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Another black and pink racecar

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One of the biggest things I’ve missed is my signature Black & Pink racecar paint jobs. Which is why I’m really excited that the other Erica racing is not only driving a Mustang this year too, but has gone with a Black/Pink color scheme for her DragStar Pro Stock ride.

Its been a tough road for racers lately, so I’m super excited for Erica Enders getting back to the Pro Stock arena. The car, which is sponsored by DragStar Racing, will be part of Cunningham Ford Pro Stock Racing program.
Amazingly, this year we are sharing not only the first name, but both of us are driving mustangs, and both cars will rock a similar paint scheme. Although I originally planned a similar Black/Pink theme based on my blog format, my car will now be a dark charcoal color with the pink/black accents instead.
With any luck, this will be the year for the Ericas Comeback Tour– Enders taking on the Pro Stock boys, and myself dealing with the Pro Street crowd! Good luck, Enders!

Twitter for the racing crowd

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One of my favorite social networking tools is Twitter. I’ve been using it for a couple of years now, and although I first thought it was rather odd and didn’t “get it”, I’ve realized the myriad of different usages for the service, and how they can be customized and utilized for personal needs. (Visit me on Twitter here)

Lately, I’ve been very excited by the adoption of Twitter by many different racing teams as a way to communicate with fans. There are endless opportunities for teams to use Twitter in a new and engaging way.

One of the most beneficial usages is the fact that fans can now follow and request text message notifications to their phones for their favorite drivers. That means that if I subscribe with notification to JFR’s twitter account, I’ll get an instant text message update from the team whenever they tweet a new event. If PR people handle this right, it means insider information available instantaneously… and it also means a great database in which to reach out to your fans.
I’ve started assembling the Twitter Guide for the Drag Racing Crowd, to include a list of all the drag racing related twitter feeds. Feel free to add to my list in the comments section, and I’ll post them online soon for everyone to use.

[UPDATED 6/1/09]

***Sanctioning Bodies***
@NHRA — NHRA Official Twitter
@IHRAMotorsports — IHRA Official Twitter
@March Meet — Nostalgia Drag Racing Meet
@GSAProMods — NHRA Get Screened America Pro Mod Challenge
@NAPA_Goodguys — Live tweeting from the Goodguys Events

***News Orgs***
@go2geiger — Go 2 Geiger Drag Racing News
@femaleracing — Female Racing News Network
@ProStockCars — Pro Stock Cars News
@nhraphil — Phil Burgess, Editor for National Dragster
@ChevyHigh — Chevy High Performance Magazine
@SpeedFreaks — Speed Freaks Motorsports Radio & TV
@SpeedSceneLive — Speed Scene Live Webcast
@ThunderRoadShow — The Thunder Road Show Radio
@SpeedTV — Speed TV Channel
@competitionplus — Competition Plus
@DragTimes — Database of Drag Racing and Dyno
@FTTV — Full Throttle TV

***Drivers/Teams***

–Top Fuel
@MARNews — Mike Ashley Racing, Antron Brown Top Fuel
@TeamKalitta — The Kalitta Racing Top Fuel/Funny Car Team
@KennyBernstein — Kenny Bernstein Racing Top Fuel Team
@TerryMcMillen — Top Fuel Driver Terry McMillen
@BobVandergriff — Top Fuel Driver Bob Vandergriff
@shoeracing — Don Schumacher Racing Top Fuel/Funny Car Teams
@bacamotorsports — Top Fuel Driver David Baca
@alanabiracing — Alan Johnson Top Fuel/Funny Car Teams
@DougHerbert — Top Fuel Driver Doug Herbert
@RacerJRTodd — NHRA Top Fuel Driver J.R. Todd
@topfueldragster — Stevens Family Top Fuel Team
@Cory_Mac_TF — Top Fuel Driver Cory McClenathan
@HillaryWill — Top Fuel Driver Hillary Will
@HotRodFuller — Top Fuel Driver Rod Fuller
@ClayMillican — Top Fuel Driver Clay Millican

