Welcome to 2008

I have added some photos to the Chevy GM section. Its time for all you racers to start sending me your updates for this year. 

Here are some photos of Black Max, however there are not going to be any photos of the back of the black Cuda' for a while. There is some damage back there that needs repaired. This of course is a bummer because the season is growing closer up here, we don't feel we can have the repairs started until the insurance company decides to settle. 

As you know from reading 2007 we relocated back to Oregon. During that process we hired a transport company to take  the Cuda's from Texas to Oregon. We hired a company with an enclosed trailer to keep the cars safe and secure.  

But Black Max was damaged during transport. We are  frustrated with both the transport company and their insurance company, it is now the middle of February and we are still waiting for a resolution.

But there is always Ol Orange, she's always ready to run. Nothing like the old scrapper to save the day..

3-1-08 The Woodburn Dragstrip schedule is available on their website.  And I hear from the guys down in Texas that they have already been running at Denton and local tracks.

3-9-08 It was our first venture out with the car since Travis left us, but he is still with us in spirit and I'm hoping he got a laugh out of today's events. We took Ol Orange and headed to Woodburn Dragstrip. Todd made a mild run, we checked things over, adjusted the tire pressure and then went back for another test. Unfortunately that was the last run for the day. He juiced it and ran in the 10's, our safety gear was not up to par (cage, harness, helmet and all) and the track rightfully shut us down for the day. No runs for Kathy, snarl growl sneer...Running quarter mile however we are again in need of a change, he was out of gear and on the limiter somewhere around the 1000 ft mark. Time slip below, Right lane.

I will have some interesting photos later this week if I get the film developed. Our neighbors Porsche 904, its very sleek very rare and very fast. stay tuned for more.

4/1/08 Were in trouble now, here is a quick message from Wayne "Old Timer" he's shaving his time down on the 1/8th mile. 

"Oldtimer is up and running. This weekend first pass 7.06, second 6.97, third 6.96 won chevy r/l, fourth 6.96on 6.97 dial camero ran dead on 6.501. I think I might have .01 in carb jet and tire pressure. Black cuda may be in trouble."

4/17/08 Last weekend was very nice, the weather cooperated and we went to the first points race at Woodburn Dragstrip. I made it thru 3 rounds and got put out in the 4th round by .055. Right now the points show me in 5th place, look quick that may change this coming weekend. www.woodburndragstrip.com  The weather report for this weekend is not looking soo good. It has rain and snow showers in the forecast, So I guess we will see what happens. I have received some new photos of the now finished, Purple Piston Eater. Those are posted now on the Chevy GM page.

4/20/08 This weekends races at Woodburn have been canceled due to the cold weather and approaching SNOW!, its April, and were getting the big chill. However we have heard from friends down in Texas, its been in the 80's and there is a full weekend of events at the Motorplex. We will update the website if there is any interesting news from Texas. In other news, we have found our new chassis shop and will be sending "Black Max" down there this summer. We are talking beautiful welds, awesome design, show quality work and I'm not going to divulge the shop name until we are worked in to the schedule. Still need to find that special someone that can get the body work done on both cars. There is not much to do on Black Max other than repair the damage caused by the transport company (that story is not over yet) and fashion a new hood. But Ol Orange needs the works. 

4/27/08 What a change in weather, it was a beautiful weekend. The races were on, and we were there. Ol Orange did great and was very consistent. The driver on the other hand did not get it handled. Went out in the first round by .0061, so now I am showing 12th in the points standings.  Be sure to check out Woodburn's website for all the latest news. Check out the Chevy GM page for some new photos for 2008.

5/4/08 Woodburn Dragstrip was the place to be this weekend. Ol Orange was ready, had a couple test runs and then dialed in for the "Dash for Cash" Dialed 12.00 and ran 12.011 add that to a reaction time of .020 which gave me a package time of .031 and put me in to second place, think I was bumped down a couple more notches, but it was a good run. Of course "Dash for Cash" only pays out for a win. First round of eliminations we dialed a 11.99 which would have been fine for the car, but the foot dialed in a spastic -.068 light so the "RED LIGHT" wins again. If I would not have been up against Moby Grape maybe I would not have tried cutting the light that close, who knows. all I could say was "Grape balls of fire" as he flew by me at the traps. maybe I need to write a reaction time on my shoe! will have some pictures to post when NWdragracing.com gets them posted. I did get a chance to take some photo's myself after getting put out. As soon as I have time to create a gallery page I will get them posted, took 145 snaps of the event.

5/11/08 Can we have a "do over" please? Photo above was Todd getting ready to make a run, while I was out of commission with a swollen jaw from a dentist appointment. He did his burn out, pulled up to the line, cut a good light, blew the snot out of the rear end, and that's pretty much it for the day. Thanks to the Fetters for helping us get her back to the trailer and the rest of the guys that helped push her up onto it. The track was way sticky, there were casualties all morning long. and some awesome launches, wheel stands and times. We ordered up some parts and they should arrive Thursday, thanks to Randy's for the quick shipping. This weekend is season opener in Woodburn Oregon. In other news Casey "Purple Piston Eater" down in Texas blew out the other end. I will see if I can get a picture soon, he had a bit of a flame out at launch.

5/18/08 Todd had the rear end back together and ready for him to make some test runs Saturday. It worked out just fine, that gave us a day to get her back in shape before Sundays VP Fuels Championship Points Race. Sunday of course I had to have a bit of resetting done to the shift lights, after the ratio change. It wasn't a perfect day but at least we climbed up a few notches in the points standings. After 3 bad weekends we had dropped from 5th to 28th in points. We have started to climb back up and are currently 23rd. www.nwdragracing.com has photos up from the last few weekends. Including the jets, nitro dragsters, floppers etc... Oh check out the Cuda's racing page, Ricky Jackson has sent some new photos of both his Cuda's, awesome mean and nasty...

5/28/08 Rain out......

6/1/08 It was a bit chilly out there today, but since we don't have a weather station, I could not tell you just how cool. Speaking of weather stations, that will be our next purchase. Todd has been taking loads of pictures, I have been uploading them to the gallery on Smugmug, or see the link above. One round win today did not do a lot for points, kept us pretty much where we were.  Next weekend is Fire and Thunder, if you race you know what that means. The big boys are coming out to play.

6/8/08 The weatherman was wrong about the forecast today, and I could not be happier about that. It was sunny warm and slightly breezy.  Cut some fair lights today with a .032, .090 & .061 The car ran very consistent, but once again I was put out. Today it was by .0376 seconds. Yes if I would have had the first light on that last run we would have still been in the game. But that's not the way it work