A long and tedious process, Erica was able to make some serious upgrades to the Horsepower & Heels Racecar. Starting with a new body, the Thunderbird is replaced by a fiberglass VFN 2007 Mustang body. The engine program also receives a serious jumpstart.
[imagebrowser id=12]Top Gun to Top Fuel: Mixing my two favorite things
My parents may not have ever guessed that I’d grow up to be a total hopeless gearhead Drag Racer, but I think they had some idea that I wasn’t a “normal” little girl.
While most kids dreamed of growing up to become veterinarians and doctors, I was awe-inspired at the tender age of 6 by what would be a classic 80’s Hollywood movie… oh yes, wait for it…. Top Gun. [cue Danger Zone music]
I very clearly remember watching it with my family one night, and even though I was a restless 6 year old, was absolutely transfixed by what I saw. My dad was a career Air Force officer, and had retired from the Air Force before I was born. Perhaps my love of aircraft and speed came subconsciously from him, but I don’t think they expected what came out of my 6 year old mouth after watching Maverick and the rest of the characters lighting up the sky in those F-14’s.
I very clearly remember watching it with my family one night, and even though I was a restless 6 year old, was absolutely transfixed by what I saw. My dad was a career Air Force officer, and had retired from the Air Force before I was born. Perhaps my love of aircraft and speed came subconsciously from him, but I don’t think they expected what came out of my 6 year old mouth after watching Maverick and the rest of the characters lighting up the sky in those F-14’s.And no, it wasn’t the Volleyball scene, or a actually still relevant at the time and hot Tom Cruise, I had zero desire to be a Kelly McGillis lusting after some flyboy (though admittedly, I DO have a thing for men in flight suits as an adult). Top Gun was Navy, but whatever, I had decided at age six I wanted to be an Air Force Fighter Pilot.My dream was rather crushed when my dad told me (at the time) that women were not permitted by the military to be combat pilots (something that changed in 1993). It wasn’t because he didn’t want to encourage me, I’m pretty sure it was also his dream growing up, and his eyesight was the disqualifying factor for him, so he didn’t want me to be disappointed by the rule in place. Talk about a crushing blow… but instead of becoming an Ace Pilot, I later would settle on becoming a pilot of a different sorts… a drag racing pilot.
Maybe its not a screaming jet with supersonic speed and all kinds of fun G’s, but drag racing at 200mph is still pretty thrilling. (Here’s to hoping I get my chance in a Top Fuel Dragster and get to that 300mph thrill) And now the Air Force has figured out how to get the average person to merge these passions together with their latest recruitment tool: The Mustang X-1.
Designed by the same people responsible for the new gen KITT car (Galpin Autosports), this car has been totally redone for the USAF. On the exterior a radical lowered stance and low profile tires make for the aggressive aircraft-inspired theme complete with carbon fiber body, aerodynamic air intakes, and gull-wing doors. The flight cockpit interior completely replaces the Mustang interior with flight-stick, a touch-screen interfaced control system, and a single driver ejection seat center-mounted setup. GPS and nightvision technology is also found on the high-tech console.
At first, I was rather curious how they were “driving” via a flight-stick, but I read on to discover that there is a hidden regular motorized steering wheel that pops out for the “pilot” to steer with (slight disappointment that its not stick-driven, but whatever). The stick is actually a very nifty shifter for the manual transmission. I was also surprised that the car is only hopped up to 500 hp with cams and exhaust, which by my hotrodder standards does it zero justice… I mean why not twin turbos or something cool!
Alas, its a pretty cool recruitment tool if you ask me… they also have a Charger called the “Vapor”, but the X-1 is definitely the more radical of the two.
