Hi everybody. I want to start off and send my condolences to the Herbert family from everyone here at DPM and my family. We pray that God helps them through these difficult times.
Last week, we got everything finished up at the shop and all the loose ends tied up. We got everything loaded up on Tuesday and it was cool to see our new Kenworth T660 tractors with CAT engines in them all decaled up. The guys took off on Wednesday morning for Phoenix.
The following day, I flew out to Phoenix with a group from the team including Lee Beard and Rob Flynn. We arrived at Phoenix in the morning and the weather was beautiful. It was a great change to feel 60-degree temperatures after being in cold Indy all winter. It’s been a cold winter. We got our rental car and had lunch with a group from Matco Tools and CAT dealers. Later that day, we made a trip to UTI in Avondale, Ariz. It was cool to tour the facility and see all the cool courses they offer for the tech students. It was neat to see how they train the future technicians of America in so many different areas. They have programs tailored for many automotive brands from BMW to Ford.
I couldn’t wait for Friday. We finally got to get back out to the track and light all eight candles and burn some Goodyear rubber. The track conditions weren’t great, but we made a quick hit. That was it for the first day. We got everything serviced for Saturday so we could try and finish the Top Fuel license process.
We made it back out Saturday morning and got Matco dragster all prepared and we were up in the staging lanes early that afternoon. We made our first run and I shut off early and we got the first run that went towards the license at 4.57 at 296. The run was wild because I missed the chute button. I was able to calm it down and get it stopped nice and safely. That run sure made my butt cheeks pucker up. Later on, we went down the track again and went 4.58 at 292 mph to complete the license process. At then end of the day I had a sigh of relief when I signed the waiver for my NHRA Top Fuel license. Now, we could work on the tune-up and push things harder.
Sunday was our down day. It rained all day, so that gave the boys a chance to catch up. We didn’t let the rain get us down. Lee Beard, PR Ted and I made the most of our rainy day. We did some shopping in Scottsdale, ate sushi at RA and hung out and relaxed. Lee and Ted gave me a lesson on current fashion. Being a brother like I am, it’s hard for me to spend $250 on a pair of jeans. So I left the pair of Rock & Republic jeans on the rack. I’m happy with my Guess jeans.
The goal on Monday was to step up the car and get it to go even quicker. Hot Rod went 4.53 at 332 and not too far behind I made my first full pass at over 327 mph. Lee joked that I was a small block Chevy because I only ran 327. I wanted to be a big block Hemi like my teammate Hot Rod who ran 4.46 that night. We never did hit 330 mph.
Lee decided to bring out a brand new race car on Tuesday. We were shaking the bugs out and we spun the tires on the first run. Lee made the adjustments and the last run of the day for us came a nighttime. It was real dark and I was cautious and didn’t want to do something irresponsible. The car was going straight down the boulevard and I shut off at half track to be on the safe side. The car had good incremental numbers going 277 mph at half track. That gave us high hopes on our new race car. I couldn’t wait for the sun to come up on Wednesday so we could make a full boogie pass.
Right around lunch time, we went up with the new Matco car. Most teams were struggling to get down the track. The car launched really hard. It seemed harder than before. I could feel the car move into warp drive. It got a little squirrelly on the big end, so I lifted right before the stripe and we went 4.48 at 309 mph. I was doing cartwheels like I had won a championship. I couldn’t believe that I had run a 4.40 on my fifth full pass. Everyone was so excited that we have two 4.40 race cars going into Pomona. It’s going to be a fun season.
After all that good news with testing, my world was in an unbelievable state. I was on cloud nine. Then, I got a phone call from my wife and the bottom fell out. She said she pulled into the garage and there was water all over and the cold weather broke the pipes and we had Niagara Falls in our garage. I told my wife I wasn’t coming home and I was staying in Phoenix. I didn’t want to come home to any headaches. Just kidding! I got right on the phone and got the plumber to come to the house and get it repaired.
Things are good. I’m so happy and proud to be part of the organization that I’m a member of. Now, I’m taking off this weekend. I’m going to enjoy the family, lay back and relax and watch the Super Bowl. I’ll be in Pomona on Tuesday to get ready for my first professional Top Fuel drag race and my first Winternationals as a competitor. I’m hoping the snow holds off and they don’t cancel our flight back to Indy. They’re calling for four to six inches tonight. Maybe I should just stay out West. LOL!
Until next time. Love, peace and hair grease, and I’m out.
Antron