Merry Xmas

Wishing you all a merry Xmas and Happy New Year.
Congrats Angelle Sampey for getting a new ride in 2008!

Always look forward to new race season cause there are new drivers and new cars, and new drivers.

Xmas party 2008

As my wife is an employee of a major oil and gas company it is fitting that they go all out for their Xmas parties. so they do every year, with awesome layouts of the tables and centerpieces and live bands. The only thing is teh food could be a little more portion wise and with some "real" veggies instead of esparagus! See don't know if it is even pronounced right. I always say if you can't pronounce it or spell it then it can't be too good.
But as for the entertainment and the rest of the night well it was awesome. Free drinks and wine, lots of wine, (right? honey!) Anyway was a good night and just look at some of these pics of the tables!
Also notice my tie and dress shirt? Well being a city worker (shhh) and being used to less restrictive clothing the tie came off shortly after dinner. About 5 seconds I think! And the I rolled the sleeves up too. HAHA. Then it was time to dance with my wife all nite! Something we don't get to do often enough these days.

Wish I was back in california

I sure wish I was back In California! I t was so awesome down there and the 80+ temperature was amazing. But I think what I miss most is the racing itself. so many tracks down there, POmona, Bakersfield, Sonoma, ans some that used to be there that are gone now like Riverside. PLus there is Irwindale and others. I was quite surprised that there were people from all over the worls down there to watch the races. There was one couple from England even! Actually they won a prize at the NHRA membership hospitality tent on Sunday. And the the amount of people that we met who were from all over the States who travel to alot of NHRA events throughout the year. People from Boston, Seatle, Portland, Michigan. They all have seen alot of races over the years at different tracks. We have seen a fair share to (9 now) but 8 were at Seattle!. Anyway I just think it's cool that there are people doing what I want to do eventually and now that we are slowly starting to accomplish this feat, well with the wife's new job isn't hurting too much either, lol. Anyway we are looking at the possibility of Las Vegas next season and Seattle for sure cause is the site of our wedding and wil be our 10th anniversary, so I am told!
Oh and I guess the rumors we heard about Tommy Johnson Jr being fired aren't exactly true, but it sounds like he did lose the sponsor so he may not have a ride next season anyway. I guess Skoal is sponsoring Larry Dixon's T/F team in 2008.

2007 NHRA finals Pomona

Our trip to Pomona
The flight home,

As we took the same path home as did when we left with a layover in Denver we had a long day ahead of us. But it was easier after I met some people on the plane who worked for NHRA and we had some good conversations. I tried to get a little inside scoops on some driver rumors we heard about and so my conversations confirmed some of the rumors. When we got to Denver one of the NHRA ladies told me that Super Stock Winner in Pomona Dan Fletcher was up ahead of us on the plane. We met up with him in Denver airport (actually he was behind us on the people mover thingy) and I congratulated him on his 50th win in Super Stock. That win was his 50th win in the same car for each of his 50 wins. That is awesome, with the same ol 69 Camaro for all 50 wins. So I got to chat with him for a few minutes shake his hand and then we went on our own ways and caught our 2nd plane and eventually arrived home around 5 pm. But what an awesome weekend! Have to go again soon.

2007 NHRA finals Pomona

Our trip to Pomona,
Sunday Finals

Well it's getting tougher to get out of bed everyday as the weekend goes along, but it's race day dammit! I don't want to be late for th opening of the gates, as it was we were five minutes early, whew! We got in to the pits and walked around. Can't start engines til 9:30am so at 9:27 all the drivers are in the cars in their respective pits and ready to warmup the cars as elimination rounds are just a couple hours away. The crew chiefs are watching their watches caefully,........9:30 am nitro alley comes to life and turns into nitro heaven. All up and down both sides of nitro alley the teams are readying their cars for round 1 and the air is one big haze of nitro fumes being inhaled bt nitro craving fans........awesome! What a rush to hear all those engines on either side of you.
11:00 am round 1 is on and the first pair of T/F dragsters go down the track at over 300mph, what a rush! 16000+ horsepower whipping by at 4.5 seconds. No wonder my hair is going grey. I got some awesome pics til my camera batteries ran which are all on my flickr page. The wife has a backup camera as a backup hope the pics I took with that turnout. There was some major upsets in the chase to the championship and some interesting twists but in the end Jeg Coughlin won the race and the championship in pro stock, Matt HInes won both the race and championship in pro stock bikes, in Funny Car Tony Pedregon won the championship, even though he got beat early in the day giving way to Robert Hight to win the race and Tony Shumacher won the race and championship in T/F dragster.

