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April 8, 2011
Hey guys! We are back (well most of us)! Shawn and Nik are road-tripping it to Charlotte! What a trip! The divisional certainly had its ups and downs but the National made it all worth while! We qualified number one at the LODRS event but our excitement was short-lived when we burnt a pushrod first round. But that just goes to show you that ANYTHING can happen in this fabulous sport that we are all addicted to! We have learned time and time again NEVER to get ahead of ourselves! Wanting to move forward, we decided to put the weekend behind us and have a great week in town…usually Sunday night is always the rowdiest and we ALWAYS start the vacation off at P.F. Chang's for the most delicious Chinese food EVER! We purposely always ask for the private dining room because, well, we can be a bit loud. Of course, we proceeded to drink, dance, and have a good time the rest of the night! The remainder of the week wasn't as eventful but we managed to squeeze shopping in, riding the Harley's and I even got to meet up with an old friend of mine! Sometimes its nice not having to do anything! The boys went out to the track on Tuesday to service the car but my intuition tells me there was a whole lot more play than work! In-n-out burger was eaten about every other day…and yes that sounds gross but when you live in the Northwest, you have to get it all in while you can! I think we will be good until the fall! For the most part, we really couldn't have asked for better weather while we were down in Vegas. It started out cold and windy at the divisional and got gorgeous during the week and into the National event. To be honest, coming home was a little rough! Since I have been home in Vancouver, it has been sunny, rainy, snowy, and it even hailed! Mother Nature just can't seem to make up her mind…moving into the National last weekend, we really had the attitude of lets have fun and try to redeem ourselves from the race before! Things weren't looking too promising when our body panel ripped off of the car in qualifying. Ironically, our spare is for the other side! And seriously, who has a spare body panel? So funny! But nobody can keep us down! Thankfully, Brad Hadman was there and he managed to work some magic and we got her all fixed up! We qualified number one with a 5.371 and things really started going uphill from there! In first and second round of eliminations, luck was on our side when we had two bye runs. Third round we raced Mark Taliaferro and ran low E.T. of the event with a 5.367 to move onto the final. Then we had Joey again. Joey, Joey, Joey. We knew going into the final that it was going to be a good race. They had a consistent car all weekend AND last weekend and as every racer in this class knows, Joey is deadly on the tree. Everything seemed to fall in place for us, and we ran 5.365 in the final for the win!! The excitement was uncontainable for the team as you can imagine and we continued the celebration for the rest of the night! We really missed Harry this last weekend though! It just isn't the same without you! We just want to say great job to Joey, Joe and their team on two fantastic weekends in Vegas!! The team wants to thank our sponsors, Mundie's Towing, United Petroleum, and Lordco Auto Parts for your support! We couldn't do it without you! Well, while Shawn and Nik are driving cross-country, "Clark Griswold style", I will be watching over the home front until next week when we all fly to Charlotte. Must be nice to play tourist for the week! I won't lie…I am a little jealous! I am from the States and those boys have seen more than I have…that just ain't right :-) On a more serious note, our hearts go out to the family of Lou Gasperelli who passed away this week…Lou was a very well-respected man at the track and know he will be missed…well, until next time…hope y'all have a good week and don't forget to watch the Sportsman show on ESPN2 on Saturday the 9th at 12:00pm PST! Talk to you soon!!!
