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February 10, 2010
Well it's a new year and we have a brand new car! Brad Hadman built us one over the off-season and we wanted to come test it out before Pomona so here we are in Las Vegas! We made two runs today and we have to do little adjustments here and there but its coming! It tends to be a little difficult when there isn't a full crew here. We had a really great couple of months off but they kept us busy with the new car. I want to thank Marion and Diane for getting my car painted so quickly and doing such a great job! We finally have a new clutch guy after going through 4 the last couple of seasons…welcome to the zoo Neill! Some good news for us is in the midst of this economy, we managed to grab a new sponsor, ABC Recycling. I really need to give my crew chief, Bill Moore, a big thank you for coming to the shop everyday that he had off to help me out. I really don't think the car would have been ready if it weren't for him so thanks Bill. We can't wait to see what 2010 brings…we just want to stay optimistic and have fun as always. The whole team is excited to see everyone in Pomona and hopefully everything will go smooth with the new car! See you all in a week!
The numbers from the two runs on Monday at Vegas. (courtesy DRC) Right Lane: Shawn Cowie Runs 5.705/183.89, Now #1 Shawn Cowie's incremental times: 60ft-0.948 sec., 330ft-2.400, 660ft-3.579/208.52 mph, 1,000ft-4.621. Right Lane: Shawn Cowie Runs 5.600/257.38, Now #1; Best prior run: 5.705/183.89, Was #1 Shawn Cowie's incremental times: 60ft-0.934 sec., 330ft-2.479, 660ft-3.694/204.54 mph, 1,000ft-4.726.
December 2009 Well guys, the end of the year is finally here! Sorry
again for taking so long…the end of the season becomes not only
busy in the shop but at work as well! I have to say it has been one
hell of a year and I feel truly lucky. Every goal that I set for myself,
I managed to accomplish. For starters, we finally won a national event!
It was a bonus that it happened to be the 500th for the class. Even
though we got a little lucky in round one with that enormous wheel stand,
we stayed consistent throughout the race which is what we were aiming
for. That wheel stand was something else! I probably would have gotten
out of it sooner if I had known Cody went red, but oh well, it makes
for a good picture on my wall. We have been waiting so long for that
win and all of our hard work finally paid off. I have the best crew
in the world and they deserved it just as much as I did. Pomona was
a little bit different. There is nothing like going from "hero
to zero" in one race! For some reason the car was not happy that
weekend. We did get in the field though which was a huge sigh of relief!
In order for us to be 3rd in national points, we needed to win the event.
We knew we shouldn't expect anything so we just tried to have fun and
enjoy our last race of the year! Even though we went out second round,
I have nothing to complain about. With everything that went right this
year, it definitely outweighs the wrong. My sponsors (Mundie's Towing,
United Petroleum, NGK Spark Plugs, Lordco Auto Parts and Kendall Motor
Oil) have been very supportive of me throughout the year. Dad, Bill,
Harry, Shirleen, and Taylor have been an amazing crew and have stuck
by me for the last three years (well Dad and Harry longer haha)…Al
who saved our butt in Vegas and Pomona and Ross at the divisional were
HUGE helps when we needed someone! Thanks guys! As for now, I am going
to enjoy the banquet this weekend and some much needed downtime in the
off-season. I am excited to see what 2010 brings. I hope everyone has
a great holiday and I will see you all next year!
Oct 18, 2009 Hey guys! This is Taylor blogging for Shawn. He is a
busy boy just like the rest of us so I apologize it's me and not him:.
Just wanted to let everyone know what we have been up to. Sorry it has
taken so long since Dallas. Between getting ready for Vegas and everyone
being sick, it kind of put a halt on that whole show. Clearly, we were
EXTREMELY happy with how we did down at the Fall Nationals. We finally
broke "the curse" of getting past second round! That was a
huge weight off of our shoulders let me tell you! We all went home pretty
happy! What a wild weekend though…Dallas welcomed Bill, our crew
chief, with a text message saying that his daughter was going into labor
with his first grandchild as he was coming off the plane! So we had
to fly him back that night (he did make it there in time if you are
wondering) and back to Dallas the next day! His daughter had a baby
girl! Needless to say, he was a little tired of airplanes by the end
of the trip but I am sure it was worth it! Congrats to Bill and Shirleen…You
will be amazing grandparents! I can see we are going to have a hard
time dragging Shirleen to the racetrack now!
