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THE LATEST NEWS FROM DAN FITZGERALD RACING! |
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12-31-07 |
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THEY TRIED TO MAKE HER GO TO
REHAB........SHE SAID NO! NO! NO! |
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While her surgery got bumped a couple of
times leaving her at the vet for a couple of extra days, Dorey
is now home and on the mend.
She had a big chunk of her hip bone removed from the socket, was
spayed, and had her dew claws removed. Big business
for a 10 pound dog.
The doctor said that she either needed to go to a rehab
treatment center or it would have to be done at home.
So it's being done at home. Four times a day he
right rear (racin' dog) needs to be rotated 20 times and she
needs to be up and moving around as much as possible.
Ever the trooper, she has been in and out of the dog door (not
easy with the halo) and barking at neighbors through the gate
already. Go Dorey! |
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UH OH, WHOOPS! |
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Over the last month or so I've gone through all the set up DVD's
I could concerning IMCA Modifieds and their suspension.
I know that many times during the programs I caught myself saying,
"uh oh," or "whoops!" It wasn't pretty. I had a
couple of things backwards and a few of the things I was doing were
right, yet coupled with other things were quite counter-productive.
I'm not sure what it all means but I know things on my car are
wrong. It's my fault that's for sure. I
guess it goes back to just not being on top of things.
So today we worked on changing things on the car and getting the
trailer restocked and ready to go for the season. The
car may be better and it may take us a while to get everything going
in the right direction. I think the best thing I ever
did was during my first season in the modifieds. I raced
the car every night with the exact same set up, never changed a
thing. I think that helped teach me to drive the car as
it was and adjust my driving to fit the needs of the car.
Sometimes seat adjustments work better than chassis adjustments
anyway. We'll see how it all pans out!
Wish us luck. |
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12-28-07 |
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LOOK FUN? |
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Does this look like fun or what??
Siamese Racing in England requires welding one car on top of
another. The person in the top car controls the
steering and the person underneath controls the gas, brake, and
gears.
The cars are quite top heavy and look like a handful to get
around the track. Check out the video.
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=ox26kryva2A&feature=related
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NEWEST MEMBER GOING UNDER THE
KNIFE! |
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Over the holiday weekend the newest member of
the team, Dorey, came up with a limp. After it
didn't get better she was taken to the vet for a check up.
A few hours and a couple of X-rays later and she was diagnosed
with hip dysplasia.
Some dogs are born with this and the only way to fix it is
through surgery. So little Dorey is going under the
knife really soon and will be down for about 12 weeks while she
recovers. We will hope for the best! |
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DAD UPDATE! |
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Dad is home and doing fairly well. He was out and
about a couple of times this holiday and joined us out for dinner
earlier this week. Still suffers from an upset stomach
from time to time and soreness from his recent surgeries.
He is unsure whether he will be able to attend the winter series
events at Mohave Valley, but if he's up to it he has expressed
interest in going. Time will tell. You
can email him at dad@87racing.com
if interested. |
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SAVING FUEL?! |
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For the 2008 race season I am seriously contemplating downsizing
my trailer to the old school open trailer. It will not
only save me weight, it will also save me gas money as well as some
time traveling between events. The only downside I see
is that the car will be in the weather and not locked up when
staying overnight out of town. It's something I'm
thinking about. |
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WEB SITE RENEWAL! |
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This is always the time of year where my web hosting comes up for
renewal and I always give careful consideration to it.
There are times when I think I need to go back to just racing and
not maintaining this web site, and there are times when I really
enjoy having the site. I have met many people over the
years via the site, however it does (on occasion) cause me grief.
So the site may stay and it might go in 2008. We'll see
how that goes. I have a couple of weeks to decide.
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2008 PLANS & GOALS! |
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My goals for the 2008 race season are still not determined.
I do intend on running a full schedule, just not certain where that
will take me. Will I run the Wild West Tour, run the
local tracks (Mohave / Death Valley) or will I do something else?
Will I race the "new" car, the "old" car or a combination of the
two? What I currently plan on doing is taking the first
two or three month in and then deciding on a plan. How I am
doing at that time will help me decide on further plans.
So as of today I will be competing first in the "old" car at Mohave
Valley Raceway for 3 of the 4 weekends in January. See
you there! |
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12-15-07 |
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LEFT IN THE DUST!! |
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Late last night a few of us hopped in the
truck and headed out of town about 50 miles to escape the lights
and check out the sky! The Geminids meteor shower
was supposed to be in view soon after midnight.
Leaving at 11:15 put us in our location outside of Vegas right
about midnight and it wasn't soon after parking that the cosmic
showering began. Streaks of light zipping across the
sky in varying degrees of magnitude. We saw
about 4 huge streaks really light up the sky! It
really makes you feel small when you see such things happening.
Only a minor interruption as a "security" person made us move as
we ended up on "private property." Go figure, 50
miles from town and I end up choosing a piece of dirt that is
private. Oh well. |
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THE HALLS ARE DECKED! |
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Friday was a busy day as I had a full day of
work, a stop at the faculty holiday party before heading out to
hunt down the perfect tree! Found a "noble fir" tree
and headed home to break out the trim and throw it on.
After several hours of unpacking, rearranging and cleaning here
and there, the "halls are decked" inside and out!
Check out the
decorations.......click here! |
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UNWRAPPED, THEN WRAPPED?! |
| I'm still looking
into the option of having RC Racing Decals wrap the car for the 2008
race season. People loved the wrap and it held up very
well to the grind of weekly racing. A decision
needs to be made soon as the season begins in just a couple of
weeks. We'll keep you updated on the 'look' of the car
for '08! |
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PHOTO OF THE YEAR FINAL
12-19-07! |
| Voting for the
photo of the year continues for a few more days. Be sure
to get your vote in and check back to see if it won!
There are just two photos left,
VOTE FOR THE PHOTO OF THE YEAR, CLICK HERE! |
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FIRST STAY ABOARD A YACHT?! |
| This coming
weekend a few of us are taking a holiday retreat to the warm
confines of Lake Havasu City, AZ by way of Laughlin, NV.
An extra day has been added to the trip as we decided it would be
fun to stay on the river Friday night too. So we had to
decide between renting a yacht on the water or a room in a casino.
