Ahh…time to sit back and relax a little bit

12/8/05

was going to do this long drawn out replay about how the season went and what I thought about the upcoming season. Then I decided everyone who writes a column does that so I threw out that idea. I think it is a great time of the year to look ahead and not back and realize there is a lot more to be thankful for and look forward to than most of us ever take time to think about.

Now that we are all spending the next month or so thinking about family, friends, Christmas and a lot of other non-racing things it is a good time to look ahead as well. On a personal note I would have to rate 2005 as the most “interesting” year I have ever had. A new grandson, a new job and becoming a cancer survivor will make 2005 a year I will never forget.

If you are blessed enough to have children and they are starting families then you know how great it is to be around them. I had forgotten how much work a soon to be six-month old boy is! Ryan, my son who is in the Coast Guard, will be going to Yorktown for some specialized training and his wife and my grandson will be with us for about three months. It is a unique opportunity to be able to spend so much time with a grandson, and Barb and I are really excited about it. If you are lucky enough to have family close by I hope you make the effort to spend some time with them over the holidays. It makes for a GREAT Christmas present.

Becoming a cancer survivor in August was a much different experience than I thought it would be. At first I thought it would change everything I did and nothing would be the same. It hasn’t turned out that way, as I got back into the dragster in late September, six weeks after my surgery. Being able to get back to racing has allowed me to still enjoy the sport I love and that in turn allows me to feel lucky to be here.

I know this month’s column doesn’t mention the sport of drag racing and I am not trying to create some controversy or asking why a sanctioning body is doing something stupid again. This month is about the things I see as being good for the sport, good for the racers and good for people in general.

I read in Drag Review the other day that the IHRA has decided to reactivate their Division 5 Mr. Gasket Pro-Am Series events. This year they are doing it in a unique way. They have three weekends scheduled and there will be two complete events each weekend. Now THAT is a good idea, I have to give kudos to IHRA for making a plan that could save Division 5. If there was one thing I disliked about divisional races it was that they were a three-day event and there was only one race to participate in. Now IHRA has cured that with their Two-in-One Weekend plan. I hope the NHRA racers who for some reason seem to avoid the IHRA events will try one of these Two-for-One events. The available prize money will be more than any NHRA Divisional event pays and there will be a whole lot of racing going on.

I want to take a minute to thank long-time friend Tommy Johnson, Sr. for his support in helping me sort out the alternatives in dealing with my cancer and the options I could choose from in supplements and natural treatments. So far I am cancer-free and I feel like I have been given a second chance to spend time with the people I love and the sport of drag racing that has been part of my existence for almost 35 years. Thanks Tommy, and I hope we get to sit down for dinner at Indy or the 2006 PRI Show. Tommy has been busy with a new grandson too, congratulations Grampa and Grandma Johnson.

Will IHRA and their new Fuel Coupes class get enough quality cars to draw the spectators to make it a viable addition to their National events? Time will tell, but if Evan Knoll gets behind it with Knoll Gas and TORCO I sure wouldn’t bet against it. It will be a huge improvement over the alcohol cars they have been trying to shove on the spectators as Funny cars. Throw in the TOP FUEL HARLEYS and I will definitely get to a couple of them just to see those crazy guys run.

I think you will see a lot more effort by JEG’S to focus on Sportsman racing in 2006. Jeggie will fill the trailer with cars and I would say he is an odds-on favorite to win a World Championship or two. If he keeps his focus on the titles he could run for, we all know he is well funded, the traveling “Sportsman-Pros” are about to have a new gunslinger to deal with.

I hope you are all able to get together with family for the holidays as well as your racing friends. I love this time of year especially for the kids and since all us racers are still kids I really like getting together over a couple cold adult beverages and B.S. about drag racing in general. Even though I think we all take this sport a little too seriously from time to time we all need to just sit back once in a while and ENJOY IT. I hope you all get a chance to do that this month.

Have you made your Christmas lists for Santa yet? If not just look at the right side of the first page of this month’s DRO magazine, click on one of our sponsor’s logos and get a big Christmas list ready. You never know, someone might ask you what you want for Christmas and you need to BE READY!!