There was an awesome tribute to Wally Parks with 36 cars doing a cacklefest and that was totally cool man! Brought tears to everyone's eyes who knows how much history was actually at the track that day sitting in front of the grandstand, as well as the history of the track, it was all there in plain view. There is so much drag racing history in southern California it is unbelievable.
After the final rounds were run in the dark there was a fireworks display that was awesome. Then we got to go down onto the track and get some cool pics.

Click on pics to enlarge
Above is some pics of me and wife standing on a piece of history! Pretty cool I think. On the way out we met up with NHRA Vice President Graham Light who helped out with our wedding in 1998 and he still remembers us which we though was cool.

All pics on my Flickr site

2007 NHRA finals in Pomona

Our trip to Pomona
Sat rounds 2&3,

Everyday it is a little harder to get the wife out of bed, but hey it's race weekend! Put some drops in your eyes and let's go get at 'er!. i love to get to the track before the traffic gets busy and I think it drives the wife nuts, but she will be fine when we get to th track. In the hotel lobby for breakfast we met some "older race fans" who got it as bad as I do! They were going to be at the track before me! We got there about 7:45 and met up with Dean, our personal transport from the parking lot to the entrance to the track. Well not really our personal transport but might as well be cause he was always there, waiting for us in his 10 seater golf cart!
Hillary Will had some big speeds upwards of 330mph and a few people didn't qualify such as Tommy Johnson Jr. We heard the next day that he may have been fired or let go from Don Prodhumme racing but we don't know for sure. Just a rumor so far. But Skoal is leaving as a sponsor for Tommy's team so maybe a driver change was in the works already. After getting burnt in the hot sun at the track (still better than the snow in Calgary anyday) we went back to the hotel and took a dip in the pool and hot tub. We met some cool people in the hot tub and one couple we met, the husband, raced drag boats. Now that is the true meaning of insane! Anyway we were talking about moving to the States and this subject of the green card keeps coming up. He said he would sponsor me and knew a paving company where I could earn $120,000 year. How many beer did he drink at the track? Anyway sounds good to me I could drive a hot rod all year round down there.
Another cool thing they did at the track was have the Budweiser Clydesdales come walking by.





All pics on my Flickr site

2007 NHRA Finals in Pomona

Our Trip to Pomona,
Thursday Round 1

Have I ever I said that I love the smell of Nitro in the morning? Well I do and after shopping at all the various vendors on the grounds we went to our seats. The last race of the year is a good one to get t-shirts and sweaters on sale as the teams are getting new sponsors and drivers and losing the ones tey have. we bought a few shirts for $10. The racing was awesome in rounds 1&2 and Kenny Bernstein ripped off a wicked run.


Fri, Round 2

At the finals in Pomona they run 1 qualifying round 1 on Thursday and one on Friday then two on Saturday. A little different from the format of most national events. So as Friday morning arrives we are up and at em at 6:00am cause I love the smell of nitro in the morning and want to get to th etrack to get a good spot near the pits for some good inhalation spots! I tell it is a cool in the morning here in SoCal but it is a hell of alot better than the snow we left back home. By 11:00 am there is no need for a jacket anymore as it is getting hot. I bought a new Kenny Bernstein T-shirt and a couple for my new racing buddy (granddaughter), I hope she likes them. John Force's cars ran pretty weak in Round 1 on Thursday but by Friday round 2 they all had it nailed down pretty good all running in the 4.81 sec range and within top 6 in order. John Force was at the side of the track to watch his cars as he used the aid of a walker. It is pretty sad to see one of the icons of the sport on the sidelines with a walker in the shape that he is in but we all know he back racing again one day hopefully sooner than later.
Another casualty of the day was my wife. After 9 NHRA events together she finally succumbed to nitro fumes as her eyes were burning pretty bad. Believe me that the fumes from nitromethane racing fuel does burn the eyes pretty good but fresh air usually cures it. But hers lasted a and didn't go away so we had to a medical attendant for help to get her eyes washed out. As she coudn't see well she missed part of round 2 funny car qualifying. Don't know what I am going to do with her, guess she still needs to be seasoned some more to get used to the fumes. Hey babe the nitro content is going back up to 90% next year! Better bring a gas mask! Actually alot of fans do bring gas masks to the pits for warmups. Anyway after a golf cart ride from the NHRA member hospitality tent to the medical trailer she finally got her eyes washed out from the medical staff. They also said that part of it could be due to some ash particles in the air from the fires in the area, others said it could be smog! Hmmm maybe, one person we met said he got hit by a piece of hot porcelain that hit him in the chest while he was sitting in the Top eliminator club. Aren't spark plugs made from porcelain? Cool! Anyway I had to take a pic of the wife at the medicaal station cause I thought it was cool. I love the smell of nitro in the morning but I guess it doesn't mix with smoke and ash.

