FLYING PIG SCORES SECOND WIN OF THE SEASON!

2019 YEAR OF THE (FLYING) PIG!

And that's no lie.  On Friday November 8th, my wingman Barry (not Dan) and I loaded up the race gear, hooked up the pig on a trailer and headed out to Auto Club Famoso Raceway for the ANRA Fuel and Gas Finals.  We arrived around 1:30 PM, sat in the coach in row 5 until the gates opened at 3PM and found us a nice little patch of asphalt in the pits at about half track.  Barry jumped out and secured some space for Woollybear and Gankster Frankster, Dan and Aidan, and Wayne (super comp) Rich. So the Flying Pig Racing Pit was set with the 3 cars ready to do battle.  Woolly is competing in D/GAS and HOT ROD.  Wayne and I - just HOT ROD.

For me the "big deal" was that this is my first race back after hurting the motor at the August race and missing the October race while the motor was being refreshed. It's always nervous time when you make that 1st pass on the new motor.  And this time we did some different stuff, namely having the pistons coated with an abradable coating that scuffs off during break-in, theoretically giving the pistons a perfect contour match to the cylinder wall. I'm gonna tell you - that motor was TIGHT when we got there.  I could barely get the starter to spin it.  Seriously tight.  So we took the car out for a break-in drive around the pits...about 8 minutes at 1500-1700 RPM followed by tech inspection, followed by another 8 minutes at 2200-2500 RPM. I could already feel it loosening up a bit.

On Saturday we made our two qualifying runs, and man, it was good to get that 1st one out of the way.  The car ran great and that first pass was a 10.53 which was not bad for a tight motor and a nervous driver.
Second pass went 10.45 and I was feeling like I was back in the saddle.  Just where we left off at the last race.

On race day, Wayne (super comp) Rich had a little trouble re-adjusting to his 10 flat Vega after spending the previous 3 days in Las Vegas driving a Super Comp Dragster. He red lit in round one and spent the rest of the day being my biggest fan.

Woollybear won round 1 of Hot Rod, but in round 2 he got bested by his opponent who cut a perfect .000 light!  Woolly then went out in round one of D/Gas, leaving me as the last pig standing!

As for the Pigmobile, I managed to take home the hardware, going 7 rounds to win the Hot Rod trophy!  What an incredible day.  It wasn't an easy one- Barry worked his butt off, handling fuel, tire pressures, driver counseling duties, and oh yeah trying to stem the pesky oil leak that we chased all day. But we did it.  With a little luck and a gift (when my 3rd round opponent red lit by .001) and some good driving we pulled off the second win of the season. We came into this race just 40 points behind the leader, and had a mathematical (albeit small)  chance of catching them and winning the season title.  As for me, my mentality was just go rounds.  Win the race. Whatever happens after that is out of my control. We did our part and I think when the chips fall we'll have finished 3rd in points and 20 points behind the winner.  The season champ is Jerimie Jennings who I raced and beat in the final round! Kind of the perfect script. I was super happy with my reaction times. I hit the tree hard when I had to. 4 of my lights were .019 or better including an .016 in the semi, and an .015 in the final.

missing the final time slip...it's here somewhere.

Race winner with the series champ Jerimie Jennings.

My wingman congratulating the champ.

Greeted in victory lane by the best race promoter, Butch Headrick, and the VOICE of ANRA Mike English!

What else?... Wayno had his new beer sponsor M.Special on board, and they graciously sent out a few cases of brew for the pits!  Enjoyed a mighty fine IPA out there!
Barry and his bride whipped up some killer breakfasts for us.  Especially the breakfast sliders. Wow! What a treat they were.  And honorable mention goes to the feast of bacon wrapped hot dogs on Saturday night.  If that ain't race track food, I don't know racin'!

SLOracer. Out.

2019 ANRA FINALS PREP

Well, after the big win at the ANRA Spring Nationals things didn't go exactly as planned.
We arrived at the June Race something like 10 points behind the points leader, with high hopes and great expectations.

