He’s handsome, he knows how old he is, he’s got a cool birthday cake, and he digs Tony Schumacher. This kid is the total package!

After neighbor David got done modeling his shorts and inflatable lightsaber, he took control of the Darth Vader-head piñata. What a party!

After being photographed in her underwear during a doctor’s visit, Layla has become quite camera-shy. The rest of the party-goers were not bashful.

While Brent and I look happy just to be at the Smokers’ get-together, Wayne King and Ed Iskendarian (in the middle) look like the winners of the “Santa and his Elf” look-alike contest!

Sandwiched somewhere between all those fine folks getting blown around by the wind and that brand new Wal-Mart store in Joplin, I believe there’s a nitro Funny Car. I knew we should have painted it a brighter color!

Just a small sampling of some of the devastation around the Joplin area. These buildings were less than half a mile from where we had our display.

I was about as “court-side” as one could get for the Globetrotter’s. Do you ever have days where you feel like #12 out there? (I suppose that’s too philosophical a question to pose on my blog).

The guy on the left is the REAL “Fast”...as in “Fast Eddie” Schartman of early Funny Car fame. The guy on the right, Al Turner (who was head of Lincoln Mercury’s racing division back in 1966), was a huge reason for the flip-top coupes very existence.

Jess VanDeventer and Jerry Baltes both have great racing pedigrees and  continue to support for sport. I wonder if glasses will make me look smarter, too?

Bob Taaffe (once Garlits’ right-hand man), Steve Gibbs, Herm Petersen, Marvin Graham, Jim Walther (NHRA’s first rear-engine Top Fuel champ in 1972), and Don Hampton; the last gentleman I can’t remember, but he seemed nice, so we let him in our photo!

This is what 84 feet of motor home looks like. We cut off the front 39 feet, and are polishing the Signature. I guess you can say I’ve been doing a lot of work on my Signature lately. Get it?

Layla’s latest head-size checkup gave us encouraging news, but she’s going to have to stop sitting around in her underwear all day long (her legs are getting fat!). We’re also preparing Jason early on to be crushed by younger women.

To say that my schedule hasn’t let up in the past two weeks would be...correct (you may have been expecting some clever idiom, metaphor, analogy, or parable, but I’m just a simple man trying my darndest to write a timely blog). Anyway, let’s dive right in, as I’m sure you’re hoping the boss doesn’t come around the corner and discover you wasting company time!

My son Jason turned five on March 8, and this was the first time I’ve missed his birthday (which now means I’m batting .800). Though it was difficult not being there on his big day, we did have a small party before I had to take off for eight days (a birthday party, not a celebration that I was going to be gone for a long time). We had Grant, Nolan, and Jack (hereafter known collectively as, “the triplets”) over, as well as our former next door neighbors, Rylie and Kasey. We wanted some kids Jason knows, but we didn’t want a trashed house, so it worked out well. Jason added to his burgeoning Star Wars toy collection, and Jenna didn’t freak out over a dirty house.

The day before our “Cinco de Jason” party, Brent Cannon and I spent the day at the March Meet in Bakersfield. After the race, we attended the Smokers’ dinner in town, and I suppose I should clarify: I’m NOT referring to a bunch of nicotine addicts, just so you know (though several of them do, and should stop, inhaling smoke). The “Smokers” of reference here are the members of the car club that put on the very first “March Meet” (known as the ‘Fuel and Gas Championships’) back in 1959. There’s lots of nitro history that came from this area of California, and their yearly get-together featured some legendary folks and great stories. Prudhomme was the featured speaker this year, and I always love listening to “the Snake” talk about racing back in the early years.

The reason I was gone for eight days was that I had a Valvoline appearance at a Wal-Mart in Joplin, Missouri on the Tuesday before Gainesville. This particular store was rebuilt after the terrible tornado back in May of last year. Valvoline donated money to try and help out this community that lost 160 lives (in what was the deadliest tornado in over half a century).

Though it was very windy outside (and they had kindly set up tables and a chair for me inside), it just seemed right to hang out next to the car and chat with the folks as they walked up. The Ragsdale family, friends I have met through racing, drove up to welcome me. Several of us went out for barbeque after the display (which lasted an hour longer than scheduled, and I was delighted to spend the extra time there), and toured some of the damage. It’s hard to believe that, nearly ten months after the tornado, so much of the area is still decimated, with rubble piles and ruined structures as far as the eye could see. It was a humbling afternoon.
 