After filling out the fields, we had to choose between a room or
this affordable yacht (The Inn by the Bay) that fit our price range!
THE YACHT click here! |
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| 12-08-07 |
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ANOTHER SET-BACK! |
| My father has returned to the
hospital this week and is undergoing procedures to check for causes
related to his recent chest pain and difficulty breathing.
He went back into the ER on Tuesday night and was admitted shortly
afterwards. We don't know very much at the moment but
hope to hear something soon. The up and down recovery
process has us all up in arms. Hopefully a full
recovery is on its way. |
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STILL IN STOCK.....LAST MINUTE GIFT IDEAS!!! |
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We still have all adult sized shirts in stock
for the holiday gift giving season!! So if you are
looking for that last minute gift for "uncle Joe" or "grandpa
Ned," put a Dan Fitzgerald Racing T-shirt under the tree for
them!
Visit the order page by clicking here.
ORDER PAGE!
Happy Holidays!! |
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PUTTING IT ALL BEHIND! |
| I will say that I am more than
ready for the calendar to turn off of 2007! The more I
take time to reflect on what was 2007, the more I am ready to forget
it all and start over. Click here to read my
thoughts on 2007 and the 2008 season outlook!
END OF YEAR REVIEW. |
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HAPPY HOLIDAYS!! |
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Happy Everything!! I've always
enjoyed the image at the right, makes me laugh every time I see
it. Someone very creative came up with it,
that's for sure.
For this holiday season I plan to keep busy. Two
more weeks of school, then a trip to Havasu staying with a view
of the London Bridge, a visit to Oatman (never been),
taking in the holiday lights and sights in town, and squeezing
in some work on the cars in preparation for the Winter Series
(Jan 5).
This weekend will most likely be spent picking out a tree and
getting the decorations thrown out there. I'm not
into the holidays yet with everything going on, but hopefully
this will jump start things for me! We hope! |
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WHAT'S ON YOUR LIST?! |
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What tops your list for Santa this year??
I am the type to buy things if I need or want it, which makes me
difficult to buy for (or so I'm told!).
So this year I was a little pro-active and came up with a list
once my normal off-season ordering was completed.
I put out a list, complete with part numbers, web sites, and
toll free phone numbers to those interested. hehehe.
I bet they are regretting that, huh??
But on a serious note, I would be happy if everyone simply took
the time to provide something for someone less fortunate.
Here in town we have coat drives, toy drives, and Angel tree
projects for people to help others. |
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PHOTO OF THE YEAR! |
It's interesting to see the
amount of votes coming in for the Photo of the Year battle.
The latest battle was a tight one between the #1 and #4 photo.
Seems that everyone has their favorites and are making sure their
votes are counted. The final, #1 vs. #3 will most likely
be a 50-50 battle all the way as both have been hugely popular in
the early rounds of voting. I'm anxious to see what
makes the final! Two interesting things have come out of
the voting. Both photos are provided by J & E
Photography, season sponsor, and both photos had interesting ties to
me. One photo was named poy2007d while the other
was named poy2007f , d & f, my initials!
Coincidence? Who knows.
VOTE FOR THE PHOTO OF THE YEAR, CLICK HERE! |
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| 11-23-07 |
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HOME! SWEET HOME! |
| My father was released from
the hospital on Wednesday evening and was able to take in
Thanksgiving dinner with us yesterday. He is still
battling a high white blood cell count and is still on a dialysis
machine, but he is resting at home. While he may not
answer the phone, you can send him a message via email at
dad@87racing.com .
I'm sure he'd love to hear from you all. |
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IOWA IN THE TOWER! |
| During my Thursday night heat
race at the Duel in the Desert a cool thing happened. My
friends and sponsors Dick & Joyce Eisele are friends with
Marshalltown Speedway promotor and LVMS announcer Toby Kruse.
As the laps wound down in my heat race Toby whipped out the cell
phone and dialed Dick & Joyce's number. He left the
phone on the counter so they could listen. It took a few
moments to realize what they were listening to, but they quickly
realized it was the race. They heard the call of me
winning my heat race. Dick & Joyce were thrilled
and it shows what kind of guy Toby is, always thinking of people!
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PIZZA POWERED WEEKEND? |
| Thanks to Eric from EQ, the
team was well-fed this last weekend at the Duel in the Desert.
Eric's other business endeavor is Donna Mia's, an Italian restaurant
just east of my house on Craig Road. Throughout the
weekend Eric was nice enough to drop off a couple of pizzas for us
all to enjoy. Great food and everyone was appreciative.
Thumbs up to everyone at Donna Mia's for the great food and to Eric
for sharing it with us. Thank you! |
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STILL THINKING! |
| I've been asked the question,
"so what are you doing next year, where are you racing?"
Good question. I know that many fans would like to see
me take in the whole season at Mohave Valley Raceway, the fans up
north would like for me to make another run there, and the Wild West
Tour folks have asked when they can expect my entry to show up
there. If I could, I would do it all! That is
certainly not possible, so I need some time to sort out the
schedules, the costs, and see what would be best for everyone.
I do want it to be fun, but most of the time that is dependant upon
my attitude! Yes, I know! |
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BLAST FROM THE PAST! |
| With the passing of Gary Jacob
a while ago, all of us on the West Coast have missed his articles
and timely results being posted on message boards and web sites.
I ran across some of his old articles the other day and spent a good
hour just reading and reliving moments from races through the years.
The following article sort of goes along with our recent big win at
the Mohave Nationals as it is about our previous "richest win."
Check out the article here.
BLAST FROM THE PAST 1 |
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| 11-12-07 |
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THE PENDULUM SWINGS BACK! |
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The ups and downs of my father's health have
swung back to the downside again. He was again
admitted to the hospital this weekend with a high white blood
cell count meaning there is an infection somewhere in his
system.
It has been a rough few weeks as his health has his spirits in
the doldrums and it's impossible to make progress with his
attitude not being the greatest. We can only hope
that things will get better. |
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DUEL IN THE DESERT SCHEDULE! |
| For those interested in
attending the Duel in the Desert this weekend at LVMS, the schedule
of events can be found at the following link. http://www.lvms.com/track_info/dirt_track/dirt_track_news/526410.html
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INSIDE AND OUT! |
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This whirl wind weekend before the Duel in
the Desert event at LVMS had us all busy inside and out.
