Vegas Divisional and National

April 7, 2011

Hey guys! We are back (well most of us)! Shawn and Nik are road-tripping it to Charlotte! What a trip! The divisional certainly had its ups and downs but the National made it all worth while! We qualified number one at the LODRS event but our excitement was short-lived when we burnt a pushrod first round. But that just goes to show you that ANYTHING can happen in this fabulous sport that we are all addicted to! We have learned time and time again NEVER to get ahead of ourselves! Wanting to move forward, we decided to put the weekend behind us and have a great week in town…usually Sunday night is always the rowdiest and we ALWAYS start the vacation off at P.F. Chang's for the most delicious Chinese food EVER! We purposely always ask for the private dining room because, well, we can be a bit loud. Of course, we proceeded to drink, dance, and have a good time the rest of the night! The remainder of the week wasn’t as eventful but we managed to squeeze shopping in, riding the Harley's and I even got to meet up with an old friend of mine! Sometimes its nice not having to do anything! The boys went out to the track on Tuesday to service the car but my intuition tells me there was a whole lot more play than work! In-n-out burger was eaten about every other day…and yes that sounds gross but when you live in the Northwest, you have to get it all in while you can! I think we will be good until the fall! For the most part, we really couldn’t have asked for better weather while we were down in Vegas. It started out cold and windy at the divisional and got gorgeous during the week and into the National event. To be honest, coming home was a little rough! Since I have been home in Vancouver, it has been sunny, rainy, snowy, and it even hailed! Mother Nature just can't seem to make up her mind…moving into the National last weekend, we really had the attitude of lets have fun and try to redeem ourselves from the race before! Things weren't looking too promising when our body panel ripped off of the car in qualifying. Ironically, our spare is for the other side! And seriously, who has a spare body panel? So funny! But nobody can keep us down! Thankfully, Brad Hadman was there and he managed to work some magic and we got her all fixed up! We qualified number one with a 5.371 and things really started going uphill from there! In first and second round of eliminations, luck was on our side when we had two bye runs. Third round we raced Mark Taliaferro and ran low E.T. of the event with a 5.367 to move onto the final. Then we had Joey again. Joey, Joey, Joey. We knew going into the final that it was going to be a good race. They had a consistent car all weekend AND last weekend and as every racer in this class knows, Joey is deadly on the tree. Everything seemed to fall in place for us, and we ran 5.365 in the final for the win!! The excitement was uncontainable for the team as you can imagine and we continued the celebration for the rest of the night! We really missed Harry this last weekend though! It just isn't the same without you! We just want to say great job to Joey, Joe and their team on two fantastic weekends in Vegas!! The team wants to thank our sponsors, Mundie's Towing, United Petroleum, and Lordco Auto Parts for your support! We couldn’t do it without you! Well, while Shawn and Nik are driving cross-country, "Clark Griswold style", I will be watching over the home front until next week when we all fly to Charlotte. Must be nice to play tourist for the week! I won't lie…I am a little jealous! I am from the States and those boys have seen more than I have…that just ain't right :-) On a more serious note, our hearts go out to the family of Lou Gasperelli who passed away this week…Lou was a very well-respected man at the track and know he will be missed…well, until next time…hope y'all have a good week and don’t forget to watch the Sportsman show on ESPN2 on Saturday the 9th at 12:00pm PST! Talk to you soon!!!

Phoenix and Pomona Blog!