Wednesday morning I was on a plane to Florida, as I had a date with some tall dudes (that sounds a bit odd!). Okay, I had an opportunity of a lifetime: to get to spend some time with the Harlem Globetrotters! The only time previously that I had seen these ambassadors of good-will and three-pointers was back in the 70’s, when Meadowlark Lemon and Curly Neal were on the roster (and I hear that Curly is still affiliated with the team, well into his 70’s!) Bob Tasca, Bob Vandergriff (hereafter known as, “the Robert’s”), Hillary Will, Matt Hagan, and Top Alcohol Funny Car driver Cassie Simonton all got Globetrotter jerseys (I won’t be wearing mine out to dinner...but it does look cool with my name on the back!), and I even got to be a guest referee (meaning I threw on a striped shirt and said a couple of rehearsed lines...AND I got to throw the ball to the guys... twice!). On the drive back to the hotel, Matt and I agreed we’d stick with throttle pedals, and not free throws!

Thursday I had to play hooky from the Service Central autograph session (Lynn, I’m sorry, and you’re still the man) to attend the International Drag Racing Hall of Fame induction ceremony (THAT’S tough to say after a couple of drinks!). Pat Garlits, who wasn’t even expected to survive her last hospital stay, (as she is suffering terribly from health issues), actually stayed for the entire evening, which was quite a blessing. I got to meet a couple more of my childhood “heroes”, and listen to more interesting stories of how things were back before gasoline was invented. I can’t tell you how much I cherish getting to chat with folks that were making headlines on the strip while I was still in diapers (now, THERE’S a visual!).

Our Gainesville race went pretty well, qualifying second and making it to the semifinals. We got a strange red-light in that round, which could have been devastating, had Hight not outrun us. I’m still not sure why the light went red before our car moved (I have a pretty good idea, but it would take too much typing and bore too many of you), but basically my reaction time was approximately .180 quicker on the timeslip than it really was, and our elapsed time was slower by that same amount (our computer shows we ran 4.04-4.05, but the timeslip read 4.22). It’s a bad way to end a race, but at least it didn’t alter the outcome of that round. Had Robert smoked the tires we really would have been frustrated.

My Beaver went to Colorado! Yes, it was a bit sad seeing Chris and Marcey drive away in our RV. They bought it, sight unseen, and flew in to pick it up. They tell us they love everything about it, as we knew they would. It was a great coach for us; with plenty of memories of trips across country with Jason...stuff money could never buy!

We let our Beaver go cheap (okay, that statement sounds borderline felonious!), as we had an opportunity to get Rodger and Karen’s Signature unit for a song (actually, Rodger would prefer that I don’t sing). They had too many RV’s, now utilizing a conversion to tow their stacker trailer, and the Signature was just sitting. So, out come the notepads, steam-cleaners, screwdrivers and drills, and it’s time to get this unit ship-shape for the rest of the year. Heck, I’m not even sure I know how to flush the toilet on this thing...it’s got so many added features compared to ours! I think there’s a butler and a maid that are hiding somewhere down in the basement storage bays...this thing is loaded!

We’ve finally got just about everything handled on Cindy’s move. Neighbor Shelly decided to take over the new condo painting (you go, girl!), freeing me up to finish stuff at the old house from the home and termite inspector’s reports. I replaced several pieces of wood, fixed an overloaded circuit breaker panel, and found at least five other benefits of utilizing my Little Giant ladder (no, I am not a paid endorser...but I dig it!). Last Saturday was the big moving day, and the Cannon’s and Coombs made it much easier. If there’s one thing worse than moving, it’s got to be moving in the pouring rain, when it’s cold. If you’d like to make it even tougher, having the flu really made it a rough day. Everything ached after we finished unloading the second trip, and Sunday I became a guinea pig for massive doses of Motrin.

I’ve already had a couple of meetings this week with prospective sponsors for our team, and hopefully something good will come of that. Don Schumacher made a logical business decision to move the Aaron’s funding over to Matt Hagan’s car, but that has left our team partially funded for the season. I’m doing everything in my power to reach out to potential marketing partners to bring them on board.

My schedule isn’t going to lighten-up any time soon, so I’m thankful this cold finally seems to be going away. I’ve got to show some NASCAR guys how good us drag racers are around the turns on Friday, and Saturday Capps and I will be go-karting (probably in the rain....again!) for charity up at Infineon. Throw in a garage sale, more RV servicing, and then it’s time to head to Vegas.

Five is cool, two RVs are too many, and 800mg of Ibuprofen should help!

