Yeah, I know, it’s been over a month since our non-award winning, often ignored blog here on NHRA dot com has been updated, and yea I know that I promised that I’d blog from Florida but there really hasn’t been anything going on around here drag racing-related to type about so I took a month off.

Not really…In all actuality Gilby has been WFO at Truck Equipment Manufacturing Company working on all sorts of projects as TEMCO diversifies to keep afloat in this tough economy. Things are getting better every day and he’s keeping his head above water and thanks to all of you who have emailed your best wishes.

As far as racing is concerned we’re working real hard on getting Rinnai Tankless Water Heaters to continue their support of our team. Believe it or not, Rinnai has received literally dozens of proposals from other teams looking to take over our deal. I’ve always said “If getting sponsorship was easy, everyone would have one” and…”To get a sponsorship you’ve got to know somebody in a company who can write a check or somebody who can take you to him.” In this case we have a personal relationship with the Rinnai folks and if they do indeed decide to get more involved with drag racing it’s going to be with Terminator Motorsports so all you vultures out there, save your money and go after somebody else! LOL

In other news, Gilby and Jake ventured out to Las Vegas the same weekend as the NHRA Richmond race for the U.S. Open of Arenacross held at the MGM Grand Arena. Jake qualified for three classes -- 85cc, Super Mini and Schoolboy -- and came away with a fourth in 85, another fourth in Super Mini and a seventh in Schoolboy. The big story is that Jake passed 13 other riders in the first lap of the 85 class to move to the front until a bump from another rider knocked him out of the lead. The kid is so cool, after the race he quoted Jerry Newman, Gilby’s former crew chief when he returned to nitro racing in 1991, and said, “Win a few, lose a lot.”

Me, after the Charlotte race, I drove down to Florida for a little mini-vacation. Spent a few days in West Palm with our team chef “Captain Edzo,” hooked up with Paul Smith for a couple of beers and just took the edge off. It was just what this young boy needed to recharge the batteries. I’m a road warrior, don’t mind driving and the 10-hour trip both ways was good therapy as I spent the time just chilling. Thank to Sirius satellite radio, cell phones, and a GPS it was a great trip.

One last thing, as you might know I go to a lot of races with my long-time friend Dick Rosberg and his son Terry who run the Thriller Jet Dragster and live in nearby Rockingham, N.C. I tagged along with them a few weeks ago on a Thursday night for a two-run exhibition race they had at a nearby track. We arrived at the track early in the afternoon and the plan was to start the car up before the gates opened to make sure the new parts and changes Dick made to the engine worked.

Usual deal, we unload the car, fueled it up, and put the starter on the engine to get ready for the test. That’s when Dick and Terry told me to get into the car. I freaked out! I’ve been a fuel car for a warm-up twice but never in a Jet.  What a surreal experience. Dick is behind me running the controls, doing smoke and fire shows then burner pops while I sit in the cockpit hanging on for dear life. I’ve now taken another thing off of my “Bucket List” thanks to the Rosbergs…

That’s it for now, type at you sometime in the near future.
 

GilbyManiacs rejoice! At 2:10 p.m. Wednesday afternoon at zMax Dragway, the "GilbyMonster" himself hopped into the cockpit of the Rinnai Tankless Water Heaters Monte Carlo nitro Funny Car and did what he does best, burn rubber. He's been out of the car for almost a year, and it's the longest he's gone without driving a nitro Funny Car in over 10 years.

As you know if you're a regular here, it's been a long, tough year for Bob, and today was a great therapy for the guy. Due to the economy, Gilby had to park the team, and to get back on track this year was a culmination of a lot of hard work by a whole bunch of people. Please bear with me for a few paragraphs as I take this forum to thank them all.

First off, I've got to mention the core group behind the scenes: Gilby's nephew Chris and our graphics guy/photographer Rich Singer. Between them, they put together what it took to convince Rinnai to return as our marketing partner again this year. Without their effort, we wouldn't be out here again.

