NHRA Autolite Nationals 2007

What a fantastic friday, it turned out to be! I got to hang out with a good friend of mine, Jason! He's a super sweet guy and available ladies! ;) Sorry I don't have any pics of him... (I'll have to work on that!)

This is the one time a year that I absolutely refuse to miss! I watch drag racing religiously and one time a year I really get to be in the thick of it, I get to see and meet a good percentage of the drivers/racers. This year I did not sit in the same section as I have in years past (that won't happen again), so unfortunately I did not get very many pictures. However, I did get a chance to really have some good race & bike discussion with Karen Stoffer (sponsored by Geico) & Matt Guidera (sponsored by Mohegan Sun & Rocklin Harley Davidson). I met Scott Lewis and got to see Peggy Llewellynn run her career best. It was a fantastic weekend!

Here are a few pics from the day!

Me and Ashley Force!

Ashley's Top Fuel Car

John Force's Top Fuel Car

Go Angelle, Go!

Go Matt, Go!

All in all, it was as always a fantastic day! The weather was beautiful and the fans were so excited to see all the action! Can't wait till next year...

7/20-7/21/07 - Making progress!

First let me say HUGE THANKS to Eddy Palmer for teaching me how to ride his bike and allowing me to do what I do with patience and confidence! THANK YOU!

Friday, July 20th

Unfortunately, I do not have any photos to share with y'all this time, but I do have some good stats!

Friday night I got to run (Thank You, Eddy). I had a very good time and I'm learning more and more everytime I get on. There was a very nice couple at the track from Arkansas, the husband (young guy) who was also learning how to ride a dragbike. Much like me, he started on a streetbike and ventured his luck on a dragbike (courtesy of Mark Rissling). I really didn't get to watch too many of his runs, but from what I heard he got into the 9's. VERY COOL! :) I also heard he got a little loose on his last pass... ;)

The night started out good, my friend Jason introduced me to Matt Guidera (he rides a Prostock Bike sponsored by Mohegan Sun Buell) who happen to be doing a little testing @ his home track. Very nice guy, but he is much shorter then I thought. ;) LOL... you know I mean no harm, Matt. I got to talk to him and his crew about racing which was cool. Unfortunately, he did not really get to test all that much as he was having an "engineering problem"! ;) Hopefully, I'll get a chance to chat with him again at NHRA on Friday!

So on to my runs... I made 4 passes Friday night. As usual my first pass was decent:

• 11.27 @ 131.4 mph with 2.11 60' and .350 reaction
• 12.06 @ 120.3 mph with 2.00 60' and .282 reaction (this one my foot hit the shift lever and I couldn't find the air shifter button)
• 11.24 @ 133.2 mph with 2.02 60' time and .186 reaction
• 11.06 @ 130.4 mph with 1.79 60' time and .663 reaction

So overall, I am very pleased with my runs. As I stated earlier, I keep learning so much about what different things feel like on this bike and what I need to do or not do. I'm very excited about the progress I've made.

Saturday, July 21st

Grudge Fest! I inquired if Eddy wanted to run on Saturday and to my pleasant surprise he said sure. SWEET, I'm stoked!!! Grudge Fest starts at 6pm and there wasn't a large # of cars out and we were the only bike, except for my friend Dan (who was playin around). So I'm bound and determined to get some better numbers today. I know I can do this. I get all suited up and I'm ready to go... So we get up there do our burnout and prep to run:

• 10.33 @ 144.0 mph with 1.76 60' and .301 reaction (WOOHOO, I'm freakin' stoked... this is my personal best E.T. & MPH)
• 12.22 @ 134.6 mph with 2.11 60' and 1.24 reaction (tried something new and it didn't all work out, but I learned)
• 11.05 @ 141.2 mph with 1.97 60' and .537 reaction
• 11.08 @ 129.9 mph with 2.37 60' and .086 reaction (I was much more aggressive on the clutch but still managed to grab it again...dang it!)
• 10.84 @ 140.6 mph with 1.93 60' and .303 reaction (Again, more aggressive - only this time it was with the throttle)
• 11.55 @ 135.1 mph with 1.49 60' and .121 reaction (WOOHOO, again I'm stoked...my personal best 60' time) [This run was actually on the rev limiter (just a tad) and I finally dropped the clutch]
• 11.31 @ 136.4 mph with 1.77 60' and .259 reaction

So at this point I am elated and if you could have only seen me jumping around after my 10.33 run... it was very comedic! ;) Nonetheless, I was not consistent in the 10's nor did I hit the 9's but I did learn a great deal and feel I'm better prepared moving forward to achieve those numbers soon!

