After a round one loss today at the Northwest Nationals, I was feeling particularly down. I happened to stumble upon a quote that couldn’t be more fitting: “A champion needs a motivation above and beyond winning”  By Pat Riley (the basketball coach). This quote really got me thinking about my motivation for drag racing, specifically what my motivation consists of.

Deep in thought

In this thought process, I realized that drag racing is not about winning. To many of you, this may seem like a cop-out statement. But I truly believe that you can learn the most from the moments in which you lose. Drag racing is a particularly interesting sport in that most participants lose a majority of the time. How does one keep up motivation with the odds so highly stacked against them? In my short three years in drag racing, I have seen racers lose passion, desire and motivation for the sport. It always saddens me when I see this, as I have yet to feel that way.

Our win the other weekend really opened the doors to so many things for us. We both felt as though we no longer had any barriers holding us back. Coming into the race this weekend, we both had endless confidence. However, our first round loss left us more frustrated than we had been in a long time. As I read the quote about motivation on our way home today, I suddenly realized why I love drag racing. I love drag racing because it forces me to know myself and what I’m capable of, and always leaves me craving more. At the end of a race I desire to know the car better, the track better, and myself better.

It is important to note that winning plays a very small role in my motivation. Winning is the result of all this hard work. But if you strive for the result, you miss all of the important steps along the way. For instance, you cannot win the race in round one. You win a race by consistently repeating those important steps time and time again. And without the motivation to continue, quite often without the reward of winning, drag racing can be quite painful.

I’ve finally realized that the passion for drag racing comes from within. I love this sport for what it brings out in me. I am constantly striving to improve and that is enough motivation for me. I only hope I can continue to remember this important lesson.

EMDUB

We’ve made quite a splash in the world of racing since our last blog! We’re deep in a long stretch of back-to-back weekends and we’ve come out ahead in round wins. Just when I think I’m losing patience for the long weekends, a streak like this comes along and proves me oh-so wrong. Don’t worry, fans. I have a new found passion for this ‘ole sport!

All smiles in the staging lanes at Mission

We were at Woodburn Dragstrip last weekend for the divisional event. It was wonderful to see some old friends (and meet a few new ones!). We, also have always loved that track and now that Jay Livingston is in charge, the track is an all-time favorite. Jay did a great job prepping the track and organizing the event this year. It was truly an enjoyable experience. And as many of you know, not all races are enjoyable.

The weekend started off with a test and tune on Thursday. Chris and I managed to get back from our stellar vacation at midnight the night before and headed to the track on a few hours later. We met up with Paul Nero for a new set of Hoosier slicks. He had them mounted in no time flat and we were off running. When we returned from the first test pass we noticed a huge blister on the front left tire. It’s not recommend to run with a blistered tire (at 173 mph), not to mention it can severely impact performance on the track. After a chat with Paul, we decided it was best to swap those out for a new pair as well. With all new tires (and empty pockets) we finished up the test session with another solid run.

Qualifying on Friday and Saturday was long and quite uneventful. We did, however, qualify for the Shootout race on Saturday. Qualifying for this based on the first 8 qualifiers for the divisional event who have chosen to enter the Shootout. Those 8 racers then forfeit their Saturday qualifying runs for Shootout eliminations. Unfortunately we lost in round one the Shootout to a very good racer, Andy Morris. Although disappointing, we simply rejoined the event qualifying field. And we even made back the money for the entry fee.

When Sunday finally rolled around we were more than ready for eliminations. We managed to go round after round, finally ending our streak in the fourth round to Super Comp rookie, Don Knoblauch. Don went on to runner-up in the event. We were so thrilled to have made it to fourth round (the quarter-finals) at a divisional event. We had huge smiles painted on for days to come.

This brings me to the current weekend. After a couple days off, we packed up again and headed across the board to Mission Raceways for a PNSCA double-header. As you’ve seen in previous blogs, we have a huge issue with the front end of our dragster jumping out of the beams on the starting line at this track. This is the only track where this is an issue and we’ve changed a number of different variables to try accommodate for this issue. Because the divisional event at Mission was so touch-and-go with the rain, we did experience it too much at that event earlier this year. But it was glaringly obvious this past weekend.

Seconds from a dreaded Red Light

Saturday consisted of some confusing and frustrating red-lights and gorgeous passes. But a gorgeous pass means absolutely nothing if that red light comes on. Unfortunately, round one was no different. The car jumped the beams and left me a loser on the line. We decided to inflate the tires quite a bit, creating more spin off the line and preventing the car from jumping as high on the leave. We were able to make a test pass and our solution proved to work just fine!

