It is time once again to clear all those loose, random, disjointed thoughts out of my cranium. It has been a heck of a summer covering events, wrenching on Goliath, hanging out with the kids, and generally wishing I had more time for all of the above. The fall will be a busy season as well, then comes the winter, which I am actually looking forward to. The kids are old enough to spend some time in the car and a winter weekend escape to an ice race will be in order, unfortunately Attilla the Jav remains in basically the same state I got it in. Onto the thoughts!
– How ’bout them Drag Weekers, eh? The debate on what constitutes a street car rages on, in all of the redundant, subjective glory it has always had. Guess where that debate isn’t happening. On freaking Drag Week. I was lucky enough to be there for the first one and due to that I have an idea of what’s happening out there this week. I sure wish I could be there!
– Announcing a drag race presents all kinds of interesting situations. The first is the weirdness of the job. I think about this once and again, each time, it cracks me up. I stand in a room with other people and scream whatever comes to my mind. I sometimes feel bad for the other people in the room. Imagine if you had a job where someone stood in the corner and had a screaming one-way conversation with themselves for 14 hours at a time. You’d strangle them.
– The IHRA’s new format is interesting and I enjoyed it. In the interest of fair reporting, I was paid to be there. That being said, I’m honest in my assessment of the event and the new format that so many claimed would cause the sky to rip open and rain thunderbolts down on IHRA’s Norwalk, Ohio offices. The event drew new fans, people that had not been to the track before and they brought their kids. They got to see about 16 nitro cars, three different classes of nitro burners, and a host of other great stuff. It was all packaged in a time frame that would allow someone to walk in the track at 5:30 and see a whole show start to finish by 10-10:30pm. The casual fan can walk in, see a show, and go home. It brought more people into the track than I have seen at the place in a couple of years. That’s a win.
– If you haven’t heard, Firestone’s Commercial Tire Division is sending me six tires to put on Goliath. Talk about a lucky break! That instantly increases the value of the big lug by three times over! A local tire store has a wheel refinishing program. I’m having the wheels done and painted….white.
– Motorcycle stunt riding, not jumping stuff, but “stunt riding” is one of those things that I really do not get. There seems to be about four tricks in every guy’s rotation. One of them always seems to be the “fall of the bike and let it smash into the ground” trick. I kind of like that one.
– Drive something with the EcoBoost V6….freaking impressive!
– For future reference. If you contact a new boutique super car builder and request to check out their cars and perhaps drive one for a story, keep your hopes down when they agree. When this whole thing comes to an end (good or bad) I’ll spill the beans, but for now, suffice it to say that there seems to be some shenanigans afoot and it is transitioning from annoying to hilarious.
– My son scored his Halloween costume the other day from the Disney Store. It happens to be a fairly legit looking driving suit themed on the movie Cars. Basically the only time he takes it off is to bathe and sleep. By the time the big day rolls around, it’ll look like John Force’s suit, all covered with crap and looking ugly!
– Did I mention I wish I were out on Drag Week?
– When a drag racer says that they are shooting for a record and they don’t care if they have to put another motor in it, count to three and duck!