When we headed to the lanes for the 2nd qualifying run I noticed that the oil pressure was acting erratically. Like the pressure was 20 lbs lower at idle than it should be, yet when you revved the motor the pressure came up. I watched it closely in the lanes and decided to pull out of line and go back to the pit. We inspected, and noodled the possible causes. Always being the optimists we tried to convince ourselves it was just the worn out motor, valve train, blah, blah, blah.  So I decided to take it back to the lanes for the clean up round and keeping a close eye on the oil pressure, staged it, launched it and then felt it struggling, so I lifted and coasted it off.

So our weekend was done.  We picked up 10 points (for showing up) and loaded our junk and went home.  The following week Autohaus Dan pulled the motor and we sent it off for refreshing. Turned out the oil pump pick-up tube had broken off.  Not the first time. Also found a broken rocker stud.  So, we've got a refreshed motor, and rebuilt heads as we head into the final race of the year.  Meanwhile, we missed not only that race but the October race as well.

By some miracle, we are only 40 points behind the leaders, so "mathematically" we are still in it. Not that I am doing the math.  We'll just go out there this weekend and break in the new motor and if things go our way we'll finish the season with some round wins and be ready for next season.

It looks like our crew will be Me, Barry, Dan, Aidan Hunt, Woollybear, Gankster Frankster, and Wayne (Super Comp) Rich.  Yes "Super Comp". But that's a story for another day.

WINNER WINNER CHICKEN DINNER

On May 31, June 1-2, 2019 The Flying Pig Racing team headed out to the ANRA Spring Nationals at Auto Club Famoso Raceway, for the second installment of the ANRA series.  Our expectations were high because we sucked in the first race and really needed to step up the game to get in the hunt for a championship.

I left out of Osos at about 9:30 AM Friday with my wingman Barry (not Dan) riding shotgun.  We decided to drag the Flying Pig up to the Patch a little earlier...hoping to get a better pit entry number.  Last race we thought we got there pretty early and got NUMBER 65, which still put us a little farther down track than we wanted. So this time we were a little surprised when we arrived some 3 hours prior to gates opening- and when Chaplain Matt gave us our pit entry number...guess what - it was NUMBER 65 again! Co-incadinky?  I think not!  

We got in and pitted with Woolly Bear and Gangster Frankster, Kenny the Nuke and Ashley, and Dave, biscuits-and-gravy Jann and Karen and Jenna.  So we got our stuff moved into the pits, unloaded, tech'd, and settled in for a relaxing Friday night complete with ribeyes
on the grill!  Life is GOOD!

 

The weather was great on Saturday and we laid down two qualifying passes within  13/1000 of each other and reaction times good enough to qualify #4 for eliminations Sunday. Oh, I hear there were 96 cars in my class (Hot Rod).  I didn't count them myself but I'm gonna go with that number.  Man that's a boatload of cars.  Since 1/2 the field is eliminated each round, it'll take 7 round wins to snag the trophy in this deal.

Sunday eliminations came and the weather was identical to Saturday...Density Altitude and Humidity were staying within a really tight window, so we dialed a 10.55 for round one.  I can't really come up  with enough words to properly describe the rest of the day...but it was the best day of racing EVER!
We went the distance, grabbed the brass ring, outlasted the field... however you want to say it... TOOK THE TROPHY HOME!

I NEVER CHANGED MY DIAL. NOT ONCE. 10.55 ALL DAY

It went something like this:

Round 1-  I treed him with an .012 light and lifted to an easy win at 10.67.
Round 2-  I treed him with an .014 light and lifted to an easy win at 10.65.
Round 3-  My opponent red lit, and I ran 10.552 on my 10.55 to win.
Round 4-  I treed him with an .022 light and lifted to win with a 10.59.
Round 5-  A really close double breakout race I took the win with the closer 10.547.
Round 6-  My only gift of the day (Bye run to the final).
Round 7-  Opponent red lit against my .019 light.  I ran a 10.541 to take the trophy!

