Last year, European Top Fuel racer Lex Joon of the Netherlands lived out what he called his "American Dream," to compete with his MPM Oil Top Fueler in the final two events of the 2009 NHRA Full Throttle Drag Racing Series Joon chronicled his adventures for NHRA.com readers through this blog and had so much fun with both he's coming back for more. Here's his latest update.

Jan. 27, from The Netherlands


 I don't know if it is too late, although I think well wishes can be expressed all year long but, I would like to start with a Happy New Year and best wishes for good health to all my fans and their families.

It just seems like yesterday when we left Pomona last November, and we decided to leave our equipment in the U.S. Racing in the U.S. is like living a dream. It is probably difficult to understand for the American fans that are used to viewing the NHRA events on ESPN2, or attending one of the awesome race venues around the U.S. But, being part of this great show is something incredible for me – something I only imagined would become a reality.

My passion for the sport is what brings us back to where it all began. Walking around at the Pomona drag strip, looking at the street sign (Parker Ave) near the starting line, tells you something about the great heritage our sport has mustered during the 50 years that the Winternationals has been a part of the NHRA Drag Racing Series.

Sometimes when I think of walking through the pits in Las Vegas and Pomona, I realize that the strangest thing for me was seeing my racecar and team there in the pits – I was finally living my dream. Then at the end of the track, after a run, Alan Reinhart comes over to do an interview. And I was thinking: It's Alan Reinhart!!How cool is that! Someone pinch me – wake me up! No, it is not a dream! Normally we only hear his voice through our computer when we are logged in on the live audiocast at NHRA.com. The same feelings apply to Bob Frey. He invited me on the stage in Las Vegas at the Fan Fest. To me, these two people are legends. Sort of like a famous rock star. You always hear them, but never meet them. And now, here I am looking at them, standing with them, speaking with them, and I am a part of the incredible venue called NHRA Drag Racing in the USA. It just makes me feel very humble.

Speaking of drag racing legends, the news that Don "the Snake" Prudhomme retired is huge. The sad thing is he didn’t do it voluntarily. It is not that he doesn't like racing any more. It is because he wants to race, but only with the best of the best. And, that takes money and marketing partners.

Our team is an example of where our sport is coming from with all the dedicated people who have nitro running through their veins 365 days a year while thinking about drag racing. I call it bitten by the bug - the drag bug. This type of person is what my European team is made up of: all voluntarily committed to the common goal of racing. They don't get paid. They have a day job and save all their free days just to be able to go to all the races. Now that’s dedication – or insanity – maybe a little of both! Here in the USA, that is all different. Racing here IS a full-time job! Not only with preparation of the car, but also with marketing details for our partners. The dedication and the drag bug still exist, but no time for a second job – there is too much work to do!

We can't race without the support of our marketing partners. Yes, we don't call them sponsors any more; they are marketing partners. Sponsor sounds like somebody is sending you a nice pile of money for you to play with. While that would be nice, we look at it differently. we are a Team! That team is comprised of not only our race crew, but also our marketing partners and fans. After all, without all of them, we could not do what we so love to do.

Times have changed, and I'm proud to say our team has played a major role in the enormous growth that MPM International Oil Company has made in the years that we have been working together. Our partnership with MPM has had a positive impact on their success as a company, and we have given them a substantial return on their investment. Partnerships are the key for clients and race teams. ROI is what it is all about. And, that is what we as a team learned in the past, and what we will continue to work toward in the future. MPM invites hundreds of their clients to every European race at the Hockenheim track in Germany. Their guests have the time of their lives with food, drinks and even live music on Saturday evening, all while being a special part of this incredible race team.

Our pit-side hospitality is always a big eye-catcher. Last season the camera crew of the Hockenheim ring came in our hospitality tent to make some great movie shots. The atmosphere was absolutely awesome. I remember I felt very proud to be part of the big show, and proud that we represent a company that benefits because of our team and drag racing. That is what drag racing is all about: keeping everybody happy and making them smile.