Now that I’m grown and have spent the last 10 years chasing my dream of drag racing, I wish I would have had the level of determination applied to pursuing my dream of being a fighter pilot. I had no way of knowing then, but CAN’T just means you have to try a little harder…. Its still on my “Bucket List” to ride in a supersonic jet at some point, to cross off both me and my dad’s dreams together. Or maybe I’ll land a Top Fuel/Air Force sponsor and get to combine both dreams at once. (Keep your fingers crossed folks!) Regardless, I feel pretty lucky to be participating in the land-version of high speed flight in drag racing, because as Goose and Maverick put it oh so well….
“I feel the need…. the need for SPEED!!”
Photos: USAF
The Brickyard
So, as is my norm here lately, I had another whirlwind weekend in celebration of Memorial Day festivities. (I’m almost dizzy looking at my calendar anymore)
Originally, I had planned to make a trip to Indy all weekend, but I was pleasantly surprised to learn that I had been added to the Dixie Derby All-Star team. We had a home bout on Saturday, which I played in and we ended up winning 154-41. Great night for sure. Thanks for everyone that came to watch, I had a great time!I didn’t get to celebrate long at the afterparty, because after that tiring day, it was up bright and early headed out to Indianapolis, IN. I had a few different reasons to be going to Indy, but one of them was to definitely catch part of the Indy 500 in person. I’ve never seen an Indy race live, especially not at the hallowed Brickyard, so I raced the 6 hours up there early Sunday morning to catch the race. (thank GOD for radar detectors…. and drafting… and fun travelers with the same idea in mind)
I arrived around lap 90, but by the time I got parked and hiked the 2 miles to the track, it was somewhere around lap 140 or so. To my luck, they weren’t even checking tickets anymore, so I just walked in and grabbed an empty seat on Turn 2. I had a bunch of friends there that I hoped to meet and sit with, but unfortunately, you can’t exactly hear a cell phone well from the track, so I just gave up and sat in the stands next to some *interesting* people.Of course, I learned after I made it about 1.75 miles of my hike that I’d hauled my camera with me for NOTHING, being that I had conveniently left my only CF card in the USB reader at work back in Huntsville. Grrrr….. I can be thoroughly brain-dead sometimes. But I did catch some of the *BIG* Meira crash, as it happened right in front of me. They took awhile to get him out, I had a sick feeling as they don’t make it a point to say anything about the driver’s condition over the PA. I thought I saw him moving on the stretcher, so that was a hopeful sign. Thankfully, he’s okay, just has some broken vertebrae and will have some therapy to go through for the rest of the season.
So, the best evidence of my 1st trip to an Indy car race comes from my negative 3.0 mega pixel camera phone. And let me tell you how hard it is to actually CATCH a 2oomph car whizzing by with that sucker too. ::Shakes head in disgust:: Danica Patrick again did really well, landing in the 3rd spot at the race end behind Helio and Wheaton. Helio had a huge lead, but I was secretly hoping for some last lap antics by Danica that would’ve moved her into 2nd. Sarah and Milka both finished the race, but out of the top 10. Oh well, next year for my girls!
Monday’s rainy trip home was far from fun, as I was thoroughly exhausted and had to fight some pretty crappy conditions. (Hello Mustang, time for some new tires!) I made it back into town around 8pm, snuggled up to my little chihuahua, and tried to unwind before heading back to the grind.
And it doesn’t appear that my schedule will be letting up any time soon! Next weekend: Evansville, IN for Derby. Following weekend: Knoxville, TN for derby, where I’m actually skating with the Knoxville team, who was short players. Week after? FLORIDA for fun, sun, family…. and oh yea, WORK too. Then possibly a bonzai run back to Bowling Green, KY for the nostalgia race. Yippeee-aye-ahhh!
Derby Photos: Angela Zaborny; Indy Photos: My crappy Blackberry.
Traveling the country one track at a time
One of the great things about racing, is that it has allowed me to travel the country, one racetrack at a time. I tried to sit down and think of all the tracks I’ve been to, which isn’t an easy task. Sad part is, that although I’ve been all over the U.S., I couldn’t tell you much about the cities I’ve visited BESIDES which track surfaces are good and how the pit parking was.