Stay tuned.
 

So, I’m heading to the airport tomorrow morning, I haven’t written in 4 weeks (which is two races to all you hardcore fans), and it’s nearly midnight. Sounds like my typical M.O. (thought I’d throw in some Latin for you REAL old-schoolers). Hey, how come Latin folks speak Spanish? Anyways, I digress....

With all that has happened in the past month, I’d be sitting here for hours just trying to recall, repeat, and recant my activities, and I just don’t have that kind of time. So, I’ve selected some photos, I’ll caption them accordingly, and I’ll give you guys the “Reader’s Digest” version (for you literacy buffs out there) of all things Beckman:

I’ve taken up painting lately, and I must say I’m getting pretty damn good. Before you start jumping to conclusions, I’m not dabbling in canvas recreations of the Old West, nor am I trying to emulate the Blue Period of Picasso (you art historians would of course know this to be from 1901-1904, during which time Pablo apparently ran out of all colors except blues and greens). Hey, here’s some useless trivia for you Jeopardy followers: Picasso’s real name was: Pablo Diego José Francisco de Paula Juan Nepomuceno María de los Remedios Cipriano de la Santísima Trinidad Ruiz y Picasso. Can you imagine him trying to sign that on the back of his paintings? I think I’d just have called myself, “Pee Pee,” but perhaps that would have instigated some ridicule. Oh, yeah... back to my story:

My painting lately has been displayed mostly on vertical surfaces, and featured the use of the fine products from Behr, primarily Latex and primer. Yep, I’ve made many a trip down to Cindy’s (my mother-in-law) new condo to change that ugly blue and green (with my apologies to Pablo Diego Jose Fran.....ah, never mind) to a more neutral earth tone. If you want to see exactly what that new color is, my hands and arms should still have plenty of samples on them in Gainesville.

Layla got her first central incisor (that would be a tooth to you who aren’t fluent in all things dental) about 10 days ago, and we’re still on the hunt for tooth #2. Jason had the bottom front two break daylight on the same day, but his little sister appears to be slightly behind him in that department. All the fussing, crying, and drooling (I’m not referring to me on that) tells us it won’t be long before more teeth appear.

Yes, it runs. Yes, it’s THAT small. And, yes, someone has WAY too much time on their hands!

I don’t know what was more impressive: Randy’s amazing “Museum” (I see cars from Ivo, Capps, Gilbertson and Hight just in this shot), or Tyler’s glow-in-the-dark jacket!

We’ve had to take our little Princess on several doctor appointments, as there has been some concern about the size of her noggin. The pediatrician felt worried that Layla’s head was growing at a rate that could indicate bigger problems, and that has caused lots of anxiety here at the Beckman Estates. Instead of sending her in for a CT scan, which is an alarming amount of radiation for a little body, we elected to visit the neurologist first. He seemed to think her large cranium and slight delays in achieving some “milestones” (rolling over, pushing herself up, etc.) were not that unusual, and not a reason to be so fearful. Hell, big heads and slow development are a hallmark of the Beckman family tree!

I think every parent wants their child to be special, to stand out and achieve great things, to set themselves apart from the average person. And yet, at moments like this, all Jenna and I really want is for our daughter to be normal, average, and “unremarkable.” Health truly is the most important thing a person can have. Except for maybe a nice car... and pretty teeth... and a hot wife.

I was able to hang out with the guys on the crew several times, both before and after the Pomona race. Randy Haapala lives about 30 minutes from me (roughly a half hour for you math professors out there), and has amassed an unbelievable collection of drag race memorabilia. My buddy Bob Frey and I set out to take in the sights over at Randy’s place, and we turned our twosome into an eleven-some with the addition of the crew, Brent Cannon, and Rick Green from Drag Race Central. And... Randy has friends that like to collect cool stuff also. So, we set off to see another garage packed with bitchin’ toys, cars, surfboards, and the like. I’m not sure if it’s cool to use any names, so I’ll keep that on the “down-low” for now.

The guys and I also went and saw a nice explosion (my definition of that is ANY explosion where I’m not behind the wheel). I have several buddies that run a local quarry, and their job is to make lots of little pieces out of a couple of big pieces (which, ironically, kinda sounds like my job). Unless you’ve seen a demolition crew blast a big chunk of earth in person, you don’t know what you’re missing. This was my second viewing, and I intend to go back for more. The crew was so impressed that we may try to schedule a November viewing when they’re back this way for the Finals. We just need to decide who’s doing the cooking and who brings the beer. As for me, I want to push that ACME/Wiley Coyote plunger and start the fun!