Sept 2009 ... Sorry for the delay in posting this last blog, it is the webmaster's fault not Shawn's Shawn Blog 08/28/09 So I am finally back from Brainerd and Acton! What a road trip! Things
definitely could have gone better than I had hoped in Minnesota but
sometimes that is just the way the cards are played but I think we got
the problem solved. This was the first time we have been to Brainerd
and let me tell you…what a crazy place! The "zoo" was
interesting to say the least and they put on a really cool firework
show on Saturday. The track did an awesome job of getting the race finished
despite the rain that decided to drown us at different points throughout
the weekend! But let me tell you…we were ready for those mosquitoes!
Our pit was completely decked out in OFF spray and our trusty bug zapper!
Although we lost to Dan Kracht in 2nd round, we still had a good time
and learned a few things about the car so it wasn't a complete loss.
We will just keep marching forward with those national events until
it's our turn! I keep saying when it's not your day, it's not your day…just
have to keep that head up! We had decided early that even though we
had our 5 divisional events claimed with the full amount of points,
we thought it would be a good idea to go test in Acton. Man, we had
fun! We had tried a couple of different things like putting Goodyear's
on the car and playing with clutch. We ended up getting some great information
out of the weekend. Winning the event was the just the icing on the
cake! I have to commend Whiteley, Grimes and his crew for such an awesome
job last weekend and running in the 40s! This national championship
business is certainly stressful but so much fun at the same time! I
am trying not to pay too much attention to the point standings because
I know I will go crazy. I am so excited for the remainder of the year
and restless to see how the season will play out. For now, I am going
to get the car ready for our next race and try to relax. Again, I want
to thank my crew for being such troopers. You guys are great! And my
sponsors, Mundie's Towing, United Petroleum, Kendall Motor Oil, CC Racing,
Lordco Auto Parts, and NGK spark plugs, thank you for being so supportive!
Well, I am off to work! See you all soon!
July 27, 2009 Seattle National blog
Paul Grant photos I cannot believe it is already the middle of the year! The Seattle National definitely did not go as we had hoped but were still going to remain optimistic about the rest of the season. But I have to say these long stretches in between races are killing me! I'm so bored! We were all very fortunate this race in Seattle because the weather was awesome. You really never know with this track and everybody lucked out. However, our luck during the weekend was a little shabby. During qualifying, we had to give up our 2nd run because of transmission problems which was pretty disheartening. We did manage to put ourselves in the top half of the field and at a national event is always good for any team. Saturday night we had to race Gregg Lawrence first round and we were so happy when we saw that 5.37 on the board. We always love to see a run in the 30's! Second round we raced Brandon Johnson and unfortunately we just flat out got beat. We were really happy for their team when they posted that 5.32! Best run of the weekend for the class! Also, a good job to Jerry Darien, Courtney Force and their group for her first national event win. My team did an awesome job, like always, and my sponsors remain extremely helpful (Mundie's Towing, United Petroleum, CC Racing, Kendall Motor Oil, and Lordco Auto Parts). We are really excited for Brainerd coming up! I have never raced at that track before so it should be a lot of fun. For now, I am going to kick back and re-group on these next couple weekends I have off. I have the "Spirit of Edmonds" car show to do on Sunday so I need to get the tow truck and the racecar ready for that. Well I better get back to work…I have tons to do! See you all in Brainerd!