At this time, we are working very hard on obtaining funding for the Winternationals in Pomona next month, along with a primary partner for the entire 2010 race season. It starts with Pomona, with less than a month to go. I know time is going faster than I want it to. But, my American Dream made me realize that there is more to racing in the USA than just racing on excellent tracks, against the biggest names in the sport. Drag racing originated in the USA, and because of that the USA will always be ahead of everything that goes with the sport.

With our team’s drive, personality, determination, dedication and perseverance, it should not take very long before we find a company in which we can build a successful marketing partnership with. Our team has a good, clean look and appeal, the right attitude, the skill and knowledge to be a winning team, and the appreciation of our fans and supporters, which sponsors would love to have representing them.

Our equipment and team are situated in Southern California, and are ready to go racing. So, as long as the last round of qualifying has not started, we will keep on working on securing a partnership to race at Pomona and the full 2010 NHRA Full Throttle Drag Racing Series. It ain't over till it’s over! And, giving up is not something I do. So, I hope to see all of you, my fans-my friends at Pomona!

Monday, Nov. 23

Our American Dream Tour has come to an end, and what a time the whole team has had. It was awesome. The way the American people and race fans welcomed us has been from time to time breathtaking. I never expected that American fans would tell me to go after their own fellow countrymen, but they did. People who came to our pit shared our feelings of not being qualified and they had tears in their eyes. Many times I had goosebumps from listening to all the stories from our fans standing at the ropes. The way we are accepted by our fans made me humble.

I was happy the belt-breaking issue we suffered in Las Vegas was solved. Finally, I could show some of the perseverance people are used to seeing from me at home in Europe. Our first qualifying pass was a troubled run with tire shake. I gave it a pedal and the car took off. Wow, I never experienced so much G-force before when I pedaled the car. I had to click it off before the finish line because the car went out of shape. Bob Frey described it as a rodeo ride. Our second qualifier was scheduled for the next day so it gave us some time to go over the car and tune-up. It’s difficult to get a handle on all the different systems in such a short amount of time. We had to do without testing before we started racing in Las Vegas and Pomona, which made it come down to tuning the car during qualifying.

KP (Kevin Poynter) told me we would take it a step further and we would give it a try to qualify in the top 12, which would secure our E.T. The car left pretty good, although it was drifting out of the groove. But since it kept on running, it gave me the idea we were on a good pass. I tried to keep it from the wall, which seemed to work. Until just past the eighth-mile in 3.10 seconds at 275 mph, when suddenly the car made a hard move towards the wall. I aborted the run but it didn’t help. I brushed the wall with my left rear wheel, leaving a cloud of concrete smoke from the wall behind me.

The wheel and tire that hit the wall.

Gerda and KP made radio contact with me to find out if I was OK. I told them I was fine and I asked if I touched the wall before or after the finish line. It was before which meant the run was disqualified. At first, I didn’t understand why the car made the move to the wall. I have run beside a wall before in Europe but I found that there is a difference in conditions. The NHRA tracks generate a lot more traction, which helps the E.T. and speed. The downside is that beside the concrete pad the situation is so much different that the loss of traction under the left tire made the right tire push the car into the wall. After the car came back from the run, we inspected the chassis and all the components. We had to dissemble the car down to the bare chassis. We measured all the corners and straights and we found no damage.

Still, we needed to address the fact as to why the car had a tendency to start driving to the left. When we went over the last couple of runs, we found that on the second qualifying run in Las Vegas the car also drove to the left. Although at that time we had the idea it had something to do with the tune-up of the motor. We were glad we found the problem that caused the left drifting and to fix it was an easy job. On the third qualifying run, we smoked the tires around 330 feet, which left us only one more opportunity to get into the field.

The head gasket that didn't survive.

We left the pits for the last qualifying round and I thought to keep my dark visor on my helmet. Then I changed my mind and asked Gerda to trade it for the clear one because the sun would probably be behind the grandstands by the time we would have to make our run. By the time we had to make our run it was more than an hour later, it was dark and the track was pretty cold. We were delayed because of championship ceremonies that had to take place. The car left the line pretty hard and was on a good pass, but around the 330-foot marker the rear tires lost traction. I tried to get around it by pedaling the car but it started smoking the tires and a head gasket blew out. My crew was really impressed when they saw the replay on the big screen; the flames were in the cockpit for a couple of moments. I gave it everything I had but it didn't work out.
 