I had an extra $400 laying around, so on one of my painting trips I decided to run over someone’s lost hex driver and puncture one of the PT tires, causing a real dilemma: what do I do now? The fronts only had about 5,000 miles left on them, but the rears would have easily gone another 15,000 plus. But, with Murphy’s Law being what it is, I of course blew out a rear tire, and it didn’t look good. It only made sense to bite the bullet and put 4 new shoes on my P.O.S. Cruiser (you can fill in the acronym on that). Fortunately, my friends at Mountain View Tire Centers, the Mitsoses, made sure I was treated right. Still, it was a little like putting $200 running shoes on a guy in a wheelchair (the car is getting old and tired).

I wanted to call my friends and tell them the great news, but I decided to share a photo with all of you... my extended family! Aren’t you proud!

Speaking of old and tired, how about my Little Red Wagon pickup (with apologies to Bill Golden). Yeah, my pride and joy just turned 250,000 miles, so I of course had to pull off to the side of the freeway and take a photo of the odometer (why don’t they call it a “mile-ometer”?).

Rodger and Karen Comstock have been some of the biggest supporters of the incredible BRAKES organization of Doug Herbert, and I like to help whenever possible. On February 24, BRAKES held a fundraiser at the NHRA Museum. Rodger had reserved a table, but he and Karen were in Phoenix racing at the divisional meet, so I was tasked with filling it. Brent and Staci Cannon, Jim and Leann Costanza, Bob and Karen Pederson, and my favorite orthodontist (that’s someone who fixes your teeth), Dr. Steve Chapple all came out to help raise funds to instruct more youth to become safer drivers. Neat deal.

Speaking of safer drivers, did any of you see my second round race against Gary Densham in Pomona? Holy carp (I’m allowed to make references to religious fish without getting into trouble)... was that unbelievable. I’ve probably made more than 600 runs in a nitro Funny Car and never once came close to the centerline. Well, I certainly ended that streak in a big way. Not only did I get the centerline, but I collected two cones and another Dodge Charger in the process. Fortunately neither car was seriously hurt, but man was that strange. That car moved so violently that many of the other crew chiefs thought we must have broken an axle or lost a spill plate. One of the more frustrating parts of that incident is that we really don’t know what caused the car to turn so abruptly. Our numbers up ‘til about 450 feet indicated the car was on at least a 4.04, and in a split second everything changed.

Phoenix was kinder to us, but did you see all the Funny Cars veering over the centerline there? (At this rate, this year could be the most interesting ever for the fuel coupes!). We had the second quickest car in the semi’s, but our problem was that the quickest car, Mike Neff, was in the other lane. Still, we like our chances of getting a trophy real soon.

While at the Winternationals, Brent and I were able to attend a roast for Don Garlits. The “roasters” were: Dave McClelland, Ed Pink, Sid Waterman, Ed Iskendarian, Jerry Ruth, Tommy Ivo, and Don Prudhomme. Bob Frey did his usual amazing job keeping things flowing, and the stories were fantastic. I can’t tell you how much I enjoy just being a “fly on the wall” around some of the pioneers of this sport. I have been so blessed to have been able to meet so many of these incredible folks over the years.

I suppose I better close for now, get a few hours sleep, and catch my plane back east. I am doing a Wal-Mart appearance for Valvoline in Joplin, Missouri before heading to Gainesville. Joplin was decimated last May by a tornado with winds well in excess of 200 mph! 160 people lost their lives, and hopefully we can help put a little sparkle back in the community by displaying our car and getting a chance to hang out and talk with the residents.

Stay tuned, don’t take pictures of your dash while driving, and stay in your lane!

Well, looks like another two weeks have passed, so here we go with another entry into “what the heck has Jack been up to?”  Well, let me tell you.....

I’m sure that I’ve rambled here sometime in the past few years about the honor of being asked to become a member of the “Throttle Merchants” car club. Founded way back in 1948, one of the original members actually went through the Frank Hawley Drag Racing School in one of my classes. Earl Gerard even let me drive his (and partner Charlie’s) dragster out in Tucson, not far from their homes in New Mexico. Anyway, Earl recommended me for honorary membership before he passed away, and I think it’s totally cool to be part of a club that has included some legendary drag racers. Members like Jeep and Ronnie Hampshire, Frank Huszar, Kent Fuller and many others make this a formidable club.