Not only were we getting the car ready for competition, cleaning
the trailer, but everyone also pitched in to clean up the house
a little in anticipation of company.
The house, often left empty on race weekends, might be a little
busier than normal this week while racing at home. So it
was necessary to put the shine on things normally neglected.
Hard work, not sure how mom always kept her house so spotless.
But I'll be honest, like Jeff Foxworthy says, "this is the
cleanest the house has been in years! HAHA! |
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CONCUSSION DISCUSSION! |
| Team Moments have returned to
the web site. Little stories about former happenings to
the 87N team can be found by clicking the Team Moments link on the
sidebar. The latest story pens what happens when you got
hit from two directions at the same time while racing a street
stock! TEAM MOMENTS |
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"BOOOOO-SH?" |
| Whether you are a Kyle Busch
fan or not, whether you like his personality or not, you gotta give
him credit for loving to race. He won the truck race on
Friday, the Busch race on Saturday and then flew to Vegas and was
helicoptered to the Bullring at LVMS to compete int he Super Late
Model race in the Fall Classic. Starting 25th on the
grid, he was 6th after the first 70 laps. With 40 to go
in the 140 lap event he was battling for 2nd when he was spun.
The ensuing action only reminded those who don't like him why they
don't, however from a racing standpoint it was impressive.
That desire to race, race, and race again is something I really
admire and I envy his ability to do it all. I often sit
in the stands saying, "I wish I had a car for this division."
From a driving standpoint I was impressed and appreciated the drive
to the front. |
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| 10-24-07 |
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COULD YOU PASS IT? |
My job has changed a lot
lately. Teaching is different. Everything is
based on test scores, test scores, test scores. We have
to teach differently these days because of it. It's more
work than I could have imagined. However I often wonder
how many of the people who mandate these tests, i.e politicians,
could pass the test. Here's a version of last year's 8th
grade test. Could you pass it??
2007 8th grade math test, in pdf format |
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PHOTO GALLERY RE-WORKED, UPDATED! |
| I just realized that my photo
galley was not updated correctly and I also noticed that it was
ordered incorrectly. The most recent seasons were at the
bottom of the page. So I cleaned that up, linked
galleries that weren't linked up and all is good. If you
have a few minutes, check out some of the galleries from the race
season. Let us know your favorite, as the photo of the
year voting will again happen this year. Nominate your
favorite photo now!! PHOTO
PAGES |
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SO FAR, SO GOOD! |
| As it currently stands, I'm
actually excited about the Duel in the Desert this year at Las Vegas
Motor Speedway. It certainly hasn't been my favorite
event in years past for several reasons. Some of it
stems from the pressure of racing at home and wanting to do well,
some of it stems for not so good memories associated with the event.
However this year I am excited to race, feel no pressure, and look
forward to a good time both on and off the track. The format
is great and the track is usually slick, but racey. I
hope it's the same this year. |
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MISSED OPPORTUNITY! |
| I was scheduled to lend my
modified to a special NHRA stars event at the dirt track this
weekend here in Vegas. Cruz Pedregon, Tommy Johnson Jr,
Ron Capps, Gary Scelzi and others are scheduled to compete in
modifieds during the sprint car race this weekend. I
agreed to let them use my car, however with my dad falling ill, I
was unable to get everything ready in time. Racing took
a back seat once Mohave's Nationals were over. I'm
disappointed as I am a fan of all the guys who could have driven my
car. Especially Tommy Johnson Jr as I would have loved
to meet Melanie Troxel (his wife)! :)
Maybe next time. |
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SPEEDY RECOVERY!! |
| Here's wishing friend and
sponsor Dick Eisele a speedy recovery from minor surgery this past
week. Dick is at home and resting under the watchful eye
of Joyce. Best wishes for a speedy recovery!! |
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BACK TO THE DRAGS, BETTER BEHAVE!! |
| One year ago I attended the
drags at the Strip at LVMS and embarrassed both myself and my
friends. They were hot after John Force's autograph so
we stood outside the barriers at his pit for a good 20 minutes, to
no avail. He was there walking back and forth but
wouldn't come over. Since he is sponsored by Castrol and
his competition across the way was sponsored by rival Quaker State,
I took advantage of that. I noticed that the rival, Tony
Pedregon was out signing autographs. So I started
saying, "Come on, the Quaker State guy is signing!"
Before I knew it I had said it several times and had gotten the
attention of several onlookers. The crew even glanced
up. However when I went looking for my friends, they
were long gone! WHOOPS! They were
embarrassed and shocked that I caused such a commotion.
It was in good fun though. No disrespect was intended.
The good news was that I soon embarrassed myself. They
wandered away so I waited patiently, determined to get his
autograph. Well, here he came! He was going
to sign some autographs. So I turned around and
excitedly yelled to everyone, "he's out, he's out, here he comes!
Hurry! Hurry! He's out, he's out."
I just finished and was ready to turn around when I hear, an
inquisitive, "Mr. Fitzgerald?" OUCH! A
student of mine was right behind me and had witnessed my child-like
excitement. UGH! I felt very very ill!
Oh well, it was fun. |
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| 10-21-07 |
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THE COOL STATE! |
| Nevada has to be the coolest
state as we get Halloween as a state holiday out this way!
It just so happens that our state's admittance day to the Union is
October 31st. So schools get "Nevada Day" as a holiday.
That means I won't have to take a day off on Friday when the NHRA
race is here. I can enjoy the entire event without
missing a day of work. Go Nevada! |
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DAD UPDATE |
| My father, stubborn as ever,
signed himself out of the hospital last week. He is
suffering from renal (kidney) failure. While I was still
in high school he received a kidney transplant from my aunt (his
sister), but his recent illness rendered him unable to take his
medication. This has caused his current
complications and he is now back on the dialysis machine three
nights a week. The process takes the blood from your
body, runs it through a machine to clean it, and puts it back into
your system. To say it drains you is an understatement.
On Friday alone, the system took 21 pounds off fluid off of him.