A couple notes---

• Thanks to Dave, Barry,  and Kenny for doing the work to get the car ready, and doing final prep in the lanes. (also Kenny for the jug of fuel ;)
• Thanks to Autohaus Dan for keeping the car tuned, solid, and safe at the Central Coast Autohaus shop.
• Thanks to Woolly Bear and Frank and Ashley for the support and the laughs.
• Thanks to Wayne Rich for coaching me into a winning mentality over the many talks this last year. (wish you coulda been there)

An then there is this:  Woolly Bear, "the surfboard guy" as track announcer Mike English calls him, had some really spectacular runs in his bitchin' Nova.  He has found great consistency lately and is honing the reaction time.  He came out with a great win in round one, and just got nipped in round 2.  It's awesome to see more competitive cars in the Flying Pig Racing stable!- or poke I guess.

AND LASTLY- My wing man Barry (not Dan) and I went out for a celebratory lunch on Monday.  We ate at one of those places where you order your food at the window and they give you a number to set on your table so they can find you when they bring it out... and the random number the cashier handed us was NUMBER 65! Ya can't make this stuff up.  I might call NHRA tomorrow and ask if I can swap out my competition number for number 65!

SLOracer.  Out.

2019 ANRA SEASON OPENER April 27-28, 2019

Well it's that old "windshield and bug" story.  This weekend we were definitely the bug!

FLYING PIG RACING rolled into "the patch" at Famoso on April 26th with high hopes to continue to build on last year's success, but it just wasn't to be.

Wayno (the surf legend) Rich, Woollybear (Ding Repair), and I, teamed up in the pits with Chuck (if you don't share your toys...) and Crystal "Scoots" Irvin for the 1st of the ANRA Races of the year.  We all showed up with high hopes for a season kickoff that would set us up for the year to come.

Wayne and I elected to drop DGas this year, thinking we would put all of our efforts into the Hot Rod class and limit distractions, blah, blah, blah.  Woollybear followed suit and so, there we were, three Hot Rod racers ready to take it to the field. LOL.

Wayne who finished 2nd in points last year, and Me who finished 4th in points last year absolutely sucked in round one and lost.

 Ironically, 5 of the top 7 or so from last year went out in round 1.  What a weird start to the 2019 season.  Ok, if it sounds like I am taking some consolation from this, it's true! Maybe we can pull ourselves up out of this.

Woollybear and Chuck followed us directly to the round 1 runner up party. So, wow, an early day.
("Hi honey, I'll be home early tonight.  What's for dinner"!)

Meanwhile (thank goodness) Crystal "Scoots" Irvin gave us a reason to stay and watch, as she mowed down most of the field in Sportsman, finally bowing out in the semi final.  Nice run Scoots!!

So, with ANRA season opener in the books, it's on to the Spring Nationals-  May 31- June 2, and an opportunity to redeem ourselves.

FLYING PIG RACING'S WAYNE RICH GOES TO FINAL ROUND

The Central Coast Autohaus Flying Pig Racing team had nearly the full compliment of family at the ANRA Fall Nationals last weekend at Auto Club Famoso Raceway! What a crew!  We had mine, ding master Woollybear's, and the Lgend Wayno's hot rods there.  And we were joined by Chuck ("if you don't share your toys...") and his bride Cindy- with the Hook Nova..  Support crew included Barry aka Not Dan aka Weldo the Wingman; Dave The Wrench with his posse- Mrs. Biscuits and Gravy along with the girls; Autohaus Dan (crew chief extraordinaire); Kenny the Nuke; Frankster Gankster; J.C. the Wanderer; and of course Ai and Zena- Princess Warrior!  Holy Cow! 

Woollybear has decided to set his badass nova up to run 10.60s (after proving it could run 9s at the last summit race) so he was tweaking it to slow it down, and I think he did a pretty darn good job of getting to that magic number.  Look out next year- this guy could be competitive in Dgas and Hot Rod!

Meanwhile, Surf Legend Wayne goes absolutely unconscious in Hot Rod- marching through the field of over 100 cars- all the way to the final!!  The Vega was insanely consistent and with the help of tuner/crew chief/psychiatrist  Autohaus Danny, Wayne leapfrogged a gaggle of heavy hitters to get himself up to 2nd in the season championship points!  Rookie!! I am learning from this guy.  Thanks Wayno! Round after round, after round, after round...ok, you get it.

