Underground Car Guy

  Last night, for just a brief moment, I was back at the track.  I found the 944 ready to go.  Dad had her all set up.  But it has been awhile, and I have a few questions. The first one was, has the car been teched.  My dad's reply, Don't worry about it, it has been taken care of. I don't have  licence.  My dad's reply,  Don't worry about it, it has been taken care of. My helmet is out of date and my racing suit will not fit.  My dad's reply, Don't worry about it, it has  been taken care of. Who was the sanctioning body for this race.  My dad's reply, don't worry about it, it has been taken care of.  My only worry now, is would I remember how to drive the car.  Would I know the breaking points.  But I looked around at all of the people, some I remember, and all the different cars.  Out to have fun for just a brief moment.  A moment that never happened at 3 in the morning.

Was at my dad's for Father's Day, and we were watching "Walter Mitty" on one of the movie channels.  Walter Mitty is this character who always dreamed of doing great things but never did them.  I always thought of myself of some what a Walter Mitty, but as I look back at my life I can see some pretty amazing things that I have done. This is part two.   Part one was my life until the age of 21.  So now we will see what I have done since then. Got a job working at Mesa Community College Bookstore.  Worked there for about two months.  Next job was with Kieth Riggs Plumbing.  Worked there a year before being laid off.  Went on to work for General Plumbing in the warehouse.  Worked there for 17 years, until I was laid off.  Really loved working there, except for a few in the management.  Was hard to lose that job. Was elected as a Republican Precinct Committeeman for about ten years.  From 1998 to 2000 I was the Third Vice Ch...

Was at my dad's for Father's Day, and we were watching "Walter Mitty" on one of the movie channels.  Walter Mitty is this character who always dreamed of doing great things but never did them.  I always thought of myself of some what a Walter Mitty, but as I look back at my life I can see some pretty amazing things that I have done. When I was 9 or 10, my parents were working for a production company as extras.  My dad can be seen in the Movie Used Cars.  But this did turn into a job for the whole family one day.  My parents were going to a shoot and took me and my sister along.  Got us out of school for half the day.  We shot a Visa commerical and were paid I think $50 for just walking back and forth at the airport. At age 11 I started racing go carts.  First race out I crashed sideways into the wall going about 55 mph.  Was hurt really badly, but did not realize how badly until many years later.  Raced for a few months until...

The the next challenge is shapes.  So you are asking, why there a picture of race car here and not a shape.    But if you really look at it closely, you will see many shapes in play here. One of the most important shape here is the circle. Just think if the wheel had not been invited, were would we be.  For a race car the circle, at first, is not perfect.  To get the most out of the car and the tires, you do not fill them up with the higher  amount of air.  As the tires heat up, the air in the tires expands.  So the car has better grip at the beginning of a run. Also the wedge shape of the 944 Porsche, makes the car more aerodynamic.  That means that it push through the air more effectively.  I really do not know how fast I ever got with this car, but I would have to say some were in the 160's. #30daychallenge

The Tie of the Day February 22nd The Race Car Tie In honor of the Daytona 500 yesterday.  Daytona and its speed weeks has always been seen as the kick off to racing season with the 24 hours of Daytona just about a month ago.  Yes I know the short  track racing has been going on, but for the Professional Series, this is truly the beginning of the season.

Of all the accidents that I have had, they do not count as failures in anyway.  The go-carting accident was a lack of experience in conditions that were very poor at the time.  But none of them can compare to what happened to me at a race at Firebird East. I had been racing the Porsche 944, and me and car were not working as one.  I don't know what it was.  By this time I was an experienced racer who had come off of racing two different cars and both those cars where totally different from the other.  But for some reason things were not coming together as quickly, and this did not have my dad happy either.  My dad built this car in about a month with the help of two kids from the neighborhood.  I did not do hard any work on it at all.  For my dad, I think this was to prove to all of the people out there that he really did know Porsche's.  Most of the cars that were out there were basically built by one person, so were a little different...

To start a new racing season with a new car was a different experience.  I had grown to really like the Golf with all of it little problems here and there, it was a pretty stable car to race, with the right wheels and tires.  We went out to the first event and things just did not seem right.  After practice I brought the car in and dad went to check the oil and found a problem.  I big enough problem that we had to pack up and go home.  First time ever, I went to and event and get a did not start. We go home and get the problem fixed and go out to the next event.  I go out and shake down the car and everything seems fine.  I go out to Qualifying and put the car the field in 8th.  In the race I am starting on the outside role and as we come around the tower we get the green flag.  As we started the outside lane was right up against the wall.  The car in front of me did not get a good start and I could not move to my left.  we made ...

