It's been awhile...

Well it's been awhile and I feel like my days run into my nights lately! Sorry for the long delay... They say for every opportunity that you exhaust that being open and flexible will bring new opportunity. Right? Anyway... things did not pan out with MDRA, I got to meet and know some great racers and I am thankful for that - in addition to the experience. But MDRA is a struggling organization and they still have a lot to learn about the sport. I wish them the best of luck if for no other reason than for us West Coast racers to have another place to lay down some rubber.

However, as a racer and business person... I can see how the line can get blurred. But in this sport it is extremely important for that line to be defined...to be CLEAR! Racers put a lot of money and time into a sport that they know will not show them the financial return. We do this because we LOVE it... it really is that simple! It is hard for a person who does not drag race to always think from a racers perspective and yes, I understand that there are times when thinking like a racer will not be beneficial. But it is critical to any race organization to be in the trenches and know the language... to walk the walk not just talk the talk. Having love and respect for your racers is a great start, but it is so much more than that! In the end... say what you mean and mean what you say!

But on to bigger and better things... I have a continued opportunity to work with Big Charlie again for the remainder of the 2009 season and to look at options for the 2010 season. The most important thing to me is to continue to stay involved in drag racing on multiple levels, because this is what I LOVE! I am fortunate enough that my family is always right there beside me!

In between all this craziness, a good friend of ours (you may have heard of her - Katie Sullivan) made the field at the NHRA Chicago race and made it past first round against Karen Stoffer. Miss Kalifornia Katie, she's had a whirlwind month, from winning runner-up at the MDRA May 31st race to graduating from High School to making another hit at the big times with Pro Stock Motorcycle all at the tender age of 18. I have so much pride and excitement for what she has achieved, it gives me goose bumps and she's not even my daughter. I have a lot of respect Katie and her family. Her father Charlie, is by far one of my favorite people. He's always so positive and fun loving! I will continue to root for Miss Katie and I look forward to seeing her obtain sponsorship and make a name for herself! MUCH LOVE and RESPECT!

If you haven't been by my website lately, check it out (www.bumblebeemotorsports.com). Drop by and leave us a comment, we'd love to hear from you or better yet help you out with your marketing needs!

Till next time...BEE safe!
BB

Ready...Set...LAUNCH

Check me out...

MDRA Lost Wages Jackpot Race | Las Vegas, NV April 18-19, 2009

LOST WAGES JACKPOT RACE MDRA April 18, 2009

What a great weekend, loonngg but great! We took off Friday for our weekend in sin city. Cuda, Big Rob hauled Joey's bike to the track (thanks guys), so he rode with them; while Sara and I drove my car. Its always fun to take a road trip, especially to a city you've never raced in! We've heard great things about the Vegas track and presume it to be everything everyone has stated. Besides it has to be awesome... the big boys were just there on April 5th.

The drive was boring but some parts were pretty! Despite its remote location Tehachapi is actually pretty. Sara: Te-Hay-Chapi (LOL...You're awesome)! Anway, it was a decent drive but we were all very happy to get to Vegas! Once we all got settled we headed to dinner and then went to do a little site seeing, as this was Sara's first trip to Vegas (not just the airport).

We arrived at the Las Vegas Strip about 7am on Saturday and it was cold. The wind was blowing and it did not feel anything close to Las Vegas weather! But the morning warmed up quickly! It was time to buckle down, test the track and endure the wind and sun! All of which we were elated to do. The track was everything everyone has said about it, awesome track prep, phenomenal traction and yes even the head wind we've heard about more then a few times! We had a great turn out, somewhere close to 70 bikes!

Joey shown above... Think he's happy to be racing in Vegas??? No way!

Big Rob below on a qualifying pass...

Joey on a qualifying pass...

Another qualifying pass...

We qualified number 1 (nice place to be) in Super Bike and paired against Racer Steve in first round eliminations on Sunday! We were excited and ready for another great day of racing!

Due to some unprofessional drama by another competitor, Cuda's class was eliminated Saturday. However, he was able to join the ranks of FUNNYBIKE to compete for the event. Now that has a nice ring, right... FUNNYBIKE MIKE!!! I like it! Mike is always spectacular to watch, always provides such showmanship and skill! Can't wait to see him race his street tire bike against the 12" tire/wheelie bar bikes tomorrow!

