The car left the line rather hard and spun the tires hard. With a 1.82 60’ time the car pulled itself to an 8.109 @ 81.394 M.P.H. On the next pass I knew I had to have a decent pass to get solidly in the field. We are placed on a ladder by our best reaction time in our time runs.In the second time run I cut a mediocre .089 light and spun even harder off the line to a 1.87 60’ and the car pulled hard to an 8.127 @ 81.900 M.PH.

So as time trials ended we went back to the pits did a little work and then headed to the lanes. After a lot of changes to our bracket I was lined up against western conference finals champion David Myhre. I posted a dial in of 8.10 to David’s 8.71. As we left the line our reactions were almost identical, David cut a .027 to my .028. At the top end of the track I looked up and saw the win light. I ran an 8.113 to his 8.697 a break out. So with the top racer in the western states out of the way I can move on to my next opponent, another very tough racer, Casey Grisel, also a very good friend.As we pulled up to the line I saw Casey’s dial in of 7.99 to my 8.10. Off the line I cut a .126 light to Casey’s .108 this left me chasing. At the top end of the track I had clearly passed him and was completely off of the gas coasting and when I crossed the stripe and didn’t see the win light I was pretty upset. While examining the scoreboard I saw that I had broke out with an ET of 8.076 @ 78.175 M.P.H

Click of Larger Photo

Auto Rama 2 02/06/2005

Race 2: 2/13/2005

In the first Time trial I got my red light out of the way. I was anxious and had a -.021 not bad. The car was skating and sliding all the way down the track. The car ran 8.004 @ 81.435 MPH. Then on the second time pass I cut a .069 light. Pretty good. That reaction time ended up qualifying me #8. On the pass the car left hard and ran 8.000 @ 81.940 MPH.

In the first round of eliminations I was paired with a great friend of mine, Nick McAtee. I had lane choice and chose the left. Nick had a dial in of 9.6 to mine of 7.97. This left me chasing, which I like doing. Off the tree Nick got a late start and I had a nice light of .092. I caught nick very early on the track and was off the gas very early. I coasted to an 8.066 @ 73.167. I had a margin of victory of .255 (alot). In the second run I was up against Grandson of the track owner, Chaysse Trimp. I was dialed in at 7.95 to his 8.96. Yet again I am chasing. Chaysse cuts a very good light .054 to my .086. I was full throttle all the way down track until about 15 feet before the finish. I ran a 7.999 @ 81.333 MPH. Another round and another win.

In the Quarter Finals I was matched up with Travis Cherry. Travis dialed a 7.94 to my 7.97. Off the tree we both had excellent starts. Travis cut a .025 and I had a .005 (five thousandths of a second from perfect). I ran an 8.000 @ 78.025 MPH. I was off the gas and had a margin of victory of .029. Good Race. In the semi Finals I had a Bye. The bye run gave me the automatic win into the final. So we decided to take the run instead of just breaking the beam. I red light pretty bad but it was a bye so it didn't matter. I ran 8.055 @ 81.079 MPH. So In the final I was matched up against Amber Cherry.

After the good luck handshake we both got into our cars and soon felt the engines come to life. Amber was dialed at 7.94 to my 8.01 Off of the tree I cut a .025 to her .057. I never saw her car so I lifted off the gas and as it turned out I should've lifted earlier. I broke out by .007 seven thousandths of a second. Ouch that hurts. I went up and shook Amber's hand congratulating her on a great race. So this weekend was a great success. We were Runner Up and I moved from tied for 6th in points into 3rd place.

On the morning of April 10th , in the first time trial I was paried with Alyssa Hannaford. Off the line I had a .097 to her .160. The car was having a slight bog which slowed my reaction just a tad. We went down the track in 7.985 @ 83.267 MPH. In the second time trial I was paired with Chaysse Trimp. Off the line Chaysse went -.025 red. When I hit the throttle the RPM’s went straight up n the car popped three tmes and the left. This slowed my reaction to a .113. The car ran bad 8.104 @ 82.294 MPH. In round one I was paired with Casey Grisel. Casey went -.006 red. When I hit the throttle the car sati in place and just popped. I go out of the throttle and hit it again it left. Then at about 100 feet the car spit and coughed for about 50 feet. I ran 8.010 @ 82.635. At this point I was very angry with the car. We went back and tore through the carburetor again and found nothing. We dialed 8.00 and pulled up next to a 10.17 dial in The car yet again just sat and popped. I lost running too far off of the number. Later on we found the problem. The factory air idle adjustment fell off leaving a hole in the carburetor causing the car to lean out and spill fuel.