All pics on my Flickr site

2007 NHRA Finals in Pomona

Our Trip to Pomona,
Arriving in California

After a 7 hour trip waiting in between two flights and a layover in Denver to change planes we finally arrived in Ontario, California. I think flying this way rather than flying into LAX was the way to go as everyone else told us the same thing. And was a breeze driving to the hotel from Ontario. Driving from LAX would have been a nightmare apparently and the day we left the traffic to LA was backed up to Ontario on I-10 at 5.30 am! Not to say the I-10 traffic wasn't busy but still was easier than flying to LA, and our bags weren't lost either!

Day1 NHRA museum

Today we went to the NHRA museum and let me tell ya there is so much history there that it is overwhelming. It almost comes alive when you enter it. It was kind of a solemn mood as the founder Wally Parks has recently passed on a few weeks ago and the memorial ribbon on the Wally statue says it all. But you know he will always be looking down apon us making sure the NHRA community stays true to it's form. Anyway I was still excited to see Don Prodhomme's Top Fuel dragster and Kenny Bernstein's T/F dragster as well as some older cars from years gone by. Lots of old pictures and memorabilia there to as well. The museum is situated in a beautiful setting on Fairplex Drive with palm trees all around and green grass landscapes across the road, it is truly breathtaking. Here are some pic collages.




All pics on my Flickr site

Pomona in one week

In one week we will be leaving for Pomona to watch the NHRA finals. I can't wait, and as it is going to be out holiday down in southern California I can't help think about the fires that are destroying so many peoples homes and upsetting their lives west of Pomona in San Diego and surrounding areas. My heart goes out to them and even though we are going to Pomona to have a fun fulled holiday in the back of mind I will be thinking about the losses those people have suffered.

Powered by ScribeFire.

Leave My Balls Alone! Golf Balls that is

As I had hoped I took advantage of todays awesome weather as I had a golf game booked at Fox Hollow. The weather was awesome and I had my lucky shirt and pants on today, thanks honey for sewing my button back on. As I hit my first drive on the first hole it landed 10 yards away from the green. As we walked up to the green a couple of players from the third hole came to get their errand balls, except one of them was mine! So the morrow of the story is check the ball before you play it especially if it has company logos on it like mine did it should be obvious to you it is not yours. So hands off you ignorant wannabe golfers who can't find their own balls so play the first one they see, which is what they did.

Powered by ScribeFire.

A Tale of Two Racing Legends

The comparisons between Dale Earnhardt and John Force are almost the same in that they both ave impacted their respected racing organizations they have participated in. Nascar and the NHRA. Both drivers started with nothing in the way of money and cars and financing but still raced for the fun of it, til they finally got noticed and landed big money deals. Through the years both were instrumental in creating safety improvements thru their respective organizations via various accidents and resulting research that follows. Although Dale Earnhardt is no longer with us due to his fatal accident at daytona a few years ago many safety improvements followed aftwards. (see my tribute here). Although it is sad that he is no longer with us his legacy lives on with the fans and me as well as I still have and buy Dale Earnhardt memorabilia. And recently John Force's accident in Dallas has instituted new safety upgrades on his team cars but you can bet that NHRA will institute them into other teamcars as well as in the past. After Eric Medlen's untimely passing earlier this year John Force racing added some safety improvements to their cars as well especially in the headres area for the driver.
Both drivers also have their kids following their footsteps as Dale Earnhardt Jr. has had great success in NASCAR and is just as popular as his father ever was and John Forces daughters all are rcing in NHRA competition with Ashley running Funny Cars. Their kids having the fathers that they do are just as popular as their fathers just look at Ashley forces pits and see the big crowds hanging around there.
And finally both drivers and their kids never forgot who they are or where they came from as they are all fan favorites and cater to the blue collar crowds as they can relate to them as John and Dale both came from Blue collar environments themselves. That is waht makes them so popular. Even after Dale's passing years later how many #3 stickers do you see on the back windows of cars? I know I have one! There are lots of them. And when you see John Force go down the track and blow up,catch on fire destroy a multi dollar car and lose the race and when he comes back down the return road and jump out of his chase vehicle to greet the fans with his crew taking a trashed race car back to the pits, well that is as classy as it gets!