Race day was a great day for all the fans with Tony Schumacher winning the championship by just two points. I understand a little what went through Larry Dixon’s mind because l lost a championship once by one point and once by two points.

Because we were not racing on Sunday, Gerda and I had the chance to talk with the fans and we gave away a lot of hero cards. The decal on the rear door of our trailer supported not only an image of our race car but also the images of Gerda and me. The fans didn’t think twice but wanted both our autographs, which I found really cool.

Our flight back home went from L.A. to O’Hare, Chicago and from there to Schiphol, Amsterdam. The time difference between Los Angeles and Amsterdam is nine hours and it took us in total 14 hours to fly from L.A. to Amsterdam. As Bob Frey says, “You do the math.”

The good thing about all of this is we don’t have much time to think about any form of jet lag because our business was already waiting for our arrival, which was at 9 a.m. It took a whole day to get everything sorted out and in place again. One of the first things we did was get Rossi back home from his pension address, which he really much appreciated looking at his behavior and the wag of his tail.

The next day I had to do a live interview for a local radio station, which had seen a report in one of the newspapers about our trip called “a Dutchman will become an American Hero.” It was pretty cool and good for our sport in general.

Terri Poynter cooking for everyone.

Did you know that that for Las Vegas, we just came .007 short to make the field after Friday qualifying and at Pomona, just 0.5-inch further from the wall and we would have been qualified instead of disqualified?

I have had a great time racing in the USA. Drag racing is about being one big family and that is what I found during my stay. The fans were standing behind our team as if we were relatives. Our team, which for a part had not seen each other before, worked as professionals. This tells you something about the motivations these girls and boys have had to make it safe and great. I would like to thank Gerda, Terri Poynter, Linda McMonagle, K. P., Sebastian Visser, Jim McMonagle, Owen McKinley, Don Jackson, George Taylor, Del Fowler, Keith Kossuth, Jon Schaffer, Jeff Schaffer, Hans Brings, Arjan van Bemmel, Patrick Duijzers, Menno Groenendaal, Ed Dawson, Joanne Dawson and all my sponsors that worked to make my dream become a reality.

I have made the decision to leave our race car and program in California. The idea is to attend the 50th anniversary Winterntionals at Pomona in February. As often, it will depend on funding. Let’s see if we have earned our spot.

I want to thank all fans that Gerda and I have made friends with at the races and all that have sent me notes these last few weeks. Please stay in touch over the winter months at fanclub@lexjoonracing.nl. Have a nice off-season and Happy New Year. I hope to see you soon.

Monday, Nov. 9

Hello from home. Our plane arrived at Amsterdam (Schiphol Airport) at 7 a.m Tuesday morning after the Las Vegas event. after a journey that took us almost 20 hours. In Las Vegas, the clock will tell you it is 10 p.m. It’s a strange phenomenon, traveling over the world and going through all those time zones. In the Netherlands, my daily job was ready to begin but in Las Vegas, it was almost midnight. Getting back to the shop I found there was a pile of work and before I knew it was 7 p.m. Gerda came back from Vegas with a pretty heavy flu; I hope she will be better in time for our Pomona trip!

Later that night it was time to go over the past weekend with Kevin Poynter. He and I have contact on a daily basis; his job is to get the car ready for Pomona, together with the crew who traveled back to L.A. were our U.S. shop is located.

The culprit

After our DNQ in Vegas, it was time to go over the facts and data we gathered after four rounds of qualifying. The data showed us a really good-performing car. In the second qualifying session next to Larry Dixon we ran a 3.93 at 270 mph, showing us what we are capable of running. The speed at the eighth-mile was 271 mph at 3.10 seconds. After 3.3 seconds into the run our blower belt broke, which is the same as aborting the run. All of our four runs were aborted by blower belts, which broke sooner or later.

Going over all data, we could not find any problem in the tune-up. When a belt lets go there are several things to look at to find the reason that caused the problem. I believe the problem can be found in an old-type blower belt we were using which gave no problems at the European tracks but didn't work at the much more fuel-demanding US tracks. This problem will be fixed before we roll through the Pomona Raceway entrance, that's for sure.

