2 WEEKS UNTIL SUMMIT RACE

Why do I always wait until the last minute? It's just two weeks until the first Summit race at Famoso , and I decided to move the Flying Pig out of the current storage joint. It's just gotten too expensive, not to mention the storage facility was 130 miles from home, and 90 miles from my "home track"! Don't ask.

Things went nearly perfecty. Well, until we started the pig, and fuel came sqirting off the steel braided lines like they were used for pin cushions in the off season. Maybe Dave punched holes in them so he could prove his wrenching skills. What the?! So we went over the fittings, checking everything for tight...and bottom line...the fuel lines need to be replaced. But not today. So that means we get to use the old winch to run the pig up onto the trailer. But first let's re-wire that water pump and fan onto two separate relays to eliminate the pesky fuse blowing that plagued us at the end of last season. Untangle a spaghetti of wires and guess what- they already ARE on separate relays. Crap. So why is the water pump blowing 30 amp fuses? Time for a new pump. I don't know why we didn't do all this a month ago...

On a good note, I got to tow with the new Flex for the first time. It was outstanding. I was really impressed with the power and the gas mileage. Remember the Flex is just a V6, albeit a twin turbo V6. This thing is unbelievable. It hauled my 4000 +/- LBS with no problem, and got 16.5 MPG while doing it. While cruising at 60MPH it was only taching 1600 RPM. The Flex never ceases to surprise me!


Anyway, after long day on Saturday, including about 300 miles of driving, the flying pig is now located just down the street, and I can spend the next two weeks (really) getting ready for that first race. We have Summit Race #1 and #2 on the 10th and 11th of April, followed by ANRA #1 on April 17 and 18th. I am looking forward to putting this "off season" behind me and getting back to competition. It's a lot less stressful than getting ready! :)

Day Tripping 2

This is what spring looks like in eastern San Luis Obispo County! That's what I've been hearing, but had never experienced first hand. Until Friday, that is.

With the temperatures creeping into the mid and even high 70's and nothing but blue sky above, we decided that Friday would be the perfect time to head on out to the eastern edge of SLO county and onto the Carrizo Plain to see if this "wildflower thing" is all it's cracked up to be. I'm here to tell you that it is!

My wife and I packed a lunch, loaded up the dogs, and set out to see if we could find something really spectacular. Without much of a plan, and no map, but with the "local wisdom" that says "go to Shell Creek Road and turn left", we struck out at 11:00 AM heading through the quaint and charming Santa Margarita, and then continuing east on CA HWY 58. A mile out of Santa Margarita the road becomes a winding 2 lane that takes you through some beautiful "horse country", spotted with the occassional ranch house and country estate. The hillsides are a lush green, and already we begin to see large swaths of yellow painted hills, and clusters of poppys along the roadside. We pass the occassional patches of blue and lavender flowers, mostly on the flatter meadowlike stretches along the highway.

At Shell Creek Road we take the left turn and immediately are greeted by a meandering country road, following a running stream, and flanked by vibrantly colored hills on both sides. We pulled off on a seldom used dirt lane where we walked the dogs and ate our picnic lunch.

It was so quiet out there that literally the only thing we could hear was our own breathing, and the occasional hum of an insect or bee flying by!

After basking in the sun for a while we loaded up and headed furhter east on HWY 58 to the Carrizo Plain. I mean this is some spectacular, untouched, expanse of natural beauty. We took the drive out a ways, driving through the largely deserted town of California Valley, and as far as the entrance to Carrizo Plains National Monument. At times we actually stopped the car in the middle of the road, rolled down the windows and shut off the engine to listen to the complete silence. It was truly a remarkable place! And a remarkable day trip!

2010 March Meet Revisited

The 2010 March Meet concluded on Monday. What a great time to take a few minutes to revisit/relive the event! I have to tell you, I didn't actually make it to Bakersfield to witness or participate. I was ambivilent about the weather, and unsure I wanted to make the drive (5 hour round trip) with the threat of rain looming. But then, as the weather began to look like it would cooperate, I found myself sitting around the house feeling like I was really missing out! I mean this was one of the biggest March Meets since it fell off of the NHRA premier series and came back as a Nostalgia Race. Grand Marshall - John Force! Among the funny car drivers - Gary Denshem, Robert Hight, Ron Capps, and the relative newcommer (and event winner) Lea Pruett-LeDuc! Plus 13 other classes, and a car show like you can't believe.



The race gods smiled on me when I went to Famoso Raceway's facebook page and found a link to Bangshift.com ! These guys are AWESOME! They were live streaming video and audio of the whole event. It was the next best thing to being there. In fact if I just could have opened a can of nitro and taken an occassional whif...



The pics below are "borrowed" from their site. I recommend you go here and have a look. You'll find replays of the event and hundreds of photos. You can relive the whole thing over and over! See ya there!

Nationwide- In Vegas!!! by Dave Lee

It was a cool and damp morning in Vegas today. But the racing Gods decided to look favorably on the Nationwide race. After about an hour and a half rain delay and the Jet Dryers working hard to dry off the track, the race was under way.