I forgot to mention that because this race was sandwiched between a big divisional event and the national event in Seattle, the car count was very low on Saturday: 7 cars. On Sunday, which happened to be the Fourth of July, we only had 5 cars! Chris and I were not about to let this opportunity to make up some ground in the points go to waste. After a long morning (and afternoon) of broken cars at the line, oil downs on the track and rain delays, we finally made it to round one. We qualified number one, giving us the bye in round one.

After a couple of good passes (and a little luck) we found ourselves in our first final ever! Our last opponent was Mike Popal, a Canadian racer who runnered-up in our PNSCA race on Saturday. He had me on the line, but I caught him fast and took the stripe with a double-breakout. Luckily, we ran closer to the 8.90 dial in than Mike and took our very first race win! I was so stunned when that final win light came on I wasn’t sure if I’d really just seen it. After a few screams into the radio and a good number of fist pumps it finally sank in that I had just won a race. Now all I need is that trophy I earned!

On our way home from Mission we dropped our trailer off in line at the Seattle National Event. This is our biggest race of the year and it’s awesome to head into this race on the heels of our first win. Stay tuned for more updates soon!

EMDUB

No other saying could be more true for drag racing. My dad and I have always struggled with the fact that no matter how many rounds you win, the last thing you do is lose (unless of course, you win the whole thing!). Since we have yet to win a race, we are always faced with a loss at the end of a long weekend. Sometimes it’s really difficult to see the good through all the self pity. And it’s even harder when you know what that win light would have felt like. On the other hand, our round wins have slowly but steadily increased. Chris and I will both tell you that it only takes one of those to make this whole thing worth it!

We’ve had a fairly calm beginning to our season this year. We haven’t had any huge mechanical failures or disasters (except for setting the car on fire…) and weekends have all been predictable and consistent. It’s been comforting to head to the track and just have everything work. There have been the few hiccups in our plans, but for the most part we’ve been able to handle them with ease. I must admit, it’s really been a nice break from “racer’s panic.”

We’ve had been to three races so far this season: the Boise Divisional, a Woodburn PNSCA doubleheader race, and the Mission Divisional. The two divisionals have left us sore losers after round one. At Boise we lost by .004 at the finish line and Mission sent us home with a .003 holeshot loss (he beat me off the line). Although we hate losing first round, those were both amazing races. It just goes to show how close the Super Comp field can be! We were not sore losers by any means at Woodburn though. We made it to third round both days and even took home some money on Sunday. I had some of my best driving that weekend and Chris was really hot on the number. We most definitely drove away from Woodburn with huge smiles on our faces!

In terms of our personal lives, we have had some wonderful news in the past couple of weeks. Deb has been given the all-clear by her doctor and is officially in remission from her cancer. She was able to stop chemo and resume her normal lifestyle. We are all so thrilled at the news and equally as amazed at her strength throughout this process. She really is a warrior! In addition, Emily graduated from WSU with her Masters in Human Development. These two wonderful events happened within a week of each other. Needless to say, May was a very good month!

We will be taking some time off from drag racing for about a month. We don’t have any important races on our schedule and the Williams family will be taking some much needed time to celebrate all of our wonderful recent achievements. Our next race will be the Woodburn Divisional in June. We hope to see all of our fans out there. Also, stay tuned for some new EMDUB Racing apparel!

Bremerton Raceway is always a favorite track of ours and that’s where we were this weekend. Since we don’t spend much time at Pacific Raceways, we consider Bremerton Raceway our home track. The people are friendly, the atmosphere is laid back, and most of all it’s familiar. The only thing better is a Pacific Northwest Super Comp Association race there. The two combined makes for a wonderful weekend everytime.

Mike and Mom Come to Cheer

We are nearing the end of our racing season and this weekend was the PNSCA races #8 and #9. Going into the weekend, we were 7th in points and had a 7 race streak of first round wins. Not a bad place to be! Friday night was spent testing our new launch RPM. We lowered it about 1000 RPM to compensate for the excessive hiking of the front end at the line. With the help of a digital camcorder and some extra eyes, we determined it was lifting the front end just enough. Confident we had fixed the problem, we packed up for a good night’s sleep.

Em and Mike Clean Up

Saturday morning my mom and brother came out to watch us race. It’s always a treat when we get fans and Chris and I couldn’t have been more thrilled. Our time trials were wonderful and we felt ready for the race. I had a preference for the left lane this weekend due to the large bumps in the shut down area of the right lane. With a hardtail car it makes it quite difficult to stop the car without bottoming out or flooding the engine. So, for safety (and sanity) reasons, I opted for the left lane whenever possible. In first round I beat Tom Gresham with a .022 light and a perfect 8.900. Couldn’t ask for anything better! And we extended our first round win streak to eight consecutive races.