–Funny Car
@JFR_Racing — John Force Racing Funny Car Teams
@Tasca3 — Nitro Funny Car Driver Bob Tasca III
@TeamWilkerson — Nitro Funny Car team of Tim Wilkerson
@MattHaganRacing — Nitro Funny Car Driver Matt Hagan
@ITGMotorsports — In the Groove Nitro Funny Car/Pro Stock Bike Team
@DaleCreasyJr — Nitro Funny Car Driver Dale Creasy Jr.
@GaryDensham –Nitro Funny Car Driver Gary Densham

–Pro Stock
@TeamJEGS_Jeg_Jr — Pro Stock Driver Jeg Coughlin Jr.
@ACDelcoRacing — Pro Stock Team of Kurt Johnson
@BBenza — Pro Stock Driver Bob Benza
@Erica_Enders — Pro Stock Driver Erica Enders

–Pro Stock Motorcycle
@SJR_Racing — Pro Stock Motorcycle Driver Steve Johnson
@ShawnGann — Pro Stock Motorcycle Driver Shawn Gann
@hdracing — Screamin’ Eagle/Vance & Hines Pro Stock Motorcycle Team

–Pro Mod
@NielsenRacing — Outlaw Pro Modified Nitrous team
@madmantaylor — Pro Mod Driver Frankie Taylor
@rodhouckracing — Pro Mod Driver Rod Houck
@BarklageRacing — Barklage Pro Mod Racing Team

–Other Classes
@nitrokitty — Nostalgia Funny Car Driver Mendy Fry
@CourtneyEnders — Courtney Enders
@CourtneyForce — A/Fuel Dragster Driver Courtney Force
@MKRacer — Nitro Crew Chief Mike Kloeber
@wellsmotorsport — IHRA Top Sportsman Carlos Wells
@HorsepowerHeels — Pro Mod Driver Erica Ortiz
@LeducDiamond — Nostalgia Funny Car Driver Leah Leduc

***Tracks/Facilities***
@norwalkracefans — Summit Raceway Park in Norwalk, OH
@gatewayraceway — Gateway Int’l Raceway in Madison, IL
@BMSUpdates — Bristol Motor Speedway in Bristol, TN
@OReillyRaceway — O’Reilly Raceway Park in Indianapolis, IN
@InfineonRaceway — Infineon Raceway in Sonoma, CA
@RacePBIR — Palm Beach International Raceway in Palm Beach, FL
@ACSUpdates — Auto Club Speedway in Fontana, CA
@LVMotorSpeedway — Las Vegas Motor Speedway in Las Vegas, NV
@MapleGrove — Maple Grove Raceway in Reading, PA
@The_Dirty_MO — Mooresville Dragway in Mooresville, NC

***Sponsors and Motorsports Miscellaneous***
@RacingJunk — Racing Junk Classifieds
@FordRacing — Ford Racing Division
@DragstarRacing — DragStar Apparel
@CastrolUSA — Castrol Engine Oils
@MandHtires — M&H Tires
@hotchkis — Hotchkis Suspension
@YokohamaTC — Yokohama Tire Company
@TitanMotorsport — Titan Motorsports in Orlando, FL
@wyotech — WYOTech
@NHRA_Museum — The NHRA Museum
@SummitRacing — Summit Racing Performance Powerhouse
@KNFilters — K&N Filters
@JFRaceStation — John Force Race Station
@TrickTitanium — Trick Titanium
@MQL_Racing — Motorcraft and Quick Lane
@Turbonetics — Turbonetics Turbochargers
@rehermorrison — Reher Morrison Engines

2009 World of Wheels Atlanta

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Its been a LONG while since I was around some good ole hot rods, so I was really excited to attend the 2009 World of Wheels Expo in Atlanta this weekend. I managed to remember to bring my fancy-pants camera, which I haven’t drug out in over 2 years. After reviewing my photos from this weekend, I’m WAAAY out of practice, and did more fumbling with the thing than anything (hello FLASH, what happened to you?!?) , but you’ll get the picture.