Powered by ScribeFire.

NLL and Patrick Carpentier

well it seems as though that the powers that be in the NLL, (National Lacrosse League) have decided to scrap the 2008 season. It seems as if the player's union wouldn't let the players vote on the new deal. For such a new league and exciting one at that, it is a shame that the two sides can't agree on a contract. I hope this doesn't compromise the future of the NLL.

Patrick Carpentier:

George Gillett who owns the Montreal Canadiens, and has bought into Ray Evernham's Nascar team to form Gillett Evernham motorsports has hired Patrick Carpentier to race in the Nextel and Busch series next season. And his number will be 10. Guy Lafleur' old number. He was preented with a jersey at the Montreal/Florida game last night and the numbers even have the evernham design on it. I think this would be a good present for me for Xmas. eh honey!

Running and the Habs

Well it seems as if the wife really wants me to run with her, so I gave up the Habs to go runinng with my wife's group. All I can say is I need a beer! Anyway as I got back and the game was still on, 1-0 HAbs. So I watched the last final minutes and then they called a penalty on Montreal with two minutes to go. Florida pulled their goalie and eventually scored on the 6 on 4 power play. The game ended up going to a shootout (the stupidist the NHL has ever done) and Florida won..........thats sucks!

Another thing that sucks is that the NLL (National Lacrosse league) hasn't come up on an agreement with the players union so the 2008 season is canceled. I tell you its going to be a long winter, no racing and no Lacrosse as hockey is too expensive to see live anymore, and good luck finding tickets for games anymore.

Powered by ScribeFire.

Wally Parks 1913-2007

Truly a sad day in NHRA history and racing history as th efounder of the NHRA has passed on. It was his vision to get street racing off the streets and onto a controlled and safe environment on race tracks with safety crews and rules and regulations that has turned the NHRA into what it is today. The following is from the NHRA website:

NHRA founder Wally Parks, 1913-2007;
patriarch of drag racing dies at age 94
Wally Parks, the driving force behind the formation of NHRA, has died at the age of 94. It was Parks’ vision, goals and unconditional commitment to the need for speed and side-by-side racing in a safer, more controlled environment that created what is today the world's largest motorsports governing body.

"Today is a sad day in the world of NHRA and the sport of drag racing," said Tom Compton, president of NHRA. "Words simply can't describe the immeasurable impact Wally has had on the sport he created and the millions of people's lives he touched along the way. The name Wally Parks is synonymous with drag racing, and his vision and direction will guide NHRA for years to come. Everyone in drag racing, and the industries formed to service the sport, will forever be indebted to Wally, his vision, his focus and his desire to create, build and grow NHRA."

John Force wants to race in two weeks!

John Force and as other racers in various sports wants to race in Richmond in two weeks! He hasn't even been released from hospital yet, but the will to win and race is still there as per other racers. I hope he does make a speedy recovery but realistically he probably won,t be driving a race car til next season. But woudn't it be a miracle if he could drive in the NHRA finals in Pomona! Cause we have tickets for that race now. Anyway as for his personal health it would be a good idea to stay away from the rest of the season to rehabilitate and learn how to walk again.
It was a good decision by Ashley not to run her race in the next round due to the nature of the accident involving her dad and also the fact that her dad's car got pulled apart when the chutes came out and Ashley runs the same type of car and chassis, what if it was weak in a certain area as well? I'm sure John Force Racing has and is dissecting the car to see what went wrong along with the Ford racing engineers and NHRA . You can bet one thing, NHRA will come out with new rules and safety improvements from this which hopefully protect future accidents of this nature. It was pretty scary that the car ripped aprt right in front of John's legs!

