI onboard as an official sponsor for the 2009 race season. Thanks to all the people that helped me put this deal together. Procharger powered us to the world championship in 2008 and I cant think of a better way to usher in the new year than with a big honking new blower strapped up front. Also We would like to welcome, and are thrilled to represent Mickey Thompson racing tires for 2009. I have never even ran another tire besides Mickey Thompson. Mickey Thompson supports its racers in almost every level of competition, and i look forward to putting their tire back in the winners circle this year. Well I have alot done to the car, and alot still to do in the next 3 weeks. The car itself is pretty much ready. The engine is not. I still have to get the intake done. I am adding another set of fuel injectors to try a satisfy the fuel demands of the new combo. She is gonna be awfully thirsty around 8000 rpm. I have a new control unit for the efi coming, along with a new fuel system. I'm headed north as we speak to do a little snow skiing with the boys this weekend. This will be last time for the next ten months that racing wont be center of my focus. And while i am looking forward to the R and R, my thoughts keep wandering back to season at hand. We are once again underdogs in a new class. But i wouldnt have it any other way. When you start at the bottom, all you can do is look up. I have a few tricks up my sleeve for these boys this year. With a little luck, I should be putting the engine in the car this coming week. I'll keep yall updated as progress occurs.

Sunday, January 25, 2009

The Season Before Us.

The long hours in the shop day after day are starting to pay off. I have updated almost every component on the orange car. Including a new rear end, anti roll bar, new seats. all new wiring, carpet, dash, new brakes, and most exciting of all is this new hog leg top secret powerplant ive been working on all winter. I wanna tell you about it soooo bad but ill keep my trap shut until it actually runs. I finished the shortblock today. The heads should be in and done by the weekend. On my racing partner Johnson's new 68 camaro ( its not new but with the thrashing it has seen in the last 3 months it might as well be new) we have totally rebuilt the car from top to bottom. This is the car to watch in 2009. Ill spare you the details but i will say this. Its Big. Its Bad. And it is going to slap haul ass. I cant wait to mat the throttle on that gigantanormous motor. We will be fielding a two car Limited Street team for 09. along with several grudge races. All thats left on his car is wiring, fuel system and a couple odds and ends. Look for it to be running in about 3 weeks also. On a good note. I would like to welcome MICKEY THOMPSON onboard as a sponsor for the 2009 season. We have always used and relied on Mickey Thompson tires to get the job done. These tires piloted us to a championship in 2008 and im tickled to death to have them believe in me and stand beside us in 2009. No one will work harder to achieve another championship than i will this year. I live and breath this stuff. So here is whats on my plate right now. the car is leaving for the paint shop in the morning. Neil and Van at 2 Keys Customs are going to do a little touch up as well as make some custom new door panels. I will be working on the new bohemoth engine all this week. I have roughly two weeks to get the whole car put together for testing. We are scheduled to race at the Fat Tuesday Race in Hattiesurg, Ms on feb 21-24. So ill be updating you as progress continues.

Sunday, January 11, 2009

TICK TOCK...TICK TOCK

Not only am i stuck in the doldrums of the winter off season. But to makes things worse it has been unusaully warm down south. We have routinely had days in the 70's. which makes me wanna race even more. Any of you that know me know that i dont function well without a car to drive. Like a fish out of water so to speak. I am knee deep in the Orange car overhaul. What started out as a few winter improvements has lead to some major changes. Right now the car is a bare unibody and a roll cage. Everything is getting updated from the front to the rear. New engine, blower, wiring, interior, carpet, rear end. etc. etc. I have full intentions of giving whoever is in the other lane this year a fit. We are Making the move from ORSCA EZ Street to Limited Street. Some say this is a foolish move. And i agree that we are stepping off into the deep end. Where chassis's routinely cost in excess of what i have invested in my whole car. but i guess i'll just have to try to make up for that with a little good tuning and alot of good driving. On a brighter note, I will have the new release of this years sponsors up in about a week. We were planning on making the US Street nationals in Bradenton Fl on Jan 24 but my new pistons came in wrong and I am still waiting on exhaust valves. So we are shooting to be testing by the second week in february.I cant wait to feel the new motor pull in high gear. Updates and new motor pics coming soon.