Gilby's son Rob... The guy does whatever it takes to get the job done. If I could only get him to answer his phone.

Our car chief Kevin Fenstermaker (yes that's his real last name.) He's been with Gilby since the beginning and knows every part of our race car, knows where everything is in the trailer, and is the best mechanic I know, the dude can fix anything. We were roommates for two years, and I consider him a good friend.

Our returning crew: Nick Morrow, Dan Gieselman, and JepTrammell. Nick has been working at the race shop at Blacksburg for the past two months helping Kevin prepare while Dan and Jep both joined us today to help out. Dan came down from nearby Mooresville, N.C., while Jep drove down from Akron, Ohio, to be a part of the action.

Paul Smith, John "Bodie" Smith, Mike Hennessey, and Randy "Super Cuz" Carmichel. Paul was Gilby's crew chief way back in 2000 when they won the Houston race for Bob's only NHRA win. All of them were part of that crew except "Cuz," who worked for Gilby in 2004, so it was kinda like "old home week" around here.

So anyway we made two laps, both planned 330' runs and everything went a-okay. They're going to make two more today, one to the eighth and one 1,000' pass if everything goes according to plan. I'll fill you guys in on the results on Monday when I return from Kansas City.

Last but not least, the ole mailbox was full of entries for our stupid contest, and we have a winner, who I'll announce in Monday’s blog.

Type at you next week.

BB

Hey everyone, lots to blog about today, so let's get started.

As you probably know by now, we're going to be racing at the Carolinas Nationals next month. Rinnai Tankless Water Heaters will once again sponsor us for this race; they got their feet wet in drag racing with us last year and the response was overwhelming, so they made the decision to do it again. We've got just a little over a month to get ready, so the guys are really busy down at the race shop. I know what you're going to ask, who's going to work on the car, and who will be the crew chief?

Good questions. Most of our crew guys will be returning as Dan, Jep, Nick are all available. They'll join our car chief Kevin Fenstermaker, while the crew chief will be Ta Da! The one and only Paul Smith. Paul was Gilby's crew chief in 2000 when Gilby won his only NHRA national event in Houston that year from the 16th spot and maybe, just maybe, lightning will strike again.

We'll be at the test session at zMax on Sept. 9-10, then return the following weekend for the race, and Gilby is really excited about getting back on track. I'll keep you up to speed on the progress in upcoming blogs, stay tuned.

In other news, the Little League baseball team from the suburb of Charlotte named Coulwood where I live just won the state championships, and they're now going to the regional championship with a shot of going to the Little League World Series. The team is sponsored by the Sports Page, a local bar/restaurant in town, and they decided to have a car show Tuesday evening to raise some money for travel expenses for the team. They asked me if I could come up with a race car for display, so I called my buddy Bobby Baucom, who dragged out his brand new Pro Mod Camaro, and it was a big hit with all the attendees. Between a 50/50 raffle and a bunch of donated items for a silent auction, we raised over $3,500 for the kids. Let's just hope they get through the regional and get to go to Williamsport.

Now yesterday the folks from Lowes Motor Speedway and zMax Dragway had an event/press conference called "The Parade Of Power" right smack dab in the middle of downtown Charlotte. It included one of every type of vehicle that race at both the circle track and the dragway.

Drag racing was represented by Doug Herbert's Top Fuel dragster, Ron Capps' NAPA Funny Car, the Jegs Pro Stocker, and Matt Smith's Pro Stock Motorcycle, who all paraded their cars down the main drag ending up at the corner of Trade and Tryon, the epicenter of Charlotte.

Now here's where it gets crazy. After the press conference at about 12:30 p.m., when most of the office workers that work in the four skyscrapers that surround the square, were on the streets for lunch, Doug fired up his Top Fuel dragster. Now NASCAR driver Jeff Burton was offered the opportunity to sit in the seat but chickened out at the last minute, sissy...

