O'Reily Raceway Park, Indianapolis IN (September 21 -
UMDRA Inaugural Meet-
Friday, September 21, 2007 -
We headed back to INDY again this weekend. This time, the purpose was to meet
up with some of our fellow UMDRA.com members at the 2-
Some of the UMDRA group had already gone in before us and reserved some spots behind the Top Eliminator club stands close to the west staging lanes (at the other end of the ¼ mile from where we had parked last weekend). These primo parking spots provided us with a quick access to the stands at the starting line.
We knew ahead of time that we’d only be able to make some runs on Friday since
the “Superbowl” did not have a motorcycle class but we wanted to go down to meet
some of our fellow snowmobile-
It would be the only time that the other UMDRA members could see our bike run
during the weekend. It was a badly run affair, first starting late, and then with
none of the track staf
f managing the lanes, it was a melee of various car classes
and bikes streaming from both the east and west staging lanes and trying to all fit
into the two run lanes. Needless to say, we only managed to make three runs in about
4 hours but the bike performed as expected. For the last pass, we bumped up the engagement
a little (to what we had been running earlier in the year) and the 60 ft time rebounded
as we had expected it to do.
The adjoining “roundy round” track had a big 3-
Saturday, September 22, 2007
We awoke Saturday morning to similar weather but there was a light cool breeze
for the early part of the day. Later in the day, some clouds passed over now and
then to give us a brief break from the high heat and humidity but much water was
consumed and shade sought out on Saturday. (Bob was kind of glad he didn’t have to
wear his leathers all day.) We spent part of the day checking out the other UMDRA
members’ cars and the rest of the day cheering them on and taking photos and videos.
We also had our bike and the start of the chassis for the new bike o
n display and
answered questions for those who stopped by to browse.
The UMDRA team for this meet consisted of Eric (E McKinney) with his Medusa looking snowmobile dragster as well as Doug (Doug3170), Larry (Mac), and Allyn Neff (BingBing) with their snowmobile dragsters. Mac also brought one of mini funny cars for display/sale. Also present was Buck (Noisy Toys) with his turbo ‘busa powered dragster. (He had worked on the motor 24/7 to get the motor going for this weekend and had succeeded but was then put on the sidelines by chassis problems! See E’s coverage on the UMDRA site for details). Along with him came honorary member Bill who doesn’t have a UMDRA qualifying vehicle (yet) but he brought along his Top Gas ‘busa dragbike (ala P. Gast) to show to a potential buyer. (Bill is #4 in PROSTAR Top Gas at the moment – ahead of M. Konoapcki.). He showed us up by running in the low 8’s on Friday night. The Wicked Quick Team (Dan and family) were also present with their Jr Comp dragster powered by a 1000GXSR motor (driven by Kristen).
We also met and had a nice chat with Craig (Handicappedracer) about vintage snowmobiles
and 2-
The Nostalgia Pro Comp (NPCA) race group was also part of this weekend so we
got to see a lot of vintage race vehicles. A lot of the crew and drivers were vintage
too (one of 
the members/drivers is Larry Dixon Sr.). While standing in front of the
tower watching these cars, we were hailed by the announcer in the tower, whose voice
we recognized to be Roger from our old US131 dragway days. (We seem to run into him
at least once a year at some race or another.)
The old cars, some smelling of alcohol
and nitro (yea!), were fun to watch.
Sunday, September 23, 2007
We held our first club meeting on Saturday evening after a feast (BBQ’d by Doug’s
wife, Stacy in the hot sun!!) at which we voted for best-
We said our good-
O'Reily Raceway Park, Indianapolis IN (September 13 -
Great weekend at Division Finals!
Thursday, September 13, 2007 -
We came down last night and stayed in the Wal-
it because they had hundreds of thousands of dollars
just in the towing rig. The paint job on the thing must have cost as much as my house
alone! On the way to the track, we always get to drive through "Nitro Alley" which
is a bunch of the pro guys' home race shops. We even got to see the new Eric Medlen
statue they dedicated a couple weeks back during the US Nationals. I took a quick
shot of the new John Force building that now houses the Eric Medlen Project which
is all the new safety stuff that Force is working on.
When we got to the track, about 8:00 AM, we were fairly close to the front of the line. It wasn't until noon that we got through the gates and found our nice parking spot right at a junction in the pit roads for easy access. The rest of the Mid Michigan Team trickled in over the next few hours. So we did the usual waiting game that they call "Indy" and even took a stroll to the East side pits to visit the Route 66 guys.