Shawn Blog #9: Spokane and Seattle Holy crap! Five divisional wins in a row! I am literally in shock and I don't think it has really sunk in yet! My luck has stuck with me so far! (knock on wood). I have been so busy these last few weeks I haven't even had a chance to sit down and do a blog for Spokane OR Seattle! So this is going to be a little two in one action. Spokane was awesome with the new track, AND it was local which is always nice!! Jay and JJ have done an amazing job with the facility. My hat really goes off to them for all of the hours that they have put in. Great job guys! Not only was the track good but there was a casino right down the road! Gotta love that! I must say I love two day races but they are a LOT of work! Saturday we qualified #1 which gave us a bye first round thank God! Second round was a tough one against Carlson who ran a 5.50 to our 5.48. We raced Joey Severence in the final which is always fun. They have such an awesome team! But we did it! It was a nice booster taking us into Seattle! During the week in between, there was a lot of work to be done but I also wanted to have a little downtime as well. It was nice on Monday night, we got to go to The Rock Pizza with Taylor's family and spend some time with them. Then on Tuesday night a group of us went to the waterfront in Tacoma to C.I. Shenanigan's. We were there for 3 hours waiting for the food! It was ridiculous. Anyways, the rest of the week was work, work, and more work. This weekend was a little different though. I was definitely feeling the pressure because I had everyone coming up to me saying, "You know Shawn if you win this race, you win the division championship." That was a little nerve-racking but it's all good. It was pretty funny, I had Federlin (who drove that weekend) ready to whoop on me! And man oh man was he on his game or what? The guy hasn't stepped in a car for two years and I think his worst light was a .033! All weekend as everyone knows, we fought Mother Nature! She was really trying to get under our skin I swear. But in the end all was good and it stopped enough to let us finish the race! On Friday and Saturday, we qualified #1 with a 5.32 which we were pretty happy with. We fell off our number a little bit during eliminations and got lucky with a bye second round into the final but as every racer knows, you will take it anyway you can get it! In the final, we had Joey again (who drilled the tree with a .019 light) and we ran a 5.37 to take the win and the relief set in! We had finished just in time for it to start raining! After a great weekend, it was nice to go home! I actually have a few weeks to get my stuff together and chill out! Our luck could change at any given time so we are just enjoying this as long as possible! Hopefully our year continues to run smooth and our national events start going a little better! Thanks again to my crew as always…and Harry, we sure missed ya in Seattle! Wish you were there! Thanks Mike for filling in! My sponsors are great as well, Mundie's Towing, United Petroleum, Kendall Motor Oil, C&C Racing, NGK and Lordco, thank you! Ok wow, this was a really long blog but I had a lot to talk about apparently! I am going to go work on the car at the shop (surprise surprise) and I will see you all at the Seattle National!
Update June 15, 2009 Man, I finally have time to do a blog! I have been so busy! So, Topeka did NOT go the way that I had hoped but what can you do right? The field was awesome and definitely hard to beat but we did our best and the weather held up which is always good! Oh well, we are going to test our luck and try to get a win in Spokane this weekend and see how we do! It is hard doing this back to back business with races because I am in the corner of the country so I have to get ready for multiple races so I don't have to go home in between! So a little Topeka recap…we qualified #10 and beat Malcolm Wahle first round. Second round was pretty tough and we ended up losing to Conway, a 5.33 to a 5.39. That was a bummer! We had a pretty fun time on Sunday night at Texas Roadhouse Grill and got to celebrate my girlfriend's birthday a little bit. By the end of the weekend, I was ready to put the loss behind me and get ready for the next race. I'm just keeping the mentality of a "race by race" basis. I am really excited for Spokane and Seattle. Some home-division races are always nice! I wish everyone a safe race this weekend and I will see you all there! On a side note: Congrats to Jim Whiteley and his crew for their THIRD
national event win this year! You guys are on fire! Awesome job!
Update May 27, 2009
Well…WE DID IT! We finally managed to get the monkey off of our back at Mission last weekend. You know what they say…3rd times a charm! This weekend really couldn't have gone any better than it did. I think I am still in complete shock. We actually decided to do a little bit of testing again on Thursday and all went as planned. During qualifying for the race itself on Friday AND Saturday, 5.37 was our repeating number! That's all the car wanted to run! I just have to note really quickly, I am so happy for Brandon Johnson and his team for their awesome 5.36 run in the third qualifying session that topped off the field. That was freaking great! It definitely made going into eliminations a little nerve-racking! First round, I had Ashley Bart and ran a 5.316@270MPH for the win. Second round I was NOT looking forward to being that Joey had beaten me last year in the final. I knew it was going to be a good race! Joey treed me, as expected with him, and we ran our best pass ever with a 5.290@271MPH!! When my team saw that twenty on the board, I think that was as good as winning a race! We have been waiting for that a long time. Having two Canadian teams in the final was so much fun. We both were on our game last weekend so I had to keep stepping it up. We closed out the day with a 5.330@270MPH against Carlson and FINALLY got a win at our home track. I absolutely cannot believe that this is our 3rd win this year and at last, made a run in the .20s! I think I need to keep crossing my fingers or knock on wood or something. I just keep looking ahead because the year is not over yet and we still have to keep our head in the game because ANYTHING can happen.