We missed the No. 12 qualifying spot by just .02-second during the first day of qualifying which would have secured our 3.93 time and a spot in the field on race day with a 3.96 bump spot. Being the only European in Top Fuel not making the field is some kind of frustrating, especially when you know the car is capable of running the numbers to qualify. I knew we had the odds against us going into this race because our team had a couple of things to sort out which the other European teams did not have to worry about. We had to form a team with people that had never seen each other before. I must say I am so proud to have a crew that worked so well together from the first day on. I really enjoyed working with them. It was great to see how my crew started working together with an absolute devotion. Seeing the American and Dutch nationalities working together was just awesome.

My crew chief, KP had seen the car for the last time five years ago when it was shipped from David Baca's shop. He needed to find a baseline to get the car running. Normally you go through some test sessions before racing starts. I tried to get KP to Europe earlier this year, the same as the Danish team did with their consultant, Jim Brissette, but our budget didn't allow us to do so. I'm sure we will be fine. Our four runs at Las Vegas made us more than motivated to set the record straight in Pomona. After all, you are as good as your last race, what would be better than to be on the top at the last race of the season.

Gerda and Terri in our crew shirts.

Fixing the rear axle

Our disappointment of not being qualified went a different direction when we got the message from the NHRA that our team won a Wally for the Best Appearing Crew. Wowie, I think we are the first team to win this award coming from outside the U.S. I told my guys that we as men didn't pull it off; it was what our women -- Terri Poynter and Gerda --  did. Terri made the team shirts and Gerda made the design. The Wally has a prominent place in my shop beside the other trophies I won in Europe.

We had a setback when the crew found a damaged rear axle when they serviced the car. With our limited budget, it gave us a hard time to find a way to get this problem sorted out. The good news from L.A. came later in the week that the problem of the breaking blower belts is solved and the rear axle is fixed. I have a great bunch of guys who work day and night to get our race program ready. With the help of Grant Downing, we managed to get the thing fixed again. This is what drag racing is all about: helping each other where there is a need to do so.

I enjoyed the hands-on facilities that are set-up at an NHRA track that we don’t have in Europe. Goodyear was there with a big trailer loaded with tires. It was great to have XRP there to fix our fuel lines; normally this would take three weeks, in Vegas it took 15 minutes. Simpson was there with all the latest model shoes and helmets. Tim Hyatt, who does the annual SFI tour, was at our disposal with a trailer filled with all kinds of small parts and other goodies. We damaged one cylinder head, and normally it would take $700 with freight and everything, now it is just an hour drive. Racing in the U.S. gives me an idea of how American teams experience our sport. I must say it’s a lot easier in many ways but perhaps that is part of the charm of racing in Europe.

I had a really great weekend with the fans that came by our pits. Some of them emailed me already; others sent me messages after the weekend. What a great bunch of fans our team has; it’s really awesome. My blogs give people a chance to look inside our endeavors. I know from the blogs I write on Eurodragster.com, I have a huge amount of followers in Europe. Now with blogging on the NHRA website I attract fans all over the world including Australia, Japan, South Africa, Mexico, and Brazil. It’s amazing to see how many American fans are rooting for our team. It really gives me the extra push when things are difficult. I met a lot of people who have their roots in the Netherlands. I hope I continue to hear from all the nice people. Please email me at www.fanclub@lexjoonracing.nl.

Tuesday morning we will fly to Los Angeles to meet our crew and go through the latest details before we leave for Pomona. We are working full time on our business programs to attract American partners, which are interested to market their products and hospitality through our program in 2010. One thing is for sure: our American Dream Tour made it clear that we can add something to what fans are looking for and companies can use to market their products. The American- European connection is something that other teams in the U.S. don’t have and can be the key for us to stay racing in the U.S. with the American fans.