LOST WAGES JACKPOT RACE MDRA April 19, 2009 ELIMINATIONS

Big Rob paired againt Thad in first round eliminations and won! WooHoo Rob!

In the finals, Rob paired against Daryl Wiltz and unfortunately backed out of the beam and the official DQ'd him.

No your eyes are not decieving you, that is Mike Fields, Sr. paired up against Roy Sears in the Funnybike class.

Just a little rump difference! ;) Time to get down to business...

Cuda takes the win against Roy Sears and due to a racer experiencing mechanical failure, Cuda earns a bye into the Funnybike semi-finals. Unfortunately, the run against Sears also hurt his motor. Next round, Cuda knows his motor is not going to make a full run without full detonation so he chooses to stage and breaks the beams. Yet another racer experiences mechanical failure and this earns Cuda runner-up place in the Funnybike class!

We paired against Racer Steve in First Round eliminations and we took the win, which put us into the finals for Super Bike.

Finals paired us against Wil Kimbrough... and for the first time... WE TOOK HOME THE WIN!

We wrapped up our winning trip to Vegas with a quick bite to eat and then headed home! WooHoo, JOE FARIA winner winner of the Lost Wages SUPER BIKE class!

Launching a new website for my first client...

www.portageeracing.com

Check it out...

Started out sunny...

The week started and ended with a prayer to the "sun" gods, we wanted to test the new clutch set-up and of course break-in our new tire. So when today rolled around, we were excited to see the sun as we opened our sleepy eyes. We loaded the truck and headed off to the track. Not many cars or bikes out when we got there, in fact, no one really showed up till about noon or a bit after. So we settled in for a nice "anxious" wait... and hoped that they would do some track prep.

As the morning inched along, a few more bikes showed up. Including one of my favorite racers, Katie Sullivan. Recently, she's been a topic of discussion on dragbike.com/mdra. Some months back she purchased a look alike Pro Stock Motorcycle.

Her and Charlie (her father), attended Frank Hawley's Drag Racing School in Florida awhile ago. Their goal today was to obtain three passes under 7.90 in order for Katie to get her Pro Stock Motorcycle License. Honestly, I can't think of any other female that I would love to see get picked up in Pro Stock [except me, of course ;)]. Overall, they are working hard to try and get everything complete so Katie can play with the big boys and girls at Gator Nationals just a few weeks away. So I was very anxious to see her make some passes. Unfortunately, the conditions were marginal (at best) for what she needed. Plus they are still working out some bugs with a new motor as well as Katie getting used to the bike. Overall, I think she did great and can't wait to see her rock NHRA.

Katie wasn't the only one facing challenges today... so were we. It just wasn't coming all together. Our 60' times were off, our E.T. was off, our MPH was off, overall, the day was off. We didn't have traction problems, although the track is down to concrete in both lanes.

Time to bring in the fat tire cars...only they were slim today. But this one caught our attention, what a beautiful race car!

We LOVE it when Joe comes out, he's such a great person! After we were done fiddling around, we let Joe take his shot at the track with no promises of a good return for his time. He was happy to just not be pushing, towing or riding Rob's tow scooter. :) LOL!!!

Unfortunately, Joe didn't get much out of her either. Big Rob was out playin with his Fields Performance monster today too and he did pretty good! Ran a few 8 second passes and learned a little more!

We did see a guy go down after popping his oil pan. He came down from a wheelie and it got slick from there on out. He rode it out as best he could, before he couldn't control it anymore. He walked away from the accident, but he was experiencing some signs of head injury (concussion, etc.), so they were gonna take him to the hospital just to be safe! Good thinking! We wish you a speedy recovery and hope to see you back at the track soon!

By the end of the day the sun had disappeared and it was cold. Now its time to head home, rest a bit and head off to watch the AMA Arenacross Series at Arco! ;)

Practice, Practice, Practice...

We made some fine tuning adjustments and headed out for a day of testing. We headed 20 minutes from our house to Sacramento Raceway on January 31st for a day of fun! These are the days we love, when the air is crisp (which equals horsepower) and the sun is shining (which means a warmer track). We hit our personal best MPH at 155.61 and a half track MPH of 125.20. The half track 125 mph pass gave us a 9.28 ET and with those numbers we know there is more to tap into. Now back to the garage for some additional tuning...