I LOVE rat rods and the work and creativity that goes into them. There were many need rat rods and choppers at this show, my favorites being the old skool tow trucks and themed bikes.
There were some iconic cars there as well. I’m a huge Speed Racer fan, so the Mach 5 rendition was especially cool to me. The Foose P-32 Roadster was also on display, as well as both the original and the latest rendition of the KITT cars from Knight Rider (As much as I love Mustangs, I still don’t think the Mustang as the new KITT car seems right to me).
They even had a stunt street bike exhibition set up in the far corner, but of course my shoty photography skills got a major FAIL in that department. My blurry attempt at getting the endo stoppy action:

You can take the girl out of the tropics…

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….but you can’t take the tropics outta the girl!

Although I was born and raised in Orlando, FL for the first 24 years of my life, I haven’t lived there for the last 5 years. (which is NOT for lack of trying to go home! Stupid economy!) When people ask me where I’m from, I’m still programmed to say Florida. When people hear me complain that its too cold… my answer is that I’m 100% Florida girl and just DO NOT do COLD. But someone challenged me recently. *AHEM!*  (Thanks,  Jeff!)

“You haven’t lived in Florida for 5 years now! I think you can stop claiming that.”

WHAT?!?! Someone questions my 100% Florida sunshine BLOODLINE?!? The NERVE! ha!

Well, last night, I proved exactly WHY I do NOT belong in the cold.

Its was a blustery 9 degrees in Huntsville last night as I entered Roller Derby practice. I parked, and since the parking is a bit of an incline, I didn’t even think much when I pulled the parking brake up and ran inside. Practice is about 2 hours long, so by the time I got out shortly after 10pm, the cold had really set in.

I quickly ran in my derby mini, tights, and knee socks to the car ready to get moving and get the heat crankin’ in the car. When I went to start the car and let down the ebrake, I knew I had a problem. The handle fell limply to the console, but the tension didn’t release.

OH CRAP.

Duh Erica! You’re not supposed to set the parking brake in the cold weather! It’s halfway frozen before on me, but never 40+ miles from home and at 10pm at night, in the ghetto, by myself, and in a MINI SKIRT. SAAA-WEET!

So, I try letting the car warm up. 20 minutes, no luck. I back up and go forward trying to rock it free. Nope, no dice. I yank on the handle and try to wiggle the cable loose. Try again, dummy! 40 minutes later, and the parking lot at the rink is now empty and very menacing feeling. I made some phone calls to see if anyone else had any ideas (Sorry Dennis and Dan at almost midnight your time!) Still nothing.

So, we’ve collectedly determined that the thing is probably frozen stuck where it goes under the driveshaft tunnel. “Can you crawl under the car and see if you can reach it?” Umm, Hi. Mini-skirt. 9 degree weather. Ummm lemmeee think about it…. NO! Plus, where we think its stuck would’ve been out of reach anyways without jacking the car up.

So, after a few more futile minutes of jerking around with the parking brake handle, back up and going forward, and even a few quick sideways launches trying ANYTHING to jar the damn cable, I realize that I’m going to have to limp this thing out of the ghetto and the 40 miles home at the expense of my rear rotors and brakes. Yea, smoking red rear calipers are wonderful fun! It finally let loose about 20 miles down the road…. I ended up getting home well after midnight. I haven’t even attempted to look at the rotors to see how bad they are.

And I don’t even live in that icy, crappy stuff you people call SNOW!

Hey! Don’t judge…. Years of making SANDMEN for Christmas doesn’t exactly prepare you for the winter virtues.

NHRA Fan Relief

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I was really worried about the state of the dragpocalypse, and NHRA’s seeming lack of action toward the current economic situation.I stand corrected.

The NHRA has just recently announced a Fan Relief Program, aimed at helping the fans in the current economic downfall.The plan still doesn’t address the racer’s hardship, so its not clear if fans will still be faced with short fields, but it does move forward on helping the sport navigate the very precarious climate.