 

Monday, Nov. 2

Finally, we arrived in Las Vegas on Tuesday. Our first flight took almost nine hours from Amsterdam to Chicago, where we transferred to the flight to Vegas, which lasted three and a half hours. Altogether, it took more than 20 hours to arrive at our destination, but those things need to be done in order to live the life many other people can only dream about. We arrived in our hotel where our crew was already waiting for us. It was a great moment to see all my guys again, the Dutch crew I just saw a couple of weeks ago, and Kevin (Poynter) and his wife Terri. The last time we were with them was more than a year ago. Our USA crew, George and Del, gave me a real good first impression. These guys sent me the right vibes and I'm happy to have them on board. It was amazing to see how both teams worked together as one. It looked like they knew each other for a very long time.

Wednesday morning we left for the Las Vegas Motor Speedway where the dragstrip is a part of all the race venues, and is only situated 15 minutes from the strip of Las Vegas. It’s just great; you take the exit off the highway and there is the track. No long small roads as we know in Europe. It is a beautiful facility. When we got there, the trailer was already parked in the pits and we got started working on our pit layout by taking out the awning and all the equipment, tools and the race car. Then we started working to put the car together so it would be ready to be scrutinized. Because the rules we use in Europe are slightly behind the NHRA rules, it was a bit of a nail biter waiting to see how the car will do when it was inspected by the NHRA officials. I guess we did our homework because the car passed tag. I can tell you I'm proud we received the green light to start our weekend of racing.

Bob Frey introduced and interviewed me at the FanFest.

Ready to go!

Under the famous arch

On Thursday the Goodyear trailer opened its doors so we could buy the rear tires we needed for the weekend. This is something I never have done before. When I need tires for our racing activities in Europe, I order the slicks from Gary Burgin, who is located in California. He organizes and collects all the parts I need and sends them to my shop in Europe. Standing between piles of tires and having a chance to pick the sets I like is something special.

Thursday night we attended the Fan Fest and it was a great experience. A huge amount of fans came to this event to get in touch with us drivers and after almost two hours the session was stopped. I had signed more than 500 posters and had the opportunity to chat with a lot of nice people.

Friday finally arrived. Our first qualifier was something I was looking forward to. Finally, I would get the chance to drive my car over the dragstrip in Las Vegas. The NHRA official told me I was the first pair out, something that is always difficult because there are no other cars in front of you that can give you an idea what kind of numbers the track can hold. It was a thrill to finally sit under the arch that I dreamed of for so long, strapped in the car and ready go out with the best in the world. After a decent burnout, the car launched hard but the track seemed too green to hold the power and we smoked the tires. After we pulled the car back into the pits everything was okay and we prepared the car for the evening session.

It can’t get any better than to have a chance to race your car in an evening session at the Las Vegas dragstrip. KP told me to get ready for the ride of my life, and he was right. I never experienced a run like this before; the car left the line as a missile. Larry Dixon was in the other lane and had a slightly better 60-foot time but then we drove together down the track. I ran 3.10 at 276 mph to half-track. The car was really pulling, when it made a hard turn to the left caused by the fact that a cylinder in the left bank lost fire. I managed to get the car back in the groove and then the blower belt snapped after 3.3 seconds. The result was a 3.93 at only 270 mph. Dixon passed me when the blower belt broke and he ran low e.t. of the session with a 3.80. For a long time it looked like my e.t. was secured as No. 12 on the list but Urs Erbacher ran .02-second better and pushed me to No. 13, which meant we lost our time and we had to start all over again on Saturday.

Saturday the temperatures went up and the track changed. We had no data yet to run the car on under these different circumstances and we missed the opportunity to set a decent time on our last two qualifying attempts. Because we lost our 3.93, which would have qualified 14th, we missed the field for Sunday. It was a big disappointment after all that happened and knowing we were able to run good even without making a full 1,000-foot pass.

Still I will return home with a Wally. My team received the Best Appearing Crew award, something no other team outside the USA has ever won. You can imagine how proud I am.

We had a great time. We met so many great people and it was very special that they stopped to say hello and wish us good luck. It was fun to meet all the fans that had a connection with my home country, the Netherlands. Some of them had Dutch last names and it was fun to give them the right pronunciation of their name.

I would like to thank all the readers that sent me emails to wish me good luck. It is amazing to see how many people are reading my blogs and are following my well-being. Please continue to keep in touch at fanclub@lexjoonracing.nl. I enjoy hearing from you.

