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!

This summer has been by far the busiest summer the Williams family has had in a long time. It’s been quite an adventure keeping up with everything. We go from one trip to another with barely a chance to sleep. I, personally, have been living out a suitcase since May. I have makeshift homes all across the Northwest and have quickly learned that I am the self-proclaimed worst packer in the world. It’s been tough at times, but honestly, I wouldn’t have it any other way!

I realize I left you all hanging on the Spokane Divisional in June. After a great weekend right before, we went into the divisional with confidence. After a Boise Divisional fiasco, we were really hoping to have a good weekend. Our time trials landed us with more than enough runs for data and a good handle on the track. After my time spent focusing on mental preparation, I was ready to put it to the test.

Are You Lookin At Me?

I found that most of my issues seem to be calming myself down right after I’m strapped in and keeping my focus on the lights at the starting line. I am beginning to understand and predict my nerves, which has helped me control them. But honestly, focusing on the lights has been a struggle for me. I’ve never thought of myself as someone that had trouble focusing, but it’s really an issue at the line for me. I have so many things running through my mind that I actually forget to focus on the light. I can regularly have stunning lights, but my consistency is solely based on how focused I am at the light.

It has taken me a long to figure this out and I’m currently in the process of figuring out how to harness my attention at the line. For instance, at the divisional I was having great lights until second round when we had a problem at the line with the carburetor. I heard the problem and lost all focus, resulting in a terrible light. This is one of the reasons this sport is so appealing. It is so complicated and keeps you on your toes constantly. Even the best racer needs to constantly be checking himself to make sure he’s staying focused. This is definitely not a simple sport.

Back to the divisional – We were paired up with Chuck Linne in the first round. I had a great light and a fantastic number in the box.  We won fair and square even after he red lit. Chris and I couldn’t believe that we had won a round at a divisional. This was icing on the cake for the wonderful time we had spent in Spokane. We were not quite so lucky second round. We had Emmitt McKillop for this round and all was looking good until I went to step on the pedal. We have had stumbling problems with our carburetor for most of the year, but were sure we had figured it out. However, on this particular run the carb stumbled for over a second before it got up on the chip. I was so freaked out by the stumble I pretty much missed the light. Since we didn’t leave at the right RPM there was no way we were going to catch Emmitt, nevermind how late I was on the tree. We ended the divisional frustrated with the carb but overwhelmingly pleased with our performance.

His name was NOT flipper.

Right after the divisional Chris and I headed home to Woodinville to pack up for our family vacation. The Williams family headed off to spend 10 relaxing days in the French Polynesia. It was a once in a lifetime vacation and was time with my family I will treasure forever. Needless to say though, it took plenty of time away from drag racing! Now we are back on track – at the track. This weekend we are doing our first national event! The Seattle Nationals run Friday through Sunday in Kent, WA. This is a wonderful experience for us to dip our toes into the National racing pool. As well as the fact that it is close enough for us to sleep in our own beds at night. I’ll be sure to keep you all updated with our progress at the race!

EMDUB

That’s right, you heard me – We got number one qualifier this past weekend! This past weekend was by far the best weekend we have had racing our Super Comp dragster and Chris and I are sitting on cloud nine.

The weekend started off great with afternoon racing call. Spokane County Raceways decided to start the Saturday session at 3pm to allow racers travel time that morning. It offered a great chance to rest up a little that morning and more than enough time to get our act together at the track. We said hello to old friends and met a few new ones. This group of racers are the sweetest, most generous people I’ve ever met. They make this such a wonderful experience.

Number One Qualifier Grins

We were able to have three qualifying passes before round one on Saturday. Our first pass, right off the trailer, landed us with a 9.053 (adjusted from 8.90 to an 9.05 because of altitude) in our pocket. Chris and I were stunned and even speechless when we realized this might give us the #1 position in qualifying. Our other two passes were close, but nothing could beat our fantastic run. After we finished the passes, I ran to the Woodruff’s trailer to check out the ladder and low and behold, I clinched that #1 position! Not only was I #1, but this position offered me a bye for first round. I couldn’t have asked for a better start to this weekend.

Try to Get the Friggin 4-Wheeler Started

My second round match-up was Chuck Lynne. Chuck has been racing for a number of years and as much as I tried not to be nervous, I was. I have a tendency to be so focused on the finished line that I always miss the win light at the end of the track. I rely on Chris to tell me over the radio how the race went. The only thing I heard after round two was screaming into the headset. We had beat Chuck with an .018 package! Now honestly, I could gone home right there and I would have been content. This day was the best day of drag racing that I had ever experienced. I’ve never been that high qualifying and I definitely had never seen third round! Unfortunately I was paired up against Bob Woodruff for third round. He won on a holeshot (beat me on the starting line), which made me realize I need to do some work on my lights. But honestly, nothing could ruin this day – It was perfect.

Sunday was a great day as well. We spent a little more time chasing our number and I spent the whole day chasing those lights. I got another bye first round when Tom Gresham had some engine problems and couldn’t make the call. My second round opponent was Mike Seekins (#1 qualifier this race with a perfect 9.050). Unfortunately I red lit this round. It wouldn’t have stung so bad had I not ran a 9.056 (.006 from perfect). Oops! This was about the time I came to the conclusion that we had done enough work on the car this year and I needed to do some work on the driver!

Changing the Oil - Righty Tighty...

When I first started drag racing, Chris bought me Tami Eggleston’s video set called Psyched Out! – The Psychology of Drag Racing. I have spent the past couple of days watching these videos, thinking about my driving abilities and figuring out some new ideas that I could implement this weekend at the Spokane Divisional. She also offers some workbook pages to help keep track of your progress and let you know when your driving skills are slipping. I plan to use these this weekend and focus on my driving. Hopefully this will produce some better lights and maybe even a win light!