The list that I can remember is about 40+ right now, including a few over the ocean in Puerto Rico. I’m hoping to add to it as the years go by. (or as I can remember where else I’ve been!)
- US 19 Dragway — Albany, GA
- Goodtimes Drag Strip — Baileyton, AL
- Houston Motorsports Park — Baytown, TX
- Beechbend Raceway — Bowling Green, KY
- Bradenton Motorsports Park — Bradenton, FL
- Bristol Dragstrip — Bristol, TN
- National Trails Raceway — Columbus, OH
- Atlanta Dragway — Commerce, GA
- One Way Dragway — Cottonwood, AL
- Cordova Dragway Park — Cordova, IL
- Southeastern Int’l Raceway — Dallas, GA
- Darlington Int’l Dragway — Darlington, SC
- Dothan Dragway — Dothan, AL
- Douglas Drag Strip — Douglas, GA
- Texas Motorplex– Ennis, TX
- Gainesville Raceway Park — Gainesville, FL
- Huntsville Dragway — Harvest, AL
- Emerald Coast Dragway — Holt, FL
- O’Reilly Motorsports Park — Indianapolis, IN
- Carolina Dragway — Jackson, SC
- Route 66 Raceway — Joliet, IL
- Lakeland Motorsports Park — Lakeland, FL
- The Strip at Las Vegas Motor Speedway — Las Vegas, NV
- Twiggs Co. Raceway — Macon, GA
- Gateway International Raceway — Madison, IL
- Montgomery Motorsports Park — Montgomery, AL
- Summit Raceway Park — Norwalk, OH
- Orangeburg Dragstrip — Orangeburg, SC
- Orlando Speed World — Orlando, FL
- Phenix Motorsport Park — Phenix City, AL
- Pomona Raceway — Pomona, CA
- Ponce International Raceway — Ponce, Puerto Rico
- Maple Grove Raceway — Reading, PA
- Silver Dollar Raceway — Reynolds, GA
- Old Dominion Raceway — Richmond, VA
- Rockingham Dragway — Rockingham, NC
- Puerto Rico International Speedway — Salinas, Puerto Rico
- Alabama International Raceway — Steele, AL
- Heartland Motorsports Park — Topeka, KS
- South Georgia Motorsports Park — Valdosta, GA
- Palm Beach International Raceway — West Palm, FL
I don’t even want to think how many road miles that adds up to!
My favorites are Bristol’s Thunder Valley for the beautiful scenery and awesome atmosphere as the cars race through the mountain valley, and Norwalk’s Summit Raceway Park because of the midway and great hospitality (and because it was my first 6 sec, 200mph pass there). The ultimate package has to be Ponce Int’l Raceway in Puerto Rico, its a drag racer’s dream! More on that in another blog post though…
I’m hoping to add the rest of the NHRA tour onto my list at some point (in the not-so-distant future).
A photo says a thousand words
In addition to the crew chiefs and drivers, one of the other groups of greatly talented professionals you get to meet at the racetrack every weekend are the guys and gals that are risking their butts hanging on the guardwalls to give us great images of the action. Though I know absolutely NOTHING about photography aside from point-and-click, I’ve always had great respect for these guys and gals, and always truly admire their work.
Last week, I had the pleasure of meeting my absolute favorite Professional Sports Photographer, Mark Rebilas. I’ve been a fan of his and have been following his work for quite awhile now, but I didn’t realize how cool a guy he actually is until recently.
Mark hails from Phoenix, AZ; the son of photographer Gil Rebilas, who first put a camera in his son’s hands at age 10. Mark quickly learned the trade, enlisting as a Photographer for the US Navy, and leading a team of 22 photographers on an aircraft carrier during a wartime deployment across the world.