Between Vegas and Pomona, I will fly home to get my work done at the shop. The rest of my team will travel back to L.A. to service the car and get ready for Pomona. I know things will work out for us; it’s just a matter of time.

Time to go;  thanks for reading.

Wednesday, Oct. 28

Hello from Europe. The moment is almost here for Gerda and me to grab our suitcases and head to Schiphol, which is our International airport. Finally, my dream is becoming a reality and will be set in motion when our plane leaves the runway heading to Las Vegas. We hope we remembered to pack everything we need and taken care of everything here at home. Besides our horses, Gerda and I have a dog, a Giant Schnauzer called Rossi. We have taken him to an animal pension (inn or boarding house) for the time we are in the USA. He is used to going there because when we are racing our European tour we are not allowed to bring him to the tracks were we are racing. He likes to play with all the other dogs that are in the pension during his stay. We always say Rossi is getting a deserved vacation because the place looks like a holiday camp.

Ever since 2000 when I ran an Alcohol Funny Car in Pomona, I had the feeling I wanted to come back to the U.S. to race again. I never expected then that I would return with a Top Fuel dragster in the trailer, ready to race. This type of car is only driven by professionals and was out of my reach at that time. Our relationship with MPM International Oil Company that started in 2004 was the beginning of my career as a Top Fuel driver and team owner. Peter v.d. Meer and Michiel van Wilgen, founders of MPM, have always stood behind our program and made it possible for us to perform and act to the level where we are right now. Without them, this would not have been possible. Michiel will join us at the Las Vegas race, together with some clients and friends that are also supporting us in this great adventure.

For me drag racing has everything to do with an American lifestyle, in the place where it all began. As you read in my first blog, my interest for American cars started more than 30 years ago. For you it is not a big deal to see American-made cars driving around. For me, back then it was a huge investment and statement to own and drive American cars. I bought my first Chevy van from the American bookstore in Amsterdam and converted it to a custom car, which won many prizes as best appearing car. I like the way people work and live in the U.S. It is the land of unlimited possibilities and that is what attracts me.

I still find it hard to believe that this dream of mine if going to happen. I have been in Las Vegas before, sitting in the grandstands looking at the cars that were sitting under the Las Vegas Strip arch with the drivers facing the length of the dragstrip from their cockpit. It must be a great moment to go through the experience. It can only be a short moment because duty quickly calls and the engines get fired up and concentration becomes be the name of the game.

With 26 Top Fuel cars entered for this event, we know that we have a tall order to accomplish. We have no possibility to go testing before the race, which means we have to go with what we can put together on paper based on previous runs. With Kevin Poynter as crew chief, I believe we have a good chance to make the field on race day.

He spent the last weeks preparing the car and going over the tune-up to get the best opportunity to qualify. Once in the field anything is possible.

I'm really looking forward to meeting all the fans. I have had a huge amount of emails after my two blogs on the NHRA website. This encourages me even more to keep on writing. It’s great to have contact with all the people who have an interest in drag racing and the people who try to chase their dreams as I do mine. If you are visiting the race at Las Vegas, I hope to meet you at the NHRA Vegas Style Fan Fest. It will mark the official kickoff to the 2009 NHRA Las Vegas Nationals and will take place Thursday, Oct. 29, from 6 to 8 p.m. on Fremont Street in Las Vegas. I'm proud to participate in the autograph session along with all the big names in today's drag racing.

Please stay in touch at fanclub@lexjoonracing.nl. Talk to you soon.

Monday, Oct. 26

Loading up at Zandaam

All of our stuff

The container arrives in the U.S.

Checking everything out

In our U.S. shop

After we made the decision to go racing in the U.S. a lot of things needed to be arranged. There were questions to be filled in and work to be done, such as transportation, crew, shop space, truck and trailer, getting the race car ready according to NHRA specs, marketing, and so on.