I was lucky to be able to race for 7 years.  I got to drive three different type of cars and drive on 4 different tracks in 2 states.  I was able to finish all but three races that I entered.  I wish it could have been more, but my mom got sick, and dad was more focused on her than going out to the track.  I still dream of getting back into a car again, but in reality my racing days maybe and are over.  So that leaves a bucket list of places that I have always wanted to visit one day,  I will list one more than once because it has two races that I would love to see.  So here is my Racing Bucket List. 1.  Indianpolis 500:  Never wanted to race an open wheeled car, even though a go-cart is the small version of that, but I have always wanted to be there on race day.  To walk through the pits to smell the racing fuel, when all you can hear is the roar of the engines.  To see the trophy with every winners face on it. 2.  The D...

So lets call this a prequel of a Blog.   I was thinking back to all of my experience in racing.  And I really did not talk much about my brief experience in racing go-carts.  I did talk about it in My Roots in Racing Part 1 and My Ruff Times of Racing:  The Go-Cart Accident.   But there is a little bit of the story I left out. This all started in 1981 when were driving down Broadway, by Reed Park, and we see a few people driving a go-cart pretty hard in a church parking lot.  We turned around and starting talking to them about the cart and found out that they raced them.  My dad thought this would be a great thing to get me into and so with in a few weeks he had bought me a cart and we where zipping up and down the road in it.  We found out when the racers were and went out on a Saturday night to watch the races.  After that we decided this was what we were going to do. Back then to go racing you did not need much like you do today. ...

2004 had come and by February we were back out at the track.  It is February 24th and we have not been on the track for two months.  So we are looking at getting back at it.  I have already told this story on the the blog.  So if we want to read about it you can find it at The Ruff Times of Racing:  First Win . I never would have thought getting my first win would have been so hard. I think the next race was at PIR.  I got another win, because Davis did not show up.  But I was have problems with the car.  I would reach a curtain speed and then the car would cut out on me and would take a while until it would come back on.  These happened this race and the next race, never finding out what was causing it to cut out on me at speed. By this time dad was ready to move onto the next car.  Porsche 944.  This was going to be the next Spec class in SCCA.  One of my dad's friends, Joe Stubblefield, was heading up the class...

Over the weekend I watched two movies that made we question why we let Hollywood make movies which are against our believes.  I am not just talking about my own Mormon believes, but basic religious morals.  I know it has been going on for a long time, and we have the choice of what we watch, but why do we continue to watch this crap? The first one was Noah.  I am a big fan of Russell Crow, and I like a good action movie, but why could not Hollywood be true to the story of Noah.  Yes, the Movie did have Noah, an Ark, and the flood, but if that is all you know about Noah, then this was the movie for you.  Why could they not talk about him be a prophet, crying repentance unto the people.  Why could not all the sons be married?  And why do they have to make him out as a crazy man?  I have talked to several people about this movie and none has like what they saw.  I even heard in the theater, people saying openly that is not how it happened. ...

By the summer of 2002 we found out that we could reclassified  the Golf into Improved Touring B (ITB).  This would put us with more cars about our speed.  So in Arizona, are season Starts in the fall and goes into the spring of the next year, we got the OK to start the new class in the fall.  Again this was an OK season. Nothing really exciting happened in this season.  I was still learning the car and we were breaking half shafts almost every other race.  we learned that if we stopped buying the Volkswagen ones, the problem was solved. The Fall of 2003 brought a new season.  The first race of that year was at Firebird east.  For most of us that went to drivers school in Arizona, this was the first days track.  So it was a track that most everyone knew.  I went out to practice and did a few laps and came in and could not get the car out of third gear.  I finally got it out of it, but we can not know what the problem really was ...

Me in the Golf, coming around the tower turn. Driving the Volkswagen Golf was truly a love hate relationship.  I loved the little car.  It was easy to drive, when you had the right wheels on it, and it was really easy to get in and out of.  But I had a lot of brake downs, mostly from the gear box to half shafts. Yes, the car looks like a box but it did get up to about 140 mph.  It was also a special car.  This car was built as a race car by the Volkswagen factory.  It was first built to run in Showroom Stock B (SSB).  It had no Vin number, but came as a part number.  So this car was never a car that drove on the roads.  We were lucky to get it.  When it was done racing in SSB, it was to be crushed.  The nice thing about this car was that it was ready to go.  It was the first car that we did not build.  We took off the stripes of the German Flag and added the red numbers of 95.  This was some what up holding t...

I was sitting here and thinking of an experience that I had at the race track many, many years ago, and I do not know why I was there.  It was a day that they were having a driver's school, I do not think there was a race until the next day, which would have been Sunday, and I would have not been there anyway.  I think I just wanted to see who was out there with the Porsche 944 group.  At driver's school  you set for a few hours in the class room, learning what all the flags mean, what the apex of a corner is, what to do if you get in some type of trouble on the track,  and the lay of the track.  But that majority of time is driving the track and trying to learn the fastest way around.  You will have up to 10 sessions of half an hour to drive the course in two days, in which they will throw at you flags, that you will have to respond to, safety cars, and safety trucks.  So you have to be on your toes, so at the end of the session your instructo...

