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Back again for another weekend of dragracing at Interstate Dragways. The weather was similar to the previous race weekend, with temperatures soaring once again into the 90's with plenty of moisture in the air. We were prepared this time though. We bought a screened in canopy at K-Mart to stay out of the sun during the day and keep the bugs away at night. On Saturday, the car was again slow, due to the lousy air. It ran high 11.30's low 11.40's. However, the car was very consistant. I ran the jackpot race and met Clyde Hendrickson in the finals, who I lost to two weeks ago due to a stupid mistake on my part. He won again, but this time it was a clean pass. My slower reaction time was no match for Clyde with his low .515 reaction time, and a 9.998 on a 9.99 dial. I was extremely happy with the second place showing in a group of more than 60 cars. It rained some Saturday night and Sunday morning brought about a tough call for track owner Ron Johnson. Threatening weather was headed our way again, but there was a chance it would miss us. During the drivers meeting it was decided that we would try to race, instead of calling a rainout and race some other time. After the track was dried, we were allowed 1 time trial to try to get the racing done before the weather came our way. During round 1, however, it started sprinkling. Luckily, the main cell missed us by a few miles, and racing resumed a short period later. After three more rounds, I was one of five cars remaining, but it wasn't to be. I redlit with an embarrasing .411 RT (OK, the light was REALLY red!) to lose in the quarterfinals. All and all, a very good weekend with a 2nd and 4th place finish.

We went to Interstate Dragways in Moorhead for the first time this year. It was HOT, with temperatures reaching well into the 90's with over 80% humidity. Several checks of weather stations showed more than 4000 feet of corrected altitude. The car ran unimpressive 11.30's all weekend long, but it was nice and consistant. I ran just Test & Tune on Saturday, but ran brackets for points on Sunday, and took third place. Due to a stupid mistake on my part, I lost in the semifinals. Determined not to let it get me down, I vowed to return in two weeks to try to take back some of the points I lost.

I went to Rock Falls Raceway for the Dads Day races. I got one pass in before the track was closed early due to problems. The car ran a 11.19@120.9 during the first time trial, which is a little off pace, but not terribly. This was the first time I got to try out my in-car camera mount on a 1/4 mile track. Learning from the last track outing at Grove Creek Raceway I adjusted the camera so you can see the tree on playback. It was very interesting to see just how early it looks like the car leaves when you cut a .525 light.

Yet another Undernet #Ford GTG (Get-ToGether) in Bowling Green, KY. Unfortunately I was not able to bring my car this year due to lack of vacation time after our trip to the Netherlands. Instead I opted to fly to Nashville, where I met up with two other channel regulars that flew in, just to make sure I wasn't left out of the festivities at the 5th annual GTG. The owners of the Bryce Inn in Smiths Grove, KY were nice enough to have us back again for the third year in a row. We had the entire hotel to ourselves Friday and Saturday night, which gave us plenty of opportunity to catch up in person with all those people we hang out with every day online. You can see the pictures from this great event on channel owner Jim Howards web site.

The long weekend started out Thursday afternoon with most of the regulars arriving Thursday evening and Friday morning. The first night and next day were spent just catching up with old friends, meeting up with new friends, and a little last minute tuning/fixing before the track rental Saturday. The entire day Friday was very relaxing, with time spent soaking in the pool and the barbeque in the evening that the owners of the Bryce Inn put on for us. The next day we went to the track, where all the anticipation for the entire last year is put to rest. This year, we had no less than three 9 second cars, with Corey McComsey (cmylxgo) running a blistering 9.42@150, followed closely by Chris Johnson, of Johnson Motorsports fame, running a 9.44 with his new big block Ford combination, and Jim Mills' badass 87 GT taking a third with his new 408CI combo. Sunday was spent saying goodbye to the folks who had to leave to be at work Monday, and a cave tour in one of Kentucky's many caves topping the day off. Sound fun? Click here to find out how to get onto #Ford IRC, and join us next year.

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I took the car to Grove Creek Raceway this fine Sunday for some bracket racing. That and I was dying to try out my new in-car camera mount to get some cool footage of the inside of my car during a race. Despite the fact that Grove Creek is an 1/8th mile track, I like it because the racing is quick paced, it's not as hard on the car, the people there are really friendly, and it's the closest track to where I'm at. At 70 miles away, it's not such a haul to make a day trip out of it. I did pretty well this time around, finishing third in eliminations, out of a 30 car field. They even gave me a trophy for my efforts. If you live in the Twin Cities area, I highly recommend you check this track out sometime. Only one minor glitch. My oil pressure gauge was reading zero at the end of the quarter finals race. Even though it turned out to be a sender, I was distracted enough by the semifinals, that I redlit with a .440 reaction time. Oh well, it was a fun day.

The time had come for me to take the wraps off my car for the 2001 race season. We and #Ford channel regulars Tim and Pennie West had planned a weekend of racing at Interstate Dragways. Unfortunately due to spring flooding, the track was unable to open for it's yearly test and tune track opener. Since I'd done some upgrades to the car this winter I was really curious to see how my car would run, so I decided to pack the car up and race at Rock Falls Raceway instead. The weight savings of this winters' activities seemed to have helped a little, with the car clocking an 11.12@121.6, in considerably worse air than the 11.18 of the previous year. I even remembered how to race and went all the way to the semifinals before breaking out after sitting in the staging lanes for 45 minutes due to an oildown.

It was a pretty uneventful year for upgrades to the car, but information on what I did do can be found on the car page.

   Weekend of Sept 8-10, 2000. It was the 3rd annual Fun Ford Weekend at Cordova Dragways and once again, the car ran better than it ever has. The combination of great air and wonderful track preperation has produced the fastest timeslip for my car three years in a row. The car ran a 11.18 @ 120.62 during time trials on Saturday. In addition, I was runner up in the Quick Ford class Sunday, quite a feat considering the 100+ cars that ran in that class. Some images from this weekend can be found here.

   Sat, June 17rd, 2000. The #Ford Undernet IRC channel had their GTG in Bowling Green, Kentucky, and my car ran awesome. Despite the trecherously humid air (86° air and 100% humidity), the car ran an impressive 11.28 @ 120.33 (1.63 60') and I got some needed carb tuning done. Here are a couple pictures taken by my good friend Mike Herceg. A nice burnout and a great picture of the launch showing the left front tire in the air.

   I finally did it!! It was a cold and rainy day, but the weather let up just long enough to make one pass. 11.52@119!! Click here for the timeslip.

   Of course, the previous outing wasn't as successful. I went to Cedar Falls Raceway two weeks before that. Due to an oversight, I apparently wired my distributor pickup backwards. I don't even remember having those wires disconnected this winter, but with the battery relocation project, anything is possible. What that does is allow the ignition to trigger pretty much wherever it feels like. So my timing went through the roof, and detonated badly. It blew the headgaskets on both sides. Here is the small blow and here is the one that made me cry. Notice the nice tunnel between the chambers. My machine shop is awesome though, and had the head fixed in a day. I then wrenched like a madman with the help of my friend Jim, and got the whole thing put back together.