The first thing I did when the American Dream Tour came together was call Kevin Poynter (KP) to bring him the good news. He knew we were working hard to get the deal finalized and when it would be a done deal, he was the man to tune the car for us. In Europe, Sebastian Visser, and myself tune the car but because we need to hit the nail right on the head the first time out we knew we needed a tuner that’s up to speed. To be honest even if we knew the settings I would have hired Kevin because for me he is a tuner that understands what it takes to go rounds and keep the engines alive at the same time. Besides that, KP is a great guy to work with; his attitude is one out of a million. You can win any type of war with him and that’s exactly what we need if we want a chance to go rounds with our MPM Top Fuel dragster.

Going over the transport the decision needed to be made if we would send our truck and trailer or a 40-foot container. The trip to Los Angeles by ship takes around 21 days all together it’s almost a month with loading and customs added up. When I got the information of what it would cost to send the truck/trailer combination the decision was not too difficult; the container was the right choice when we wanted to have some money left for racing. A container was ordered and a date set when it would be delivered at our shop in Zaandam. Because we have no loading dock, one of our sponsors, EWF, organized a trailer with a side loader to put the container on the ground, which made the loading a lot less complicated. One week before we started loading the container we made all kind of crates and wooden boxes to pack all our equipment, tools and spare parts to keep them safe and dry during the crossing over the sea. As I said in my previous blog, a lot of work was done to get all our papers ready for customs. Although most of the items in the container came originally from the USA, the U.S. Customs needs to know all the facts concerning the content of the container.

Overseeing our U.S. marketing situation is difficult especially when you are living and working in Europe as we do. The time difference is between 6 and 9 hours. When our working day has come to an end the people in California are having their first cup of coffee. Also, the way of doing business can be really different when you look at the U.S. and European cultures. Therefore, we hired two great people who do an outstanding job for us in the U.S. Ed and Joanne Dawson keep track of all our marketing and PR-related issues and I’m really happy to have them in our camp. The time we spend at the track during our race weekends is just a fragment of the time that is invested to get everything in place to make it possible to go out and race. The time where sponsors are willing to spend money on your team because they like your blue eyes are far behind us. You need to have a strong program were a business partner or client will benefit from the program you put on the table. That is why I think the word “sponsor” is not correct anymore. We have to sell our product, even in this difficult economy. When a business partner will do better business when they go with your program, they will stay. It’s a far better deal because then you earn your own money and that pays off at the end of the day.

Tuesday (Oct 20) the container arrived at our shop in Los Angeles. KP and Arjan have unloaded everything and they told me all was in perfect order. This seems to be rather normal but I had some bad images about the container lost at open sea or hanging upside down from a crane during unloading. Now it is time to get everything ready for the first race of our American Dream Tour, the Las Vegas Nationals. Because we didn’t have a chance to test we have the very difficult task to go full throttle into the first round of qualifying. We need to take every opportunity to run the numbers which will give us a spot in the field on race day.

That’s it for now, thanks for reading. If you want to keep in touch, please email me at fanclub@lexjoonracing.nl.

 

Monday, Oct. 19, 2009

Hello race fans. Perhaps you have read about it already; we are attending the last two races in Las Vegas and Pomona with our Top Fuel dragster that has been shipped from Europe about a month ago.

I am very honored and thankful to get the chance to send in blogs on the famous NHRA website. Blogging is something I have been doing for a couple of years at the one and only European drag racing website, www.Eurodragster.com. The idea is to keep you informed about the impressions we encounter and the differences and similarities there are between America and Europe. I hope you enjoy.

The idea to start blogging started when we bought our race car from David Baca in 2004. Eurodragster.com asked me if I could give the fans updates on how everything was going. Since I started my blogs, it appeared our fans were very interested to read about our well being. It gives them the idea they can have a look behind the scenes of a Top Fuel team. When we are at a race people stop by to tell me they enjoy reading my blogs. I must admit it gives me a humble feeling when people tell me I help their family going through an illness because I give them an opportunity to keep in touch with what’s going on outside their hospital bed. It’s great when you can make a positive contribution to the quality of people’s lives. That is one of the reasons we as racers don’t like empty seats in the grandstands. We enjoy the fact we can perform in front of a big crowd, but that could be a subject for another blog.

My wife Gerda and I enjoy riding horses.

My first race car was this '68 Camaro, called Dutch Treat.