Friday, September 14, 2007
Up early because our neighbor gave us a nice "wake-
unusual for any other race but in the back of our heads we know the
Race of Champion is coming tonight so we check things a little more closely. The
first time trial was around 12:30 PM for all the bikes and we were supposed to rush
back up for our second time run because all the ROC contestants get two time trials
before first round. We made sure the bike was sufficiently cooled and headed back
up for the second. Another hour passed and the call came out for all ROC participants
to come up for the opening ceremonies. It was cool seeing Bob up on stage. The same
one that they used just two weeks ago for the US Nationals. The same one Craig Treble
was on to receive his trophy! (CONGRATS!!) A little help in the first round with
a competition single and a smooth second round pitted us against a good friend on
another two stroke. This one a H2. That turned out to be quite a close round that
we were able to come out on top and I can not quite describe how good it sounded
to here a par of 2 strokes making the only noise going down the track. And I have
to say it was a little satisfying to look into the Route 66 stand and watch all the
bike racers looking. Coming in I felt a little below the regular crowd because we
didn't make it through Chicago but now I realized it didn't matter how you get there
as long as you make it. And even though were are on separate teams, that bond is
still ever present.
Saturday, September 15, 2007
It was a great night last night with all of the winners circle ceremonies and
the Pot Luck dinner for all the Mid Michigan racers. Even though we were runner up,
everyone was very proud of our accomplishments. The third and final time run was
about the same time as our first yesterday but today was SIGNIFICANTLY colder. When
we woke up, the DA was well below sea level. There was a little problem with a keyway
on the flywheel but was quickly remedied by swapping parts off the backup motor.
And later the sun came out eventually and warmed things up and made it quite pleasant.
I heard back in Michigan the clouds stayed around and it was bitter cold for September.
Finally first round came around in the afternoon. We were all ready to go and
made it up to the front of the pack. Paired with Chad Eisely who runs a Hondamatic
at a very consistent low 13.00, I knew it was going to be a tough first round. Up
to the line, and the bike
made a hard turn to the center line but Bob did a great
job of reeling it in and staying off the cones but it was to late late. Bob and Chad
had nearly identical reactions but as he often does, Chad had a very consistent time
and left no room for Bob to come around him. So that brought our weekend to a close
on Saturday night and gave us plenty of time to pack up and watch our friends and
teammates race in their first rounds.
Sunday, September 16, 2007
Today was a finish picking up stuff and watching our team day. Several of our
Mid Michigan teammates made it through first round and many 
made it all the way into
and through the third round which is when the money started to get paid out. Also,
two of the Route 66 bikes made it to the fourth round. Tom Florey and Paul Waters
were running very
well. Plus as we were leaving Paul had just made it through the quarter-
Everyone performed admirably but inevitably, only 4 people out of the 1,000 can go home without a lose by their name. Good luck to all the Division 3 winners as they make their way to Pomona, CA and race at the national event there in November against the other divisions to be name National Champ. Last year none of the Div 3 representatives made it to the finals and Joe Deck, who we lost to, made a round one exit. So hopefully we can get at least one of the crowns back home to Division 3 "The Land of The Winners"!
Mid Michigan Motorplex, Stanton MI (September 1 -
Labor day Fun-
Saturday, September 1, 2007 -
These are the last two races before the Division Finals in Indy. Maybe a test
session, but who knows. Last weekend when we suspected the bike wasn't running quite
right, Bob went ho 
me and found bad things with it. That turned into, basically, a
complete rebuild of the engine. Initially the plan was to run the backup motor, but
when UPS delivered on time and Doug got us the crank back, things were set in motion
to get our #1 bullet back together in time for today.
We knew the first couple runs wouldn't tell us much because the engine had to be broke back in, and we were right. And being that there were SO many cars on the holiday weekend, two time trials and a run for the money was all they offered. So we had to take the run for the money, which was a great thing because the motor final came around and we got good data to go through the first two rounds pushing out opponents out both times. By the time third round came up it was almost 11 PM and was plenty dark and cool and we missed the dial by a touch and ended our long day. I stayed up after dinner and a shower long enough to see our buddy Jeff Green (from US131 Dragway) make it through round 3 and lying in bed I heard him make it past round 5. Turns out he made it 9 rounds and took home the money. He ran with more than 200 Pro cars and came out on top. Not bad for having half the wheels.