So there's a big crowd around the car, Doug and his guys cackle it and the aroma of nitro starts drifting through the air, and I notice quite a few people backing up. Then Doug wacks the throttle. Now this is right in between two big office buildings, and the sound reverberates all over town. I saw one woman in high heels running for her life, so he wacks the throttle again, and I turn around and most everyone was heading for the hills. After he shut it down, the remaining brave souls gave Doug and his team a big cheer and the crowd returned to get a close up look what makes so much noise. It was a lot of fun, got a lot of ink for the upcoming races, and I'm so happy that City of Charlotte goes all-out for racing.

Well that's it for now, type at you soon.

BB

We put the word out on the street and all over the internet, e-mailed a bunch of folks, and mentioned it here in this very blog. Well guess what drag racing fans, a reader of this blog came up with a tip that lead to us recovering the trailer and some of the parts. Here’s how it all went down.

Early Monday morning, I get a call from Doug Herbert. He tells me that Wally Stroupe, who builds a bunch of sportsman cars in nearby Kings Mountain, N.C., called him and said that he might have some information that might help us but didn't know how to get in touch with us. I call Wally right away, and he tells me that a guy driving a black wrecker with yellow flames came to his shop looking to sell a set of black chrome American Racing Wheels with Funny Car tires mounted on them. Bingo! Our first good lead. Wally sweetened up the news when he said I’ve even got video surveillance footage of the guy and the truck. Thanked Wally and told him we’d be in touch soon.

I immediately called Gilby, his son Rob, and our car chief Kevin Fenstermaker, and they all converged on Wally’s shop. After watching the video and armed with a description of the vehicle, a whole bunch of people in the area were put on the lookout as we believed that the thieves lived nearby.

So yesterday (Tuesday), Gilby and Rob spent most of the day cruising around the local area and spotted the wrecker. They followed it with the cops on the phone the whole time, and when the dude pulled up to his house the cops apprehended the perpetrator. Turns out that he was trying to sell the tires for another dude. The cops said lead us to him and you will only be charged with receiving stolen property. The guy folded like a cheap tent. He lead them to a nearby trailer park, and there it was, our trailer parked where it couldn’t be seen from the street. They grab the two guys in the house, cuff them, and Gilby and Kevin opened the trailer to see that a lot of stuff was missing, including over 300 brand-new clutch discs and a couple of hundred floaters and our golf cart.

With all the commotion going on in the trailer park, one of the neighbors revealed that he saw another neighbor buying stuff from the guys, so the cops went to that guy’s trailer, opened his storage shed, and found more of our stuff. Another set of bracelets.

So the cops seized our trailer and towed it to an impound lot so that it can be used as evidence. Hopefully, we’ll get it back soon. The booking of the four suspects, processing reports, and taking of statements took all night, and Gilby, Rob, and Kevin are getting some well-deserved rest right now. Two suspects were charged with Grand Theft (a felony) and the other two with receiving stolen property. They’ll be spending some time in jail until their first hearing later this week.

They’re being questioned today and hopefully they’ll fold and tell us where the rest of the stuff is. We’d be really happy to recover the over $40,000 in clutch discs and floaters. I’m sure the golf cart is junk, but you never know.

So we really have to thank Wally Stroupe. He read about the theft in our blog, and his quick response really helped us out. Gilby says he owes you a bologna sandwich, and I gotta give him a plug — visit Wally’s site: http://www.strouperacecars.com/home.php

I also got to thank all of you out there who wrote with support; we really appreciate it.

Back to normal (if there is such a thing) around here, type at you L8R.

BB

Where do we start? Since I last typed at you guys I spent the weekend at Cordova Dragway Park in Illinois announcing the Nostalgia Fest, and I had a great time. This event was a part of the NHRA Hot Rod Heritage Series and was one of the best Nostalgia races I’ve ever been to.

The highlight of the weekend was getting the opportunity to visit Kathy and Greg Mosley’s (for lack of a better term) “Museum” in Moline, Ill. This place isn’t open to the general public, but as you can see by this photo, they have quite a collection of Mopar muscle cars and they also own the original “Hawaiian” and “Chi-Town Hustler” Funny Cars that were on display at the track all weekend.