March 2, 2011 Hey all! It's Taylor doing a little blog action! Been kind of crazy since we got home from our awesome roadtrip… sorry I am a little late! Wow…where do I even begin? We started our 2011 season out in Phoenix and what a great start it was! We tested the car on Thursday to "work out the off-season bugs" and fought the weather all weekend! While I was fighting off that vicious stomach flu that everyone seems to be getting, the boys (and Shirleen :-D) did an awesome job! They had a qualifying run on Friday and ran a 5.314 which put us #2 qualifier. After sitting around the rest of the weekend in the rain, they finally got the race off on Monday and finished it! After winning first round, we had a bye in the second and ran a 5.284 for low pass of the weekend! Going into the final we knew we had a tough competitor. We never take Whiteley lightly. Thankfully, luck was on our side and we won the race with a 5.331! What an amazing way to start the year! Unfortunately, I was not there to celebrate with everyone because of school, but I know everyone was ecstatic! Onto Pomona we went! Believe it or not the weather was worse there! There was hail, wind, heavy rain, and it was freezing! It was bizarre! We all had to whip out our heavy coats and gloves! They managed to get the race off on Sunday and it even warmed up a little bit! We started the day with a 5.281 to finish #4 in qualifying. We had Johnny Ahten in round one and ran a 5.243 at 273MPH!! That is the new record for fastest ET for a blown alcohol dragster!!!! I think we jumped up and down after that one like we had just won the race! What an amazing feeling! In round two, we followed up with a 5.268 against Copeland and on we went to the semis! We had Duane third round which we knew was going to be a tough one. Dana had that thing hyped up all weekend! We did run a 5.256 but unfortunately, Shawn "jumped the gun" a little bit and went red. Funny thing is Shawn doesn't go red very often but one of the only other times he has gone red before was against Duane a couple years ago in Tucson! He must have our number :-) Shawn was pretty bummed but it just wasn't our day! After talking to him, he said the sun was in his eyes…he doesn't want to use that as an excuse by any means but it was just that time of the day in Pomona where the sun is about to go down and it is in the right spot…oh well though! It is what it is and he is just ready to get to Vegas! Congrats to Duane, Dana, and the gang for an awesome weekend! They deserve it! We decided to go to one of our favorite restaurants in Pomona that night and have a delicious meal and drinks! Whenever we go to Mora we always ask for Art…he does such a fabulous job of making the meals right in front of you! Even though we lost in the semifinals, we really can't say enough about the last two weeks. We won our first race, set a new record, learning a lot about the car, and most importantly, had a lot of fun! Hopefully this happy trend can continue the rest of the year! We have Vegas coming up which is one of our favorite races of the year! The boys are busy busy already in the shop since we have been home. Shawn was even up at 6:30am the other morning! Lots to do this month but we cannot wait to see everyone again at the end of March! Let's hope the weather turns out a little better this time! See you all in Vegas!!!
January
27, 2011 Hey
everyone! It's Taylor blogging for that busy driver who has too much to do :-)
Just giving you an update on what we have been up to in the off-season! There
are a ton of things to get finished in such a short period of time! Shawn has
been busy, busy, busy! Between re-certifying everything, making sure everything
is ready to go for 2011, and working on Friday nights, let's just say the shop
is a disaster zone and he has been M.I.A! And the true racers we are at heart,
we waited to start wedding planning until we knew what our schedule would be!
How crazy is that…but according to many others, they did the same thing!
So that has commenced too (which I am SURE is Shawn's favorite thing to do…NOT!)
The holiday season was so much fun! In the beginning of December, we celebrated
Ron's birthday in Disneyland which is always a blast…I don't think you ever
get too old for "the happiest place on Earth". But seriously, I don't
know about that…there were a lot of children there that would make me think
otherwise! Holidays are always a zoo for us with my parents in the states and
his family up in Canada so we end up being a couple of ping-pong balls going up
and down the Interstate-5! Shawn did give himself a little break from the car
for about 2 weeks then I think he starts to get in panic mode because he knows
he has so much to do! Bill comes to the shop a lot to help which makes it a little
bit easier and a lot more fun I'm sure! We have been keeping in touch with the
other members of our team and they have all enjoyed some quality time at home
too! Shirleen and I did a movie and coffee day not too long ago which was really
nice! And I know they are just LOVING all the time they are getting to spend with
their granddaughter! We miss everyone at the track though…it really is weird
when you see each other SO much during the year and then all of a sudden you don't!
I am sure a lot of people will agree with me when I say we are all one big family
at the track (some people might say a traveling circus, but same thing!) We are
all so excited to see what 2011 has in store for us! The car is slowly coming
together and should be ready to fire pretty soon! Sayonara rainy Vancouver! Hello
sunshine! See you all at the track!
November 23, 2010
October 3, 2010 Medford Blog Hey y'all! It's Taylor blogging for Shawn…he
is a busy boy as usual and somehow I got elected to do it but I really don't mind!
:-) You will probably find that I am much more of a rambler than he is so bear
with me! Medford was so much freaking fun! It just could not have gone any better!
Beside a little mishap with the nightly gate security guard, everything else was
smooth! We had a delicious dinner on Friday courtesy of Outback Steakhouse and
another great dinner on Saturday! Mindy and I BBQ'd steaks, made broccoli salad,
mashed potatoes, and rolls! Yum! During, qualifying we ran a 5.38 and then improved
with a 5.35 so we ended up being number one! We fell off the mark a little bit
and slowed down to 5.40s but no complaining here (well except for our perfectionist
crew chief, owner, and driver, Bill, Ron, and Shawn)! We want that divisional
championship so bad so winning Medford and Earlville sure helped us out! Depending
on what Mike Austin does in Atco, NJ this weekend will determine if we win or
not…two words…FINGERS CROSSED! I have already started doing my praying
and whatever other ritual I can do! Haha...just kidding (well, kind of). If anything,
we gained 21 points for the national standings so that will help us out alot!
