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.

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.

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.

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.

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.

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.

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........

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.

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.

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.

The Dawg Days of Winter

Projects Projects Projects. Well the PRI show was a huge success. I believe we have brought 3 - 5 sponsors on board for the 09 race season. I should have their final approvals by the middle of january and will be making a press release as the details are finalized. Plus it was really awesome to meet the people that make the parts that we rely on so heavily to race. I always try to do business with folks that make their stuff here in the U.S.A and it was refreshing to talk to manufacturers that feel the same way i do.Not to mention we saw some bad ass new stuff. So here we are the week of christmas and everyone around me is focused on shopping, and baking, and family........ and all i can think about is turning on the bottom bulb the first race of the year and busting some ass. There is so much to do, that I must admit I am somewhat overwhelmed. We are progressing nicely on our new shop mule, Or maybe i should say cow. (Johnson's Camaro is actually painted like a cow. It looks like it should be in a Chic Fil A commercial. But we have the new beast of a motor fitted, motor plates, midplate, crossmember made. I have the rear end done. The cage is almost done. Im hoping by the first week in january we can actually start bolting things together. This thing is going to be a monster. 706 cubic inches of big chief big nuts chevy power on alcohol with a monster procharger hanging up front. And me behind the laptop. Does it get any sweeter? I cant wait to burn this beast in. The orange car is pretty much sitting where it was two weeks ago. Im trying to get the cow mobile well on its way to completion before i start working on the pumpkin. But I have alot to do to it as well. A complete new engine ( boy i wish i could tell you the specs on this thing, Records will fall) New headers, new anti roll bar. New wheels. and tons of little odds and ends. I am still planning on making the move to Limited Street if the sponsors come through. Yall all need to do a voodoo sponsor dance to help me out.... We will debut the new powerplant at the U.S street nationals in bradenton, Fla on January 24th. From me and everyone on the team, Yall all have a Merry Christmas and a Smokin New Year. Ill be in the shop... See yall soon.

What Off Season?

I am not well suited for boredom. This time of the year blows. I hate the off season. I am used to going nonstop 7 days a week, and with no racing in sight, i find myself with more time than i know what to do with. So the projects begin. New motor, Spare transmission, Overhauling everything. We have some big plans in the works for 2009 and it's gonna be awesome. We tore up the 8.8 rear end for the last time last sunday. I am putting in fabricated 9 inch this week with 40 spline axles and a pro mod ultra case. I am tired or breaking drivetrain parts, and those of yall that know me know that when i do something i do it right. Im gonna try to make the Darlington stock suspension race this saturday if all the parts come in, but that will be the last hoooraaa for the year. Me and Johnson have a ton of work to do to his car to get it ready for Limited street next year. Next week i'll be in Florida trying to drum up some sponsors at the annual PRI show. Hopefully with some luck ill bring home the bacon. I hope all you guys had a Happy Thanksgiving. Ill post car updates as they happen. And if any of you have any Top Fuel or Pro MODS that need to be tested in the offseason, I have motorhome, will travel.

LIGHT AT THE END OF THE TUNNEL (KINDA)

Thanks to some special favors and massive amounts of begging, We got the head welded up. Parts in, and the motor put back together. I spun her over at 5 pm friday afternoon and she purred like a kitten.Off we went to the ORSCA Wolrld Finals at Carolina Dragway. Friday night testing was rained out due to gale force winds and torrential downpours of biblical nature. Saturday we came out the box with a safe tune up. or so i thought. The track was slick, cold, and choppy. It had rained like 5 inches in three days. The track prep crew were really working to get a handle on the racing surface. It was working really well for slick tired cars. But was giving us radial tire guys a fit. I smoked the tires all three rounds qualifying. Ended up qualified 5th with a 5.52. That normally wouldnt even make the field but everyone else was spinning too. I was really frustrated. Down right pissed off even. I am used to adversity but its scary going into eliminations and u havent even made it off the starting line yet. Saturday was still fun though. It was like being a celebrity for a day. Horsepower Tv had cameras on me all day and we did tons of interviews. They mounted a camera in my car and a mic in my helmet. Im sure alot of that stuff will need to be censored after the tire smokeapalooza festival. I signed autographs and sold out of tshirts in like two hours. I really like it when the kids come up and ask questions. Its really cool to see the fire in their eyes that i had when i was little. Anyway all the hoopla was over for the day, and i was sleepless like always before eliminations. I worked on the laptop most of the night. Cooking up a new tune up. By sunrise i was fired up and raring to go. The sun came out and i realized that no matter what happened today i was still having fun. what better way to spend a weekend than racing. I love this stuff. I rallied the boys for a little pep talk before first round. I told them not to worry . I had frankenstiened a tune up that was gaurenteed to move the hot rod off the line. Man everyone in the world was their cheering us on.I launched her first round and there she went. It was like she was teasing me all day saturday. We took the win with a 5.13. Boy i was feeling jiggy then. My chest was all bowed out. We were back in the saddle. Second round I dodged the bullet. I pepped the old girl up a little. But not enough. I went a 5.04 to his 5.03. But guess what, he red lighted. now i was really pumped. dancing around like a circus monkey. Off we went to the semi's. But the sun was down and the track was cold and The guy i had to run in the Semi's (Terry Elam) had just went a 4.85. Holy freakin smokes thats fast. So not rain nor wind nor snow was going to stop me from loading in the badonkeydonk tune up in it. We staged and launched like two scud missiles out of a cannon. He had me by a car at the sixty when he shook the tires. then i shook the tires. It was a pedal fest. Boy i love me a good pedal fest. I wacked the throttle two quick times to clean the motor and then eased into it and damn if it didnt stick. i won with a 5.11. I was on top of the world now. We were off to our sixth straight final in a row. Boom yow. I was matched up against my buddy Dustin Bradford of the G Body Posse. We burned in and i was feeling good. Staged and launched and then boom. A hiroshima sized mushroom cloud went off again in my motor. He cruised by me taking the win. Congrats to those boys. They deserve it. We dropped another exhaust valve. This time it broke everything. But i always do go out with a bang. We clinched the ORSCA EZ STREET WORLD CHAMPIONSHIP. Boy it feels good to say that. Thats right. Introducing Steve Jackson And KillinTime racing. Your 2008 Orsca World Champs. I might get some shirts made. Alright ill quit bragging. Boy it has been a hell of a year. Sunday when we left the track we decided to take the rest of the winter off and get ready for next year. That lasted till about 8 am monday morning when johnson informed me that he had the motor out and was putting the spare motor in. Dayum we love this stuff. So last night, 23 hours after the catastropy we busted his motor off. We are gonna try to test sometime this week and see if it will run what my motor did. Wish us luck and we'll see everyone in Jackson this Saturday for Grudgefest.

THE SKINNY

Alright we are deep in the stinky stuff. I took the motor apart last night and its worse than what i thought. The bootleg overpriced REV (RACING ENGINE VALVE) titanium valves caused the problem. The exhaust valve broke in half under the locks. (this is the second time this has happened. ) which caused the supercharger to compressor surge whick broke the front drive off of the blower. Then things got fun as the lifter broke because the pushrod bent. The intake lifter stuck. Then the valve hit the piston and broke the entire rocker stand boss completely out of the head. Wheww that was a mouth full. So it's tuesday. I took the head this morning to the machine shop to see if it can be fixed. And fixed in a hurry. I should know by this afternoon. If it cant im not sure exactly what to do but i will figure something out.