New Top Fuel Driver

What if she was in Goodwin's car 2 nd round at the Finals, with shake like that she might have knocked her self out.
Have to get DT working on an upper ballistic containment system.

 

Now that chit is funny!

 

could that be classified as "sweet chin music"...

 

I've probably done it alot more than you have! and I'm going to "get back after it" after a 9 year break.

 

RE: Lady Drivers

Just dropped by to check out ITA and BOY did I see an immediate response to this post by Mike!......OK Guys.....GET OVER IT!(I love all of you and I love that it is a Mans World) Having been on the race track for forty four years and have driven everything with four wheels....from ES/A to Top Fuel, currently TAFC for 32 years....I want to join in on your friendly banter. By the way, Hi Bruce. Hope everything is going OK for you. Now, First, I agree with Mike Hall. I've raced with his family when he was in diapers. His statements on safety are the most important point that matters here.I can agree that money in racing has put a lot of young people, both female and male, in the drivers seat and I feel a fleeing thought that I "wish I had been born with a silver spoon up my butt". This thought does not last very long, for a person's reputation is all that is remembered in this sport. Those of us that have paid our dues are the ones that can be proud. The rich "flashes" in the pans will come and go....but we will still be here......Soooo...Last bit of info for you guys out there....Being told you look good in a firesuit does not make you a good driver and the weight transfer, well Safety Solutions made me a custom "upper ballistic containment system" and tire shake has not been an issue. Now...I have experienced both, (not blowing my own horn...just setting the record straight about lady drivers) All of us Alky drivers know you have to have "BALLS" to do what we do.....mine are just located elsewhere. As a matter of fact, I have a set of steel balls in my trailer..stop by sometime and check them out! Now all joking aside.....lets not judge a book by its cover.....Only GOD has the right to Judge. Thank you.

 

LMAO!!!!!

 

Who know's maybe if she get's a company to sponsor that's never looked at dragracing as a way to reach people could have other businesses that they could bring in to dragracing as sponsors on other cars, like let's say "Michael Hall's Tampex Extra Exsorbant Tampon's AA/FA"!

 

Bunny, you need to post more often...

 

hahaha

Gee Kenneth, you're a real funny guy. I'm trying to remember the last time I laughed so hard...
Thank you Bunny, coming from a true pro driver, your words should be listened to and respected by all forms of drivers on here.

Oh, and Kenneth...If Tampax wanted to pay me 1 million dollars to race, I'd paint my friggin car pink and wear a pink firesuit with a big string off of my helmet...

 

ROFLMAO!

You'd think Tampax could come up with something to help speed up oil down clean ups.

 

Personal story segment many can relate to:

I have sacrificed a lot to have the modest operation I have. It is a product of 35 years of doing without vacations, beach homes, and even kids or a normal life because I chose racing over having a family (except for marrying my wife). That is a decision I will regret for the rest of my life.

When I switched to racing TA/FC almost 20 years ago, in order to stay out there I left the seat in 1997 because I didn't have the rescources to race at the level I wanted to, so the seat went to the highest bidder except when TORCO sponsored me. That's when I looked for the best driver I could find and Larry Miner, who brought no money, was my guy. Have I raced at all costs? Unfortunately yes. Good decision? Probably not.

Lou Gasparrelli told me a long time ago that he would see people show up out of no where with an operation to die for only to see them come and go while the hard core guys like us are somehow always out there. These people show up, find out the Wally's aren't for sale, get bored and leave. These flash in the pan racers find out their money can't buy them talent and ability when it comes to driving and winning in a race car, so it's off to the next thing they saw on TV or read about in a magazine that sounds like fun.

It doesn't bother me to see someone spending Daddy's money to go racing. More power to them. But I think I appreciate what I have a lot more than most of those who've had it handed to them because of the commitment, sacrifice, planning, budgeting, overtime, and the risks I took for me to get there in the first place.

 

Very Well Thought Out and Written. Couldn't agree with you more. Lou is one of the best.

Lou, Vickie and Michael (although I'm not sure I've ever told them as an adult) taught me so much when I was a teenager and they allowed me to learn the basic ropes of working on a funny car and the dedication that it takes, no matter if the results are good or bad. When you have to actually earn it, live it, breathe it and know the consequences but still do it, you do have much more appreciation for the accomplishment.

Michael, you are very correct as well about the safety aspect and I've seen a couple of passes of your ride, it's bad a$$!!

Bunny, It's always a pleasure reading your insight.

 

Its a drug.