What was so cool about Medford was that we won, our good friends the Hough's won,
and my dad runnered-up! The weather was gorgeous all weekend! And of course in
Vancouver it was raining when we got home. Go figure. I had school on Monday so
poor Shawn on Sunday night drove straight home and we didn't get back until 5am!
Holy moly we we're tired! What a way to celebrate a win! I have to mention this
because we always feel the void when we are missing crew members…Shirleen,
Harry, and Al…we missed you! Sorry you guys couldn't be there! Oh, and Happy
1st Birthday to Bill and Shirleen's granddaughter, Lena! So we finally get a little
break until Vegas at the end of the month…UNFORTUNATELY, summer is over and
the weather is getting crappy again so our free time will be spent working on
the house or racecar! I will say it is definitely a treat being home for longer
than a week because we get to…GROCERY SHOP! Oh the little things we take
for granted! I don't think my body can handle another Subway sandwich or burger
from a fast food joint…EWW. Speaking of free time…it is pretty late
and guess where Shawn is? The shop! Good thing our house is only 15 minutes away
or he would be putting some serious miles on that truck…he likes that split
shift thing where he goes in the morning, leaves, and then comes back. Whatever
floats his boat and keeps it from sinking right? Not sure how the boss feels about
that :-) We have a busy weekend ahead of us. We are working Friday and Shawn's
nephew is having a "tow truck" birthday party on Sunday! So cute! Welllll…I
am flipping exhausted and I have what seems like endless loads of laundry to do…our
dressers are running thin with clothes so I better get on the ball….fabulous
talking to you all and we will see you in VIVA LAS VEGAS (our favorite track!).
Night all!
Sept. 20, 2010 Earlville Iowa EAARRRLLLVILLLEE, Iowa was very good to us! We won!! It was definitely a much needed win and HOPEFULLY (keep your fingers crossed) we can keep the momentum going into Medford! I had never been there before so it was definitely a new experience. The town of Earlville is really small but they have a great little restaurant there called Boonies with ribs that are out of this world. Literally, I picked up the bone and the meat fell off. That is hard to find even at an Outback restaurant! It is total "small town America" with the one-street town. The team loved it…and Tay (being the American that she is) would tell you it was "freaking adorable". We learned a few things about the car in Indy that helped us last weekend. We were able to put down some solid runs but in the last qualifying session that darn Peen-Rite team took away our number one by a thousandth! That hurt a little bit. Our teams were running pretty even with each other this weekend so it was fun to kind of go back and forth! Maybe we won the race because my dad looked through Adam Rhodes magic kaleidoscope! It had to be good luck. After we won the race on Sunday, my team and the Peen-rite team went for dinner at the Country Junction and had a blast! They are awesome people and did a great job last weekend. Here is a brainteaser I have to add. I was told by a few people that Iowa is the "biggest hog-producing state around" but the funny thing is, all we saw were corn. Lots and lots of corn. Where the heck were all the hogs! I am finally home after being away for a couple weeks so I basically have to double the amount of things I have to do to get ready for Medford. It definitely DOES NOT help that I feel like crap. Adam got me sick! Poor Taylor is going to have her hands full with me for the next week! I will try not to be too miserable :-) Time to get to work. Got lots to do!
September 8, 2010 Indy Blog What to say about this weekend? Even though we lost in the final to Marty Thacker, I don't really have much to complain about except for the fact that a little luck would have been nice!
Unfortunately, we smoked the transmission in high gear at the last second but fun was had by all throughout the weekend. There were so many great cars to compete with and it just happened to not be our day on Sunday. We did manage to keep the car consistent running anything between 5.33 and 5.29. Excluding what happened in the final round, we were very happy with the cars performance. We have dubbed that round, "the one that got away". : Trying to keep it in good fun! There is a great write-up at www.dragracecanada.com about the weekend….go check it out under the Hotzone! I am so proud of my team for their performance and hard work this weekend. That was a lot of racing! Congratulations to Marty Thacker and his team on their 2nd Indy win! That's awesome! We are currently in Earlville, IA at the Division 5 race. We are #1 qualifier after the first pass with a 5.38! Wish us luck!