March 3, 2011

Hey all! It's Taylor doing a little blog action! Been kind of crazy since we got home from our awesome roadtrip… sorry I am a little late! Wow…where do I even begin? We started our 2011 season out in Phoenix and what a great start it was! We tested the car on Thursday to "work out the off-season bugs" and fought the weather all weekend! While I was fighting off that vicious stomach flu that everyone seems to be getting, the boys (and Shirleen :-D) did an awesome job! They had a qualifying run on Friday and ran a 5.314 which put us #2 qualifier. After sitting around the rest of the weekend in the rain, they finally got the race off on Monday and finished it! After winning first round, we had a bye in the second and ran a 5.284 for low pass of the weekend! Going into the final we knew we had a tough competitor. We never take Whiteley lightly. Thankfully, luck was on our side and we won the race with a 5.331! What an amazing way to start the year! Unfortunately, I was not there to celebrate with everyone because of school, but I know everyone was ecstatic! Onto Pomona we went! Believe it or not the weather was worse there! There was hail, wind, heavy rain, and it was freezing! It was bizarre! We all had to whip out our heavy coats and gloves! They managed to get the race off on Sunday and it even warmed up a little bit! We started the day with a 5.281 to finish #4 in qualifying. We had Johnny Ahten in round one and ran a 5.243 at 273MPH!! That is the new record for fastest ET for a blown alcohol dragster!!!! I think we jumped up and down after that one like we had just won the race! What an amazing feeling! In round two, we followed up with a 5.268 against Copeland and on we went to the semis! We had Duane third round which we knew was going to be a tough one. Dana had that thing hyped up all weekend! We did run a 5.256 but unfortunately, Shawn "jumped the gun" a little bit and went red. Funny thing is Shawn doesn’t go red very often but one of the only other times he has gone red before was against Duane a couple years ago in Tucson! He must have our number :-) Shawn was pretty bummed but it just wasn’t our day! After talking to him, he said the sun was in his eyes…he doesn’t want to use that as an excuse by any means but it was just that time of the day in Pomona where the sun is about to go down and it is in the right spot…oh well though! It is what it is and he is just ready to get to Vegas! Congrats to Duane, Dana, and the gang for an awesome weekend! They deserve it! We decided to go to one of our favorite restaurants in Pomona that night and have a delicious meal and drinks! Whenever we go to Mora we always ask for Art…he does such a fabulous job of making the meals right in front of you! Even though we lost in the semifinals, we really cant say enough about the last two weeks. We won our first race, set a new record, learning a lot about the car, and most importantly, had a lot of fun! Hopefully this happy trend can continue the rest of the year! We have Vegas coming up which is one of our favorite races of the year! The boys are busy busy already in the shop since we have been home. Shawn was even up at 6:30am the other morning! Lots to do this month but we cannot wait to see everyone again at the end of March! Lets hope the weather turns out a little better this time! See you all in Vegas!!!

OFF SEASON BLOG

January 27, 2011
Off-season Blog

Hey everyone! It’s Taylor blogging for that busy driver who has too much to do :-) Just giving you an update on what we have been up to in the off-season! There are a ton of things to get finished in such a short period of time! Shawn has been busy, busy, busy! Between re-certifying everything, making sure everything is ready to go for 2011, and working on Friday nights, let’s just say the shop is a disaster zone and he has been M.I.A! And the true racers we are at heart, we waited to start wedding planning until we knew what our schedule would be! How crazy is that…but according to many others, they did the same thing! So that has commenced too (which I am SURE is Shawn’s favorite thing to do…NOT!) The holiday season was so much fun! In the beginning of December, we celebrated Ron’s birthday in Disneyland which is always a blast…I don’t think you ever get too old for “the happiest place on Earth”. But seriously, I don’t know about that…there were a lot of children there that would make me think otherwise! Holidays are always a zoo for us with my parents in the states and his family up in Canada so we end up being a couple of ping-pong balls going up and down the Interstate-5! Shawn did give himself a little break from the car for about 2 weeks then I think he starts to get in panic mode because he knows he has so much to do! Bill comes to the shop a lot to help which makes it a little bit easier and a lot more fun I’m sure! We have been keeping in touch with the other members of our team and they have all enjoyed some quality time at home too! Shirleen and I did a movie and coffee day not too long ago which was really nice! And I know they are just LOVING all the time they are getting to spend with their granddaughter! We miss everyone at the track though…it really is weird when you see each other SO much during the year and then all of a sudden you don’t! I am sure a lot of people will agree with me when I say we are all one big family at the track (some people might say a traveling circus, but same thing!) We are all so excited to see what 2011 has in store for us! The car is slowly coming together and should be ready to fire pretty soon! Sayonara rainy Vancouver! Hello sunshine! See you all at the track!

