It's in the blood....

This past weekend was our final weekend of drag racing for the 2013 season.

It's a bitter sweet, exhilarating and exhausting time.  Our fellow racers are like family. And many of them we only see during the summer. The kids have formed friendships that will last a lifetime.  It's really great to watch them fiercely compete then come back to the pits and hang out, laugh, ride 4-wheelers, etc...

I guess I should start with a brief description of drag racing and some of the "lingo" we use. We compete in 1/4 mile bracket racing. Which essentially means the slower car gets a head start equal to the difference between the times the cars dial (the drivers estimate on how long it will take to travel the 1/4 mile distance. Each driver lines up at the starting line. There is a pre-stage and stage bulb on the tree...once both bulbs are on for each driver they are lined up at the exact same point. There will be 3 bulbs come down, then it's go time. If you leave too early it produced a red light and you are disqualified. If you leave too late, you've given your opponent too big of a head-start. Each race is called a "round" and eliminate half of the cars in the class. Rounds continue until the final, where there are only 2 cars left...the winner and the runner up.

We were at the track until VERY late Friday and Saturday. But every lost minute of sleep was well worth it. Hubby races a 1967 Chevy Camaro. This car is his baby...he has owned it longer than I've known him. It started as a primer stock car and has morphed several times through the years. It was white with a black checkerboard down the side for a long time. A couple years ago he put a fiberglass front end on (decreases weight = faster car) and painted the car a custom black cherry. Many people enjoy watching him race because not only does it go fast, he covers the 1/4 mile in 9 seconds going 148 mph, but he usually pulls an amazing high wheelie. There were approximately 140 cars in Hubby's class Friday and he lost in the semi finals...3rd place. I can't believe to tell you how exciting and proud I am.

I am thankful for a friend who takes amazing pictures. MC pix took this series of our first pass...what a ride...what an awesome set of pictures.

Our son races a junior dragster. It's essentially a mini dragster aka half scale. The juniors run under the same rules except they only race 1/8 mile, which our son covers in just over 9 seconds going 75 mph. The kids who race these cars are from age 8 - 17...awesome kids who exhibit amazing sportsmanship. So proud of each of them. Son had a rough night Friday but Saturday was a different story. He won the whole junior event.

What do you do on Saturday?...

As I have mentioned before we are involved in drag racing. When I was a young girl (yesterday...hehe) we went to the drag strip occassionally. Now it's part of my life. As a matter of fact, I was at the strip up to my delivery date with Mo and back again two weeks later. My kids have celebrated many a birthday, 4th of July and Halloween at the strip. It's their extended family...and that's a good thing.

Hubby races a 1967 Chevy Camaro with a 350 small block tucked inside. He enjoys running the Nostalgia class and has won several times. In case your wondering, we run 9.29 seconds at 148 mph. To clarify, that means he goes from a dead stop to 148 mph in 9.29 seconds in 1/4 of a mile.

Both of kids raced junior dragsters. Unfortunately Mo is too old now...anyone over 18 can't run the "little cars". Jon is the only one running in the points system this year. We started out great but have stumbled a bit in the last few races. In drag racing every weekend is like the super bowl. You race multiple people before you are considered the winner. Briefly, if you have 20 cars they will be paired up in 10 sets, leaving you with ten cars. Then you pair those 10 drivers up and they race. And so on, until you have the final two drivers and they will determine the winner and runner-up. So for a 20 car field you would race 5 times before you could be considered the over-all winner.

Here's a few of us getting lined up in the staging lanes. This is where you get all your gear on and get paired up. There's lots of safety gear...helmet, fire suit, 5-point seat belt, gloves, wrist restraints and neck ring. The engine on the juniors is basically a 5 hp briggs and stratton...with a few modifications. Jon runs a 9.47 seconds at 65 mph in the 1/8th mile...from a dead stop. I know some of you are thinking...isn't it dangerous. Honestly, not really. There are so many safety features both on the engine and surrounding the drivers that they are safe. Certainly safer than being in my passenger vehicle out on the highway with so many crazy drivers talking on the cell phones, eating their lunch or just trying to be there before you.

The cars have little slick tires on them, so they roll through the water box and do a burn out. This heats up the tires so they "stick" to the starting line when they launch.

Dad makes adjustments to the idle so it will pull itself into the beams. What does that mean? To be sure both cars are lines up in the same place there are staging beams. It's a laser that runs across the track. When your front tires roll into the first beam it turns on your pre-stage bulb. You roll just a little more and you reach the second beam, this turns on your stage bulb...this means you are ready to race. Once both drivers are staged the "tree" is activated. Three yellow bulbs come on and then you mash the gas! Reaction time is a big deal...many races have been won, and lost, on reaction time (how fast do you react to the lights?). Imagine sitting at a stop light with a car next to you, the green light comes on and you hit the gas pedal before the one next to you...you had the better reaction time.