Fans now will enjoy reduced admissions, free entry for children under 12, free Friday entry for active military members, and discounts to NHRA merchandise. Its a great step for the NHRA.

With the gloom and doom of the off-season, its easy to get caught up in the soap box of pointing blame. (Myself Included.) But, Funny Car driver Ron Capps really made a great point:

There can be two ways we can handle the situation. One is that we can all complain about it, say that since there may not be full fields the racing won’t be as good, and that I am gonna stay home, not go to the races I might usually go to, and not watch it on ESPN. The other option is do everything as a drag racing fan to help our sport through these times. Trust me, all motorsports are gonna see tough times, but I think that times like these will define our sport and its fans. -Ron Capps, NAPA Funny Car Driver

The start of the 2009 Full Throttle NHRA Drag Racing Series is around the corner. Here’s hoping to a great year and lots of SAFE racing!

You can take the girl outta the tropics

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….but you can’t take the tropics outta the girl!

Although I was born and raised in Orlando, FL for the first 24 years of my life, I haven’t lived there for the last 5 years. (which is NOT for lack of trying to go home! Stupid economy!) When people ask me where I’m from, I’m still programmed to say Florida. When people hear me complain that its too cold… my answer is that I’m 100% Florida girl and just DO NOT do COLD. But someone challenged me recently. *AHEM!* Woodchuck.

“You haven’t lived in Florida for 5 years now! I think you can stop claiming that.”

WHAT?!?! Someone questions my 100% Florida sunshine BLOODLINE?!? The NERVE! ha!

Well, last night, I proved exactly WHY I do NOT belong in the cold.

Its was a blustery 9 degrees in Huntsville last night as I entered Roller Derby practice. I parked, and since the parking is a bit of an incline, I didn’t even think much when I pulled the parking brake up and ran inside. Practice is about 2 hours long, so by the time I got out shortly after 10pm, the cold had really set in.

I quickly ran in my derby mini, tights, and knee socks to the car ready to get moving and get the heat crankin’ in the car. When I went to start the car and let down the ebrake, I knew I had a problem. The handle fell limply to the console, but the tension didn’t release.

OH CRAP.

Duh Erica! You’re not supposed to set the parking brake in the cold weather! It’s halfway frozen before on me, but never 40+ miles from home and at 10pm at night, in the ghetto, by myself, and in a MINI SKIRT. SAAA-WEET!

So, I try letting the car warm up. 20 minutes, no luck. I back up and go forward trying to rock it free. Nope, no dice. I yank on the handle and try to wiggle the cable loose. Try again, dummy! 40 minutes later, and the parking lot at the rink is now empty and very menacing feeling. I made some phone calls to see if anyone else had any ideas (Sorry Dennis and Dan at almost midnight your time!) Still nothing.

So, we’ve collectedly determined that the thing is probably frozen stuck where it goes under the driveshaft tunnel. “Can you crawl under the car and see if you can reach it?” Umm, Hi. Mini-skirt. 9 degree weather. Ummm lemmeee think about it…. NO! Plus, where we think its stuck would’ve been out of reach anyways without jacking the car up.

So, after a few more futile minutes of jerking around with the parking brake handle, back up and going forward, and even a few quick sideways launches trying ANYTHING to jar the damn cable, I realize that I’m going to have to limp this thing out of the ghetto and the 40 miles home at the expense of my rear rotors and brakes. Yea, smoking red rear calipers are wonderful fun! It finally let loose about 20 miles down the road…. I ended up getting home well after midnight. I haven’t even attempted to look at the rotors to see how bad they are.

And I don’t even live in that icy, crappy stuff you people call SNOW!

Hey! Don’t judge…. Years of making SANDMEN for Christmas doesn’t exactly prepare you for the winter virtues.

Drag Racing needs a bail out

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These will be the event grandstands if NHRA doesn’t act now.

Its the Dragpocalypse.

A mass exodus of sponsors and teams from the full tour and from the racing world entirely. You think it might have the attention of the stiffs in Glendora, no? Oh no, not at ALL.

