Wow…it is hard to believe that the year is over already.  Time to clean out the rig.  We can actually store the coolers now, instead of tripping over them in the garage between races lol.  Time for Warhawk to get her winter “makeover”, which includes a new tailpipe this year.  How can we say how much we appreciate the help we have received this year from so many people?  Without you, we wouldn’t have made it.  With everything that happened, we only missed one race, which was  the week of the accident.  We made every other call, but we could not have done it without our friends and fellow racers.

It was quite a trip, too.  We always debate before a trip to Arizona - the straightest route is a two-lane road that takes you through a lot of little towns and slow-downs, which adds hours to the trip.  To take the interstate is a bit of a jog west through Vegas….it is all interstate, but there is always a slowdown going over the Hoover Dam.  Which, by the way-Wow!  Have you seen the progress they have made on that bypass road just over this summer??  When we went through there last year, they have pylons up on each end over the gorge and most of the roadwork done leading up to and away from them but these last trips - they have the concrete arch up over the gorge and are working on the pillars that will actually support the road deck.  Amazing progress!  That really is an engineering accomplishment.  And it will be soooo nice when it is actually done.  I don’t know if they just want to make the tourist visits to the dam safer, or route traffic around the dam because of wear and tear or just provide a throughway so that you can bypass the dam for convenience, but it will certainly accomplish all three.  But if you haven’t had the chance to be a tourist there yet, I definitely recommend taking the time to see an incredible man-made wonder of the world.

So, we get to Phoenix Friday afternoon and check into the hotel (thanks, tons to the Grace Inn and Krysia’s friend for absolutely wonderful rooms!).  Next morning, we usually try to find a car wash before heading to the track, and we got directions from the front desk.  Easy to find.  As we start washing the rig, I can see people looking out the front of the bays so I step out and look……a HUGE plume of black smoke.  I went back and told Gregg to go look - Five alarm fire about a block away from the car wash!  I think we spent as much time watching the emergency vehicles arrive, douse the fire and clear the area as we did actually taking care of our vehicle.

We get to the track and find where we are to be displaying and parking for the day, which turns out to be in with Mike, from Aero Jet in an area with a group of a half-dozen or so cackle cars.  What happens to be included in the group?  Kenny Bernstein’s Budweiser King Funny Car.  95% original.  Just incredible.  Especially when they lit off all of them together!  Unfortunately, there was a fire on the funny car when a line let go, but it was quickly extinguished and, with the exception of some minor burns, all were okay. 

The last two runs of the year - and we did something we’ve never done before.  We were running against Ken Marley and the Rocky Mountain Thunder Jet Funny Car (again, we need to thank Ken for helping us out by charging the portable air tank….twice…).  Kinda cool…the ET’s on the runs were 6.149 and 6.192 but it was the MPH that got us - 260.61 and 260.61.  Right there, on both time slips!  We kept having to go back and re-read them just to see if our eyes were fooling us.  (no comments from the peanut gallery please as to the need for reading glasses lol)

There are so many people that make these races happen that no one ever sees.  Our thanks to all the Safety Teams at all the tracks for the work that no one ever sees.  Even on a perfect run, they are still there, still suited up on 100 degree heat and still ready to jump in if they are needed at a split second notice.  To the starters and staging lane directors that keep everything moving and try to keep everyone untangled.  To the announcers who keep us informed and entertained and do their level best when confronted with some rather interesting names.  Those in the concession stands who deal with customers all day long.  To all our fellow racers who slaved away in the pits when the asphalt registers 139 degrees and shade is just a sliver beside the rig to cool your toes off.  HOW many bags of ice did we go through??  Thanks for your help, and thanks for your friendship.  And most of all to the fans.  Without fans coming to the race track, there are no races.  Thanks for your financial support.  Thanks to each and every one of you for coming out and for keeping us going when times got rough.  Thanks for coming back into the pits and talking to us and thanks for your feedback.  If you liked the show, please let your track officials know so we can hopefully see y’all again - Next Year!

And we will be glued to the TV come this weekend for Vegas and waiting with bated breath for Pomona and the crowning of the years champions……only 5 months until next season!!!  Now, where is that schedule…..

The dog has been fed, completely ignoring me and snoring, the cats are asleep in their favorite spots, the dryer is finishing that last load of wash from this weekends race and the house is quiet, so it must be time to update the blog.

NEXT STOP - the last of the year - Phoenix Firebird Raceway on October 24th!!   See you there!!

We had another wonderful weekend!  I would love to say that we had a great weekend catching up with friends, since its been about a month since we have been out, but we made 3 runs Saturday night and it was busy, busy, busy without a lot of time for visiting.  And after everyone was back in the pits after the last run packing up, I think everyone was in the same condition - three run nights are fun but they do tend you leave ya with a little bit of butt drag.  First run had a flame holder issue.  Okay, fixed.  Second run was a bit more serious, as there was a hole in the bottom of the tailpipe.  Thanks to “Gary”  (Gary, I am sorry, I don’t know your last name!!) and his helicopter shop and welder (the person, not the machine…and that would be Chad!) and a welder (equipment) borrowed from Dick and Terry Rossburg (thanks, so much!) we made the third call.  I just hope at some point we are in a position to and get to return the favor because the support everyone showed us was incredible and incredibly appreciated.  To say “thank you” is inadequate.

But - you can always count on Warhawk….6.321 at 256.21, 6.356 at 254.23 and 6.300 at 255.92.   A little bit of overcast kept the day from getting out-of-hand hot and the race fans kept the stands packed for every run.  Thanks to every one of them who came out to watch the race and we sure enjoyed chatting with the ones who came back to the pit to check out the Warhawk.  Keep asking all your questions - we love talking about the car!

The gates didn’t actually open until 4pm on Saturday, so here we are with a little free time on our hands in the morning.  My husband and I love to play tourist and check out the local area…last time we were in Tucson it was the Air Museum with its HUGE area of static displays and nine buildings to visit.  We found a mission and a copper mine to the south of town so we also have some new sites to check out the next time we are in town.  We almost went back to the Pima Air Museum again but Gregg found a brochure about another place 20 minutes south of Tucson.  Since we are both interested in history and lived through this particular part of it growing up, we set out to see the Titan II Missile Museum.  Yep - the Cold War Nuclear ICBM type Titan II, the only facility left and only because it is a museum only.  The museum is FASCINATING and they have done a great job of presenting it just as it was.  You start outside looking at the support displays topside and work over to looking down into the half-open missile silo itself, with the de-commissioned missile in place.  It starts to sink in that we were close - very close.  Then the tour descends into the facility itself, into the hardened area around the silo, the control room and then into Level 2 of the silo itself.  You see the safe that held the launch codes, the boards where the launch codes would have been entered and the infamous “keys”.  It is sobering, it is scary and it gives you a whole new perspective on what the crews who served there faced.  Would your hands shake as you got that call?  Would you turn that key?

Thank you, though, to those who did serve and those who still do.  Our son is overseas right now with the Army and we pray for all the soldiers - Army, Navy, Air Force, Marines, Coast Guard, Reserves - and hope they all make it home.  Again, Thank You is not adequate but thank you anyway.  It is all we can say for your incredible sacrifice.