My 1st race as a promoter, is finally in the books...... Pics of the H.S. Shootout winners.......

Well, after 2 of the longest months I've ever experienced, my first race as a promoter is finally in the books. It all started with a Test & Tune, and a High School Shootout on Saturday. I think we only had about 40 cars for the Test & Tune, and only 7 cars showed up for the High School Shootout. 5 from Capital High, and 2 from Helena High. The 2 from Helena High are sisters, and are real world drag racers, and it showed. They took the trophy, a $500.00 scholorship for their auto shop program, and a tool kit donated by Snap-on Tools. A big congrats to them. Even though they're Chevy gals, they still earned it. And everybody had fun, and that's all that matters. Heck my son Skyler, even drove my '99 Super Duty Powerstroke in the Shootout. That thing sure is consistent. He ran 11.864, 11.861, and 11.837. (1/8 mile). I even managed to squeeze in 2 runs at the end of the day with the Banana. My transbrake is belly up, so I had to foot brake it, but I still ran 6.61 & 6.67. No mph though, because the system is only set up for ET.

Sunday was a toss up at first because it rained most of the night Saturday. I got to the track at 6:30 A.M. and commenced to gettin it dried out. The people staying at the track were less than impressed I'm sure, when I fired up the blower to start drying the track As I ran the blower in one lane, & got the heavy water off the surface, I had my son drive the Super Duty on the other lane to help burn off the rest of the moisture. After getting the surface dry, I drug the track, and got it sprayed for the race. We only had 21 cars show up for the race itsself, and 10 cars for T&T. I told some of the guys there, that it was better to get 21 cars than no cars. After all, you gotta start somewhere right. The weather was ripe for racing. The high temp was only about 55* and windy, and was mostly cloudy all day. The cars were hooking awesome, and there was even 3 cars there that were pulling the front wheels 6-8" on every pass. We had some equipment issues in the 1/4 finals, so we took a vote from the drivers and we elected to split the payout equally amongst them. At $200.00 each, I'd say they were pretty happy with that. All in all, most of the drivers had a blast, as did I, and we're looking forward to it already for next year. During an intermission, my friend Curt told me "You look like you need to go make a pass in your truck." I told him, "We're in the middle of a race, and I really didn't have time, and that I was OK if I didn't get to run today?" He said one more time, you should go make a pass. (Twisting my arm too ya know ) So I obliged him. Oh yeah, and myself, and cracked off a 6.36 off the foot brake.

I must say, I was mildly impressed. This was quicker than I've ever gone at altitude in the Banana. (5700' D/A) The crowd was equally impressed, and one of my former teachers told me, "It's cool to be looking at the fastest door car at the track, and it's not even a car." The next fastest car was a '74 Nova with a 565" BBC. Oh yeah, I want to thank Randy Moore for his advise for getting my truck to launch better. The rear suspension adjustment must have worked, but the 2 step adjustment was kinda pointless if I can't use my T-Brake I guess. I'd like to see it with a working T-brake. As soon as my friend's girlfriend gets me the card from her camera, I'll post up the vid from my 6.36 pass. All in all, even with a small car count, I had a blast on the other side of the fence, and am already planning next year's event. It should be even better, 'cause I have a whole year to plan this one, and not just a few weeks. I will say this though. I now have a whole new appreciation for the people that put these things on. And, I am flat tuckered out.






Doug...

Glad to here everything went fine and you had a good time to boot.




Keith

Congratulations Doug. That's one heck of an undertaking. As word spreads, I'm sure you'll have more cars next year!

great news Doug glad your truck run better also

Congrats on your race Doug

Wish the turnout would have been better Doug,but like you said,ya gotta start somewhere. Congrats on a job well done. Contact the ones that did come,and tell them to try and bring at least 2 more cars w/them next year.

It takes a lot of hard work, but the rewards are priceless.

Thanks for all the kind words fellas. I forgot to add, the highlight of the whole weekend for most of us was on Saturday. We had been done running for about an hour or so when a gal pulled up in the pits in a small SUV, she had with her, a tiny young boy of about 9 years. She asked if we were finished for the day, and I told her yes, until 10 A.M. tomorrow. That little boy looked crushed. So, one of the other drivers asked me if it was alright, & asked his mom if he'd like to go for a ride in his car. The kid could hardly contain himself I went out to the burnout box and watered it down. He did a monster burnout, went up and staged, put it on the chip, and proceeded with a nice 8-10" wheelie for about 20-30' and shut it down and came back. I swear, we almost had to pry the helmet off of that kids head 'cause his smile was so big. His mom said we made their day, and that they would be back to watch the races on Sunday. That right there, made my whole weekend.








Doug...

Now that is Kool

Good job there "Teddy Bear"

Here are a couple pics of the winning sisters ( Courtney & Lindsey Dowling, from Helena High School and their auto shop teacher, Terry Thomas.



6 of the 7 students from the Shootout. The feller on the far right is my son Skyler. You can see my '99 Super Duty on the right.







Doug...