So he's not up and about much at all. We'll keep you
posted. |
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6,210 TO GO! |
| For my birthday this year I
got a navigation system for my truck, some great t-shirts with funny
one-liners on them, some candy, cupcakes, cakes, balloons,
tear-offs, things for school and some ITunes gift cards.
It has been one year since I got my IPod and I've already put 1,290
songs on it. The good news is it holds 6,210 more.
WOO HOO! |
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JUST ONE THING LEFT TO DO! |
| I was recently reminded of a
conversation I had with a couple of friends back in 2004.
At that time I hadn't won a region championship and hadn't won a big
race ( a race paying more than $1000 to win). Since then
I have gone on to win 3 region titles and last weekend I finally
knocked off the $2000 to win MVR nationals. So I was
asked, so now what? Looks like having fun is it!
National Championship was on my own personal list, but the "perfect
season" award for 2006 took its place. Fun it is!
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11 YEARS AGO! |
| October 19, 1996, my 23rd
birthday, was my first actual race in an IMCA modified.
Picked up the former Jim Pike car while I was still competing for
the street stock championship. They talked me into
racing it that night. Pulled off in the heat
misunderstanding the fuel pressure indicator light.
Started last in the 15 car field and was surprisingly up to 2nd
before a 1/2 spin sent me back to the 6th spot at the finish.
I raced to a 5th in the street stock feature that night. |
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| 10-11-07 |
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SLOW SEASON! |
| For the first time since 1996
I will be under 30 races for the season! Really odd to
look at my start total and see it that low. I'm always
into the 40's, but this year it just wasn't meant to be.
The funny thing is I still stayed 20th in the Western Region,
keeping my streak of top 20 finishes alive. I've never
finished outside the top 20 in region points in the modified, 11
straight years. |
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THE NATIONALS! HOPING FOR BETTER! |
| This weekend I will return to
Mohave Valley Raceway for their year end "Nationals" in hopes of
better times. I missed the race last year as it was
rained out and I had to work as they ran the event on Sunday.
The year before I had a horrible time and failed to qualify for the
feature after many flat tires and incidents on the track.
The two years before I won the preliminary qualifying main on Friday
only to fall short on the Saturday races. My best
finish is 2nd, so maybe I can be one better this season.
It's usually a good time as many quick racers are on hand to fight
for the big money! |
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RETURN TO "OLD" VENUES! |
| The schedule is back up and I
have a few old venues on the slate for the rest of 2007.
A return to Victorville for the first time since 2003 and running
the Turkey Classic for the first time since 1997! WOW!!
I also have a possible return to Fallon for the first time since
2004 on the tentative schedule. Fallon has since changed
the track to a high banked, really fast race track.
Although it is my birthday weekend and I might decide to do
something else, the big 3-4! We'll see how Mohave goes
this weekend. |
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OLD TAPES, GOOD MEDICINE! |
| Prior to returning to the
racing circuit two weeks ago I spent several afternoons checking out
some old race tapes. I quit having my mom tape my races
in the late 90's so she could enjoy the race more and because I
would sit and critique myself for hours afterwards. I
soon realized that wasn't good as it made me a nervous wreck at the
track thinking of all the things I needed to improve on.
However some of the early tapes were a riot. I was
horrible!! At times, dreadful. But part way
through them I got to a race from my street stock days, probably one
of my first 10 races on the dirt. I started about 10th
and got all the way up to the lead only to be knocked out of it at
the next turn. Made me remember how excited we all were
that night, even if I wrecked out and didn't finish.
Racing was fresh, fun, and enjoyable. Made me want to
try and regain that feeling, so I'm back at it.
New attitude! |
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WHAT A DRAG! |
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I'm pretty excited that I was able to get the
seats I wanted for the upcoming NHRA AC Delco Nationals at The
Strip at LVMS. I don't really like the starting line
so I prefer sitting as far towards the far end as I can.
Thanks to a VERY helpful ticket agent at LVMS I was able to
aquire seats for us all high and right. X marks the
spot of where we'll be on Fri-Sun, October 26-28.
I actually started off drag racing, sand drags, and was pretty
successful before trying my hand at the circle track racing.
Many times I've contemplated going back and doing the 1/4 mile
thing. Maybe when I'm too old to take the grind of
30 laps in circles, I'll trade it in for the 8-second straight
line stuff. We'll see! |
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| 10-02-07 |
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CANCER AWARENESS |
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Over the last couple of months I have had two
families close to me have battles with cancer become a part of
their immediate lives. After reading up on the many
ways one can help, I think the rest of us should consider
helping out as well. See what you can do by visiting
http://www.cancer.org .
Our thoughts and prayers go out to those close to us who are
battling with this difficult disease. |
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THANK YOU! |
| Just wanted to say thanks to
everyone for their kind words after the Mohave race this last
weekend. For the most part the emails and phone calls have
been positive and nice. I am really going to make an
effort to hang around racing for a while, but with a better outlook.
I need to realize that I've done almost everything I could in a
modified except have some fun. So that's next!
I'm sure it won't be easy as I'm ULTRA competitive, but I'll work on
it. I appreciate the support and thanks for not giving
up on me. |
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FOR ALL THOSE MOMS OUT THERE! |
| At times my addiction to "YouTube"
has kept me sane, and the latest fun video from there has me
watching a few times a day. I have quite the collection
of videos I can check out when I need a good laugh. This
one is pretty creative. The mom's will certainly enjoy
it, but the rest should as well.
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=W95Y8hNQiH8 |
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LOOKS LIKE DAN ALL OVER AGAIN! |
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Early reviews on the new look is that "it
looks like a Dan car." Not sure if that is a
good thing or not. I've grown to love the blue cars,
the bright vinyl, and my signature number style.
It does look similar to the 2006 car and it's the first time
I've ever had flames on a car. I really don't like
flames, but I think the design was easy so I went with it.
Hopefully it will hit the track soon. When hasn't
been planned yet. Let us know what you think.
MORE PHOTOS
dfr87n@yahoo.com .
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| |
|
T-SHIRT SALES! |
T-shirt sales are going fast!
I was contemplating getting some hoodies and / or sweatshirts but
that might have to wait until next season. We'll
see. Order online or stop by at the track, S-3XL, $15.
ORDER PAGE! |
| |
|
REMAINING RACE SCHEDULE! |
| The remaining race schedule
has three races on it as well as another tentative one on it.