In racing news, as I mentioned in our last blog, we’ll be racing at the Carolinas Nationals Sept. 17-20 at zMax Dragway. Look for a press release later this week announcing our marketing partner and our plans for the future.

Got to give a shout out to the esteemed editor of this fine Web site for including me in the recent DRAGSTER Insider “H” Files column. Phil freaked me out when he sent me that photo and I remember it like it was yesterday. Check it out at: http://www.nhra.com/blog/dragster-insider/. Dig my Perm, I was cool huh? Bob Glidden eat your heart out…

Last but not least, I want to respond to the question most of you who have e-mailed me asked… How’s Gilby doing?

Answer… He’s doing okay. Working hard on the merge between Truck Equipment Manufacturing Company and Ice Industries that will help grow the business into an international supplier of products for the heavy truck industry.

I’m outta here… BB

We've got some local businesses who are going to help us out and most probably a major sponsor will adorn the flanks of the Monte Carlo, more on that in a future blog.

Now since we haven't raced since last year, there's a lot of work to do to get the car legal with the new rules updates. We need a drive shaft shield, a poured seat insert, and new belts and have to get the rest of the safety equipment re-certified. We've also have to get Gilby himself updated as he's got to get a physical, a new firesuit, and hopefully he'll loose a few pounds… LOL

Who's going to be the crew-chief? Who's going to crew the car? Good questions.

As of right now we don't know. Our car chief, Kevin Fenstermaker, is now on a mission to get the car ready to race, and all those questions will be answered soon. Our plan is to run the scheduled test session for NHRA Pro teams at zMax the week before the Nationals on Sept. 9-10 then the race the following weekend. The race is only 12 weeks away, it seems like a long time but it's not so we'll be busy around here until then.

In other news (insert shameless plug here), I'm heading out to Cordova Dragway in Illinois to announce this weekend's NostalgiaFest, an event that's part of the NHRA Hot Rod Heritage series. Nostalgia Nitro Funny Cars are the main event and believe it or not, as of today, there's 15 cars entered for an eight-car field. I'm not certain, but it's probably going to be the largest NFC race east of Bakersfield. Coolest thing is that they'll all be running under the lights on both Friday and Saturday nights. Be there or stay home and cut your lawn…

I'm really looking forward to this experience, and if you're coming to the race make it a point to find me and say hi. I'll be easy to find, just look for a really good-looking guy behind the mic, that will be me. Again another LOL…

If you want more info on the race click this: http://www.cordovadrag.com/2009/events/nostalgiafest.html

End of shameless plug, type at you L8R.

BB

First off. I've received a lot of e-mails from you readers asking what's up with our racing this year and when will the "GilbyMonster" (his new nickname) be back at the track?

Answer… I'm pretty sure that we'll be racing at zMax Dragway right up the street in September. It will probably be our only race this year unless one of the sponsorship deals we've been working on happens. I can tell you that we've got a few Charlotte area companies interested in a one-race deal for the Carolina Nationals, so hopefully we'll have good news to report soon.

Now let's get to Gilby's guest bartender gig I told you guys about in a previous blog. This idea was hatched by Erica Meade, who is the former office manager at TEMCO. Her mom owns a bar and grill, The Pour House, just over the state line in Indian Land, S.C., just minutes from Charlotte. Erica, who tends bar there part time, was always telling her customers about Gilby's racing exploits, and after giving all of them autographed handouts and having the ESPN coverage on the bar's TVs, she created a few new drag racing fans that hang out there.

So a few months ago Erica asked me if I thought Bob might stop by sometime, hang out for a while, and meet some of his newest fans. I asked Bob if he was interested, and he jumped at the chance. Then it got crazy. Erica said let's get a band, make Gilby the guest bartender, and have a party. We had some scheduling problems to work out, but yesterday afternoon it all came together.