I have to give special props to my crew chief, Bill Moore, who got BOTH of his cars in the final round. That takes some serious skill! Mission and the NHRA D6 crew did an incredible job on prepping the track and keeping the ball rolling. I love racing in Mission especially for the fact that it's close to home but also, my friends and family get come and watch me, which is always nice with me being on the road so much. Thank you to everyone who lent me their extra hands for the weekend, it obviously was a big help! I really couldn't be more proud of my team. They all work so hard in between rounds and get right down to business. It sure makes my life a heck of a lot easier! So thank you to Dad, Bill, Harry, Mike, Dan, Shirleen, and Tay…you guys are amazing. Lastly, I won't forget to mention my great sponsors…Mundie's Towing, United Petroleum, Kendall Motor Oil, and Lordco Auto Parts. Keep up the good work! Right now I am currently en route to Topeka, Kansas for the national event over there and let me tell you, it is one long freaking road trip but I am so pumped for it! Hopefully, we can try and get our first national event win! Well, I have to get back behind the wheel so I can keep up to Federlin and Clint Thompson…we have been the traveling circus for the last two days! See you all in Topeka!
Update May 20, 2009
Wow! What a long and painful wait in between Vegas and Mission. But we finally get to go racing! I shouldn't say that it was all boring the last month. We did get to test a little bit last weekend in Mission. Our first run was a little unexpected. We ended up doing a pretty big wheel stand! That was pretty fun! Our main goal was to just get our feet wet and try a few things, and it definitely helps being that our shop is only an hour away! Another cool opportunity that was presented to me was to do the "On the Run" article for National Dragster which I believe is running in the May 22 issue. This is the time of year when racing season really kicks into high gear for me and in all honesty, I just want to have fun and go rounds. Isn't that what anyone wants? We decided to go to Topeka, KS again this year because not only is it an awesome facility, but we always have a blast there. And as most of you know, Spokane and Seattle will follow for many of you as well, so I definitely have my next month cut out for me! Lots of work! You know whenever I do these blogs, I always feel like I am forgetting to say something and I finally figured it out. It is my Dad, Bill, Harry, Shirleen, Taylor, Mike and the sponsors. I really don't thank them enough. My Dad does so much for me and I feel like I have one of the most loyal and awesome crews out there. My sponsors, Mundie's Towing, United Petroleum, Kendall Motor Oil, and Lordco Auto Parts, have continually supported me since I started in TAD and I just wanted to give a big thanks to all of you. I am a very lucky guy. Well, got to run. It is getting late. See you all in Mission!\
It was exciting!
job guys!
Bob Johnson photos
Update April 7, 2009 Las Vegas Update.............What can I say about the national in Vegas? Our team just could not cut a break this weekend! I was really surprised by the wind on Friday but I don't think I would have wanted to drive down that track with the way it was! We were so excited on Saturday but it just didn't seem to go our way. First qualifying pass we ran a 5.40 which put us at #3. Unfortunately, we blistered ANOTHER set of tires this run but we are not the only ones! We figure it is a new way they are prepping the track or something because we haven't changed anything. Our second pass was definitely interesting. Immediately on the burnout, we sheered the bolts on the pulley and couldn't make the run…but we still got in the show! First round we had Larry Miersch and we got the job done with a 5.42 while shaking the tires pretty hard. On Sunday, we were paired up with Jeff Isbell, and just our luck, about half track we shook hard again and kicked the belt. Even though last weekend did not go exactly as we would have liked, we are looking forward to having fun at the division 7 race. For now, I am enjoying some much needed R&R on the strip. On a side note, we want to congratulate Steve and Patty, Justin, and the crew on his first national win. Good
update March 21, 2009....Well the countdown is on…6 days until I leave for Vegas! I have been so bored the last few weeks I have nothing to do! Not only do I have cabin fever trying to fight the flu that everyone is getting, but I have no car to work on either! We are planning on doing both the national, and the divisional events coming up. Vegas should be pretty fun but I still have a lot of work to do, once we get there! I will update after the National!!