There is an interview here with John Force and Ashley Force:Interview

Pomona here we come

The place that the NHRA started is going to be the place for the first ever Countdown to the championship playoff format to decide the winners in each pro category. And we are going to watch, yes we bought tix for the Autoclub of Southern California NHRA finals in Pomona. Woohoo can't wait

John Force injured in accidend in Dallas

Only a day after my wife informs me she has booked a hotel in Pomona for the season ending NHRa race John Force has a serious accident in Dallas. He was racing Kenny Bernstein in second round of eliminations when he had his accident and crashed paths with Kenny and well the video is here:

John suffered multiple fractures to his legs and wrist and it sounds like he will be out for the rest of the season. I have seen John crash before and be on fire over his career but never seen his car split in half like this. I wish John and his family best wishes and hope for a speedy recovery as John Force is to NHRA as what was Dale Earnhardt to NASCAR.

Labor Day Drag Meet 2007

Well as I am trying to introduce new exciting things to my granddaughter (yes step granddaughter but if you need an explanation see my wife's page. But what could be better than a day at the racetrack. After all I got married at racetrack! So as some old school nostalgia race cars were here including two nitro burning fuel altereds and two jet cars and a few front engine dragsters and the cars from the Renegade class that races here at our local track.
Of course two of the granddaughter's heroes race here as so we had to see them as well. One races Jr dragster and is in her last year as Jr dragster and wants to move into faster full sizr cars. She told me super comp, then to Alcohol Dragster then Top Fuel! I said cool, that's very cool and we wish her well.Oh thanks to her for getting pics with the granddaughter.
Another one of her heroes also of the same first name (Ashley) who drives a super comp style car, IHRA has different class names for these cars but essentially is similar to a super comp style dragster, has just completed her Top Alcohol Dragster licensing from Frank Hawley's drag school. Cool! Just wait til the granddaughter is old enough to venture to an NHRA event with us to meet Ashley Force! So here are 3 girls, one who came up thru the ranks thru top Alcohol dragster in one of the best teams in NHRA Top Alcohol Dragster ranks and is now a driver on the most premeir funny car team in NHRA history Ashley Force, and one who has just passed licensing requirements for Top Alcohol Dragster who drove Jr dragsters Ashley Bart, and another one who has aspirations to follow the same path as she graduates from jr dragsters. Does anyone see a trend here? I know from following NHRA racing for years and attending many live events as well as live local events that there is many women racing now that all started in the same place and got to move up thru the ranks and all are doing well in their respective drag racing careers. I wish these two girls well and hope to see them live on the NHRA tour one day. Other names that comes to mind is Melanie Troxell, Hillary Will and Erica Enders of the NHRA.

Here are some other pics of the days action.

2007 IHRA Iron Man Event

Every year I look forward to a few races at our local track. Usually the premier events that it has such as the Sprint Car race a few weeks ago and today's IHRA Iron Man Event on the drag strip. Now I love drag racing and can't get enough of the smell of alcohol burning engines and nitro burning funny cars, but since there is no nitro burning anything here this weekend I went to see the next best thing, Pro Mods! They are fiberglass bodied replica cars of earlier generation cars that use modern technology for suspensions and body and engines. Engines run on blown alcohol or injected nitrous combinations. Sure looks cool when they "purge" the nitrous. There was also other classes running there today as well such as the local "Renegade funny cars that run in high 7 second range and jr dragsters and the bracket cars. I took the grand daughter there and she had a good time gettin autographs from variuos drivers and got to see her hero who drives Jr dragtsers. But I was there to see Pro mods as they are usually pretty exciting to watch, loud and squirrelly! There was 3 top alcohol dragsters there to.not much to put on an event but good enough to get an alcohol fix!

A Race of a Different Kind

Well hell I thought running was suppose to make you feel good afterwards, I feel like crap! Sore legs and knees, sure different from my soccer playing days when I was running on nice soft green grass. (Victoria grass fields). Sure different on pavement. Well anyway I said I would start running after the wife bought me some new runners in Seattle. Glad she did or my feet would be really sore. Anyway I went for a run for a run on Saturday and Biked on Sunday morning and ran this morning.........good thing I gotta go to work tomorrow to get a rest! Well for some reason she thinks I will be able to run a 5k race soon..I doubt it.........Oh I ran by a golf course today and kept thinking I should be out there golfing! Maybe a good idea I didn't golf cause my golf game has been below average this year.