I do not want to jump back into it too much or too quickly.
Kind of feeling my way around things. I plan on going to
an off-road race this weekend, then Mohave's Nationals, my birthday
weekend is the following weekend, followed by the NHRA drags.
A possible race the first weekend of November, watching the Fall
Classic at the Bullring the 2nd weekend of November, the Duel in the
Desert, and then the Turkey Classic and or Turkey Shoot on
Thanksgiving weekend. Years ago there were certain
races I couldn't wait to go to. Over the years I've
gotten away from racing those and need to get back to them as I
always enjoyed them. The Ventura Fair race, the Merced
Fair race, Fallon's 4th of July race, Elko's Gold Rush, and the
Turkey Classic (formerly in Pearsonville) now in Victorville!
|
| |
| 08-07-07 |
|
OH HOW DO I REPAY THEE? |
|
|
At the request of my father, this weekend
Robert Gallegos delivered a bin full of Olathe sweet corn to our
trailer. It was filled to the brim and the
instruction was this. "We filled it with what our area is
famous for, when you return the bin, return it full of what your
area is famous for." After some thought, I'm
even more confused.
Do I return it full of money, dry heat, hookers, or tourists?
hehe! |
|
| |
|
"STUPOR-STITIOUS" or "SUPERSTITIOUS" ? |
|
|
The route home from Aztec is mainly through
Native American lands and throughout the drive there are many
roadside stands with Natives selling their handmade art.
I couldn't help myself when I came across these blue arrowhead
necklaces. They were described as, "provide
protection and good luck to those who adorn them."
Where do I sign up? Racing isn't always safe and
after blowing a motor I need some luck!
However I also believe you make your own luck, so maybe it's
just "stupor-stition" or is that superstition ? |
|
| |
|
THANK YOU! |
|
|
Thank you to my fellow competitors on the
Wild West Tour who offered a helping hand! There
were offers of help changing motors, complete motors, and
even offers of use of their cars for the Saturday portion
of the race in Aztec. I was very surprised by
everyone's support, but also appreciative.
While it's nothing personal, I chose not to take anyone up on
their offers. Many times I have wanted to but if I
can't afford to replace it, I won't use it. It did
make me think of the last time I used someone else's car, and it
was clear back in 1998! I got 3 flats and was in two
"incidents" during the race. Wasn't pretty! |
|
| |
|
DARE TO CROSS? |
After the terrible tragedy in
Minnesota with the falling of the bridge across the Mississippi
river last week it made me think before heading across the bridge
next to Glen Canyon Dam. Not trying to make light
of the situation at all, but it was a good thing I had to focus on
the road ahead while crossing! Could you WALK across it
like some crazy people were doing?? Click on the photos
to see the bridge, the dam, and Lake Powell!
 |
| |
|
WHAT'S HIS DAM PROBLEM? |
|
|
While checking out Glen Canyon Dam near Page,
Arizona I was, of course, snapping a few photos.
I was trying to get this dam security guard's attention so he
could wave for my dam picture but he just kept on his dam way
with his dam lunch box. Dammit!
He ruined my dam picture I tell ya! |
|
| |
|
HOW MANY GALLONS? |
| Our "touring" season is almost
over with, good thing too! How many gallons of diesel
has it taken us to "tour" this year? 100, 1000, 1500,
2000? The correct answer is actually 1351 gallons of gas
used on our trips to the races this season! Please,
don't do the math! I get it. |
| |
| 08-01-07 |
|
MORE TOUR PHOTOS ADDED! |
| Thanks to Joe Carr, I've been
able to add some racing shots from Alamosa Motor Speedway to my AMS
Tour photo gallery! Check them out at the top of the
gallery. CLICK HERE! |
| |
| 07-24-07 |
|
'OPEN' SHOW SEASON ADDED TO SCHEDULE! |
| The post-sanctioned part of the season has been
added to the web site today! A couple of new venues are
on the schedule, provided I'm able to acquire the necessary days off
to get there. We look forward to the challenges of trying to
qualify for the bigger shows this season, hoping that our experience
with the Wild West Modified Tour will give us a better shot!
Time will tell. |
| |
|
UNOFFICIAL STANDINGS |
Following the Alamosa Motor Speedway event the
'unofficial' tour points are as follows:
(1) Ricky Alvarado 312, Colorado
(2) Dan Fitzgerald 288, Nevada
(3) Robert Gallegos 225, Colorado
(4) Derek Kopp 221, Colorado
(5) Chase Hansen 210, Utah
(6) Aaron Spangler 208, Colorado
(7) Jeep Berry 205, Utah
(8) Ryan Dimmick 200, Utah
(9) Bubba Alvarado 198, Colorado
(10) Harvey Howard 191 Utah |
| |
| |
 |
Along the way to Alamos Motor Speedway we
went through some great scenery and a few tough passes.
The one at the left is Wolf Creek pass which about 10,600 feet
tall. The way up there is about 8 miles long at 6-8%
grades. One at the top there is a great view of the
valley. That's at the left.
The route we took has us going in and out of states the whole
time. In Nevada, then Arizona, Utah, back to
Arizona, back to Utah, then Arizona, then right by the 4-corners
(UT, AZ, CO, NM) and then finally into CO. Too bad I'm not
a Geography teacher!
TRIP PHOTOS! |
|
| |
|
WHOOPS! |
| I had another 'moment' while traveling home from
Alamosa. Taking these trips has been fun and I've tried
stopping and taking in some of the scenery, etc while on these
trips. So when there was a "Scenic Overlook" at the top
of the Wolf Creek pass, I hit the turn signal and made the turn.
MISTAKE! As I made the turn it became obvious there was
no room for trailers, rv's, etc. It was a parking
lot that would hold about 12-15 cars with NO room to turn around.
I parked along the back part, still took some photos, and then had
to maneuver quite a bit before getting out. The funny
part was everyone stopped snapping photos to watch me get the
trailer out of the tight squeeze! I think I might write
the CO DOT and ask them why it doesn't say, "NO RV'S" or something!
haha. |
| |
|
ADDITION TO "D-UNIT" |
|
Meet Dorey!
