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