Platinum Cup Sprints and Watkins Glen...........and Sprint 101

Hey remember a few posts ago I said I am truly home at the track? Well it is true and today the Wilrock Sprint Car series from my hometown Victoria on Vancouver Island came to Calgary to race. The only series of sprint cars that race on asphalt in North America, well besides the NSRA but they race with the Victoria boys during the Daffodil and Strawberry cups in Victoria so I guess they are all one . But anyway they are well worth seeing if you understand what they are about. So that brings me to Sprint 101 to all you wannabe Calgary farmers turned sprint car fans. I heard in the stands today some interesting comments from people who obviously were oblivious to what the Wilrock series is all about. They also questioned why they were all from Vancouver Island and parts of B.C and not from Alberta. The fact that some people were saying cause Victoria had no asphalt was enough to make me wanna drill some points into their fat Alberta heads! But I thought it's obvious they have no bloody idea so here it is for all you farmers:

Wilrock and NSRA Sprint Car 101:

• First of all the point about Victoria having no asphalt to run on is a farce cause they way better tracks and roads than Calgary will ever have.
  
• Secondly the Wilrock series ONLY runs on asphalt tracks from Victoria to the BC interior and a few in western Washington. But all are on asphalt! Including Saratoga speedway, Western Speedway, and Vernon (Sun Valley to name a few)
• The reason Alberta racers don't race here is cause unless they have a sprint car made for asphalt it is probably made for dirt. To convert a dirt sprint car to asphalt would be an expensive deal for one race as the shocks, tires, and springs would all have to be setup differently as well as rear end gears etc. Therefore the reason why the Victoria series comes here is cause they are already setup for asphalt.
• The NSRA is the same deal but they are the guys that should come here to race as well. The cars that race in that series have even more horsepower than the Wilrock series.
  
• One last point, the reason the races are so short is cause they only hold so much fuel and it only lasts about 30-40 laps give or take some caution laps, thus calling them "Sprinters" or Sprint cars due to their short race length but on asphalt alot can happen and they can turn on a dime.

So now you know Sprint 101

---

Watkins Glen Nextel Cup race report.

Didi you see the fight between Jaun Montoya nd Kevin Harvick?
well wasn't really a fight but close enough as far as NASCAR is concerned, but Jaun Montoya probably deserved it anyway. He had it coming for along time the way he's been driving on the NExtel Cup series and Busch series. Even though this accident wasn't really his fault when you have a bad reputaion in racing for wrecking guys you will always get blamed if you are evn close to a wreck! Fellow Canadain drivers Ron Fellows and Patrick Carpatenier (spelling unsure) had good runs with Ron finishing 4th and Patrick actually led 7 laps for awhile. Dale Jr blew an engine and I hope it didn't squash his hopes for racing in the chase but it just got a little harder.

Kurt Busch wins in Pocono

How about the battle of the beer cars? Kurt Busch and Dale Earnhardt Jr fighting for the last spot to get into the Chase. As dale's day was not bad he faltered a bit with bad shocks until they changed it in the pit s and then ended up finishing second to Kurt Busch. The two beer cars sat o the pole and finished 1st and second.



This was the result of an accident

Robby Gordon Suspended from Pocono and potential merger problems?

Well I guess it was inevitable that Robby Gordon would be parked due to Saturday's shenanigans in Montreal. What else did he expect for disobeying orders from NASCAR. Good thing the Army doesn 't sponsor him.
So what about all these new mergers in NASCAR? Is it a sign of the times that the economic positions now are coming to crunch time that teams and owners must find money elsewhere instead of corporate America? The economic pinch is starting to take it's toll that teams lack sponsorship and are unable to find new sponsors. Plus all the layoffs and and families who have had their lives upset by mergers that left them in the dirt. Yes, the behind the scenes look at NASCAR.
Anyway my point is I hope that NASCAR doesn't get too expensive that it cost way too much to race or attend as a fan and end up being in financial situations that the NHL is in, (and the NHL and NBA went on strike for it). Also these corporate mergers and transactions with sports teams such as Rousch Racing and The New York Yankees is a sign of the times to. But some sports teams are broke to or have been before. Ray Evernham's pending deal with George Gillette is a chance I woudn't want to take. Gill;ette owns the Montreal Canadiens and 3 other sports teams but has also gone bankrupt a few times owning other sports teams such as the old Atlanta Flames.
So NASCAR better look back at the roots of the sport where it started and take a close look at the expenses and where it is heading or we could be having "work stoppages in NASCAR". well that is a stretch but what do you do when there are only 5 teams who can afford to race and 20 who can't?
"