All 2.8 pounds of her!
|
|
Believe it or not there has been
a third addition made to "D-Unit" portion of the racing team.
The FINAL addition is 'Dorey' a mixed breed whose owner was
going to put the whole litter down if no one took one.
So here she is!
So now I have Dusty, Daisy, and Dorey! There is also
Dolly, an honorary member of D-Unit who travels when my dad
attends races.
In the photo, you can't see the Devil horns that Dorey seems to
be developing! She's mean! |
|
|
|
| |
|
MY NEXT RIDE? |
 |
My next trip up north could see me pulling
double duty as Tim Garner from Winnemucca, NV. has offered up
his mini to me for a night of racing! We've
discussed switching cars before but this time he simply offered
up the ride.
I'm sure it would be fun and the truck runs great, but I doubt I
could get it around the track as well as he does.
But since I cannot afford to buy it, I probably couldn't fix
what I broke either. So you will most likely see Tim
wheeling the truck, than me. Thanks Tim! |
|
| |
| 07-10-07 |
|
SETUP MATH! |
| I'm really excited after this last weekend of
racing. Seems all the changes each time out made a
difference. I told a couple of friends that I actually felt
like a real racer again instead of an "also-ran". But if
you look at the math behind the set up, it's a wonder that I even
get close. On the left side I have 3 bars, top, bottom
and brake floater. The top has 5 holes of adjustment,
the bottom has 4, and the brake floater 5. On the right
side the forward bar has 6 holes, the back had 4. The
J-bar has 4 adjustments on the pinion side and about 6 adjustments
(in inches) on the frame side. The 3rd link has 5
locations. So if you simply adjust bars, that leads to
288,000 different combinations. Now if you start
thinking about the different shocks and spring rates, the math gets
out of hand! So I guess my win on Friday seems even
sweeter! |
| |
|
REGIONALLY SPEAKING...... |
| Whenever I travel to the Midwest I feel as if I
don't "enunciate" enough to be there. Most things that I
believe I know how to pronounce are not pronounced my way.
For example: Beatrice, NE. I say it like the
girl's name BEE-UH-TRICE......they say....BEE-AT-TRICE.
HUH? Then there's Madrid, Iowa. I say it
like Spain's MUH-DRID......they say......MAD-DRID......HUH?
Oh there's more.......I stayed in a hotel in Nevada, Iowa.
Now after my past experience I was expecting NEV-AHHH-DUH, instead
of NEV-AAA-DUH....but they say NEV-AY-DUH. Woah!
|
| |
|
POP VS. SODA! |
 |
While traveling a little further east this
season I can't help but notice that the "Pepsi" I drink is
referred to differently as I go. In some towns it's
"soda", in others it's "pop" and in some it's simply "coke."
Turns out there has been a doctoral study about this.
Click on the map to the left to see how the terms change
regionally. Kind of fun! Even more
interesting is that some regions refer to it as "tonic".
Never heard that one.
http://popvssoda.com:2998/
|
|
| |
|
VERNAL, UT. DINOSAUR PARK |
|
|
Some day when I quit racing I want to take
the time to visit all of the great towns I passed up while busy
racing. While in Vernal, Utah this spring I found it
odd that there were dinosaur statues at all the parks, in front
of most hotels, and many businesses had dinosaur qualities.
Upon further investigation I found that there is a dinosaur park
(National Monument) just outside of Vernal where you can take in
sights of the fossilized creatures.
http://www.nps.gov/dino/index.htm |
|
| |
|
FRUITA, CO. MIKE THE HEADLESS CHICKEN! |
|
|
While visiting relatives during the Wild West
Tour weekend in Colorado, I learned just what Fruita, Colorado
was famous for. Turns out they have a huge festival
complete with hats, shirts, etc for Mike the headless chicken!
As the story goes, Mike was just about to become dinner for the
family in the 1940's. Axe in hand the farmer chopped
off his head. The chicken survived the event and became
quite the stir around the area.
Read the whole story here!
http://www.miketheheadlesschicken.org/story.html |
|
| |
|
A FEW BITES
NEVER HURT ANYONE! |
|
On Friday they said that the
track association would be cleaning up trash along side the road leading
from town to the track the next morning. So I decided that
instead of wasting time in the hotel, I would go help. With
the second day of racing being on Saturday, only 3 of us showed to clean
up the 2 or so mile stretch of road. Between the three of us we
did fill an open car trailer with bags of trash and other large items
left along side the road. Next time though I had better
bring pants as the bugs and bushes did a number on the old legs.
OUCH! |
|
| |
|
| 07-05-07 |
|
NEW GAME, WHO 'CLAIMS' TO BE THE BEST! |
| Survivor is going along very strong but I've had
some requests to bring back the old "IMCA-style" score claiming
"SWITCH-A-ROO" game. The game allows your to possibly take
the points of those scoring in the top 4 each week. It's an
exciting game that at times pits players against one another in a
revenge style competition! Anyone can play, even if you are
playing SURVIVOR! To enter, click here!!
SWITCHAROO, entries are limited
to the first 20!! |
| |
|
ON THE LOOK OUT! |
| I'm on the lookout for a pavement modified.
If you know of one out there for sale, let me know about it via email.
dfr87n@yahoo.com .
I might also consider a LateModel (not super). Let me know! |
| |
|
HARD SHINE! |
 |
Although I haven't had a chance to put in many
hours at Petty this summer I have put in a few. The last
time I did the guys (and girl) from the new TLC series "Hard Shine"
came through to complete an experience.
I gave their instructional van ride around the speedway complete
with cameras, release signing, and the rest of the customers
completing the experience. |
|
| |
|
BULLRING! |
| I attended the Bullring @ LVMS annual Night of Fire
on Tuesday night and it was a great time. I remember when I
raced out there how important the race was to everyone. They
wanted to do well in front of the standing room only crowd.
I missed being a part of that as it was great to see all those people
watching from the sidelines. I finished 2nd in my last Night
of Fire race at the Bullring, but that was way back in 2001.
The racing was great and the fireworks were 2nd to none.
Well worth sitting in 115 degree weather to get good seats.
A lot of people didn't get seats, they had to stand. |
| |
|
UP NORTH? |
| I've been getting a lot of phone calls and emails
lately asking when I would be back in Northern Nevada racing.