Now the Pour House is right on Hwy 521, a pretty busy four-lane highway. So we decided to drag out our original "Jungle Jim" tribute car, haul it down there, and park it right out front to attract some attention.

Well attract some attention it did. Literally hundreds of folks just cruising down the highway saw "Jungle" sitting there by the side of the road and stopped by to check out what was happening. We ended up with a pretty good crowd, Gilby was a maniac behind the bar, and a good time was had by all.

Insert shameless plug here… I'm very pleased to let all of you know that I've been invited by Cordova Dragway Park to announce their "NostalgiaFest" race on Friday and Saturday, June 26-27. It's one of the NHRA Hot Rod Heritage Series races, and it will be one of the biggest nostalgia events in the Midwest. I was last at Cordova in the ’70s with "Jungle," and I'm looking forward to returning. Thanks to Scott and Tazz for putting this deal together, and if you're in the Quad Cities area that weekend please stop by and say hi. For more information on this race click this: http://www.cordovadrag.com/2009/events/nostalgiafest.html

That's it for now, I'll type at you soon…

BB

As you probably know Gilby, his son Jake, and the rest of the Trick Tank Motocross team are on the road just about every weekend racing. This past weekend was no exception as they raced (see previous blog) at a Loretta Lynn qualifier, where Jake finished fourth in Super Mini, and he's now been invited to the regional finals in Lazy River, Ga., next month to claim his spot for the "Loretta."

Anyway, on Saturday afternoon after qualifying, the team had two bikes that needed engine changes for the main event on Sunday. Gilby had a brain fart and came up with an idea to test his guys out and see who was the best mechanic on the team.

So the gauntlet was thrown, Gilby pulled a $100 bill out of his wallet, and team rider Justin Hopson took on professional motorcycle mechanic Justin Shantee in a no-holds-barred, pit crew challenge. The rules were simple: They put the two bikes up on stands side by side. The tools were all spread out on the ramp of the trailer, and the C-note went to the first guy to finish the swap, and the engine had to start.

When the word got around about what was going to happen, a pretty large crowd assembled, and there were a few side bets being made.

At the count of three they went at it. Wrenches were flying, the crowd was cheering, and everyone was chanting: "Justin-Justin-Justin" as they both had the same first name, pretty funny.

Anyway they both had the engines out of the frames in 8 minutes, and they were within 15 seconds of each other. Then the thrash began. As you know, it's a lot easier to take it apart then it is to put back together. Both Justins probably had the most intense workout they've ever had in their young lives.

Bottom line (thanks Force) is that Hopson had his engine running in 23 minutes and rode the bike away to thunderous applause to beat out the Pro mechanic.

What's Hopson going to do with the $$$? Get his cell phone turned back on… LOL

Type at you soon…

BB

As you probably know, if you're a regular here, Gilby bought a ’87 Cadillac limousine a few years ago and had the guys from Indy Speed & Custom in Indy trick it out. It was painted up to match the orange "Jungle Jim" tribute car we raced at Indy and won the Best Appearing Car award with a few years ago. The limo was cool — it had a killer sound system, air ride, neon lights, a gull wing rear door, flat screen TV, flame thrower exhaust, and a bunch of other crazy stuff.

Anyway, since it was built, it's fallen into a state of disarray. Over the winter, our bottom end guy Nick Morrow spent a lot of time working on it to get it into shape so that it could be used as reliable transportation. He got everything working and wanted to take it for a test drive.

So Nick and our car chief Kevin Fenstermaker decided last Friday to take it down the road about 15 miles to the metropolis of Gaffney, S.C., to a local pub for dinner.

{GALLERY_fire}Well, they roll down I-85 south about two miles and smoke started pouring out from the engine compartment. They make a quick u-turn and start heading back to the race shop. They got literally less than a mile from our shop when all hell broke loose. Just like a Funny Car engine failure, flames erupted, they pulled over, bailed out, and tried to put the inferno out using anything they had at hand, which was a jug of Prestone anti-freeze and a blanket. How'd that work? Not too good.