Las Vegas and Pomona

Hey guys! It's Taylor again blogging for the team! Hope you guys aren't sick of me yet :-)Well….we just got back from Las Vegas and Pomona! Three weeks on the road and we are ready to be home! Hopefully this off-season doesn't last too long though because Shawn will start to get "the itch" in about a month…I will put money on it! Although it is nice to be home for a bit, I do NOT like coming home to snow after being in hot weather for a month! NO BUENO! I'm already in a freaking ski jacket! So both of the Vegas races weren't exactly how we pictured it going but that is the way it is sometimes! You win some and lose some! Shawn sure had a wild ride first round at the National in case anyone missed it…he went bowling with his dragster! All we saw from the starting line were orange cones flying everywhere. A little scary to watch but at least nothing serious happened…nothing like having your freaking stomach in your throat. HELLO! While we are on the subject of Vegas, I just want to take a second to thank Paul and Davina Grant for taking all the pictures for our team…you guys are such a joy to be around and do wonderful work! We absolutely loved it and we can't wait to see the books! After the racing, we got to have a little vacation during the week which was nice. On Halloween, we all went to that new PBR Rock Bar at Planet Hollywood. Don’t get me wrong…it was an absolute blast BUT I would advise anyone who has never been on a mechanical bull before to wait until the END of the trip to do so and DO NOT ride it seven times (*cough*Shawn and Kyle*cough*)! You will more than likely not walk for a week and in Vegas, you kind of do a lot of that. I will say I have not laughed that hard in a long time watching all these people in their costumes try to ride this thing. Poor Al did a full-on cartwheel off the front of the thing! We also got to see that new Cirque du Soleil Viva Elvis! Very well put together and the acrobats were phenomenal. I feel like a Vegas critic for goodness sake. Anyways! So, Pomona went WAY better though…we went to the final! We were having a lot of transmission problems in Vegas and thankfully, we think we have it all figured out! Unfortunately, we lost to Michael Manners in the final but we really have nothing to be angry about…I think we had a great year! 3rd place in the national standings is awesome and we improved from last year which is what we wanted! Congratulations to Bill Reichert and his team on another championship! 5 in a row…unbelievable! Pitted awning to awning with the Hough's was so much fun as usual! We ended the weekend at the Coco Palm for Bill's birthday and enjoyed some DELICIOUS food! That place is just unreal. I mean where else can you get fried bananas? They are so dang good! A big thanks to the sponsors this year! Mundie's Towing, ABC Recycling, United Petroleum, Lordco Auto Parts, and NGK Spark Plugs…you guys are awesome! I really want to mention this, I know Shawn will agree with me when I say that I am so honored to be part of such a great team. You guys are absolutely amazing and you work your butts off all year long. You take time away from your families and jobs and I know he is appreciative. You have a positive attitude no matter what and that is what makes racing so much fun! OK…I will stop being mushy now but in a phrase…THANK YOU TO THE TEAM! Cheers to a great season and a hopefully even better one next year! I hope y'all enjoy the holiday season and we will see you all in February! Can't wait!

Medford!