Second round I beat Rod Lee with a .013 light and a 8.899. Even though we broke out, he broke out worse… leaving me the win! Now, this is the first time we have made it to third round without a bye or no-show, so Chris and I were thrilled! Coincidentally, this happened to be the semi-final round! I paired up with Bob Woodruff, the points leader, and unfortunately broke out with an 8.888 and a nasty .043 light. I have to admit, I was nervous! Even though we didn’t make it to the finals, we moved up to fifth in the points and we even got our first ever payout!

Getting Ready to Beat Rod Lee

Sunday wasn’t quite as exciting as Saturday. We really had trouble running the number on Sunday and couldn’t quite seem to get a hold of it. Our time trials were all off and my lights were horrible. I think Chris and I both had things on our mind that day and I knew I was dreading the drive back to school that evening. It just goes to show you how important the psychological aspect of drag racing is. If you aren’t there 100% it is nearly impossible to win. We lost in first round with a really slow 8.92. I wasn’t anywhere near where I needed to be on the light either.

We may have ended our streak, but we definitely had a wonderful weekend nonetheless. That first win keeps getting closer and closer!  And we are solidly in the top 10, back in seventh place, only a few points out of fifth.

We have two more races left: a PNSCA Race in Woodburn, Oregon – September 12/13 and a Divisional in Medford, Oregon – September 25/16. Hope to see some of you out there!

EMDUB

The past couple of weekends have been great experiences for me and Chris. We have had 9 races so far this season and have won a round in 7 of those races. Also, we haven’t lost in first round in 7 races in a row! Not only have we had luck on the line, but we have gone to our first National event and even raced out of the country! No wonder drag racing season in my favorite time of the year!

Chris and I were determined to make it to a National event this year. Seattle is only a little more than an hour drive from our home, so it seemed like the perfect event. Parking was quite the run-around. Chris parked the trailer in line on Sunday and went back to the track on Wednesday to move it into a pit. Although it took a lot of energy on Chris’s part, it seemed to work well for the crowd of people looking for a pit. We pitted with Chuck Linne and Rick and Gladys Dearinger, some of our friends from the Pacific Northwest Super Comp Association. Thursday was tech and racing started on Friday!

Our first test pass was plagued by that horrible stumble that we’ve had for months now. Chris spent time on the phone with the carb guy in Michigan trying to figure it out. I was convinced there had to be something else wrong, but had no idea where to start. Rick came over to see what was going on and imparted some wisdom on our poor souls. He found small piece of rubber stuck in the needle valve. This rubber prevented the valve from closing and consequently flooded the engine on the line. However, since it was rubber, sometimes the debris itself closed off the valve. This is why our problem was so inconsistent and extraordinarily hard to track down. Rick fixed our horrible problem and we haven’t had a single stumble since!

Staging Against Ty in Round Two

Our other time run was smooth and provided some great data. Chris and I were quite nervous for our first round at such a big event. We got up at the crack of dawn and headed to the track to get ready on Saturday. When we arrived we found out that Super Comp wouldn’t be racing until 5pm. We arrived at the track at 7:30am and had friends coming to watch around 10, as we assumed that’s when we would be racing. We told everyone to stay home for a couple of hours and Chris and I sat back for a long day. When first round FINALLY came around, we accidentally paired up with our good friend Rick. I tried really hard to avoid lining up next to him, but unfortunately it didn’t play out like I had hoped.

But, the cards were in my favor that round and I beat Rick on a wonderful pass, with a .003 reaction time. Our second pass obviously did not have the same luck. We were paired up against Ty Anderson and I had another great reaction time off the line(.010). However, it could tell immediately off the launch that something was wrong. About a two seconds into the run I reached down to see if it had shifted or not and as I thought, it had not. I shifted the car into second gear, but unfortunately I heard the rev limiter hit and knew I had to get out of the run. Chris and I got back to the pits to find out that we had a pretty serious CO2 leak. Without CO2 the car won’t go on the stop and won’t shift. Although we only made it to second round, we couldn’t have been more pleased with our progress.  We won a round at our first national event!

Another Red Light in Mission

This past weekend we headed up to Mission, BC for an Association race and the Canadian National Open. Chris and I have never been to Mission, so we were excited for the chance to get up there. We did some testing on Friday evening and had an Association race on Saturday morning. We had a bunch of problems with red lights but were confident we could tackle the problem.  We made it through first round on a lucky double red light — we were the least red. In second round we lost on another red light to Ed Hauter. On Sunday we made it through round one by with a perfect 8.900 and a 0.005 reaction time, and qualified number 1!  But because we were being so cautious about red lights, we lost in second round on a holeshot. We finally determined that the red light problem was caused by the car hopping out of the staging beams on the line. But you’ll have to wait for Chris’s blog to hear about that one!

We have three more races left this season: Association races in Bremerton and Woodburn, as well as the Medford Divisional. Hope to see some of you out there!