6/11/2005
After a long and hot Friday night test and tune session we got the car to run 7.90 at 83 mph. We were happy so we stuck the car on the trailer and came back Saturday morning. In our first time trial I had a good amount of anxiety in me. I red light by .032. The car pulled hard to a 7.864 @ 84.994 mph. Keep in mind we are not allowed to run faster than 7.90 at 85 mph. On my second time trial we added ten pounds of weight to the car. I had a decent light .046, the car pulled hard to a 7.931 at 83.695 mph. I qualified number four and was paired with Kaila Borges. I had a good light, .044, and ran it to a 7.918 at 83.229 mph. Second round I found myself paired up against Paul Davis. I had a good light with an .041. Paul had red light. I ran the car all the way out. Apparently I shouldn’t have done that. 7.893 at 85.022 mph (85mph limit). I was disqualified from the round and Paul was awarded the win. It was not a bad day but would have obviously been better for in the next round I would have been awarded a bye into the semi finals.

6/12/2005
With all the weight tanks full and still running too fast I made the decision to use the brakes. With mom and dad at a display in Woodland I was aided by Greg from Greg’s VW Service. Without Greg’s help this race would have been very difficult to compete in. In the first time trial I ran the car all the way out until the speed cone. I lifted right at the speed cone. I coasted through the lights 7.881 at 83.049 mph. My light was awesome, a .021. On the second pass I had another good light, .029, and lifted at the speed cone tapping the brakes through the lights. 7.947 @ 78.832. In the first round I was paired with Kaila Borges yet again. I had an ok light, .067, and I found myself waaaaaay ahead so I lifted and held down the brakes. We ran 7.958 at 77.838 mph. In round two I was paired up against Patrick Downs. Patrick got me on the tree. He went .012 to my .051. However when the top end came I had plenty to work with. I was on the brakes 7.934 @79.110 mph. In the 3rd round I was paired with Casey Grisel. I had a large advantage off the starting line. I went .014 and ran 7.951 at 78.376 mph and never saw Casey. In the Semi Finals I was oaired against a good friend of mine, Kenny Buzdas. I went .014 to Kenny’s .045 and it was on. We were both dialed 7.90 heads up. I never saw Kenny so I lifed n started touching the brakes. I looked up at the scoreboard and saw 7.900 at 80.730 mph. Dead on the dial in. A 14 thousandths total package. In the final I was paired up against Travis Cherry. I went .012 to Travis’ .039 I ran it until I couldn’t see him lifted n tapped the brakes. 7.925 @ 79.285 mph MY FIRST WIN EVER!!!!!!! What an awesome day. None of this could have been possible with out my mom and dad for putting out hours and hours of testing along with hundreds and hundreds of dollars. Without Greg’s help this race would have been a whole lot different. All in all it was a smooth day. We are currently leading the summer series points. Next race is on 7/9 and 7/10. I hope to see you there!

Del Cox Memorial Race

11/19-20/2005

This weekend we decided to make the haul down to Bakersfield for a little fun to end the year. Saturday the car ran great all day long and I was on my Lights. Sunday morning I woke up with a col and I was in a fog. On my time run we went 7.85 @ 82 mph. In the first round we took
the win in a double red light. We went round after round of either double break outs or good old wheel racing. Some of our competitors were Britney Roper, Kaitlyn Mcgee, Sarah Lockhart, and Kameron Buzdas. All of these drivers are well known and very talented. We worked our way all the way to the final against fellow Sacramento racer and good friends Kameron Buzdas. Kameron turned on the red light giving me the win. I have now won my age bracket and we are off to king of the track.

However, This is the Del Cox Memorial race. Del Cox was one of the pioneers of Jr. Drag Racing. The winner not only takes home NHRA's most prestigious prize, a Wally, but also has their name inscribed on the Del Cox Memorial Trophy which is displayed in the NHRA Museum of Drag Racing. In the runoff there are four cars. Raquel Roper, Katie Downs, David Thompson, and myself. In the first round I was paired with Raquel and David was paired with Katie. I saw David fly down the track and take out Katie. Soon it was my turn. I treed Raquel and was off the throttle with an easy win.

In the final I was up against David "Caveman" Thompson. David got the nickname caveman because he clunks people on the tree. He did just that. I was riding him hard and seeing my wally inch away. when he hit the brakes i knew it was going to be a double breakout. I slammed on the breaks and let him go. David broke out by .017 and myself only .001. We gladly took the win and the Wally and the Memorial trophy will be on display in the Museum of Drag Racing in about a month.

All in all it was a great weekend and it is great to be King of Famoso
Raceway and the defending Del Cox Memorial classic.