The fire turned into a major deal, and 13 minutes later when the first fire truck arrived the front end of the car was burned off. Sorry for the quality of the car on fire photo, but it's from Kevin's cell phone.

Thing that got both me and Gilby thinking is that every tractor-trailer on the road has a fire extinguisher and not one trucker, or anyone else for that matter, stopped to lend a hand? I-85 is one of the busiest Interstates in the country — over 40,000 vehicles pass by our shop everyday — and nobody would stop to help?

So they had it towed back to Blacksburg, and as you can see, from the partition forward, it's junk.

Now let me tell you this, Gilby doesn't throw anything away. He's already found a '87 Caddy that's been parked for over 20 years as a donor car and now wants Sonny Leonard to step up to the plate and supply the engine he promised a few years ago… LOL

So that's it around here for now, type at you soon…

BB

Where to start...

As you probably know, if you're a regular here or you read Matt Hagan's blog, after the Schumacher teams tested at Palm Beach Int'l Raceway before Gainesville they had a day off, and our former crew chief Tommy Delago put together a fishing trip with my good friend and our team cook, "Captain Edzo" Ed Preston.

So bright and early that Tuesday morning Matt Hagan, Tommy, Ed McCulloch, Ron Capps, Glenn Husar and Ronnie Thompson met up with Ed at the Sailfish Marina, hopped on a 51-foot Buddy Davis set up for deep sea fishing named the Barrister, and went out into the south Atlantic in search of big game fish.

How'd that work out? Not too good. Ed described it as a "half day boat ride." He continued: "We ran the snot out of the boat, out the Palm Beach Inlet, up to Jupiter then doubled back to Boynton without a nibble. We had live bait, dead bait, all sorts of stuff hanging out the back but nothing. All we did is have a good time, burn some diesel and drag bait around the ocean."

Now even though they were out on the ocean having a good time, "Ace" kept up with the racing world and burned down the battery on his cell phone, not a bad place to conduct business, huh?

Ed also wanted to mention that "Ace" also picked up the lunch tab, which was rumored to be in the hundreds of dollars.

Now let's talk about Gilby. He's been keeping busy at not only TEMCO but also traveling to Wilkes Barre, Pa., and Cincinnati on consecutive weekends with the Trick Tank Arenacross team, and let me tell you this, they came, they saw, and they conquered.

Jake swept both the 85cc and Super Mini classes at both races that earned him unprecedented double championships in both the Midwest and Eastern regions and invites to the prestigious U.S. Open in Las Vegas in October. The other members of the team — Justin Hopson, Tate Barr and Jim Chester — also qualified for Vegas, so now all four of our team riders will race at the "big show."

Me, I've been on the road a lot lately. A few trips to Florida, a lap to Philly (boy I hate that airport), and a visit to the nostalgia Funny Car Mecca of the East Coast, Bob Rosetty's "Funny Farm," which I'll tell you about in an up-coming blog, have kept me WFO.

First off on behalf of the entire Gilbertson family, I’d like to thank each and every one of you who sent cards, letters, and e-mails offering your condolences on the passing of Sally Gilbertson. Gilby, Rob, Sandy Ann, and Jake read each and every one of them, and they wanted me to express their thanks to all of the drag racing community for the thoughts and prayers.

So we’re trying to get back to normal around here. Gilby is back at work captaining the good ship TEMCO, and even though we don’t know right now when we’re going racing again, Kevin is hard at work down in Blacksburg getting the car ready to go. Both he and I have also been busy working on our giant nitro parts sale. We’ve been selling and shipping parts all over the country and even overseas. One dude from Australia, Mat Shepherd, bought 420 pounds of stuff that we’re shipping to his freight forwarder out in California who will then put it into a container and send it on its way. Know who the forwarder is? Gary Burgin, anybody remember him?

There’s also another nitro racer from Finland who is in the states for a while as he’s going to Gainesville then Houston before returning home, and he’s stopping by next week to see what we’ve got he can use. “Crazy Bob’s super giant inventory clearance sale, one inconvenient location, be there or be somewhere else.”