Overall, we had a great day and got in about 9 passes! If the weather works with us, we'll head back out this coming weekend for some more testing! ;)

Jan. 17-18, 2009 | MDRA Race Season

The new year started off rocky, lots of unknowns. Its difficult to be excited about racing when you have so many looming things on your mind. After much indecision, we finally took the leap and left for Fontana Saturday night. We couldn't leave any earlier, because I had an obligation to fulfill. And as usual I am USELESS when it comes to night driving. Really, its quite pathetic. My body is so programed to shut down at 9-10pm, by the time we hit the road (11:20pm) my eyes were already heavy. I give all the kudos to Joey for his impressive ability to stay awake and drive (no matter the hour).

We arrived at Auto Club Dragway at a bit after 5am. Surprisingly the track was open and since we had never been there before, we asked the guard at the gate if we were in the right place... he had jokes. However, due to the hour AND the long drive behind us... we didn't necessarily see him as "funny". We decided to end our day and start our morning with breakfast. So after finding a place that would not give us "dysentary" as we were advised... we settled in for a quick bite and a full day of racing!

Upon getting into the track, which is no joke, in the parking lot of California Speedway. Despite its location, it actually is a very well prepped track. So we settled into our home for the day near MDRA and got ready to have some fun. I met up with Brandy and made my official transition into Crew Chief/Media Director. We were pleased to see all the bikes that showed up, especially with it being January and a bad economy. It was turning out to be a nice day, warming up quickly!





There was one Pro Gas bike but since he was the only one, he decided to run an ET Class. And despite our Championship in Pro Gas in 2008, we decided to run the Super Bike class this year (9.50 Index). There were five bikes (including us) in our class, which gave us a chance to actually compete.

Unfortunately, Auto Club Dragway does not have lights for evening racing, so they were unable to complete qualifying on Saturday. They buttoned up qualifying for those that did not get to complete Saturdays session and started eliminations.

Our first run was spot on, against Wil Kimbrough, with a 9.51 @ 148.36 mph. Not bad for our first pass on a brand new track after driving all night. [Seems to be our thing...drive all night, race all day, to drive all night home... LOL!!!] Due the odd number of bikes registered in the class, our next pass produced a bye run for us. WooHoo! It was a great opportunity for us to see what we could get out of her without hesitation. She gave us a 9.40 @ 151.39, not bad!! Now we're in the finals and we pair up against Laverk Harper (2008 Super Bike Champion). What a great way to start the 2009 season, the 2008 Super Bike Champion and the 2008 Pro Gas Champion, running head to head (of course within the index) in this round. In the end, we rode away with runner-up! The race was such a great display of two racers, two bikes, that push each other to perform at the highest degree. We were happy with the day overall, the race was fun and the weather was phenomenal!

Photo by Hooliganunderground.com

We wrapped up our race at Fontana around 4pm, headed to an early dinner. Now compared to our drive to Arizona, it surely wasn't a "long" drive... But considering the drive less than 12 hours earlier and the 7 hours ahead, it was for all intensive purposes a long drive home. Again, with astonishing amazement, Joey pulled off the driving feat with little to no effort (sorta). He rocks, seriously! We pulled into the driveway around 11:30pm. So within 24 hours we drove to Los Angeles, raced all day, and drove home. WOW, we are crazy! ;)

Overall, we had a great time, with several bikes and great competition! We can't wait till Vegas in April.

For more information about rules, schedule, pics, and winners visit http://www.mdra4u.com/.

2009 MDRA Season starts January 17-18th

Do you need new tires, sprockets, a chain or fuel... it's race time!

The first race of the MDRA season is January 17-18th!

For more information visit: http://www.mdra4u.com/ or contact Brandy at brandy@mdra4u.com.

CONGRATULATIONS to our 2008 Champions!
View the link below:
http://www.dragbike.com/dbnews/anmviewer.asp?a=4585&z=13

Resolute... not Resolutions!

2009 is on the way...

So they say New Year's Eve/New Year's Day is the time to make your New Year's resolutions! Which really is just another way to say you didn't get to all the things you should have done or wanted to do in the previous year. Ultimately, those resolutions end up just being black ink on that white tablet. The idea of the resolution is to complete goals, to feel achieved. Which is a great concept, but nothing more if it is never completed. So this year I will not make resolutions, but instead plan to be resolute. Resolute in achieving my goals/objectives! I am learning to be more flexible, fluid, and open minded. So my goals and objectives will change with the year as needed.