August 24, 2010 Hey guys! Lots to talk about in this blog…three races worth! We definitely had our ups and downs throughout the weekend but time to move on to the next swing and go forward. I will pretty much be living at the shop for the next week, then, I am off to Indy and Earlville! Brainerd was a little tough to handle but hole-shots happen…it's just part of racing. But I have to admit, I definitely put in a few hours on that practice tree on the way home! The zoo was fun and interesting as usual…lots of crazy people running around drinking their faces off! One of my crew guys had a little TOO much fun earlier in the week. He biffed it on a scooter and split his chin open! If anything, it made for a great story! Just want to say congratulations to Chris Demke on his win…that guy is on a roll! We left Brainerd a little on the gloomy side and boogied it back to the good ol' northwest. The first couple of days were a bit boring because we couldn't park until Wednesday but we made the best of it! Thursday and Friday made it all worth while when we ran a solid 5.30 in the second round and took home the Wally from the Mission race! Everything that followed the Mission race was a little off. I was really sad to see the low car count…the last couple years have been a full field! Things started a little rough for us on Friday. We were chasing ignition and motor problems for the rest of the weekend and just when we thought we had it fixed after running the 5.35, we blew it up BAD in the final round, causing us to lose. When it is one of those things that is out of your hands, sometimes you got to just let it go. It isn't the end of the world and we're moving on! Congrats to Brian and Mindy Hough on their win! Pretty impressive! You guys were a blast to pit next to! We were missing a couple people in action this weekend…Shirleen, Al, and Kyle (on Saturday) but they will be back for the next couple of races! I am going to head back to the shop because I have a ton to do before we leave on Monday for Indy and Earlville! Talk to you later….
July
27, 2010 Sunny Sonoma! What a weekend! The weather was perfect and the car just kept getting better and better. Now if only we could get a driver in there who can cut a light! (just kidding :). But all kidding aside, I got to have a little downtime earlier in the week and tour San Francisco which is something I have never done before. Maybe I will take a hint one of these days and bring a jacket when I am by water! I keep having to buy a sweatshirt everywhere I go. We actually took a really cool picture of the Harley's overlooking the Golden Gate Bridge. Maybe I can find a way to post it somehow… Our crew (well half of us anyway) got there on Thursday and we were ready to get the weekend started. Sonoma was kind of a last minute deal for us so I am surprised I had everything ready to go. I had a bad situation going on before we left. One of my engine blocks and two of my cylinder heads went missing after I tried sending them to BAE but thankfully, they showed up in Sonoma just in time to start racing. That was a relief to say the least. This new car is finally coming around! We are seeing some VERY encouraging numbers that we are liking a lot! Much to our surprise, we had two sixty foot times that were in the .8's which was a first for us! We couldn't believe it! On top of that, we ran 5.31, 5.29, and 5.27! The final was definitely a hard pill to swallow but hey, how could you be angry running a 5.27? Jim just nipped me on the tree by a hair. The Whiteley crew did an awesome job…they changed a motor right before the final and ran a 5.28… pretty darn good. All in all it was a really fun race. We had a huge pit spot parking next to Brian and Mindy Hough and we all had a great time. Part of our crew was missing but Kyle, Harry and Shirleen will be back! Until then, I have my sister's wedding on Sunday, a ton to do on the car, and lots of improving to do on those lights of mine! It is definitely getting late so I am going to get back at it. See you guys later!
Seattle
NW Nationals Blog Good
morning, everyone. I don't really know what to say in this blog to tell you the
truth. It is definitely a tough one to write. I would be lying if I said there
were not many ups and downs throughout the race. Unfortunately, our weekend ended
on an extremely sad note when we all lost a great racer, innovator, and friend.
Everything began really well. The weather was phenomenal so I did some much needed
Harley-riding in downtown Seattle and took a dip in one of the many lakes around
Kent, WA. When racing began on Friday, we were ready to rock and roll. Our car
consistently got better throughout the weekend running a 5.42, 5.33 and ended
up qualifying #2 with a 5.327. Things got even better during eliminations after
our first round 5.36 when we ran that 5.29 that we have been waiting for all year
long. We tried a few new things this weekend including a new injector hat and
it seems to be working out. In 3rd round, I had the pleasure of racing Mark Niver.
Everything kind of happened so fast during Mark's accident that I am almost at
a loss for words on what to say. We lost the round, but to be honest, I wouldn't
have wanted it any other way. I am so glad Mark got to see that win light in his
lane. He was without a doubt, one of the nicest people I have ever met and I am
honored that I got to know and race with such a great guy. Mark will always be
a winner to all of us and we will all miss him very much. Our thoughts and prayers
are with his family and friends while they deal with their loss. I am not quite
sure what my next race is on the schedule but I have almost all of my motors rebuilt
and I am spending long hours in shop as usual trying to get everything ready to
go. So for now, I am going to get back to work and I will see you all out at the
track.