Speaking of Gainesville, as you might know there was a test session yesterday at Palm Beach Int’l Raceway. The Schumacher cars and the Kalitta Funny Car were there, and since my friend Ed Preston, our team cook, lives right down the road in Palm Beach Gardens, he took a ride out there to see our former crew chiefs Nicky Boninfante and Tommy Delago. Since they’re going to be hanging out in So. Florida for a few days before they head out to Gainesville, they asked Ed about the possibility of going fishing tomorrow.

Now Eddie has never turned down an opportunity to drag bait around the ocean, so Tommy, Ron Capps, Matt Hagan, Ed McCulloch, and a few other dudes will be meeting up bright and early tomorrow morning and heading out in search of Billfish and Mahi-Mahi. I’m sure that Matt will let you know how they made out in his blog. My issue is that I’m sitting here in Charlotte in front of my computer while all my pals will be out on the Atlantic on a 51-foot sports fisherman, there is no gravity, the world is sucking me down.

Next up, I had a pizza named after me! That’s right, a “Berserko” pizza is now available at my favorite West Coast restaurant, the Lemon Leaf in beautiful downtown Lancaster, Calif. To make a short story long, Maria Grado, the owner of the Lemon Leaf, is a big-time drag racing fan, and every time we go to the West Coast, we always stop at the “Leaf” for lunch or dinner. They make handmade gourmet pizzas, and I ordered one with the toppings I like, and after Maria test drove a slice, she really dug it, and as they say, the rest is history, thus the “Berserko” pizza is now on their new menu. To see what I like on my pizza go www.thelemonleaf.com, then click on the menu button.

In Arenacross news, Gilby and the Trick Tank Team will be competing at the final qualifying event for the Eastern Region this weekend in Wilkes Barre, Pa., at the Wachovia Arena. Jake has just about locked up the Eastern Region championship in both the 85cc and Super Mini classes and is pretty much guaranteed a spot at the U.S. Open in Las Vegas in October at the MGM Grand Arena. Team riders Justin Hopson and Tate Barr both have to have the race of their young lives to qualify for finals, but I’m sure they’re up to the challenge.

Last but not least, fellow blogger Bob Wilber posted a while ago that he got tickets for Bruce Springsteen and how excited he was to be able to see the “Boss.”

Well your old pal Bob scored two tickets for the legendary Cheech & Chong when they come to Charlotte on April 2. Not only did I get two tickets to the fastest selling show ever here in town, I copped front row tickets, that’s right row A baby!

“Dave's not here man”

Type at you L8R,

BB

I'm just going to ramble on here so please bear with me.
 
Since Monday afternoon when Sally Gilbertson passed away it's been a tough 48 hours. Let's back up in time...
 
I first met Gilby in 1992 when I moved to Charlotte but didn't meet Sally until March of 2003 when I started working for him.
 
When introduced, Sally and I hit it off right away. Sorta like a Karma thing, you know what I mean?
 
Since then we became good friends. She and all the rest of the Gilbertson cla, have always treated me like family. I've spent many Christmas/Thanksgiving/New Years/birthday parties and other special events at the Gilbertson household and will never forget the good times I've had there. 
 
Sally always called me "Bob's Bitch" as I took care of whatever Gilby needed to have done and I wore that title proudly.
 
Here's the cool part: She and Bob were high school sweethearts, they met when they were kids and they've been married for over 33 years.
 
She didn't go to many drag races or motocross events because she hated to watch her husband or son risk injury doing what they loved to do.
 
The few times she went to the drags … Atlanta last year comes to mind … when Bob ran she went into the stands to watch and covered her eyes for the run. Same deal when Jake raced, she'd turn away during his motos; luckily neither Bob or Jake has had a serious incident when she was at the track.
 
Sally was one of the coolest chicks I've ever met and I'm going to miss her but not as much as Gilby, sons Rob & Jake and daughter Sandy Ann.