Now, you can find him high above the tri-oval at NASCAR races, capturing some of the crazy crashes, or on the sidelines at baseball games and a wide variety of other sports. A very recognized name in the business, Mark’s won the NMPA Motorsports Photographer of the Year award twice, and has been featured all over the industry in ESPN, Sports Illustrated, and many other publications. Mark has also covered a few drag racing events, and his images are absolutely stunning. His photo blog is really impressive, and tells a great story about the events he covers. Though he told me he originally started the blog for other photographers, any sports fan can really appreciate his detailed blogging style and the great story his images tell.
Someof my favorites are the unique portraits he’s done with my favorite NHRA drivers. His approach is drastically different from our regular drag racing photographers, and from what he outlines in his blogs, his techniques are much more complicated and a lot harder work. But the results are amazing:
The action shots are unlike anything I’ve ever seen. With drag racing being the fastest moving of all the motorsports, I imagine its quite difficult to catch all the action coming at you at 300mph. But these are just the most vivid and spectacular I’ve ever seen…
Clearly, I don’t have to do much talking. His work speaks rather breathlessly for itself. I couldn’t possibly post all of my favorites, so you really need to head on over to his blog to check them all out.
Other than the fact he drives a Corvette (::groan::), Mark is one of the coolest people I’ve had a chance to hang out with in some time! I’ve already made him promise that if I strike the lotto and go Top Fuel racing, he’s going to be the official Photographer with sole mission to make me look like a resident bad ass! Thanks, Mark!
Check out Mark’s Blog: www.markjrebilas.com/blog
Or better yet, subscribe to it free here.
Soggy weekend gamble
The past month or so has been such an incredibly hectic time for me. I feel like I’ve been on the go for weeks. Between Roller Derby and trying to attend a few races here and there, I haven’t had much time to recharge.
I started out by attending the ADRL race in Valdosta. I forgot how badly I missed these events. Its so much different than attending the “all business” national events. While the ADRL is a huge show, and just as professional, it still retains the level of fun and comraderie that isn’t as apparent in national events. I got to chat with a lot of the guys I’ve been racing with for years, and even rounded up a few more parts to finish my car. I spent the weekend hanging out with Dan Parker/Bill George’s team. They made the show, but had to take on the #1 qualifier, and shook just a bit at the top of low for a close race at the finish. [photo Competition Plus, Roger Richards]
Next up, I headed out to Vegas for a work-related tradeshow. I handle marketing for a broadcast equipment manufacturing company, and the NAB Show is our largest tradeshow of the year. Its always a very long week, with 2 after-show events that I manage for our dealers/customers. I did get a few hours out by the hotel pool at the Sahara, as well as skating with the Sin City Roller Girls at one of their practices, dinner at Tao and dancing at Pure Nightclub in Ceasar’s Palace one of the nights as well.
From Vegas, I hopped a plane over to Columbus, OH where I was playing my very first Roller Derby Bout against the Ohio Roller Girls. We lost, I broke my finger, dislocated a knuckle and pulled a tendon in my hand, and I was way tired, but it was still a good experience. My friend Chuck came out along with my cousin Ana and her boys, so it was great seeing family and friends as well.
Then, on top of all of the craziness, I had 2 days once I got home to move to a new house my roommate and I were renting. With a broken finger. NOT fun. One of my coworkers and his wife helped me move most of it Monday night. I had to be out by Wednesday, and after a trip to Atlanta on Tuesday night/Wednesday morning to pick up my badly missed little Chihuahua, handle some work, and meet a special new friend (more on that next blog), it has been an exhausting month.
