Bride's Maid...Again

  Hayo....This is going to be a short one because I've been absolutely slammed at work and haven't kept up with the blog very well these past couple of weeks.  A quick recap of the wonderful March Meet weekend.  We qualified #1 with a scorching 5.66 @ 257 mph.  Without question, we had the baddest hot rod on the property and everyone knew it.  Here are our rounds and results:

Q1   5.72 @ 252
Q2   5.66 @ 257
Q3   5.73 @ 254
R1   5.68 @ 258
R2   5.70 @ 256
SF   5.73 @ 249
F     5.72 @ 255

Amazing runs, huh?  Except we lost in the final.  We win as a team and lose as a team....this time we just came up on the losing end.  This one stung a bit more than runner-up in CHRR last year, but it is what it is and we're already focused and preparing for our next meet in Boise at the end of April.  I'll post some photos from Bakersfield and other observations later.  Got to see some folks I hadn't seen all winter; met some new friends that I'm sure will be around for a long time and witnessed a few things that I'd care to burn out of my memory with sulfuric acid.  Other than losing - it was a wonderful, memorable weekend!

With Karen Miller of John Hale racing.  Photo credit:  Bad Brad's Speed Shots - Brad Klaassen

Testing Recap MM 2014

   Holla!  So open testing for the March Meet finally took place on Sunday.  In our pits, we were all running around and getting a feel for the routine once again. Having not hit my marks since last October; I made a couple of mistakes that were humorous - no threat to safety.  In packing the chutes for our second pass, I threaded the chute line beginning in the top right corner instead of the bottom right corner.  I didn't catch it, but rather Carl, who asked, "Hey, Toni; see anything unusual about these chutes?"  Took me a second, but I finally noticed.  Good heavens!

Like everyone else I imagine, we had some bugs to work out - primarily with the data recorder and a new oil loop that didn't seem to want to cooperate.  It felt good to be working on the car again, but I'm walking like Frankenstein today because of my legs.  It's hell getting old and there were a couple of us that were huffing and puffing the first day.  A handful of Advil seemed  to help; hopefully it'll get better quick.

Rain eliminated Friday and Saturday, leaving only Sunday for everyone there to run.  There were at least 6 nitro funny teams; including us and the pace was pretty frantic all day.

  We managed 2 laps and ran:

#1 - 5.86 ET @ 251 MPH
#2 - 5.80 ET @ 246 MPH

 

Two more full days of work (which is challenging this week) until it's back down to B'field on Wednesday night.  Right now, I've got to get to bed and get some rest or I'll be a wreck!  Non pun intended~