In addition, to me running my personal best this night, the bike shared in that victory. The pass that achieved the 144mph is the best mph the bike has achieved to date. I hope to lay down a better number as I get more comfortable out there, but recognize that number isn't going to change too much. :)

I'll be attending the NHRA Autolite Nationals in Sonoma, CA on Friday, July 27th. I'll try to post some pics and highlights from the day upon my return.

I hope to be back at the track soon!

Wednesday Drags

So in my completely bias opinion there truly is nothing that compares to drag racing... I decided to go out to Wednesday Night Drags @ Sacramento Raceway! I had not been in awhile and have heard that there has been a fairly good turnout of bikes. So I went to investigate... (ok not really I just wanted to go) :)

It was a good turnout, too bad we can't get that at our events. I need to figure something out to help promote our events and get a bigger/better bike turnout. No offense to you car people, but frankly I'm a tad more focused on the bikes... So with that said, its always interesting to go out to the track on days when the newbies come out with ego's in tow! Now let me preface this by saying, KUDOS to all for bringing it to the track vs. taking the risk on the street. However, lets follow some simple yet effective track etiquette:

• Wait your turn
• If your prompted to enter a lane (water box or not) - don't be scared thats what your there for...
• DON'T begin your burnout until prompted
• Roll your windows up (car people) - windows down eqauls drag which equals bad ET (and no one cares what your stereo sounds like!)
• When staging, roll into the beam until you see both amber lights lite up... if you deep stage go further until only the bottom amber is lit.
• When your light turns GREEN, you should already be gone... it don't get any greener
• IF something goes wrong with your vehicle during your run, PLEASE pull to the outside of the lane (as far as possible)... no one else wants to wait to run because your a dumb ass.
• Thank you!

Now on to bigger and better things... the girlz did great last night and I am always stoked to see any girl out having fun on the track (car or bike)! No offense guys but your a dime a dozen! ;) So with that said... here's Stacy on her GSXR 750. She is running in the high 10's and has knowlingly figured out what works for her off the line! I personally think she'd have a blast with an air shifter.

Here is Alicia of GoMoto, both her and her husband Ira race. His bike is currently "not feeling well"... so he did not race this night, but he was there in support! :) Good job, Ira!

What a great night of racing! I left before the end of the final run, so I am not sure who won last night (if anyone would like to volunteer that info, I'll post it)! Overall, it was a great night of good racing, great company and a beautiful weather!!!

I LOVE DRAG RACING... I think you've all heard me say that a time or two! I love anything that has to do with motorcycles (streetbikes specifically) and I am always looking for ways to promote safe riding and racing! To get people involved! There is such a stigmata about riders and it really is about educating ourselves and the public. We are not a bad group of people, in fact I've never found a tighter community of people, but that is not to say there are not those out there that abuse the very foundation we try to maintain. I love that anyone wants to ride, but please do it responsibly!

Few more pics from Friday the 13th...

Thanks Roni for the pics!

Helmet hair... not cute!

Back @ the Track...

After a very long absence (at least it feels like it), I've finally made my way back to the track. Only this time I'm not racing a streetbike... this time I'm taking the next step and racing a dragbike. Which is the next step in my long term goals to go ProStock. So here is a few pics of the bike that I am now jockeying (is that a word???) :) hee hee!

I'm so excited and want to take this time to give HUGE THANKS to the Palmer family for giving me the opportunity to ride. Here's me and Eddy talking about what things I need to be aware of... Also big thanks to my friend Tom for coming out to give some moral support too!

So its a tad different to go from a 636cc bike to a 1340cc bike! Some of the differences between what I have raced and what I am racing now... air shifter (what a FABULOUS invention, seriously I LOVE IT), wheelie bar, 1340cc motor, leave on the rev limiter, drop the clutch, no tach to gauge rpms... all of these things are tad different from what I'm used too (too say the least) but I'm super excited to see how far I can take it!

So here are the stats (let me preface these #'s by saying my 60' times were not so good):

1st run - 14.45 @ 105.4 mph (60' = 2.28)

2nd run - 13.44 @ 107.7 mph (60' = 2.11)

3rd & final run - 12.0 @ 119.8 mph (60' = 2.06)

Now keep in mind we opted to start out slow and I launched the bike like a streetbike. I feathered the clutch and attempted to find a comfortable rpm (again within reason since there is no tach). I spun the tire off the line on the second run and on had a hard time finding the air shifter button for the first two runs. On the 3rd run however, everything felt like it was coming together. I was able to find the button easier and hit most of my shift points. NOW I have to work on the reaction and 60' times. I'm not even going to list my reaction times...too embarrassing!