April 2, 2010 To say that this last weekend was eventful, that would be a big understatement. This new car is certainly giving us a "run for our money"! But we still had a lot of fun! I have to say it was really nice to get away from this nasty, northwest weather and enjoy some blue skies for a change! It's always fun to see everyone again after that long break in between Pomona and now. Each run this weekend has given me a ton of stuff to get done before Las Vegas and its stressing me out but its all worth it, right? Well everything was just fine and dandy before the last qualifying pass. We were on an amazing run with a .906 60ft. time and just near the top end, we pushed a head gasket out. It caused quite the fireball! We ended up #3 which was alright but it still doesn't beat being #1. In round 1, we beat Mike Austin which put us up against Chris Demke. He beat us in Pomona, so I was a little nervous before this race, so we juiced her up a bit! I never took any of these guys I raced lightly. Little did I know that we would both have quite the ride. Now I had no idea what was going on in his lane so I didn't think I won at the end of the track. During the run, my clutch filter flew off and I got a little bit out of the groove and just started going all over the place. With the old car, I could really give her on the steering wheel and this car, yah, not so much. I had the baby on two wheels. According to the crew they could see daylight under the car. They all agreed that that was the most of the Mundie's Towing decal that they wanted to see on any run! I think it's safe to say that I needed to check my shorts after that one. Can you imagine if I had done something to the new car? I'd freak! Well I didn't know what was going on in the other lane because apparently Demke was having a wild ride too and he crossed the center line.
I
guess a wins a win but thankfully we both kept our cars straight. We had good
ol' Whiteley in the final and certainly went out with a bang even though we lost.
I'd say at about 1000 ft. two of the left body panels ripped off the car. We think
that one of the fasteners came loose in the round before and we didn't catch it.
I can bet that we will be checking them now! The irony of the last run was that
we JUST put the decals on right before the race and now we have to do it all over
it again. No biggie. Despite all of the crazy things that happened this weekend,
we still had a blast as usual. That's the funny thing about this sport…it
takes time, money and work but yet, we all still keep coming back! I love it!
As always, congratulations to Jim Whiteley and Sean O'Bannon. You guys did an
awesome job! The ride back to Canada made for an interesting trip. A couple of
us were pretty sick and one of our guys threw his back out so needless to say
we were ready to get home. I really have to thank my sponsors as always, Mundie's
Towing, United Petroleum, Lordco Auto Parts, NGK Spark Plugs, CC Racing, and ABC
Recycling. My great crew was working hard as always. We missed Harry this weekend
but Kyle did a great job of filling in for him. I cannot wait to go to Vegas…its
one of my favorite tracks! Hopefully we can do as well as we did there last year!
Well I have to get back to my second home (the shop) to get some of this stuff
done or I'm going to be a stress case! Hope you enjoy! Well off to work I go…see
you all in Vegas!
March 20, 2010 Well, one race down and 15 more to go! I have been keeping myself very busy at the shop and with the company in between Pomona and Tucson. We had lots of work to do when we got home! One of our motors was completely destroyed but that's the way it goes sometimes! This sport takes your time AND money! It happened to be a good thing I have been stuck in the shop because when we got back the Olympics were in full-force. And I must say the Canadians weren't too bad! We did pretty damn good! Anyways, Pomona was awesome! Even though we lost in the semis, we still had a great weekend and went rounds! Congrats to Chris Demke and his crew for their first national event win…you guys deserve it! The new car is definitely showing us some strong potential and we are excited to see what it has in store for us this year. Tucson is approaching fast and I still have quite a bit to do but I'm sure I'll have it all done in time. I absolutely love the new paint job…it really stands out in the sun! This whole car is really going to challenge us this year and be a new learning experience. We were so used to the other car that adapting to this one has been a bit different but I am certainly over my new car blues. We are all really excited for the year and just want to have fun as always. I really don't want to concern myself with points or what team is going where; I just want to enjoy myself. I have a great crew who I wouldn't trade for the world. And thanks Kyle for coming to Pomona…you were such a huge help. Hopefully we didn't scare you too bad! As always my sponsors are a major help in this operation, Mundie's Towing, United Petroleum, Kendall Motor Oil, Lordco Auto Parts, NGK Spark Plugs, and ABC Recycling. Hopefully we can do you proud in Arizona! Well, off to bed for me, work tomorrow! See you all at the end of the month! We have a bunch of photos to add to the blog in the next week or so.
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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Tucson 2010 Bob Snyder photos
Shawn working on the heads.
CC Bill Moore checking everything over.
Girl friend Taylor making everything shiny.
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