In all seriousness, how many marriages have failed, how much work has been "missed", how many jobs lost, how much free time spent on fixing the car for the next race and how much money has been spent over a lifetime because of drag racing? I knew some serious coke addicts that didn't spend as much in a month as I did on my car, and I only had a 9 second Mustang. I had to sell the car as part of my divorce settlement and that hurt me worse than the divorce itself. I never wanted to go on vacations, I just wanted to get to the track and see if my work all week got me the .01 second I was hoping for.

Bottom line, when you're a true addict and you lose the means to do it yourself, you find a way to at least be involved and I'm a prime example of that. This is the root of the industry. People who race for fame and glory disappear in 15 minutes, people who race because they love it will always be around it. I think this thread speaks volumes for the passion that we all have for the sport, and how stepped on people feel when someone bypasses all the bullsh$t the rest of us had to do and not even be able to get to the TF ranks.

 

Mike, I thought you already tried that pitch with Platex brand tampons and some Midget strippers

 

And whats that supposed to mean "or even a Pro Mod for that matter"
You know I gota break your balls now Will

 

If you want it bad enough....

Many people show up here with a race car, shiny truck and trailer, new crew shirts, and they still dont get it. Those are the people that TRY this as a hobby. For many people this sport is a way of life. You cant just jump in and out when you feel like it. It NEVER leaves you, you think about it ALL the time, you miss the people when you are not there at the track. I feel sorry for someone that has "missed out" on all the fun things that happen when your on your way to or from the track, like blowing up tires on your trailer at 2:00am in the middle of no where, or having the hauler break down and having to stay in a dinky one horse town for two days till the part to get you going comes in. Or eating if the finest truck stops out on the road while using restrooms that even the homeless whould shy away from.

This young lady will never know this fun.

She is getting to do what all of us would love the opportunity to do, so what. shes lucky, her Dad has worked very hard to put here in this position, she will be no different than many of the young Pro drivers of today. It used to bother me that these people never "payed their dues", but this is no different that life as a whole, this happens in business, school, politics and so on. You just have to work harder and try to be smarter, and when your day comes you WILL have a great deal of satisfaction KNOWING that you did it on your own.

I have been out here for a better part of my life already, and I would not change anything that I have learned, or the people that I have got to meet, or the great times that I have had.

The last year or so has been hard on many of us, but things WILL turn around, and I for one will be back out enjoying a much fuller schedule that I have had over the past couple of seasons, not because my parents want me to, but because I want to do this.

So......(insert title here)

GO DO IT.

(this was typed without the use of any of The Paso Robles regions finer Red Wines, as most of my posts are)

 

This is really cool

Hello Race Fans Is everyone having a good time, I sure am I have heard alot of things before but this is one of the better subjects. Hard work will make a difference it always does you may never get to the top but if you try hard enough spend lots of money and spend every minute of the day dreaming about how to go faster cut a better light it will pay off someday. I think, thats what they say anyway, so drink up and enjoy Christmas and don't forget to buy a real CHRISTMAS TREE Hello to everyone
Jim Peters Christmas tree farmer Oregon Grown


Wine Don what happend to the Turkey

 

hey Marty...did I see you beside me in our dragsters at the Mcdonalds drive through last night..see ya later Dave Lowe
www.myspace.com/daveloweswr

 

new drivers

[/I]The College of Drag Racing
(Author unknown, circa 1973). This was given to me at the time I started racing Pro Comp dragster, if I remember right. Thought you might enjoy.Thanks Archie( yes I still carry it in the trailer)
Education... and all along you thought it was simple to run one of these cars, right? All you thought it took was the brass to jump on the throttle and let it happen, right? Sure, maybe it would help if you knew a little about tuning the engine, but what more could you possibly need to know? Remember this above all else: guys like Prudhomme, McCulloch, and Beadle didn't get where they are today without first going through a long and often painfully expensive learning process. The whole deal would obviously be a hell of a lot easier if somewhere there was a college of Drag Racing, and you could just sign up and major in Funny Car Racing. Well, there is such a school and it's at every drag strip in the country. The problem is that it takes a pile of money to enroll and there just aren't any teachers but yourself.Good luck and be safe

 

The 3 groups of racers IMO:

The ones that has everthing they ever wanted handed to them on a silver platter.

The ones that can what they need through working their way up, and are really good with self promotion to get the sponsors.

Then there are the ones that just do it on their own just because they love to it, and their happy (that works just fine for me, and that's why I do it).


After all as long as your doing what your doing the way you want to is all that matters isn't it.