March 4, 2009...........update after a great weekend at Phoenix.... Although the weather was gorgeous down in Phoenix, it sure feels great to be back home in the Northwest. I can't say enough about my crew this past weekend. We all did an amazing job. My hats go off to my dad, Bill, Harry, Mike, Shirleen, and Taylor. The car was so consistent this weekend, I would have thought that we were trying to bracket race! It was sure a relief to be in the top half of a tough qualifying field. Those a/fuelers sure figured that percentage change out quickly! I was blown away when Niver ran a 5.35 out of the gates and Cox ran a 5.31 @ 280mph! I knew when qualifying was all said and done that I had my work cut out for me. I was paired with the best blown alcohol team in the nation first round. We came across a few setbacks while getting ready to race. Our tires that had only five runs on them were blistered and had to be replaced. Not only that, the rear main was not looking happy and we decided to change the motor just to be on the safe side. Much to our surprise, we beat Whiteley on a holeshot. That was just as great as winning the event itself, because it gave me the confidence I needed to go into second round against Cox, whose had just ran a 5.31. Luckily, we ran a 5.38 to his 5.48. Our consistency finally paid off in the end, when we were matched with Chris Demke who has been nothing but great lately. Our final pass of the long day was another 5.38. Most of my crew almost missed pictures because they all had to catch a flight that night. And to top off my amazing weekend, the one time I decide to check my bag, it doesn't make it home. Wally has decided to go on one more adventure before he goes home to my mantle…
February 24, 2009 .................Just arrived in Phoenix to do post Pomona maintenance! Hey everyone! I am down here in Phoenix, Arizona where it is 77 degrees outside! We all hope it stays this way! We DO NOT want another rainy weekend like Pomona! Word has it that it is raining back home. Well, I went through the motor and transmission and everything while I have been down here, and it looks like at Pomona in round two of eliminations, we smoked the high gear clutch packs which caused us to hurt the rear main. Looks like we will have our work cut out for us doing all the repairs while we are waiting for the weekend, but don't count us out! I am really looking forward to the race this coming weekend. I just really hope we can go out there and start the divisional season out right! On a side note, why is it that there are no restaurants open later than 10:00 pm in Phoenix? Doesn't anyone eat late around here?
February 15, 2009 Pomona was quite interesting dodging raindrops! What a weekend! We only had one chance to qualify because of the rain and we ended up #1 with a 5.35! We were so relieved because we have not run the car at all this year! No seat time for this guy! First round we had Larry Miersch and won with a 5.33. We were so pumped for second round but unfortunately our car did not shift into high gear for some reason, and we lost to Ed Schmeekle's career best 5.28 to our 5.50, even though we had him off the line. I am very proud of my team's effort this past weekend. We want to congratulate Jim Whiteley, Norm Grimes, and their crew for an awesome job! Thanks to Dad (Ron), Bill, Harry, Mike, Shirleen and my girlfriend Taylor. I am definitely looking forward to the Phoenix divisional in a few weeks. I would like to note that we hope to see the Edgecombe Racing Team and Randy Eakins back in action as soon as possible after the unfortunate incident in Pomona...we wish their car a speedy recovery!!! The plan is to run a full pull of necessary events
to challenge for both the national and divisional titles. Shawn Bio: Born: Richmond BC 1981 Age: 27 Racing history....Started racing in Jrs. in the late 1990's. In 2001 drove in Top Comp for six years and raced National Open series and Divisional series. Won Divisional at Mission. Consistently #1 qualifier in Top Comp running 6.30's and 6.40's Got licenced in TAD in 2007 and Finished #2 that year in Div 6. In 2008, ran a full pull and finished # 8 nationally and #2 in Division 6.
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Shawn working on the heads.
CC Bill Moore checking everything over.
Girl friend Taylor making everything shiny.
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