Did I mention in my last blog how much fun we had over at Tri-City Speedway in Pontoon Beach, Ill? I had the honor of racing with some of my fellow NHRA Stars on dirt before the NHRA race and man did we have some fun. Initially, I was placed in Ryan Seger’s Dirt Late Model but during hot laps we determined I had no power steering and couldn’t get it fixed in time for the first heat race. So Kevin and Tammy Gundaker, the track operators, put me in Nick Lyons’ 2007 Track Champion car at the last moment and that’s a whole other story in itself.
As Kevin and Tammy went to get the guys who owned the car, I was getting suited up and preparing to strap in. These poor guys come running up to their car only to find me in it already. There was only one problem. I couldn’t see too well over the dash and my feet didn’t touch the pedals. You see Nick Lyons is over six feet tall and weighs over 200 pounds which is a far cry from 5 foot 7inches at a buck sixty. I know this sounds hilarious, which it was, but I was in a real predicament. They opted to put two of the foam wheel plugs under me and alas, I could see over the steering wheel. One down – one to go! Next they placed a huge foam wheel plug behind my hips to move me closer to the pedals and that worked out pretty good. Only problem is that I had to add yet a fourth foam plug above that one so my mid back would have some support too. Finally, I could see where I was going and reach the pedals, kind of. I actually was using the toe-strap on the throttle to mash the gas and had my toes and part of my foot on the brake. Laying all those issues aside, I was actually quite cozy, similar to an EZ Boy recliner. I was able to pull into line for the heat race with only a few seconds to spare before entering the track.
As I drove onto the track, I was thinking to myself. These poor guys are probably scared to death that this NHRA Straight-liner is gonna destroy my poor car. What they didn’t know is that I had previously raced an open-wheel IMCA Modified back in 1998 and 1999 with some success. In the end, I managed to finish 3rd in the heat race to John Stewart, Morgan Lucas’s crew chief, and Ron Capps. Both of them have an extensive resume on dirt racing so I felt like I did ok considering I hadn’t driven on dirt since 1999 and the fact I never drove this car until the heat race.
As for the feature, well let’s just say it was a 3 ring circus to say the least. Only 9 out of 12 of us NHRA guys’ cars were suitable for racing after the heat races. And I might add that only four of us finished the feature out of the nine that started. I won’t mention names but it was ugly. We had to re-start the first lap every bit of six times or more and there were probably 15 plus cautions in a 20 lap feature. I managed to lead the race a while and dropped back to second behind Scelzi again. On a couple of the re-starts, I decided to stay right up on the bumper of Scelzi like I used to do in my IMCA Modified days. Only one problem; I didn’t realize the swoopy nose on a late model would actually scoop up my competitor and lift them off the ground. That’s exactly what happened to Scelzi and I was like, Oh crap, he’s gonna kill me. So I gave him some space and returned his car to earth and we went on about racing to the finish.
As if I didn’t have my hands full enough with these guys and a car that didn’t really fit, I had a master cylinder cap above my feet vibrate loose and spill brake fluid on both my feet. That made for a slippery pair of sneakers for sure. I spun the car out at least twice because I couldn’t hang on to the pedals and my right hand was on the body interior panel holding me up due to the fact my rib support wasn’t functional going into a corner because I was scooted so far forward so I could reach the pedals. Like I said before, it was down right comical to see me in the car with the steering wheel in my chest but nothing was going to stop me from racing I assure you.
At the end of the night I finished 3rd again, only this time to Scelzi and Lucas, courtesy of my final lap spin out trying to catch Scelzi. It was a blast and I look forward to doing it again next year and Nick has offered his car any time I want to go racing. Only next time we are going to re-arrange a few key components and they better look out because he and I are ready to do battle. Thanks again to Ryan Seger‘s team as well as Nick Lyons’ team and Kevin and Tammy Gundaker at Tri-City Speedway for a great time of racing.
Last but not least, I would like to congratulate my friends, David and Kala Hardy on their new baby boy, Dawson, who was born May 17, 2008. I hope you guys have as much fun raising him as I have my daughter. There is definitely nothing in the world more special than your very own kid. Congrats again.