My first Alcohol Funny Car was this car, which I bought from Bucky Austin and competed with at the 2000 Winternationals.

My first nitro Funny Car didn't last very long ...

The American Dream Tour as we call it is about a wish I have to start racing in the USA with the best teams and drivers on our planet. Some people dream about entering the Olympic games, for me this it.

My home country is The Netherlands (Europe) and I’m working and living together with my wife Gerda near Amsterdam in a place called Zaandam. We own and run a car dealership and maintain all type of cars with a specialism for American-made cars. Gerda and I have a common hobby besides drag racing, and these are our two horses.

I started my drag racing career 25 years ago in a time when just a handful of people in my home country ever heard of drag racing. My first race car was a ‘68 Camaro, which I bought from a farmer who had it parked in his back yard. The only type of racing we knew back then was heads up without any type of index. I was really successful but I’m the type of guy who is always pushing the bar to the next level. In 1995, I bought my first Alcohol Funny Car. At that time there was not a lot of knowledge to fall back on. The only way to learn everything about alcohol racing was to drive and tune the car by myself. We did a pretty good job but never had the funding to run for the FIA Championship.

In 2000 a good friend of mine bought an Alcohol Funny Car from Bucky Austin. We hired a van from U-Haul and transported the car and parts from Seattle to Pomona where we entered the Winternationals that year. We ended up being the 17th qualifier including losing a motor.

When I left Pomona after that race I knew I wanted to come back one day to give it another try. The years went by and every year we visited the Auto Club Finals at Pomona I was entering through the spectator gates but I knew my place was not sitting in the grandstands but working in the pits.

In 2003 I bought my first nitro Funny Car. For me a dream came true because I love Funny Cars and what’s better then a nitro-burning one. It didn’t last long. During my third run in the car the rods came out and the complete car went up in fire. It was totally destroyed. I barely could save myself getting out of the car in time. That was the last time I drove a fuel Funny Car.

In 2004 I got the opportunity to hire a Top Fuel dragster, which at that point looked like a good opportunity to get acquainted with nitro burning engines. MPM International oil company located in the Netherlands, had started working with us when we bought our Fuel Funny Car, and they were interested to put their name on a Top Fuel dragster. Not a lot of people know this but here in Holland we have many drag racing teams but not a permanent track to race. The highest class you will find my other countrymen to race is Pro Modified. You can imagine that when we offered MPM a Top Fuel deal they were very interested.

After the first year of racing we came to the conclusion that we needed our own operation to be successful. At the end of 2004, we bought a complete car with spares from David Baca. During this visit we met Kevin Poynter who was car crew chief for David at that time. Our first year with our own team was very successful, with all the new equipment we imported from the USA. We managed to become FIA European Champion in 2005. We had more success when we were runner up in the Championship in 2007 and 2008, becoming one of the most successful Top Fuel teams in Europe.

At the beginning of this year we decided that this would be the year to race in the USA. We launched the Lex Joon Racing American Dream Tour. It wasn’t easy but during our biggest race in Europe at the Hockenheim track we got the green light to start living our American dream. You can imagine we were thrilled but at the same time it meant a lot of work to be realized in a short amount of time.

In Europe we race under the same technical rules as in the U.S. with the only difference being that we are one year behind the NHRA rule book. Before shipping the car I needed to go over the latest changes to be sure we could run the car without making any last moment corrections. I ordered a 40-foot container that was delivered at our shop in Zaandam by EWF, one of our sponsors of our American Dream Tour. They take care of all the shipment and custom business. Since the September 11 tragedy, importing and exporting has become a lot more difficult because of the security the American government has enforced. After we had loaded the container with the race car, tools and spare parts, we had to produce a list with all items stored in the container. Meanwhile the container has arrived in Los Angeles, and we have rented a shop in L.A. to have a place to service the car and get everything in place for the races in Las Vegas and Pomona. Kevin Poynter will be the crew chief and our crew will exist of Dutch and American boys and girls.

With all of my equipment waiting for me in the United States, you can imagine I can’t wait to get started on what I hope to be one of the most exciting times of my life.

I will say good bye for now; I have to go start to pack. I will write again soon.