Which brings me to this weekend: the St. Louis NHRA race. I went to this race last year, and was planning to go this year as well. The Stevens Family Top Fuel Dragster, which some may remember is the team I have been working with to get a top fuel ride once we find funding to license and run, had a one-race deal for St. Louis, and I had planned to go there and shoot some video of the team and me with the dragster to put together a promo reel for the sponsor chase. However, Friday afternoon when I was getting ready to pack up and leave, the weather sirens started going off, making the drive not look like such a great idea. That fact, combined with the radar outlook for Saturday showing rain all day long, made me decide to stay home after lots of back-and-forth. A decision I instantly regretted the next morning when Dave Stevens called me saying it was clear blue skies and sunny there. DOH! [photo Competition Plus, Roger Richards]So the team ended up qualifying and getting into the show. They went out first round to Morgan Lucas. Of course, I missed all the action. I’m super sad. 🙁 So much for luck… I gambled and lost in Vegas, Ohio, and St. Louis! DARN!
Horsepower & Heels TV: Chatting Ashley Force Hood
Kicking off Season 2 of Horsepower & Heels TV, Erica had a chance to sit down with NHRA Nitro Funny Car driver Ashley Force-Hood to chat about how the newlywed manages the unique aspect of being a woman in the sport.
(Horsepower & Heels TV: Chatting with Ashley Force-Hood)
Season 2 kickoff with Ashley Force-Hood
You may remember a few months ago (where the heck is time going lately!) that I had a chance to sit down with NHRA Nitro Funny Car driver Ashley Force-Hood for some gal chat to kick off Season 2 of Horsepower & Heels TV…
Its been a hectic few months, but the folks at PNN just finalized the episode. Though I wish we could have included all 20 minutes of great insight from Ashley on a wide variety of topics, PNN and I chose to give some insight to viewers from Ashley into the very unique side of being a woman at the races.
Hope you enjoy!
Sad day in history
Today marks a very sad day in my racing world.
American Autosports, the longtime producer of the legendary Fun Ford Weekend Series and more recently Battle of the Brands, has just announced that due to current economic climate, they have ceased operations.
Fun Ford Weekend began in 1991 and spearheaded the Ford Drag Racing movement that gave so many of us a great competitive place to race. We watched PRO 5.0 grow from just a 10 second class into the low 6’s at over 200mph, Outlaw from true 10.5″ 9 and 8 second rides, into the high 6 second class on 10.5W’s that rivaled the Pro from just a few years back, and huge advancements in Renegade, Warrior, Drag Radial, and my favorite, True Street.
Fun Ford Weekend is where I cut my teeth drag racing, starting in the Street Bracket. From there, I moved into True Street, where I won my first race at Gainesville in 2002. With the addition of a drag radial class in 2003, I runnered-up in my first heads-up race, became the first woman in FFW to break the 8 second barrier on a drag radial, and runnered-up for my first championship. In 2006, I moved up to Pro 5.0, becoming the first and only woman to pilot a 6 second, 200 mph car in Fun Ford history. I runnered-up for the Pro 5.0 championship as well that year as a rookie in PRO 5.0. Fun Ford Weekend made me what I am today, and I’m eternally grateful for everything I learned all those years and all the people who made racing with FFW so much fun.
But, in additon to that, it created a home for a huge family of people, a tight group of the very best friends I will ever have. Unlike the stringent and regulated NHRA/IHRA events, Fun Ford events were filled with commraderie and fun, and some of the best times happened after the racing was finished for the day.
I’m sad that we no longer have FFW/Battle of the Brands to bring us together, and hope that all of my racing counterparts still continue on somewhere when this mess of an economy picks itself up and dusts off.
Thanks to Bill & Cheryl Alexander, Crystal, George and the rest of the FFW crew for a decade (and more) of priceless memories!
We will miss you!
April Fools Day can kiss my….
Oh yes. April Fools Day…. the day you can be unnecessarily vicious and it be labeled “All in Good Fun”.
Being that my life is pretty much an open book (err… browser window, considering its all online anymore), its not hard to figure out what key things in life would get me pretty friggen excited.
- A big sponsor to go racing
- Hitting the lottery (to be able to go racing)
- Getting a full time nitro professional driver’s gig (again, racing. See a trend here?)