Me and 29 of my newest buddies. It was very cool to have Ivo, Muravez, Spider Razon and Bob Beck show up when I got inducted. Good thing I like purple!

In actuality (that means I’m not lying), the Merchants weren’t the only club that I claimed membership to. My father presided over the first meeting of a club known as “The Clockers” (no, they didn’t repair time pieces...it was a reference to being “clocked” with the timers at a dragstrip. Or maybe they were all hoodlums who beat people up, and my dad didn’t share that information with me). Yep, that meeting took place back in the ‘50’s in the basement of my grandparent’s home: 909 Louisiana Avenue in Cumberland, Maryland. Perhaps they felt obligated to have me become an honorary member.

Anyway...there I was, zipping through life, thinking that two clubs was the maximum allowable. Then, my old pal Eddie Salvatore calls. “Fast Eddie” (no relation) and I used to compete against each other back in the ‘80’s at LACR. Eddie now presides over one of the most prestigious clubs ever formed: The Road Kings. Tommy Ivo, Bob Muravez, Don Prudhomme, and Kenny Safford are amongst the alumni of this group. When Eddie asked if I’d be interested in becoming an honorary member, I was flabbergasted (that means I nearly peed myself). Now, I am proud to consider myself part of them.

There you have it; a Clocker, Merchant, and King...all rolled up into one handsome package. Yep, 185 pounds of solid steel and sex appeal. And do I have to remind you of the humility I possess? I though not.

Here’s the Miami local #71 Elevator guys partying with me in the pits at West Palm. Apparently they brought their own beer, AND their own John Force look-alike!

Here’s post-testing, with me, Tim, and Air-Force friend Mike celebrating out on the intercoastal with our favorite Captain (Morgan, that is).

My little buddy Joel celebrated another birthday (he’s a VERY special young man), and apparently he told his mom Regina that he wanted a clown on his cake. I may be the only fuel driver whose suit is louder than their car!

Birthdays” are only fun from about 3 years old to about 21. Here’s Layla celebrating # ½ by chowing-down on infant oatmeal...what a party!

The triplets with my single-fertilized egg next to the full-size version of their toys.

Here’s Brent and Staci (Layla’s Godparents), along with Jim and Ireta. I’m still squinting from staring at that firesuit too long!

Here’s Layla moments after a complicated transfer of oatmeal, from mouth to diaper. Jason is still happy to be a big brother; I just wish he could change her diapers!

I don’t know how many of you were following the preseason testing in Florida, but I was so happy our car ran the way it did. We made 16 runs over the 5 days we were there, and we genuinely were able to “test” (as opposed to just making laps and “practicing”). Not only did we have an entirely new chassis, but Rahn and John did some major reworking on the fuel system to get back to a combo that Rahn felt more comfortable with. Then we tested superchargers, clutch discs, and clutch levers. And, I’m happy to report that I contributed mightily, as I tested (successfully, I should add) brand new fireboots from Impact. I even got them on the correct feet (with the help of the “R” and “L” written on them.

I think that, after day three, there wasn’t anyone on our team that wasn’t confident enough to load up and head to Pomona. A cool thing about this test week was that Friday and Saturday were open to the public, and we made 2 side-by-side runs each day. Our 4.037 was a personal best, and we were the second quickest FC of the week, but none of that is worth a single NHRA point, so we’ll have to wait until the Winternationals to show how prepared we are.

I’m including a shot of my new firesuit so you can take a long look at it...it won’t look nearly that nice the first time I wear it in the car. If that’s not bad enough, the guys just texted me a photo of the back of our hauler, and there I am, 10 feet tall and looking like the love child of Elvis and Liberace. I can’t imagine being stuck behind that trailer in traffic.

Before testing, I flew out to Nashville for the O’Reilly Auto Parts convention. No, I wasn’t looking for a deal on Autolite Spark Plugs (but I did just get them a free plug), I was representing Valvoline (Along with teammate Antron Brown) and signing autographs for all the store managers nationwide.

Our little girl turned .5 on the 12th (we’ll just call it 6 months old to simplify). To celebrate, we fed her first solid food to her (awkward sentence). We’re now progressing one flavor at a time through the “stage 1” baby foods. She gets four straight days of one food, and if there are no rashes, irritability, excessive shopping, oily discharge, cursing in Greek, speeding on the turnpike, or voting Democratic, we move on to the next one.