Let’s see….

David Grubnic. Hillary Will. Doug Kalitta. Doug Herbert. Hot Rod Fuller. J.R.Todd. Tommy Johnson Jr. Melanie Troxel. Warren Johnson. Kurt Johnson. David Connolly. Bob Vandergriff. Angelle Sampey. Tom Hammonds. Jerry Toliver.
… all series regulars, all on the sidelines. The list continues to grow by the day.

Competition Plus did an excellent comparison piece on the situation, with Don Schumacher and Don Garlitz commenting on the current economy and its similarities to the Energy Crisis of the 70’s. Jim Oberhofer, crew chief for Kalitta Motorsports weighed in as well. Everyone is talking about it, but the NHRA continues to ignore them all… ignore the very people whom make their existence possible.

At least Wally Parks addressed the issues presented in the 70’s with an action plan. What is the current suits’ action? Raise prices for the sponsors and teams in effort to “ensure profitability to the NHRA for 2009.”

Are you KIDDING me?

For a Non-Profit company, they sure are dedicated to padding their bonuses at the expense of the core of their business model… the SHOW.

Worried about affecting ticket sale value by cutting qualifying sessions or other cost-saving measures for racers, what is going to happen when that expensive spectator ticket buys only a 8 car show? Personally, I’d rather see 3 rounds of a full field rather than an empty pit row and repetitious qualifying. Cut the events to 2 days. Helps with travel and ticket expenses both for teams and for fans.

And raising pricing for hospitality? If the pits are going to be empty anyways, why not offer MORE for less in efforts to cort sponsors into seeing that the NHRA is indeed a viable marketing and promotional tool?

As it is, the limitations and stipulations made by the NHRA have made sponsorship activation a very tedious and sometimes unworthwhile exercise. They should be opening the floodgates right now instead of snapping them shut for their own profitability. Instead, we send corporation after corporation packing with the attitude “Why Bother“.

Why should a corporation participate in the NHRA? Yes, its a very cost effective motorsports marketing tool, but with the hard-arm of the NHRA law in place, these corporations are realizing all too quickly that you get exactly what you pay for.

Exclusivity contracts that benefit only the NHRA sponsors, non-compete ordinances that effectively shut-out the free market competitiveness that could renew friendly rivalries which flourished in the hey-days of the sport. Instead of running off the U.S. Air Force or all the energy brands, how much more attention could they bring to the sport by seeing the drag racing battle of the brands take place? Remember the beer rivalries? Miller Lite vs. Budweiser. What about Army vs. Air Force vs. Navy? Or Rockstar vs. Sobe vs. RedBull vs. (insert booming energy drink company here)?

Even their superhero idols at NASCAR are working with their teams and the sponsors to ensure the survival of their sport. But NHRA brass continue to keep their heads planted firmly in the shifting sand. Why not search for a more relevant business model? Why not step OUTSIDE the box for a minute?

Instead look at other ideas, such as the American Drag Racing League, and LEARN something. ADRL tickets are GIVEN away. Series sponsors see a huge captive market, and are given ample opportunities to promote and use their motorsport tool to generate their results. They aren’t slapped with fees and limitations…. The ADRL also listens to the needs of its racers. Racers also are not victim to fees and limitations and costly rule changes with class mandated components. It encourages aftermarket companies to compete for its racers business, and rewards participants with Official Sponsor rights that do not mandate usage, but REWARD it.

No, the NHRA cannot give away tickets. But they can cut the prices to increase the VOLUME. Or they can look outside the box to give value to fans. A giveaway: Buy 2 get one free? The seats would be empty without it, why not at least TRY?? Contests to engage fans in the season to win tickets would be great as well.

There are too many options that would bring at least some ounce of relief to the current situation. Way too many for Glendora to be sitting idle. Perhaps Garlitz is right, perhaps this too shall pass, but at what cost to our sport?

Its not something any of us should take lightly. After all, there are no bail outs in drag racing.