won my first race

[stmike]

after three years of fabricating, thrashing, fabricating more, testing until i'm blue in the face, and throwing a ridiculous amount of money into a giant hole in the water, I finally won an event. I took out the class champ in the final round of the NJBA Spring Showdown last weekend in bakersfield. Tree'd him and won with an 8.68 ET at 121 mph. Most of the boating message boards aren't into racing but i figured you guys could appreciate this.

check out the photo finish:

[fahrenschnell]

Re: won my first race

Can't see the pic, but congrats. ;)

[stmike]

Re: won my first race

how about now?

[fahrenschnell]

Re: won my first race

nope.

[stmike]

Re: won my first race

hmm. i can see it fine. this is odd.

[JOES66FURY]

Re: won my first race

I cant see it neither but...Congrats on the win... ;D

[stmike]

Re: won my first race

[stmike]

Re: won my first race

ok how about now?

[Scott Liggett]

Re: won my first race

Yep, way to go.

[Brian Lohnes]

Re: won my first race

Mike...spill it....how GOOD did it feel to win the thing, especially knowing the amount of effort that it took to get you to that point.

The best part of your win is that not only did your equipment work...YOU worked....hitting the tree and beating a defending champion on a hole shot? Congrats dude, you've bought yourself a bunch of rounds this season.

You're officially the guy who tree'd the champ or for those of you not into the racing deal, Mike's the guy that shot Liberty Valance.

*Edit* Hey...after seeing the pic now, you said that was a boat. Looks like a wind surfing board someone removed the sail from and stuck a Big Block Chevy in. For the record....you are nuts. HA!


Brian

[stmike]

Re: won my first race

Mike...spill it....how GOOD did it feel to win the thing, especially knowing the amount of effort that it took to get you to that point.

The best part of your win is that not only did your equipment work...YOU worked....hitting the tree and beating a defending champion on a hole shot? Congrats dude, you've bought yourself a bunch of rounds this season.

You're officially the guy who tree'd the champ or for those of you not into the racing deal, Mike's the guy that shot Liberty Valance.

*Edit* Hey...after seeing the pic now, you said that was a boat. Looks like a wind surfing board someone removed the sail from and stuck a Big Block Chevy in. For the record....you are nuts. HA!


Brian

it was an amazing feeling. i was the last guy to leave the track on sunday because i just wanted to soak up as much of the moment as i could. i've taken so much crap over the years from the guys i race with for not winning that it was very satisfying to get my first win by beating the champ.

its a tradition to get tossed in the lake by your pit crew after your first win. i got tossed in twice after the race and it felt great!

surboard...yeah its not much of a boat. the hull weighs 500 lbs and you sit more on top of it than in it. but it handles rough water well and when i'm not racing i put a second bucket seat in it, take out the fuel cell, install a pair of saddle tanks and then the wife and i head to the colorado river for some go-fast boating. There's a 20 mile long stretch of river with a few campgrounds on the shore. Not a single cop or big boat around. Just a few hundred hot rod jet and vdrive boats. Its one of the few place around i know of where you can go as fast as you want without fear of getting busted. It's like one big hot road show on a liquid dragstrip. We all hang out and then ever so often a blown-injected alcohol snorting big block powered drag boat will shove off the shore, line up in the middle of the river, and then lay down an insane 130 to 150 mph pass. heaven.

[JOES66FURY]

Re: won my first race

A wake board with a V8...looks like so much fun...these things are a blast to see live too..if you ever get the chance check em out....

[smallblockjay]

Re: won my first race

Very good job, dude! 8) I've been around some drag boat dudes. You guys are nuts. :o I'm good enough in my 120 horse V4 bass boat. How the heck to you get a boat to hook up? ;D Big prop and big power?

[1966-100 cdan]

Re: won my first race

Congrats! When is victory#2?

[stmike]

Re: won my first race

Very good job, dude! 8) I've been around some drag boat dudes. You guys are nuts. :o I'm good enough in my 120 horse V4 bass boat. How the heck to you get a boat to hook up? ;D Big prop and big power?

Its a jet boat so it uses an impeller instead of a prop. Motor makes about 1060hp. hooking that up isn't easy, I run an MSD launch controller to keep it from doing a liquid burnout at the start. It's runs 4.70 to the 1/8 mile and on a good run it'll go 8.50 in the 1/4 at about 125 mph.