Harvick wins in Montreal

What an awesome track in Montreal for road racing. And what a finish although a bit confusing. what I know though is that Robby Gordon always has been and still is a whiner and ignoring the black flag when NASCAR gives it out more than once is only going to make matters worse. robby you should have obeyed the black flag then complained after the race, cause either way you were'nt going to get second place back and now you dug yourself a deeper hole with NASCAR.
And the fact that Robby Gordon was doing a victory burnout while Kevin Harvick was as well is pretty funny as shown in this picture from NASCAR.com because after being black flagged his laps won't be scored after that point and he must have known that, so to even think he won is a little speculative.

Tony stewart wins at Indy

Look at all the new stuff ESPN had at the race today to broadcast the show with. A whole new shop to show parts of the car for viewers and to show what parts of teh car needs fixing or is broken. Also had a big screen in there with animated video display showing an engine breaking. Then they had the cartoonic looking graphic showing the air circulating around the cars.......is pretty cool for a bit but got kinda of old fast. Didn't another station try this stuff with the NHL? Remember the streak behind teh puck when it was shot over a certain mph?
Anyway all this stuff seems fine for TV viewers I guess but I am sort of a purist who like sthe old way of showing this stuff like when FOX does it from a cutaway car.
Anyway congrats to Tony Stewart for winning and not falling to the ground after he climbed the fence at the starting line. And bad luck to Dale Jr. as he broke his engine after leading for awhile.

DEI and GINN merger

I've always thought of Mark Martin as my favorite Ford driver and that he would fit into a Chevrolet product just fine. So when came back to race with Ginn racing this year in the US Army 01 Chevrolet I thought cool. Mark has seen the light!

So Then I always thought that if Mark MArtin could ever drive for Dale Earnhardt Inc. that would be awesome! I know Mark is semi retired and that idea would never come to light but the idea of Mark Martin driving on the same team as the late Dale Earnhardt would have been awesome before Dale's untimely passing. But now that GINN Racing and DEI have merged together Mark MArtin is now a teammate of Dale earnhardt Jr. COOL!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!

It is just too bad Dale Earnhardt Jr. is leaving DEI for the Hendrick's stable at the end of the year! Well thats too bad DEI could have had 2 marquee racers in their stable and Mark will definately help the younger DEI drivers as well as Dale Jr. Oh well I will savor what is left of the 2007 NASCAR season and relish in the fact that a legendary driver has teamed up with a legend's son and future legend in his own right Dale Jr and squirm at the fact that Jr. is going to be racing at Hendrick's in 2008...................ewwwwwwwwwwwwwww.

pic from nascar.com

From Powerful Cars to Powerful Music

Only been home for a week and already it was time to go to Sounds of the Underground last night. A music festival featuring various hard core death metal bands. The concert started at 1pm but we got there at just after 6pm. A few of the bands we wanted to see were playing near the end of the show but we missed the one I really wanted to see, Shadows Fall. But we did get to see Chimara and the feature band GWAR! If you have never been to a GWAR show, well you are missing a show in itself........shock rocking has never been like this, and these guys have been doing it for over 20 years. Alice Cooper is tame in comparison to these guys. Anyway you get pretty messy at a GWAR show and seasoned veterans show up with rain coats and ski goggles!





Gwar web page

Pics on FLICKR instead of geociites.

I have added a FLICK R link to my sidebar where I have added some pics from last weekends race. Some older pics are still on my geocities website as well.

