FIRST I WANT TO THANK A VERY GOOD FRIEND OF MINE COLIN. WITHOUT HIM NONE OF THIS WOULD HAVE HAPPENED. I am 34 years old. I am currently engaged to a great woman that supports me in everything that I do. I work at Ipsco Steel as a Mechanical Planner. We both live on our recently purchased 8 acre plot. (nice and quiet)
I have raced something pretty much all of my life. I raced motocross from the ages of 9-13. My father instilled the racing bug into my brother and I very early. I accumulated numerous state championships and became nationally ranked. My next form of racing was one season of Nascar Dirt series. I ran ½ mile at West Liberty, Iowa. My father loved drag racing so we went to the straight line at Cordova Dragway. From here I ran a Big Block street S-10 that ran low 11’s. My Brother ran a 70 Chevelle and my father ran a 68 Cuda.
In 2001 my father purchased a 1987 Top Eliminator Dodge Charger. He ran the car a few times late in the year. In May of 2002 on his quickest pass ever ( 8.87 ) an oil line sprayed the tires down as he came through the traps. This sent the car into a wild frenzy. This became my fathers “last pass” He perished just a few feet from the 1320’ mark with a steering wheel in his hands.
In 2003 with the help of family and friends I campaigned a Dodge Daytona (his back up car) with almost every usable part from the wrecked car. We ran pretty much a full season at Cordova dragway going for somewhat of a points chase. Our best time was a 9.16 ET. We were 8th in points until we lost a motor at the World Series. This done the wallet in for the year and we went home to regroup.
2004 led into building my Fathers dream car. A Blown Hemi producing in excess of 1350 horsepower!!!. This brought our ET’s down into the 7 sec range and our MPH was 180 plus. This was definitely a BEAST of a car. This car was harder on the pocket book and it had a tendency to drive me instead of me driving it. Somehow through all of it the paint never got on the guardrail. At the end of 2005 after a lot of $$$$$$ I felt that my duty was over as a son to carry on what he wanted.
Now in 2007 I am having fun sliding around in car #64 going bumper to bumper with the guys at davenport speedway. The legend guys are Great. Everyone tries their butt off to keep the cars separated. This reduces our work load on the cars and keeps the sport fun.
I still have a straight line bug in me because I also campaign a AHDRA (All Harley Drag Racing Association) S&S 124 Challenge bike. This is a street legal Harley that has no wheelie bar, no two step, foot shift with no assistance, ball of fun. I am running in the High 9’s at the moment with it. We recently made the semi final round at the Norwalk, Ohio Nationals. This was definitely a fun learning experience. We will be gearing up to go to Bristol Nationals in August!
I WOULD LIKE TO REALLY THANK----COLIN, KRISTI, AND ALL OF MY FAMILY AND FRIENDS!