Some have been nice, others have been pretty rude. Someone
accused me of thinking I was "too good to race up there now".
That's not the case as my plans for the season just have me going in a
different direction. Last year I needed to chase multiple
track titles so I raced up there where I could accomplish that.
This year I'm not running for region or national points so I have been
hitting different tracks this year. Changing my scenery.
I also keep hearing how "so and so" wants to beat you and can't wait for
you to get here. My response is that I don't hide.
My schedule is on my site so if you want to beat me, hit the road and
join the 49 or 50 other drivers that have been trying the same thing.
Good luck and travel safely. |
| |
|
TRIAL AND ERROR |
| For the last month or so I've been trying new things
on the car each time out. New springs, new shocks, new
angles, new percentages, etc. Some have made things better,
some have made things worse. I'm trying to figure out what
the best combination is so that I can finish off the year strong.
Most of the "big" shows are in September through November in these parts
so I hope to be in better form by then. The worst part about
changing the set up is that you sometimes get slower before you get
faster. Step backwards to make a move forward.
Let's hope for some moves forward soon. |
| |
|
HOT, HOT, HOT! |
 |
 |
 |
|
Weather station closest to my house! |
Weather station closest to Mohave Valley
Raceway |
Weather station not too far from Pahrump!
|
|
| From the above screen shots I think you can glean a
few pieces of information. You can probably see why we have
an excessive heat warning for a couple of days, you can see why our
tracks are dry slick all the time, and you can see why Mohave Valley
Raceway takes from the middle of June until late August off!
But, "it's a dry heat"........so what's this moisture dripping from my
forehead?? |
| |
|
| 06-28-07 |
|
WHAT THE....... |
|
 |
Notice anything "fishy" in my photo from the Shark
Reef at Mandalay Bay? They take your photo before entering the
exhibit and then allow you to purchase photos on varying backgrounds
when you exit.
The interesting thing that happened here is that I was wearing a green
shirt and it must have exactly matched the green screen we were in front
of. The end result is a see-through Dan that you see at the
left (click for a larger view). Although after looking
closer, I could say that the shark has precise biting abilities!
If anything, I'm looking mighty thin! haha |
|
| |
|
CAN THE WORLD HANDLE ANY MORE? |
| This week I got an email from "Dan
Fitzgerald" from Thornton, CO. He says with a name like mine he
has no choice but to be a fan! He joins Dan Fitzgerald from
Yonkers, NY as a "Dan Fan." A while back my mom had someone
email her an article about a Dan Fitzgerald that plays college basketball
and was in the news. That makes the two Dan Fitzgeralds, the Dan
Fitzgerald who makes outdoor and hunting videos, the ball playing Dan
Fitzgerald, my dad, and myself. How many more Dan Fitzgeralds
can the world handle?? By the way I still get emails asking when
my next hunting video is coming out. That would be the "other"
Dan Fitzgerald |
| |
|
....WITH A GRAIN OF SALT! |
| Something I've learned this season is that
not everyone is completely honest when giving out information.
My first clue should have been when Vernal's 1/3 mile track ended up being a
the size of a toilet bowl. The part I ended up racing on
was maybe a 1/4 at best. I've had the wrong gear in the car at
every track I've been to on the tour this year. With having
never been to any of the tracks, never seeing them, and having to use a
satellite image from google maps to look at them, I'm lost when it comes to
gears. Now everyone has different combinations so I've learned
how to translate everyone else's gear selections to my own selections.
Let's hope it works for this weekend!! And, no, I'm not telling
you how I translate their gear choice into my own. :) |
| |
|
WITHOUT WINS, I NEED SOMETHING! |
| Not competing for feature wins lately has
left me desperate to find something to be proud of. So since I
enjoy numbers, I went through some of the tour stats. I found
that I have passed a total of 58 cars in the A mains at the 6 Wild West Tour
races this year. My best outings were in Aztec as I moved up 13
spots (21-8) on Saturday and 14 spots (20-6) on Sunday.
Including the whole day (heat, B, A), my best day of passing cars was at the
tour opener at Vernal when I moved up a total of 21 spots on the day; 3 in
the heat, 6 in the B, and 12 in the A. We have one tour heat
win, one tour B win, and are looking for that elusive first tour A win.
Gotta keep tryin'! Wish us luck. |
| |
|
ONE THING, WELL MAYBE NOT! |
| While I'm not really competing for anything
this year, I am vicariously through you, the fans. I am fighting
for a spot on the IMCA Fastshafts All-Star Invitational ballot.
It would be the third straight year if I could get invited again.
However I have little to do with it, the fans do all the work voting through
the IMCA web site every day until the first of August. You can
check out the ballot at http://www.imca.com
. There are many talented people on the list, vote for your
favorite(s)! |
| |
|
POINTS, POINTS, POINTS! |
| I'll admit, it's been tough not fighting for
the IMCA Western Region championship this season, or for any championship
for that matter. Yes I'm currently 2nd in the Wild West
modified tour points but I don't feel like I'm in a position to compete for
that. It's really odd for me to not be striving for something,
championship-wise. If you look back I have competed for and won
something every year since 2002. This year will be a year where
I look back and not have much to remember it by. But the good
news is someone else will get to add their name to the history books as IMCA
Western Region modified champion. Good luck to those competing
for it. |
| |
|
SUMMER JOBS! |
|
|
With school out, I've switched over to my summer
jobs.
Normally the beginning of the week begins with updating web sites.
My own, Mohave Valley Raceway's, Summit Raceway's, and Alamosa Motor
Speedway's.
The next "job" is getting the car prepared for the next race.
While that's also my job during the school year as well, I normally do
more since I'm not working a "regular" job.
Other than that I am entertainment director for the dogs. As
you can see from the photo at the left, they are GREAT help while I
update web sites. |
|
| |
| 06•13•07 |
|
ALL THE SMALL THINGS! |
| Lately it seems as if the small things are
causing us some grief, but we are hopefully working them out of the car.
Dating back to the issues in Aztec. It seems that we had a
cracked spark in the #1 position for the weekend in Aztec. That
would explain the lack of power and sluggishness of the car during the
weekend. With that found, we replaced the plug to run Mohave Valley.