So with that... I hope each of you finds what you need in the New Year! Remembering there is a vast difference between what one wants and what one needs! I hope 2009 brings many welcome changes for all!

Prelude to a new opportunity...

The west coast has been patiently waiting (for lack of any other colorful terms) more racing opportunities. Over the past several years we have had the opportunity to race with great organizations such as Norcal Dragbike Association and Dragbike Promotions. In the coming years we hope to see those organizations grow and provide more race opportunities.

I am pleased and optimistic in saying, I believe MDRA can effectively replace NMRA and provide us with one more organization to race with!










After several meeting of the minds and discussions, I have graciously accepted a position with MDRA. My objective is to help from the racers perspective, to be the voice of and for the racing community! I am excited to be able to help out in an industry that I have so much passion for, not only as a fellow racer but as a spectator too. I have great respect for all the racers and hope to see the West Coast become even more competitve.

2009 MDRA Race Schedule

January 17-18th ~ Auto Club Dragway, Fontana, CA
April 18-19th ~ Las Vegas Motor Speedway, Las Vegas, NV
May 31st ~ Sacramento Raceway Park, Sacramento, CA
June 20-21st ~ Las Vegas Motor Speedway, Las Vegas, NV
August 8-9th ~ Auto Club Dragway, Fontana, CA
October 17-18th ~ Las Vegas Motor Speedway, Las Vegas, NV
November 7-8th ~ Auto Club Dragway, Fontana, CA

We are trying to get a race scheduled at Auto Club Fomoso in Bakersfield, CA but that is currently a tentative location until we can finalize details. Stay tuned and we will let you know more as soon as we do!

I look forward to the 2009 season, should any of you have any questions please let me know! Until we speak again...

Bumble Bee signing off!

HAPPY THANKSGIVING 2008!

We hope everyone had a wonderful Thanksgiving; filled with family, love, great conversation, delicious food and sensational memories!

HAPPY THANKSGIVING 2008!

BA-HUM-BUG

THE HOLIDAYS DON'T MEAN THE SAME ANYMORE, FOR SO MANY REASONS. :(

Speedworld Raceway, Wittman, AZ | 11-8-08

'Cheers' to a long drive to the P/G Championship!

We left California Friday late afternoon for our long drive to Speedworld Raceway in Wittman, AZ. We've made the drive to Firebird Raceway a few years back and that was a race we'd rather chalk up to a... learning experience, but at least the track was nice. Speedworld has a striking resemblance to LACR in Palmdale, CA. Hhhmmm dirt next to the drag strip...

The facility itself has 13 different tracks; ranging from a RC Airplane track to Dirt Bike tracks to Mud Bog tracks to of course the Drag Strip. By and far, their best revenue opportunities are clearly dirt related. But overall, the track is not too bad.

We made the trip with excitement that we would at the very least get to visit one of our favorite restaurants, Cracker Barrel. Seriously, if you've never had the pleasure... you are missing out. They make the best pancakes in the whole wide world. And as amazing as the restaurant is, there are none in California - not sure how that's possible.

I feel bad that I wasn't able to drive more then the very short time that I did. Unfortunately, driving could never be a career for me. I get way too tired way too easy. Joey did amazing, he drove the whole way there (12 hours).

We were suppose to start racing at 10am but did not make our first pass until a bit after 11am. Now considering the number of bikes we had in attendance there was no plausible reason "why" we were not on-time. But we were there and ready to have some fun!

When it came time to make a pass, Joey was ready to rock. His first pass out produced a 9.32 @ 150 mph. We both agreed the clutch must be going, so we (ok he) made some adjustments and got ready for the next round.

Our next pass was a 9.29 @ 151 mph. After speaking with a few other racers, Joey found out others were off a bit on their mph but pretty close to what they normally run in ET. So we were more comfortable knowing that.

Joey did great, consistent and calm. We worked together throughout the season and won the Championship! WooHoo!

Pro Gas Champion! WooHoo! I am so proud of you!!! You remained dedicated and stuck it out... it was worth it! I can't wait to see what you get for your efforts! YOU ROCK, JOE!

CONGRATULATIONS JOE FARIA ON YOUR 2008 PRO GAS CHAMPIONSHIP!

After all his racing he still drove 99.5% of the way home (another 12 hours). I suck at driving, I'm so sorry.

So we bid farwell to Arizona...