7 rounds, a trophy and an envelope $

I came into this race 2 rounds behind then points leader Dale Thomas. As luck would have it I drew him in the first round.  I call that opportunity!  We had a super close race- .002 second separation at the start- I ran him down and blipped the throttle once, taking a close stripe and the win.  So, with that I put myself in position to move up in points- only to lose 2nd round in a close race, but I just "took a little too much win light" breaking out by a couple hundredths.  Luckily for me, a bunch of the heavy hitters also went out in early rounds, so when the dust settles I think I am about 3 rounds out of first.  It ain't over yet!

More pics and video coming. Until then,
SLO Racer. Out.

FLYING PIG RACING AT ANRA SUMMER NATIONALS 2018

Boss Dan, The Wrench, The Wanderer, Kenny the nuke, Wayno the legend, and the one and only (not Dan) Weldo Plazmoski, with me in the pits!

The Flying Pig Racing crew had a fantastic weekend at the ANRA Summer Nationals!!  I mean, it should (almost) be illegal to have this much fun. The temps at Famoso Raceway stayed below the century mark and that makes everyone a lot happier.  The food was great, the comradery was priceless, and the racing was competitive.

Here's a major highlight: Wayne -the legend- Rich popped some new heads on the Vega, and came out strong with a string of 10.04s and a best of 10.005!  That from a hot rod that was in the 10.50s last race.  Nice work Wayno!  It looked like this-

Wayne and I were both first round winners (second round losers) in D Gas, BUT we both did well in Hot Rod.  Wayne went to the semi's while I went out in the 3rd round.  Good news is I took out the points leader in round 2!  I came into this race trailing 1st place by 2 rounds, and when the dust settles and the points are counted, I think I end up just 1 round behind the leader(s).  Wayne jumps up into the top 10 as well.  So it looks like FPR will have two cars in contention going into the final 2 races of the season.  Can't ask for more than that.

Here's one of my time runs -
                                      

Round 1 win-


           
                                           2nd round win vs. Dan Rowly

I was sporting my brand new ROGUE wheelchair thanks to Ki Mobility!  They stepped up and gave me the wheels to get around on and off the track with the ultimate in performance!  Can't thank them enough.  Rene Szalay and Murray Slagerman- thanks for being the guys to make it happen!

And then there is THIS!  So Dave the wrench, pulls me over to his trailer and says "hold on- I have something for you", and out comes WHAAAAAT?! A bottle of Whistle Pig "The Boss Hog" complete with a bitchin' cast flying pig stopper!  This stuff is dear, and the flying pig topper is RARE- only used in one vintage! I guess he searched far and wide to come up with that one!

 

Ready To Go ROGUE At The ANRA Summer Nationals

I just picked up some new sponsorship in the form of wheelchair manufacturer Ki Mobility.  A couple of super smart dudes that I worked with years ago started this new wheelchair company and have grown into a formidable competitor on the world stage of high end mobility and custom seating.  So, when I re-acquainted with them last March it quickly became apparent that they were going to become my ride of choice outside the race car. 

I am incredibly Stoked to be riding the ultra responsive ROGUE by Ki Mobility!

  It is in the soul of the Rogue, the way it stands out, it's defiance of         convention, it's independence that separates it from all others.

Resist conformity. Go Rogue.

                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                         




Meanwhile, we're getting stoked to pick up where we left off at the #ANRA Summer Nationals August 25th and 26th at Auto Club Famoso Raceway! It's been way too long since the last ANRA race and this team is champing at the bit!

So we brought out the ol' pig and put some fresh wax on the awesome Barry Fehlman paint job!

Wax on, wax off!

It was like a community project-  Kenny the Nuke came over with his sidekick Ashley, and jumped right into the washing and waxing.  Before I knew it even the "Tool Man" across the street came over and manned the hose!

Looking pretty slickery

Wax should be good for a couple hun, right?

Ready to go Rogue at ANRA Summer Nat's!

See ya there.
SLO Racer. Out.