Wouldn't you know, the plug we put in had a longer electrode and wound up
getting hit by the piston. Closed the gap and I was down a
cylinder the whole night. So I was without power and eventually
without brakes during the feature at Mohave Valley. While in
Price, the starter began giving us grief and would at times just click
instead of turning over. So I replaced the starter this week.
Finally, yesterday while going over the suspension, I found that the RF
shock had given up the fight and wouldn't compress as it needed to.
Hopefully that will end the list!! We'll see.
|
| |
|
WHERE'S THE CRACK? |
| Finding the cracked plug was pretty much by
chance. Before the feature on Sunday in Aztec, it was of course
dark, my dad noticed a slight spark. He had me shut off the car
and pushed the plug wire on more and sent me on my way. When we
got home we figured we had better check as the car was still sluggish in the
main. So we closed the doors, shut off the lights and fired up
the car. Within seconds you could see the arcing at the #1
cylinder. We pushed the wire on more and repeated.
Still sparking. We then took out the plug and with a magnifying
glass you could see the hairline crack in the plug. I tried to
take a picture of it but you couldn't see it in the photo. Too
blurry and way too small. |
| |
|
CONGRATS!! |
| On Saturday night a 'few' hours away from
where we were competing, The Flying Farmer Rick Brown of Iowa accomplished a
great feat. He won his 100th IMCA sanctioned stock-car feature
while racing at the Boone Speedway in Boone, IA. Rick and I
share friends and sponsors Dick & Joyce Eisele of Grinnell, IA so it's neat
for them to have two of their racers in the triple digits of wins.
Way to go Rick!! |
| |
|
SHIRTS, SHIRTS, AND SHIRTS! |
| It's not looking too good for 2007 Dan
Fitzgerald Racing t-shirts. The cost would be somewhere in the
neighborhood of $1400 and that just isn't in the budget this year.
It wasn't in the budget before but I did it anyway. This year
the tour travel and the price of fuel, not to mention the lack of prize
money as we aren't winning as much, makes it tough to come up with the funds
to purchase shirts. However, if I happen to find the money tree,
we might just get some shirts. |
| |
|
VIDEO(S) OF THE WEEK! |
I've recently come across a couple of fun
videos from the infamous "YouTube" web site that I thought I'd share with
those who hadn't seen them. Both are of kids, one is three and
asked about what she would do if a monster showed up in her house
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=Fk-1mla0LeU . The other is a
painful interview with the Spelling Bee champion. His social
skills are a little lacking, making me reconsider whether home-schooling is
the way to go! I feel sorry for the lady conducting the
interview.
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=gfdovxnbt5c .
The final video is of a hair raising ride that I'm not sure I would sign up
for. I'm certainly a thrill ride junkie, but this scares me!
See for yourself, would you do it??
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=u2-od4n5Xl0 |
| |
| 06-03-07 |
|
WHAT A DIFFERENCE A YEAR MAKES! |
| One year ago yesterday I was celebrating my
14th win of the season and my 100th career win at Winnemucca Regional
Raceway. This year I was struggling to a 7th place finish at
Mohave Valley Raceway. |
| |
|
RACER TURNED MOUSER! |
|
|
In her spare time between races Daisy (and Dusty) has
found something else to do, hunting mice. Some dirt
work nearby has obviously chased some mice from their home and into the
shrubbery of my back yard.
Daisy has taken it upon herself to hunt them down. At times
she will walk in the room and you can smell her before she enters as she
smells like the green bushes from the backyard. The best is
when she and her partner in crime Dusty have a bush surrounded, heads
stuck in it shoulder deep with their tails at complete attention.
To date the traps have caught 2, and each dog has 1.
|
|
| |
|
HUNTING IS TOUGH WORK! |
|
|
The hours of evening hunting gives way to complete
exhaustion by the time 8:00pm rolls around. Daisy comes up
missing and can always be found napping on the bed under the ceiling
fan.
Maybe this is a sign that the 'dog days' of summer are upon us.
Does this make anyone else feel like a nap? |
|
| |
|
BITS FROM THE PITS, AZTEC! |
♣ More photos from the
action in Aztec are available in galleries at
http://www.richsrichphotos.com/
♠
While riding the quad through the pits on Sunday I was
accosted by two of the "under 6" crowd with their water guns a blazing.
I stopped so they could finish me off. The cool water was
actually nice and they seemed pleased with their shot.
♥
Aztec uses transponder scoring at their track and you can view the
information, like best lap time, etc on the web site
http://www.mylaps.com .
Go to the site and type Aztec Speedway in the search bar. Then
click on the Aztec Speedway link and you can view the times by date, class,
and event. I was by far not the quickest car in each race, but
somehow managed to move up ahead of cars that were quicker.
♦
So far all of the tour races have been held on high banked race
tracks. That will change greatly as we head off to Olathe
Colorado and Thunder Mountain Speedway.
TMS is not banked very high and from the sounds of things can get as slick
as ice. Big difference from before. Look for track
regulars Robert Gallegos, Derek Kopp and Dwain McCarty to be up front when
the checkered flag falls. |
| |
| 05-29-07 |
| HAVE
FUN? I THINK I HAD BETTER! |
|
|
Last season Carly gave me a sign for the trailer that
has the same saying as the photo at the left. I thought it
was hysterical.
This weekend I'll admit I was incredibly frustrated after finishing
almost last in the heat race on Sunday. I was, of course,
throwing a tantrum and caught up in my own pity party. They are
fun, you should come to one!
John told me to have fun in the B main and then tapped the sign.
While it took me a while to figure out what he was doing, it did hit me.
I needed to cheer up.
At times I take things way too seriously, but I continuously have
reminders popping up! |
|
| |
| DO
NOT WHAT?!?! |
 |
I had to take a photo of these as no one would
believe me if I told them. But when we saw it, we all
chuckled. What did it say??? See for yourself by
clicking the photo.
But then I had to learn what it meant, so here is what I found as
someone else asked the same question:. "Dear Reader, I am
saddened to report that DO NOT HUMP does not have any of the off-color
significance that seems to give many of the Teeming Millions their
principal reason to go on living. It refers to a common method used to
sort freight cars known as "humping," which involves the use of a
man-made hill, or hump. A track h | | |