Do not remember which race this is, but it is at Firebird Main. February 14, 2004, found us out at Firebird Raceway, the Main track.  We had two bad outing before this.  Back in October, we were on  Firebird East when I lost 1st, and 2nd gears before the race.  But I almost got a first from that, but had to rebuild the transmission.  In December, we were at PIR (Phoenix International Raceway), qualifying well and a my class, go out and  find myself and spinning in a rain storm at NASCAR turn 4, and coming close to hitting the wall.  Another 2nd for that weekend. We got the car off the trail and went out to practice.  Did about 5 laps and brought the car in.  Everything felt fine.  Then came qualifying went out and did a few more laps and did not do bad in qualifying.  (If you look at #40 in the picture, that is a Sports Racer Ford.  A some what fast car and I qualified behind the group of 5 or 6 cars that day.) So we g...

I think that I have watched my last show on Speed.  I guess the hand writing was on the wall back around fall of last year when Formula 1 announced that the were move to NBC Sports, and dropping Speed.  And how many Formula 1 races have I really watched this year because of the Network change, None.  But Fox has decided to roll some there speciality Networks into one, and calling this new brand Fox Sports 1, which starts August 17th. And what type of programming are we going to get from Fox Sports 1?  Well from the commercials that I have seen for the new network, it is covering the major American sports.  And what will they show of racing?  That is right the same formula that they have been following for years.  They are giving us NASCAR Race Hub.  That is great, but all of racing is not about NASCAR. I grew up liking a lot of motorsports.  So when Speedvision launched in 1995 I was excited.  Speed offered what we were not getting o...

So September 10, 2000, I am ready for racing.  We had two cars, Mazda RX-7's.  Our numbers were 86 (Alex) and 87(Me).  The First year we raced at Firebird International Raceway.  I do not remember my first race but I know that I finished just a head of Alex.  Our next race was May 5, 2001.  I remember it being very hot and that there was about 6 cars in our ITA (Improved Touring A) class.  We made it through practice and qualifying with no incidents.  I had qualified about 2 second faster than Alex that day, and I was starting a row ahead. The race started, and I got a pretty good start.  I was a head of Alex, but he was nipping at my heals.  By about the 5 or 6 lap, I missed a shift point coming out of the tower turn and this allowed Alex to get around me.  It took me a lap or two to get back into a good rhythm, and to get Alex in my sights again.  As I was going do the front straight I noticed that I had been giving the fas...

Fall came and I was back out with a repaired car.  We were still working on Alex's car so he was my crew until we got his built.  It turned out that again we were the last race off the day.  Practice and qualifying went good.  But as we broke for lunch, the clouds started rolling in.  By the third race of the day it was raining.  Dad had brought some wheels and tires that he was going to try to sale that day and we put those tires on.  Windshield wipers who needs them on a race car right, well we needed some now.  Well we settled for some rain-x.  Why we are trying to prepare the car for wet running, I am watching this guy across from us with a Porsche 914, who had slicks on do nothing to prepare his car.  I was in a different class by in the same race with me. Our race came up and had stopped rain, but was still sprinkling.  The rain-x was doing it job.  We went out and took our warm up lap, and prepared for th...

So September 10, 2000, I am ready for racing.  We had two cars, Mazda RX-7's.  Our numbers were 86 (Alex) and 87(Me).  The First year we raced at Firebird International Raceway.  I do not remember my first race but I know that I finished just a head of Alex.  Our next race was May 5, 2001.  I remember it being very hot and that there was about 6 cars in our ITA (Improved Touring A) class.  We made it through practice and qualifying with no incidents.  I had qualified about 2 second faster than Alex that day, and I was starting a row ahead. The race started, and I got a pretty good start.  I was a head of Alex, but he was nipping at my heals.  By about the 5 or 6 lap, I missed a shift point coming out of the tower turn and this allowed Alex to get around me.  It took me a lap or two to get back into a good rhythm, and to get Alex in my sights again.  As I was going do the front straight I noticed that I had been...

At 11, we saw this group running go carts around a church parking lot.  We went over and talked to them and found out that is was two brother and there kids that race locally.  When in the next few weeks were were out at the dirt track watching go carts race around the track.  And a few weeks later we had our own carts. We finally got all the gear and the cart ready for racing, and we headed out to the track.  We got there and found out that for what I was running, they did not have a youth class for, so I was to run with the adults.  I went out and practiced and the track was a mess.  Really muddy and hard to get a grip.  We found out for the race that I would be starting 2nd.  I was excited, but scared, because this was my first race.  we got on the track and it was madding.  Starting 2nd, meant that I was starting on the top of the track.  The top is not where you want to be on a dirt track.  So from the start I was shuff...