September 27, 2010

Hey y’all! It’s Taylor blogging for Shawn…he is a busy boy as usual and somehow I got elected to do it but I really don’t mind! :-) You will probably find that I am much more of a rambler than he is so bear with me! Medford was so much freaking fun! It just could not have gone any better! Beside a little mishap with the nightly gate security guard, everything else was smooth! We had a delicious dinner on Friday courtesy of Outback Steakhouse and another great dinner on Saturday! Mindy and I BBQ’d steaks, made broccoli salad, mashed potatoes, and rolls! Yum! During, qualifying we ran a 5.38 and then improved with a 5.35 so we ended up being number one! We fell off the mark a little bit and slowed down to 5.40s but no complaining here (well except for our perfectionist crew chief, owner, and driver, Bill, Ron, and Shawn)! We want that divisional championship so bad so winning Medford and Earlville sure helped us out! Depending on what Mike Austin does in Atco, NJ this weekend will determine if we win or not…two words…FINGERS CROSSED! I have already started doing my praying and whatever other ritual I can do! Haha...just kidding (well, kind of). If anything, we gained 21 points for the national standings so that will help us out alot! What was so cool about Medford was that we won, our good friends the Hough’s won, and my dad runnered-up! The weather was gorgeous all weekend! And of course in Vancouver it was raining when we got home. Go figure. I had school on Monday so poor Shawn on Sunday night drove straight home and we didn’t get back until 5am! Holy moly we we’re tired! What a way to celebrate a win! I have to mention this because we always feel the void when we are missing crew members…Shirleen, Harry, and Al…we missed you! Sorry you guys couldn’t be there! Oh, and Happy 1st Birthday to Bill and Shirleen’s granddaughter, Lena! So we finally get a little break until Vegas at the end of the month…UNFORTUNATELY, summer is over and the weather is getting crappy again so our free time will be spent working on the house or racecar! I will say it is definitely a treat being home for longer than a week because we get to…GROCERY SHOP! Oh the little things we take for granted! I don’t think my body can handle another Subway sandwich or burger from a fast food joint…EWW. Speaking of free time…it is pretty late and guess where Shawn is? The shop! Good thing our house is only 15 minutes away or he would be putting some serious miles on that truck…he likes that split shift thing where he goes in the morning, leaves, and then comes back. Whatever floats his boat and keeps it from sinking right? Not sure how the boss feels about that :-) We have a busy weekend ahead of us. We are working Friday and Shawn’s nephew is having a “tow truck” birthday party on Sunday! So cute! Welllll…I am flipping exhausted and I have what seems like endless loads of laundry to do…our dressers are running thin with clothes so I better get on the ball….fabulous talking to you all and we will see you in VIVA LAS VEGAS (our favorite track!). Night all!

Earlville!

Earlville Blog
September 15, 2010

EAARRRLLLVILLLEE, Iowa was very good to us! We won!! It was definitely a much needed win and HOPEFULLY (keep your fingers crossed) we can keep the momentum going into Medford! I had never been there before so it was definitely a new experience. The town of Earlville is really small but they have a great little restaurant there called Boonies with ribs that are out of this world. Literally, I picked up the bone and the meat fell off. That is hard to find even at an Outback restaurant! It is total "small town America" with the one-street town. The team loved it…and Tay (being the American that she is) would tell you it was "freaking adorable". We learned a few things about the car in Indy that helped us last weekend. We were able to put down some solid runs but in the last qualifying session that darn Peen-Rite team took away our number one by a thousandth! That hurt a little bit. Our teams were running pretty even with each other this weekend so it was fun to kind of go back and forth! Maybe we won the race because my dad looked through Adam Rhodes magic kaleidoscope! It had to be good luck. After we won the race on Sunday, my team and the Peen-rite team went for dinner at the Country Junction and had a blast! They are awesome people and did a great job last weekend. Here is a brainteaser I have to add. I was told by a few people that Iowa is the "biggest hog-producing state around" but the funny thing is, all we saw were corn. Lots and lots of corn. Where the heck were all the hogs! I am finally home after being away for a couple weeks so I basically have to double the amount of things I have to do to get ready for Medford. It definitely DOES NOT help that I feel like crap. Adam got me sick! Poor Taylor is going to have her hands full with me for the next week! I will try not to be too miserable :-) Time to get to work. Got lots to do!

Indy Blog!

September 8, 2010

Indy Blog

What to say about this weekend? Even though we lost in the final to Marty Thacker, I don’t really have much to complain about except for the fact that a little luck would have been nice! Unfortunately, we smoked the transmission in high gear at the last second but fun was had by all throughout the weekend. There were so many great cars to compete with and it just happened to not be our day on Sunday. We did manage to keep the car consistent running anything between 5.33 and 5.29. Excluding what happened in the final round, we were very happy with the cars performance. We have dubbed that round, “the one that got away”. J Trying to keep it in good fun! There is a great write-up at www.dragracecanada.com about the weekend….go check it out under the Hotzone! I am so proud of my team for their performance and hard work this weekend. That was a lot of racing! Congratulations to Marty Thacker and his team on their 2nd Indy win! That’s awesome! We are currently in Earlville, IA at the Division 5 race. We are #1 qualifier after the first pass with a 5.38! Wish us luck!!