Our TRip Home

Well on Monday we slept in a bit as the races are now over for another year. (Until Pomona right honey?) Anyway as we booked a late flight for Monday based on past experiences with rain delays in Seattle forcing the race to be run on Monday. And it was close to being run on Monday as well, boy was it close I still can't believe the weather cooperated enough o allow the race to be finished on Sunday even though it was still hampered by a misting rain which cause slight delays during the day. But hats off to the NHRA for getting it done and preparing the track for driver and fan safety.
So the wife and I go do a little shopping, apparently she wants to start running with her so bough me a pair of good running shoes, hi tech stuff this running shoe business. Then we went to Southcentre mall to kill a few more hours.
something to eat and wander around a bit.Well as the day is lagging on we decide to go drop off the rental car and head to the airport where we can get The concourse is pretty cool with a big glass wall that overlooks the airport and can watch all the planes come and go. So this was a good spot to get something to eat. Is awesome to watch all the planes fly in out they are just as powerful as some of the cars we were watching over the weekend and I am always amazed that these planes can ever get off the ground! Like this 747. After we eat we head down to our gate number. you need to take a subway to get out to the satellite terminal that is there but there is another good vantage point for some more pics.
Even The air force comes in here I guess to refuel or something but was still impressed whit this air force tanker as it taxied by us. There was all types of planes that came by us from British Airways to Japanese airplanes and various paint schemes, and we were close to Alaska Airline terminal so there was tons of those plane there to.

Finally our plane lands.....Air Canada/Jazz....and we load up and go home. The flight was about an hour and we are home after another fun weekend in Seattle.

Finally We've come Back to Seattle day 3 (Race Day)

Well after an interesting night in the bar and even more interesting one in the hotel being well sick I guess you could call it I am really hungover this morning. And it is raining hard outside and the forecast looks grim and we are late getting out of bed. But we are die hard hard core race fans and part time "weather man" during race weekends and my expertise tells me the clouds are light and high in the sky and could clear and racing will resume..........hopefully. So off to the track and when we get there looks like alot of people decide to stay home as getting into the track was a breeze. whne we got to our seats we see that the track is almost dry as the Safety safari has been working all morning to clear the track. They also adjusted the schedule for pro teams with a 65 minute turn around time to get back to the staging lanes for the next round. And the sportsman categories keep getting pushed back. So a little delay before some the track is ready so we wander through the pits to watch the teams get ready and inhale some Nitro fumes. I am never really at home unless I'm at the track so this little haze in the picture of Nitro Methane fumes is a bit of heaven to me! Unless you've ever experienced it you never know what its really like. Nitro fumes will make the biggest and strongest men "cry like a baby!" (quote from Friday night's action in the bar). And plus the hair that stands up on your head when they "burp" the throttle during warmups. I tell you I love the Smell of Nitro in the morning!


11:45 am Race time!
We got wicked seats behind the starting line and awesome vantage point for taking some more pics. Check out Kenny Bernstein's new Monster Energy drink Funny Car ride.


















What a show the opening rounds were Tony Shumacher sets both ends of the track record and the Pro Stockers are flying at over 205 mph!












In round two of Funny car eliminations Kenny Bernstein is up against Ashley Force. The race is on until Ashley lost control of her car as it turned sideways and she pedaled it and it straight into the wall exploding in a fireball and turning her car out towards the center of the track again where it came to rest. her body was flung open but did not come off the chasis as the car spun around on it at the point where the body was still attached.
These pics are from the accident and the last one is from the Seattle Times front page of the sports.
















It was pretty scary to watch but she got out OK with just a sprained thumb. Her dad John had just run his race and came back up the track to his daughter's aid to see if she was OK.

The Funny Car final had John Force against Jack Eckman after rain delays and when it finally got under way John had his share of problems as well. John's car blew up near the end of the track and caught on fire in a losing effort to Eckman but he still made a big jump in the points.

The winners were after a long frustrating weekend of rain delays and a missed day of qaulifying ( which we get back next year) were:
Top Fuel Dragster----Tony Shumacher
Funny Car--------------Jack eckman
Pro Stock--------------Dave Connolly
We are planning a trip to Pomona maybe this fall to watch the last race of the Season and I can't wait. you Know it won't rain there hopefully. I feel sorry for the people in our hotel who didn't make it to Sunday's race cause they were afraid of the rain! Fans are like racers.never give up, plus I paid for Sunday's race so I was going.glad I did!
Here are some more pics: