Off Season Prep for ANRA SEASON OPENER

During the off-season (well, ok, at the last minute prior to the start of the 2018 season) The Twin (aka "Weldo Plasmoski", aka "not Dan", aka "B-Dawg", my wingman Barry decided it was high time to put some fresh red and white on the ol' pig.  So I obligingly dropped 'er off at his house so we could begin prepping.  Now, if you know Barry, you know that he doesn't do anything half way.  Me, on the other hand, well...that's a different story.  So...after about 20 hours or so of both of us sanding, interspersed with a few bouts of minor body repair, I declared it to be ready for paint!  Mind you, it ain't as easy as just sayin' it to B-Dawg. Remember- he does nothing half way.  I had to repeatedly say "it's just a race car".  And "it's good enough for who it's for:! Shoot, at one point his wife came out and caught him massaging on it after we had called it good. Even she had the mantra down: "It's Just A Race Car", she told him! 

On the following Monday we rented a paint booth at San Luis Customs, and Barry laid down a stellar paint job, bringing the tired old pig back to life! While keeping the theme the same as the prior red/white combo, we kicked it up a notch with a brighter red and a whiter white.  Oh yeah, and there is a little pearl action in the red.  It came out pretty darn good, if I do say so myself!  

There wasn't much else really to be done prep-wise...just an oil change, new 5-point harness, a new fuel cell to replace the aging one, and a good going over by Autohaus Dan to make sure we're mechanically sound and safe to race!

starting to get parts back on

Stripes and numbers back on

WAYNE RICH AND WOOLLY BEAR JOIN FLYING PIG RACING AT ANRA FALL NATIONALS

WOW! Where to begin?
What a blast we had at the ANRA Fall Nationals.
The usual suspects, Dan, Dave, Kenny and myself (absent Barry and J.C.) were joined by a couple of California surf legends turned badass drag racers, hall of fame surfboard shaper Wayne Rich of Wayne Rich Custom Surfboards   and the ultimate fiberglass repair guru Woollybear, of
Woollybear Ding Repair!! along with Frank, helping Woolly sort out the beast.

Wayne and his boards

Woollybear's shop

Neither of these guys had been down the 1/4 mile before this day! So Wayne showed up with a newly acquired '74 Vega.  He's been stressing on this thing for days leading up to this race and had a mad thrash just days prior, after breaking the starter case and turning it sideways to the flex plate on a late night start up at the shop. Having got it all back together he actually prepped a local street (we won't say where!) with some VHT and heat and tried a practice launch.  Crazy stuff! 

Meanwhile, Woollybear shows up with an absolute bitchin' 67 Nova pro-streeter.  He was riding sleeper style with the rat-ish exterior look.  Underneath was some of the cleanest sheet metal work I've seen.

In the pits

Woolly's Nova is a monster.  After a few passes to sort things out and get her to launch and hook, he turned a 10.15 E.T. at something like 135MPH.  That was with the beast up on the rev limiter somewhere around 1/2 track!  No telling what that thing would run on an all out pass.  One well built car!

This is priceless!  This is Wayne's reaction after making his first pass in the Vega.  A stout 10.56.  I think he liked it!

The day was a blur, trying to keep track of all 3 cars.  But here's the highlight- WAYNE WENT TO THE FINAL ROUND OF HOT ROD IN HIS FIRST ANRA RACE!, eventually losing to NHRA stock, super stock veteran Mark Kirby in the final.  What a day!

I managed to make it 3 rounds in Hot Rod, and 2 rounds in D-Gas.  Not a bad day at all...

Wayne and the Nuke

Putting the FPR sticker on Woolly's ride

Wayne's Runner Up trophy

Wheels up launch!

Wayne and I

smoky, sideways burnout

Dan and the Nuke

Wayne

Westbound and down

As we prepare for the 2017 season, here are some pics from 2016 to get us in the mood. 

(As if we need encouragement)!