Sally was the lynchpin that kept the family operating as a unit. I often called the Gilbertson's the "Osbornes on nitro," and Sally was the glue that held it all together.
 
Gilby is probably the toughest guy I know, I've seen him bail out of a nitro Funny Car on fire at Gainesville and laugh it off. This is different and he needs all the support he can get from you fans. Shoot us an email at: blastoffbob@earthlink.net and I'll make sure he gets it.
 
You can also sign the guestbook here: http://www.withersandwhisenantfuneral.com
 
Keep Gilby in your thoughts...
 

Hey everyone, happy Thursday to y'all.

I tagged along with the Trick Tank Motocross team this past weekend for the next to last round of the Eastern region Arenacross series in near-by Greensboro, N.C. The event was held at the Greensboro Coliseum and right next door on Saturday was their annual winter car show they hold there every year. Besides the car show (which had a lot of drag cars) it was also the site of the induction ceremony for the North Carolina Racing Hall of Fame and they inducted two friends of mine into the Hall, the one and only Roy Hill and my favorite jet jockey, Dick Rosberg so that was way cool. Congrats guys.

Then Sunday it was time for the Arenacross finals and as I always do when I go to these events I morph into "Mr. Stats". I track every qualifier that the team's four riders compete in to make sure that the scorers don't screw up. The finish in these qualifying races means a lot as you get to pick your starting spot on the gate for the main event based on how you finish in the qualifier. Just like in drag racing a holeshot off the line can make or break your race. Riders read the starting line just like crew chiefs and drivers do at the drags to determine where they want to line up.

Anyway Gilby's son Jake won the qualifier in his primary class (85cc) and he got to pick his starting spot and he parlayed it into a great holeshot at the start of the Main and led the race wire-to-wire. Jake currently has a Tony Schumacher type of lead in the 85cc points chase with one race to go so it looks like he'll be in Vegas in October for the U.S. Open.

Dig Jake's uniform, pretty wild huh? Looks like it was made from a clown suit...LOL

The other guys on the team also did well. Here's Gilby and me with Jim Chester, the senior rider of the team and he's also the coach/mentor for Jake and the other members of the team, Justin Hopson and Tate Barr. Jim rides in the Senior classes and won all three of his qualifiers and all three of his main events for a hat trick.

Justin and Tate also rode well so it was a good weekend for the guys. They now have a little over a month off until the Eastern regional finals in Wilkes Barre, Pa. March 13-15 but they'll spend the time practicing at our training facility in Blacksburg, S.C.

Then after the races were over Sunday afternoon I headed back down I-85 for the 80 mile trip home to watch the Super Bowl. I had a lot riding on the game, my favorite bartender at my local pub went to Vegas for the weekend and I gave her some $$$ to bet on the game for me and she called last night after the game was over to inform me that I was now a hundredaire! Woo-Hoo!

In our last blog I mentioned the meat loaf sandwiches at the vendor's stand by the Top Eliminator club at Pomona. I got this email from Hugo from Rancho Cucamonga, Calif:

BB

Have you ever eaten at the Mexican joint behind the tower at Pomona? It's named "El Mercado" or something like that. Check it out

Hugo

Hugo...With out a doubt I've been there, not sure about the spelling but I love that place. [Ed. Note: It's El Merendero] When we race at the Fairplex we always stop by to get a breakfast burrito on the way to the track. We have lunch there occasionally but usually go for In-And-Out burgers. I once went to the In-And-Out in San Dimas and placed an order for over $300 to take back to the track for our guys and some friends. I backed our SUV rental to the side door and loaded up. I ate a double-double on the way back to the track and another when I got there. Wish I had one right now...

That's it for now, type at you soon...

BB

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.

Another memorable moment was when I ran into Sammy Miller in the pits, he had just purchased a car from Don Prudhomme and he asked me to help him out for the race. Even though he didn't qualify, it was cool to be standing on the starting line at Pomona for the first time as part of a race team.

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