Now I had just the day before placed a small wager on one #33 Kevin Harvick to win this race. but at about the mid point of the race, and with some pretty poor work from his pit crew, my man Kevin was close to mid pack and with the sky's threatening to unload on the track, I had pretty much given up any hopes of cashing in on that wager. But with a caution for rain and some intense driving by Kevin he over came the bad pit stops and surfaced as the winner! Alas, poor Miss Danica, didn't far as well. bring out one of the cautions of the race and totalling her car.
Tomorrow! The Cup Race! I will report on that after the race.
Dave

Can't Wait for March!

It's February 26th, and looking at the calendar there are some really cool things going on in the next 2 weeks! One, my head wrench is in Las Vegas for the NASCAR race. He's camped in the infield with a great look at turn 4. I'm checking to see if he has his laptop with him in which case I'll have him guest blog from the track! Wow, that was quick. Just got his txt reply- "yes"! So we'll get that set up!

Two, the March Meet at Auto Club Famoso is just a week away. There will be a busy Test-N-Tune session this weekend in preparation (weather permitting). The March Meet is a huge draw on it's own, but to make this year's running even more special, the grand marshall will be John Force!

And three, at the NHRA Gatornationals March 12-14, Doug Kalitta will be sporting a Coors Extra Gold paint scheme in celebration of the 20th anniversary of Darrel Gwynn's 1990 Gators victory.


So for the next 2 weeks or so I am going to be following these stories and hopefully bringing some great pics and stories. Stay tuned!

Baywood Park

It's a little chilly outside, but nice. It's actually just a little break between two storms. And that's just enough for me to take a little trip to Baywood Park to see if the local guys have brought the hot rods over to the coffee shop. Happily, there are a handful of cars in the parking lot when I pull in.


The guys are sitting on the patio sipping hot drinks, and as far as I can tell this is the routine: Every Saturday a small group of locals (mostly) bring their cars over to the parking lot that's shared by the Back Bay Inn and the Good Tides Coffee Shop. It's located at the south end of 2nd Street, alongside the Baywood City Pier. They like to show up around 2PM, and as one of them told me "we stay until 4 O'clock. 5 O'clock if the weather's good!"

This is special. It's no big city, hamburger stand, show off your stuff kind of atmosphere. No, this is just a small group of car enthusiasts, doing what they love. hanging out with like minded folks and talking shop. I might have to make this a "regular" Saturday thing in the future!

And besides, Baywood Park is not a bad place to kill a leisurely afternoon any day of the week. Within 2 blocks are 2 B&B type hotels, A pair of great mexican resturants, a pizza joint, a Thai Resturant, and a couple of art galleries. All in a picturesque setting, surrounded by water on 3 sides. This is one of the most well kept secrets on the central coast! The lifestyle is decidedly "small town" and definitely coastal. But not touristy. If you want crashing waves and lines at resturants this isn't the place. But if you prefer a casual getaway, on the tranquil waters of the back bay, this is for you. If you haven't experienced the simple beauty of Morro Bay's southernmost reaches, you're really missing out. This is where relaxation goes for a vacation!

And Here It Sits

Guilty as charged! In 1987 my wife and I bought this 1966 Mustang. And here it sits. It was a slightly older "restoration". Let's just say it had new paint, and a newer (albeit incorrect) interior. Seems like the previous owner had put in a '65 interior combination that wasn't available in '66. No big. To each his own.

But it bugged me enough that as soon as we could afford it I ripped out the '65 stuff and put in a new parchment and burgandy '66 interior. Sweeeet! The car was/is killer- a converible with power top, the c-code 289, with a c-4 "cruise-o-matic" transmission and dealer installed air conditioning. It was an awesome weekend driver, and when the weather was right, I drove it to work daily. Back in the day, we would take road trips to the coast and Yosemite National Park on a whim. The car was dependable as any car we've owned, and a blast to drive. And it STILL is, except that it seems like we only get it out of the garage a couple times a year. There are lots of "excuses" for this, but no good reasons!

So yesterday I decided that it's time to make an effort to drive it more, and if it doesn't work it's way back into our lifestyle then...well let's not go there! So I dug the keys out of the basket in the hallway cupboard (I'm not kidding) and went out to the garage to fire her up. Now this car has always started right up...3 pumps on the gas, turn the key,and "fire in the hole"! Well...after 14 attempts with no such luck, the beast finally woke up, and I feathered the gas pedal furiously to keep it lit. After a minute or two, it sounded like it might stay lit without constant attention to the pedal, and I let her idle. Well, i don't know if this qualifies as "idle" exactly- it sounded like it was running on 7 cylanders and it was belching some pretty rich black smoke out the back end. I've got a slightly bigger cam in the thing, but this sucker was loping like no street car I've ever seen. Anyway, after a slight idle adjustment and a little warm up it seemed like it might actually be drivable. That is after I put some air in the tires. As for that little (or not so little) dark spot on the garage floor, (conspicuously located under the tranny) well that can wait 'til another day!

So, having got to this point, all I needed to do was move my Ford Flex, which was parked in the driveway behind the '66, pull the Mustang out to where I could get to the right side tires and air them up, and go. But, alas, I think I've done enough for one day, so Here It Sits. Maybe tomorrow...