Sunday, September 2, 2007
Sundays are always early starts and today was nice because there was no hour drive to the track. Everything started out nice with a 6.09 and an 6.11 but when Bob got back from the second time trial, he was missing wheelie bar parts. So we had to make a mad dash back to Bob's house to get the old bars and salvage parts off of those. Bob took the 'Busa back because I know have absolute confirmation from a third party source; my truck is a toad!
After all that running around, first round came up quick. We dialed a 6.13 and ran quite close, but Got one of those US131 cars in the other lane that just had to much for us. Going into second round after buying back in, Bob put together one of the best runs of the weekend, and even that wasn't enough to take a win today. Not very often an 0.05 package won't get you a win, but today was one of those days.
As usual, we found lots of things we could try going into Indy. Its funny that after all these years running this same chassis, you would think we would know everything there is to know. But obviously there is more to it than just tubing and and engine...
Mid Michigan Motorplex, Stanton MI (August 26, 2007)
Indy test session 1
Sunday, August 26, 2007 -
Today was a great day for racing. All the rain from the rest of the week was gone,
leaving the temperature at 78 degrees. We made good time getting to the track, and
had a good parking space. Test trials were started on time, and everyone got the
allotted three tries. However, there were not any run for the money trials except
for juniors. And of course there were plenty
of them there as usual.
The bike timed at 6.11 for the first trial, 6.11 for the second, and 6.16 for the third. A bit unusual, since the bike normally follows a pattern prior to actual races. This time, events flowed a lot more smoothly than when I last went to the races (back in June), where rain from the night before and that morning delayed things to the point where everyone was allowed only one test run. During the last time trial, the last pro car to run unexpectedly caught fire halfway down the track. It was quickly put out, no one was hurt, and events continued as usual with US in the next round (YAY!).
Another added bonus to this trip, at least for me, was that I was given an actual job. I was the official starter for the team, which enabled Shelly to videotape things more effectively. Because who doesn't want to be leeching off the team feeling and group togetherness of others, right? Right?? Unfortunately, the bike was having some engine problems and we had to go home early. The guys were working on it right up until the point they packed it all up. The big Labor Day trip coming up next weekend here at Mid Michigan, we'll let you know how things go!
Route 66 Raceway, Joliet IL (August 5, 2007)
Highs & Lows
Sunday, August 5, 2007 -
All night it was fairly dry, kinda humid but dry. Then less than an hour before
we are to enter the gates, it starts to rain. This wouldn't be all bad except two
things: 1. It can rain as long as it
is raining at home because we haven't had any
rain in what seems months 2. It is the last race and no matter how long it takes,
they will wait it out. So as we all stand, sit or sleep our way through the delay,
everyone is hoping it will stop and we can get on with things. Also at the same time,
I am still trying to decide weather I wanted to throw away my entry fee to get into
the bike class. When it came down to it, I figured I brought it all the way here,
I might as well. That and Bob told me I should (and forked over the money temporarily)
But what ended up happening was while talking to Dawn Florey, she said I could borrow
her bike that was trailered because of her surgery. After somewhat of jumping at
the chance I was extremely nervous. But first off, I have to thank Tom, Dawn and
the whole family and crew for the opportunity and all their kind words.
Because of the rain, everyone got one chance down the track to speed things up.
Bob ran quicker than I though being that the air was more water than oxygen. My first
time down the track on a dragbike was a disappointing 11.0. Going into first round,
the was even more heat and (if you can believe it) more humidity. So Shelly dialed
Bob as best she could but the bike just didn't want to leave the trailer. Limping
off the
starting line, there was nothing Bob could do and Greg took him out in the
first round to end the season. As for me, I got a gift when Bob Theida broke in the
water box. I took it as a second time trial and said thanks. Good thing to because
I dialed a conservative 10.65 and wound up with a non-
That concludes our Route 66 season. To say the least it was disappointing on the racing side. We had our highs and our lows but as it is with any sport you do/play without being a professional, It was great fun. As I tell Bob at the end of every season, there is no where else I would rather be than at a race track. It doesn't matter if we are winning or losing, watching or playing. Drag racing is my love and my passion. One of these days I will get to actually compete at a high level, and after this weekend, I'm thinking that may be sooner rather than later. But our season does not stop here. there are plenty of racing left including Mid Mich dates and the bracket finals in September. Plus the Drag News race in Indianapolis the week after the bracket finals where some of the UMDRA.com guys will gather and have some extra fun.
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