Jason went to his first dental appointment. Dr. Chapple is a good buddy of mine, a car nut, and a damn fine drummer. His band played a few years ago in our hospitality after the Finals, and probably will do so again this year. Dr. Steve got Jenna all prettied up, then made sure all 20 of Jason’s teeth were pointing the right direction. At this time it does not appear that Layla needs any dental treatment, so that was good news (that’s a joke...she has no teeth...YET!).

Mom-in-law Cindy (who still has all her teeth) is selling her house in Fontana and just purchased a condo closer to us. We’ve been taking care of all the logistics of buying a new property, plus we now have to get her house in prime shape to list.

That was two days ago that I finished the last paragraph. Since then, we’ve been going hardcore at Cindy’s house, cleaning, painting, fixing and improving. I’ve even done a lot of “barking”. No, not the kind where you’re communicating with canines...I’m talking about distributing the mulch/bark all around the yard to make it look pretty. However, all that hard work did have me panting quite a bit. Get it...panting (that’s what dogs do in lieu of sweating...get it?).

Now that I’ve delayed my pre-procrastinated blog even further, allow me to wrap this up quickly. Other recent Beckman adventures have included:

Layla got to attend her first Monster Jam event in Anaheim. We also let Jason come along, and our neighbors Curtis and Shelly brought Grant, Nolan, and Jack (hereafter known collectively as “the triplets”). We went early and walked around the pit area to see the trucks and drivers close up. Jason cried when Grave Digger lost in the racing portion, but was elated when that truck won the freestyle competition. Man, is my little boy sensitive!

I got in my last surf session before the season starts. It was pretty chilly out there, and this is the first time I’ve felt that cold in quite a while. After drying off, I headed over and bought a new, thicker wetsuit. Dive N’ Surf in Redondo Beach has a yearly sale every February, and Saturday was my first opportunity to get over to pick up the suit I wanted. It seems like it must be a popular suit, because I bought the last one. I like to go with black and stay “low-key” (so people don’t make fun of me), but the only one left was blue and gray, so I suppose I’ll stick out like a sore thumb. Of course, with the way my new firesuit looks, it appears I’m trending that way.  Still, I saved $120, and this should last me another 3 years.

We had Layla “dedicated” last Sunday. You may be confused, thinking someone dedicated the Clapton song on the radio, but I’m referring to our little girl, and having Pastor Jim Willoughby perform her, well...dedication. See, now that I’ve explained it, we’re all crystal-clear (Even I don’t understand what I just said).

Lest I ramble for another five paragraphs, I think I should attempt to get all my photos captioned, spell-check everything, and get this sent over to Phil and Candida for a Monday posting.

Stay tuned, dress conservatively, keep your teeth clean, and dedicate Layla!
 

One of my favorite pics of all time, with two of my favorite legends...and they signed this one for me!

Any excuse to use the forklift will do, but race cars and rust simply don’t mix.

If this nitro driving thing doesn’t work out, perhaps I can find some work in a local paint and body shop.

Our trailers were some of the last to go out for shortening (that sounds odd), and when they came back I think the lettering on the sides read, “Aaro”!

We always have a $30 gift exchange at our Christmas party. With the way the economy has gone, and the government raising the debt ceiling and printing more currency, I just stuck $50 in an envelope and figured that’s about right!

The historic Mission Inn. Ronald and Nancy Reagan honeymooned here, but I doubt they got to see lights as cool as these. And, those bells!

Is that a Princess and a little companion that I see? Hey, is that gold dude the prototype for the Wally?

This is one of those “sliding pin” deals, where you can push on the back of the wall and “transfer” an image to the front. Jason sure can jump high, but clearly I forgot to adjust my “J” to be read correctly (I do get extra points for wearing my “Rain for Rent” Warren and Coburn shirt!).

Jason and his fellow demolition contractors just before blowing up a 60 foot high wall of earth and rock. The blast sight is down past the boys, about 1/4 mile away at the bottom of the quarry.

The water was so chilly I was tempted to put on my firesuit and helmet!

This may be classified as child abuse, keeping the young ‘uns up past midnight. By the looks on their faces, Jason and Layla need to lay off of the Jack Daniels!

Jason had a wheezing that necessitated using a nebulizer for several days. He wasn’t happy, so we told him it was part of his Jedi pilot training to fly an X-wing fighter.

Layla held down the pool table, Jenna wrapped presents, and those two guys in the background looked like they were having a toast.