- A ride-along with the Blue Angels or Thunderbirds
- and maybe a date with Bradley Cooper. (I’m still a single woman, folks. let a girl dream!)
So, my April 1st had gone off relatively calm-like. Work had me and my coworkers so busy that there wasn’t much foolery going around, and quite honestly, I forgot it was April 1st about mid-morning.
Around 5pm, just as I was leaving work, a unrecognized number popped up on my cell phone. The area code was 313, which I just happened to know was a Detriot area phone number. Puzzled, I answered.
The caller, an unrecognized male voice, was on the line:
Mr. 313: “Erica Ortiz?”
Me: “This is Erica.”
Mr. 313: “Hi Erica, this is Jim O’Reilly, I’m with the Motorsports Activation team for Ford. Did I catch you at a good time to chat?”
Me: “Certainly.”
(Casual greeting niceties exchanged.)
Mr. 313: “Erica, we’ve been monitoring your website and promotional efforts with Horsepower & Heels and would like to talk to you about becoming an Ambassador for Ford Racing.”
Me: (GASP) “Yes, yes sir.”
Mr. 313: “You’re currently racing a Mustang, is that correct?”
Me: “Well yes sir, I’m just finishing my racecar now. Its a 2007 Mustang Pro Mod. I’m hoping to debut it soon.”
Mr. 313: “Great! We’ve seen your posts on your website about your loyalty to Ford, and thought having such a charismatic ambassador representing us out there in motorsports and online would be a great partnership.”
Me: “Oh yes, I’m a die-hard Ford girl. My blood runs Ford Blue all the way. I’d be honored to be an Ambassador.”
Mr. 313: “Great. I understand you’re finishing your car now, what are your future plans both upcoming and long term?”
Me: “Well, my plan right now is to try and make some Pro Mod events close to home, and a few ADRL XTF events as well. Ultimately, I’m hoping to try and put together a package to be able to race professionally, as that is my aspiration.”
Mr. 313: (in reference to my recent interview) “I see you’ve interacted with our John Force Racing friends recently.”
Me: “Yes, I had a great time down in FL getting the chance to sit down with Ashley. She’s fantastic.”
Mr. 313: “We’d like to see you as successful right along with Ashley.”
At this point, I’m a little short on breath and feeling light-headed. I mean, first to have Ford calling, and them wanting me to be some sort of Ambassador??? I could hardly see straight.
Mr. 313 embarked on a whole long speech about how in today’s climate its really important to have people active out in the community and representing them, how mass advertising isn’t the answer anymore, and how Ford has taken a new stance of focusing on the grassroots levels and finding people to represent them. All seemed credible. Actually, down right knowledgable to be honest…. they were all key marketing initiatives that made sense to me.
He then explained that they felt I had a lot to offer in terms of my activity in the social networking communities, and how they felt my story would be a great testimonial for Ford. And then the kicker….. the what’s in it for YOU line.
So, in exchange for my twitterin’/ myspacin’/ facebookin’/ vloggin’/ bloggin’ awesomeness (yes, I’m everywhere), Mr. 313 tells me that they’d like to ensure that I was able to move up…. ultimately to Nitro Funny Car!
Now, as many times as I have had people dangle that dang carrot in front of my nose, you think I’d be leary of such a proposition (or HELLO, remember that its April 1st!), but the fact that this was FORD calling, and that he sounded so official-y, I went through the whole Roller Coaster of emotion again.
So this whole conversation went on for about another 5-10 minutes of him explaining how Ford was really backing their loyal motorsports fans and followers and that this meant putting good representatives in opportunities…. BLAH, BLAH, BLAH.
And then, just as abruptly as can be….
Mr. 313: “Ummm….what? I’m sorry, Erica, can you hang on?”
(Background garble)
“What is today?? April 1st?”
Followed by a resounding CLICK.
FYI, Mr. Not-so-Funny April Fooler…. YOU SUCK!!!