What a GREAT weekend! I hope to be back out there Friday and will hopefully have some more stats to post for you! The goal is to take this bike into the 8's which would me a major rush!

Keep the rubber side down (at least for awhile) and be safe out there!

Summer Visitation

We celebrated the 4th of July with some new friends, which was fun and low key!

We had expected to get to bed fairly early as we had an early morning ahead of us... [sara was scheduled for a 6am flight to Texas] **ICK** Unfortunately, our expectations were overrun by our desire to celebrate a little of the our Independence! We watched many fireworks, small and big; some which inspired a "aaahhhh" while others made us close our eyes (i.e., strobe light type fireworks...not so good). The air was filled with the smell of sulfar, thick and smokey. We ended up crawling into bed around 11pm. NOT GOOD. Especially, when we had to get up and out of the house by 4am. Haven't had to get up this early since...yikes...when I went to court back in November. Bygones...

The morning came VERY early! The alarm sounded at 2:45am and "oh gosh, its that time already" ran thru my mind. So I get up and get movin... when Sara says "its not that bad once you get in the shower"... [hee hee yeah OK] - I think. I hit the shower and do my absolute best to look the part, since once her flight leaves I have to head to work. No rest for the wiery. Well, the morning goes without a hitch. We get to the airport, get her checked in [to which they informed me I can't escort her up after today unless I have a ticket myself, she's not an unaccompanied minor anymore :(], so we get thru security and we head to Starbucks (my necessity this dam early) - Sara downed a Rockstar on the way to the airport [don't know how she drinks those things]. Then we wait patiently for her plane to board, all of which I was doing just fine. As they start boarding... Zone 1... then Zone 2... till finally they get to her [Zone 3]. I keep telling myself [be strong, don't cry]... yeah whatever. As soon as I hugged her, tears started streaming. She then starts to tease me... "are you crying, mom?"... Anyway, I cried and cried... Oh and cried some more. YES, I know she's only going to be gone for a few weeks, but it feels like forever and she's still within eye sight. This is gonna be ugly! So she boards and I finally stop streaming... sit down and settle in for the generally long transition from boarding to actual departing! I cry a little more and finally they push back from the terminal. I watch her plane taxie down to the runway, then it stops and turns around... [hhhmmmm that's odd - I think] and then because I'm in such a fragile state (weapy), I think maybe she had a fit and they are bringing her back. Like that would be a good scenario, right? "Ma'am your daughter was creating a scene on the plane and just out of control..." Yeah, I'm thinking that would not have been so good. So the plane taxie's all the way back to the terminal stopping just outside the terminal, and sits there for 25 minutes. All I can think is "if there is something wrong with the plane, get my baby girl off it"... But alas, it once agains taxies and this time...takes flight! As I watch her plane climb, tears again start streaming... I'm like a freakin water fountain at this point, definitely NOT cute. No woman crying is cute, don't care who she is. So now, my baby is off on summer visit and I am ALONE! Oh gosh, that's such a sharp sound... ALONE. I keep reassuring myself...[she'll be fine, she's going to have fun, she'll be back] all of which inevitably make me cry harder. Ironic huh?

So now I'm on my way to work and my lack of sleep is catching up with me, shit its 7am (now) and I've already been up almost 5 hours, while most people are just crawling out of bed. I get to the office and do what I do... I discover that my lack of sleep can have comical affects on ones speech and ability to function on all cylinders. My boss grants my request to leave a tad early so I can go home and recoop and of course...cry some more! Meanwhile, I'm anxiously waiting to hear from Sara, so I can put my motherly instincts to rest and know that she made her flight and connecting flight, safely. Finally, I can't take it and call her...[sigh] she is ok and made it safely! I feel better but yes during my conversation with her I did... you guessed it... cried! Seriously, ridiculous huh... Oh well, she is one of my prides of joy, so I reserve the right to boo hoo over her anytime. :) So she is safe in Texas and off to visit...

I can only imagine the amount of tissue I'm gonna need when I get home today when she's not there to greet me and inquire about my day... [oh goodness that's making me cry, now] I need to get a tissue! I'll journal some more when she returns...