Drag racing is a great family sport. Is it expensive...sure, but isn't any sport/activity that you really get into?! But it's worth the money when your kids want to hang out with you on the weekend and tinker on the cars with you throughout the week. If you have a drag strip near you why not head out on a friday or saturday...I bet you get a few butterflies in your tummy and want to go again!

You are never too old...

Well our racing season is coming to a close.  We have two points days left for Jon...unfortunately it doesn't look good for him to win the championship.  While not all hope is gone the mountain got a little steeper today :(  The boy ahead of him (by 3 points) won first round and Jon lost.  He was sooo heartbroken, as was I.  The season was going so so good and then the last couple races have been a struggle while the kid in the lead has been on fire...he won the last 3 events.

But there was a bright side to the day.  My Grandma and her beau Ken came to watch him race.  My Gram is 80 years old an has never been to a drag strip.  It was nice to have her there to comfort Jon after he lost.  He will have that memory with him forever...since we can't have her forever (no matter how badly we want to).

Gram said she would come back that she thought it was pretty neat.  I'm not sure if she would like the noise of the big cars but she didn't seem to complain about the juniors (which can be quite loud). If you are as blessed as I am to still have a grandparent I hope you love and cherish them as much as I do...

Fall Roundup...

Happy Halloween everybody!!! What a great, rainy, cold day!

We have been passionate about Fall round-up for years. However had never had much luck. Breakage and poor weather have continued to ruin Fall round-up year after year. Well not this year!! While weather postponed it for two weeks...last night was beautiful. And fortunately they had problems with the "tree" (the starting lights) which postponed actual eliminations until the kids and I could get there from the last football game.

Frank was in a such a laid back mood. He was happy to have made a couple of runs and didn't care if he won any rounds or not. Well...he won some rounds. All the way to the final!!! Unfortunately he ended up being runner-up. But it was a great drag race with good lights and the car ran great...track was pretty greasy...but car and driver performed flawlessly. Soooo happy for Frank!!

Today is a wash for the juniors but the weather is supposed to clear and they will run tomorrow. Hopefully I will have additional good news to report.

Happy Halloween everyone...don't eat tooo much candy...on second thought...go ahead!!!

What did you do this weekend?

Quick rundown...Friday, racing...Saturday, baseball and band played...Sunday, church, work and (believe it or not) a nap. Ok that was the condensed version.

At times the rat race (as I like to call it) drives me crazy. But then I take a moment to realize what a true blessing it is to have so much to do, so many people to be around and to be living every second of this life I have. And a really fun time was Friday night when Morgan and I decided to race our Blazers. I recently purchased a new/used Trail Blazer, and I absolutely love it. Too bad my house isn't that fancy :) Morgan's Blazer is a little older but has a new engine, thanks to her very mechanically inclined Daddy. Now on one hand I had the upper hand, having the newer truck...but Mo races every weekend so SHE should have the advantage. Well, let me tell ya...the first round of time trials (TT) you would've thought neither of us had ever set foot on a drag strip. It took forever to find the beams to stage and when we did the lights seemed to come down so fast we both had horrible reaction times...oh did I mention we both wanted to throw up too? As we picked up our time slips we both started laughing uncontrollably. Not only because of our reaction times but I think to relieve all of those jitters. The second TT was much better. Sooo, first round I lose due to a not great light and I ran under my dial-in (I'll explain bracket racing another day). Morgan won...and she kept right on winning all the way to the final round. We were so excited, I can't even explain. In semi-finals Morgan raced a guy that went to school with her Dad...he lost. (haha that sounds kinda mean huh) Before the final the race to see who would run Mo was between the blue Mustang (who beat me) and a red camaro...the camaro took the win. So it was down to Mo & Kevin. Morgan dialed a 12.65. Kevin couldn't get his car to hook up and was having a terrible time. Unfortunately Morgan was so amped up she ran under her dial with a 12.40 and Kevin took the win. But it was all good! The only thing she had to say when she got back to the trailer was "I guess the gas pedal does go further during final round!" What a great night!!!

Jr. Mom...

It's currently racing season. To explain in more detail, my husband drag races and so do my two children (ages 16 and almost 11). I know, you're asking how can an 11 year old drag race. Well, it's called a junior dragster. They are mini versions of the big dragsters you see on tv and at the strip. They are all running in the points system this season and so far hubby is running 8th, daughter (16) running 3rd and just this last saturday my son took over the points lead in his class. Very exciting for our first year running points. And what do I do during racing? The juniors are not allowed to run anywhere but on the track so I have to tow them everywhere, start them when their ready, keep track of all their time slips and figure out their dial in, pack all of the "stuff" we need for a day at the track and when the kids are done running it's hubby's turn...

This is a picture of my sons junior dragster when we first bought it. My daughters is white and a little bigger.