Hey everyone.

First off I've received quite a few e-mails asking how come I haven't updated this blog in over two weeks and I want to apologize to all you "GilbyManiacs". I've been WFO lately working on our giant nitro parts sale, keeping the Arenacross team on the road and throw in a quick trip to Florida in the mix I just haven't had the spare time to update you fans, that's my excuse and I'm sticking to it.

So I'm sitting here in front of my computer on a beautiful Saturday morning in Charlotte and my mission today is to bring all of you up to date on what's happening around here.

First off we're kinda bummed out that we won't be making the trek across country for the Winternationals. Pomona has always been one of my favorite tracks since I went to my first Winternationals in 1969. I've been to about 20-some Winternationals since then and in my opinion the "Big Go West" is a race not to be missed. The thing I dig the most about the "Winters" is that everything is new. New cars, new paint schemes, new car & driver combos, and I wish I was there for it, oh well maybe next year.

Anyway I've got a couple of Pomona memories that stand out in my mind, here's a few:

I don't remember the exact year but once the Winternationals were snowed out! That's right, the race had to be postponed for a week because of a freak snowstorm that blanketed SoCal. Somewhere out there is a photo of Car Craft scribe Al Kirshenbaum standing on the starting line with snow covering the track and I'll never forget the party in the pits that day. A massive snowball fight fueled by alcohol ensued and I had a great time even though there wasn't any racing, ah for the good old days...

I was also there for two of the greatest moments in Winternationals history as I saw the debut of Bill "Grumpy" Jenkins' Pro Stock Vega that cleaned everybody's clock and Don Garlits bringing out his first rear-engined car. Somewhere around here I've got some photos of those races, I'll try to dig them out in the near future and post them here.

Now here's a Winternationals memory from 2006 that I call a bad news-good news situation.  We were running our Autolite car and you can see what happens when a valve breaks, not pretty at all. The good news is that we qualified on the next pass and Gilby ran his quickest E.T. at the time, a 4.77 to make the show. Even though we lost in the first round it was a great way to kick off the season.

So even though I can't make it this year I'll be there in spirit and like a lot of you I'll be listening in on the audiocast next weekend and I'll probably sniff a few Nitro Fume Collection Devices next Sunday, almost like being there...NOT!

In other news Gilby's son Jake and the rest of the Trick Tank Motocross team have been on a tear lately in the indoor Arenacross series. They've raced the past four weekends in Grand Rapids, Baltimore, Dayton and Louisville and I'm pleased to announce that Jake is leading the points in both the 85cc and Super Mini classes in both the Eastern and Midwest regions. They're racing in near-by Greensboro, N.C. this weekend and I'm making a hot lap up there tomorrow to cheer them on.

Last but not least I'm going to answer the question that so many of you have asked, what's our drag racing plans for 2009?

Bottom line (thanks Force) is that we really don't know right now. Like a lot of the other teams we don't have a sponsor and without a marketing partner Gilby can't afford to race the full 24-race Full Throttle schedule. My best guess is that we'll be at some of the East Coast races like Gainesville, Atlanta, Bristol, Charlotte and a few more if somebody steps in to help us out. I'll keep you guys up to date as things develop.

Well that's it for now, to all of you going to Pomona next weekend have a meat loaf sandwich from the vendor by the entrance to the Top Eliminator club entrance for me and enjoy yourselves.

Type at you L8R.

BB