I started typing this blog on the 11th, and it won’t be sent to Phil and Candida for posting for several more days, but I would be remiss if I didn’t comment about yet another big loss to our sport. Earlier today TC Lemons, one of the most colorful, entertaining (and THE best storyteller I have ever met) and enjoyable people ever to handle a torque wrench died in his small house located on the property of Garlits’ Drag Racing Museum. I am sure that Phil Burgess will do a fitting tribute to a man who I was fortunate enough to become friends with, so let me digress back into my regular blog. Godspeed, TC. It may not be freezing in hell, but you’ll show ‘em how to do fire burnouts in heaven!

I love my job, but it does have its drawbacks. Some of you may think I’m talking about all the travel, appearances, stress, time away from home, etc. I’m actually referring to the fact that it makes me do superfluous things in the off-season. I shall pause while you look up that word...

Yeah, I keep plenty busy once the Winternationals roll around, but there are certainly some “lulls” between the Pomona events that even raising two small children can’t quite fill. Hey, I’m not exactly laying on the couch all day watching History Channel (though that REALLY sounds appealing to me!), but without having a race car to keep me busy working, I’ve gotten into some projects that probably didn’t need my attention.

My Super Comp Blackbird is going up for sale, and don’t ask me why I decided to wait three years too long to act on this (though it has a lot to do with my wife thinking we should save it forever, and apparently she thought we’d have our own museum for storage by now). It’s tough to part with that car, but with two little ones and a busy travel schedule, I haven’t raced it in far too long and it’s becoming an eyesore (Jenna says the same about me: I just sit around and am an eyesore... but I’m not for sale!).

I noticed that the tongue of the trailer was really faded, and the Tuff-Tow (dolly wheels mounted on the tongue) assembly had started to show surface rust. Being as that I had LOTS of free time on my hands, I thought it prudent to remove the entire assembly, sand everything down, prime, and repaint. Did I mention that I was also able to include the forklift into this little project? Yeah, except for trying to “rattle-can” paint the tongue in a light wind, it actually was quite enjoyable. And, it looks bitchin’ now... makes me want to NOT sell it!

Some of the stickers on the trailer had faded to the point that they looked terrible, so out came the heat gun, razor blades, and elbow grease. (The razor blades are for slitting my wrists for starting this project.) While I was at it, I changed the oil on the generator. Yep, even my trailer runs Valvoline NextGen now!

I bought four tubes of that trick self-leveling caulk (that sounds kinda weird!) to use on the roof of the RV. Though we don’t have any leaks, experience from past units has taught me to be proactive. After a couple of hours with a scrub brush, putty knife, vacuum, blow-gun, and a copy of War and Peace, I was finished. I had purchased four tubes, thinking I would redo the entire roof, but it actually looked pretty nice up there, and I only used one tube. So, what does one do with three tubes of self-leveling caulk...?

Is it me, or does my trailer seem to be in need of a roof re-seal! Let’s see: gasket scraper, putty knife, wet towel, vacuum, compressed air, and three wire brush attachments ought to do the trick here! And, what do you know... it took exactly three tubes to redo the entire roof and vent. Man, do I feel good now.

Lest you think I frittered away (sounds like a line from a Pink Floyd song) my entire holiday season, I actually did pack some useful things into that time:

I flew back to our shop in Indy in mid-December to have a seat insert poured for our new chassis. Even though, technically, each DSR seat should be identical (thus being able to transfer the old seat insert into the new car), it probably wouldn’t be that easy. First, though Norm, Joe, and the entire fabrication staff are awesome, duplicating an aluminum shell is nearly impossible. Secondly, after several hundred runs, the used insert resembles an old pair of shoes (comfortable, but well-worn and in need of replacing). It was time for a fresh butt pad. I scheduled my trip so that I could attend the DSR Christmas party. Don always goes all-out to thank the entire staff, and he rented the ballroom at a downtown hotel and had some great catering brought in for all of us.

There’s no getting around how impressive our facility is, what with more than 100,000 square feet of building, loaded with the best nitro equipment money can buy, but something was very different this visit. Guys in the shop joked that it looked more like a flea market than a fuel shop, and I could see what they meant. Apparently (and this issue came to a serious head between the Vegas and Pomona races) most nitro teams had upgraded from 53’ to 56’ trailers several years ago. Without delving into each states DMV handbook (I can hardly read, anyway), it appears that only a handful of states allow the larger trailers, and California won’t even allow you to purchase a temporary permit (just ask Steve Torrence, who had to flatbed his trailer OUT of California and missed the Pomona race entirely) to enter into our beautiful, overly-liberal state. Long story short (bad pun), we had to have our entire fleet of 14 race trailers shortened 3’, and this was not a cheap proposition. Also, each trailer had to be completely emptied onto the shop floor prior to heading out to be shrunk, creating that aforementioned “flea-market” appearance. So... if anyone is in the market for a three-foot trailer, we have several of them and are willing to deal!