Hope to see you all out there this weekend!
EMDUB

Fun fact: In the summer I like to pretend like I don’t have any responsibilities. It’s not a great excuse for my lacking of blogging, but it’s all I’ve got. But never fear – EMDUB is here!

Two weeks ago Chris and I packed up and headed to Bremerton with high hopes for our first Pacific Northwest Super Comp Association race of 2009. I finished up school that Friday and drove 5 hours back to the Seattle area. I immediately headed to bed and was on the road with Chris for Bremerton at 6:30am.

We arrived in plenty of time, set up and felt good about our car (especially after all the Boise problems were solved). Our first two passes were time trial passes and they both turned out pretty well, although a little fast. We were up against John Young in first round and knew it was going to be a tough race. We dialed in what we thought was best and headed up to the staging lanes.

Watch Out...

However, when we got to the staging lanes there was a frenzy brewing on the track. Everyone hopped out of their cars and headed to the starting line to hear the news. Although it was clear weather, days of rain had left their mark.  In both lanes water had seeped up through and onto the track. They cleaned up as best they could and ordered us all to get into our cars. With many nerves less than calmed there was a bit of a discussion amongst the racers, and with the track owner, about the condition of the track. We came to the conclusion that it was safe and proceeded with round one. Fortunately (or unfortunately) we were the last pair up and were able to get a good look at the other drivers’ passes. Bob Woodruff was in the right lane in front of me and had quite a scare in his pass. His tailend swung out so far that he was almost in the grass.

With this on my mind, and last-second words of advice being whispered in my ear from the track owner through Chris on how to avoid the water (yes, I said AVOID the water – how does one do that in a race car?), I pulled up to stage. I had decided in my head that I was going to make this pass and had comes to terms with it. I let all other thoughts slide from my mind and focused on the task at hand. Fortunately that pass went just fine, except that I never saw that win light. John Young is a tough competitor, who later went to the finals in that race.

Once round one was over, the drama ensued. A number of drivers were livid about the track and nervous to continue. The association as a whole came to the decision that we would toss out the round, start this race over the next day, and attempt to do both races on Sunday. This seemed to be a fine decision and we all packed up our trailers. A group of us headed to Round Table Pizza for some dinner and then it was off to bed.

Sunday morning was another early one, but started off as slow as can be. The track sessions were moving slower than the day before and the Super Comp cars were barely getting any track time. We finally made it to the redo of yesterday’s round one at about 11. This pass was gorgeous, except for that itty-bitty red light I had. Too bad because I had John on a double breakout. Oh well.

Green Light

The first race took so long to finish that a number of the racers left before the end of the day. It wasn’t until almost 5pm that we were able to start the second race – way later than we had hoped. Since a few racers had left, including my opponent, I got a bye first round and a guaranteed entrance to second round. Woohoo! My excited was short-lived however, when I found out I had Rick Dearinger in second round.

Rick and I have had many a match up and this guy gets me every time. I was not going to let him win on a red light, so I put a good chunk of time in the box and crossed my fingers. Unfortunately, Rick is tough cookie and beat me fair and square. I promised him that one day I would kick his butt and he said he knew that day was coming so he was going to rub his win in as much as he could. I just figure that I appreciate my wins more when they actually do come!

Unfortunately third round ended up being rained out and that was the end of the weekend. It was a bit of an unconventional weekend, but a good one all in all. With a few races under our belt, Chris and I are looking forward to back to back weekends in Spokane. Hope to see you all out there!

EMDUB

Ladies and gentlemen, start your engines! Or not…

Maybe we'll see some racing!

Chris and I had been eagerly waiting the kickoff to the 2009 racing season. The off-season work on the car has kept Chris (and Bob) pretty busy these past couple of months, but nothing gets the blood pumping like hearing those engines run. Chris and I had planned our trip to Pomona months ago and could hardly contain our excitement for this past weekend. I planned to fly out to Seattle Thursday night and meet Chris for our 7am flight the next morning. We made it to Ontario early on Friday holding our breath for that day’s qualifying. The weekend was supposed to be filled with rain, but Sunday was looking like the clouds were going to part and bless the track with some racing.

Friday was a complete bust. We headed to the track, just in case the rain held off long enough to race. We walked around, said ‘hello’ to a few friends around the track, and ultimately ended up underneath a tent while the hurricane ensued. We finally gave in and decided to head to the car only to be caught mid-storm. The result was two soaking, cold and grumpy race fans hiding out in the rental car. The rest of the day consisted of course work for me, programing for Chris, and naps for all.

Cold and Silly Looking

Saturday offered a little more hope for racing. When we arrived they were busy drying the track, and the racing started, better late than never. We were thrilled to hear those engines start up again! They made it through a couple of pairs before they were forced to stop because of rain. The whole day was stop and go racing due to the rain. And it was cold and windy in the stands.  But they managed to get one qualifying round in, which was enough to race on Sunday. The forecast was looking good for race day and Chris and I were crossing our fingers.

Sunday proved to be a huge disappointment. It started only 30 minutes late, but a few pairs would run, the rain would start, and two hours of drying would take place. Rinse and repeat.  It was like that throughout the entire day until the unforgiving rain canceled the whole event. NHRA was barely able to make it through one round. It wasn’t until Tuesday that they were able to finish the race. I can’t tell you how much I wanted to see those final pairs.

As Chris often says, “I love this sport, but we really do spent a lot of time waiting.” If I had one complaint about drag racing it would be the ridiculous amount of time I spent on my behind waiting for the next pair. Ah, well. You take the bad with the good, right? All in all, I’d pick a rained out weekend with Chris over nothing at all.