I finished servicing our motorhome, taking care of the Hydro-Hot, generator, and other regular maintenance. It’s still up for sale, but I don’t mind hanging on to it if no one is interested. It seems that people freak out at a unit with 105,000 miles, but for a diesel pusher that really is fairly low mileage. We’ve dropped the price from 110,000, which is just below the NADA value, down to 89,500. It will be up on eBay for several more days if anyone is interested, or you can get hold of Jenna: jennabeckman@att.net. Just don’t tell her you want to trade for landscape services... she might just do it!

We hosted our annual Christmas party and had about 40 friends come and spend an evening at the Chateau du Beckman. This year Tom Bayer beat Jenna in the final of the reaction time challenge. Jeff Arend and I complained that we don’t use our thumbs to launch REAL race cars, but those gripes fell on deaf ears.

We headed over to the Mission Inn in Riverside to see their Christmas Festival of Lights, which looked to me like a bunch of lights strung across a hotel... but I digress; the Inn dates back to the late 1800s, and has a tremendous amount of history. 10 Presidents have visited, and Nixon was married there. They have an impressive collection of bells (if you’re into that sort of thing), with one dating back to 1274! Einstein, Pulitzer, Rockefeller, Carnegie, Henry Ford, and Helen Keller have all seen the Inn (well, technically I guess Helen didn’t see it).

We headed over to the Discovery Museum in Santa Ana to check out their Star Wars display, as Jason’s world revolves around all things Skywalker lately. They had many of the actual props from the original movies there, and my little Jedi dug it.

Jason and I accompanied my friend Randy Sullivan, who runs an earth-moving business (that really sounds like a fancy term for DIRT moving, as only gravity seems to be able to actually move the EARTH...and I digress yet again).

Randy got us on site to witness some serious ground excavation, as in the type done with high explosives. I’ve seen plenty of this sort of thing on the learning channels, but to witness and feel the ground move under your feet was really cool, and I think I’m signing up for the next big bang!

I bought one of those bitchin’ Go-Pro cameras at Costco (a warehouse discount store with fantastic prices). I’d been wanting to get one for surfing, but once I saw the $139 price tag, I couldn’t pass it up. The video it takes is spectacular, but I don’t know how to pull a still image from video. You can set it to take photos, but with this unit the quickest it will snap is one picture every two seconds, which is nearly useless for surfing, where the average ride only lasts about 5 seconds. Still, I tried the photo mode on one outing and got a couple of decent shots.

I’ve been able to go out and hit the surf 4 times in the past month, including two days in a row when Jenna was sick of me and banished me to the beach. It’s tough to realize that I’m not nearly in the shape that I’m used to being in, and I hadn’t touched a weight for nearly 3 months. I had done some tendon damage to my right forearm about a year and a half ago, and it’s been aggravating me on occasion. As we got towards the end of the year, I didn’t want to stress the arm too much and affect my driving, so I just laid off working out. Unfortunately, even holding my daughter tends to cause some pain, so I went in and got X-rays and an MRI. With our insurance plan, writing that co-pay check for $536 hurt more than my arm! Still, I need to get this handled so I can get back to working out regularly, and I want to be able to throw a baseball with Jason.

We celebrated Jenna’s 33rd birthday (I know, she’s WAY too old for me... but she’s such a great organizer that I’ll keep her around) and the last day of 2011, and we showed the world what true party animals the Beckmans really are. Brent and Staci Cannon hung out until about 11:30, then Cindy and the family watched Dick Clark (c’mon, Dick.... enough with the spray tan!) drop his ball on Times Square. Weird, I can still remember when I was about 10, listening to my mother talk about the year 2000, telling me that I would be 33 years old when it arrived. I couldn’t even imagine being that age, and now I’m married to a gal who is... and she’s a lot younger than me... ouch.

Next time you hear from me, we will have done our 2012 testing out in Florida. You’ll also have heard what’s new for this season, not just for our team, but for all the nitro drivers. I still am amazed that Larry Dixon won’t be behind the wheel of a dragster (so far as we know). Fickle sport.

Stay tuned, keep your roof sealed, may the force be with you, and just say “NO” to Obama-Care!