Additional Thoughts From the Weekend

​After a great weekend of racing at Route 66 Raceway, beginning with the Saturday Test & Tune and ending with Sunday's bracket race, there were so many stories. I thought I would throw out a few more tidbits of my observations and conversations.

First, on Sunday, the Raceway unveiled the new Winner's Circle banner as displayed by Michael Blaszczyk and Brandon Brown.  This is a great improvement over the smaller banners used in past seasons. On a personal note; this banner is non-reflective and makes for a better Winner's Circle photo! The first to use the Winner's Circle, High School winner Julie Nettles.

​Next, on Saturday, Gary Biela, in the green "Frogie" Camaro, had a problem on his launch when the engine bypassed the rev limiter, causing the car to go nearly vertical. When the car came down, it dug in and broke the radiator. Gary and his son Randy scrambled to find a replacement so they could race on Sunday. They were successful!

​On Sunday during one of the Time Trial breaks, I had a conversation with 2016 Super Pro Champion Mike Rozin while he was sitting in the Staging Lanes. Over the off-season, they completely went through the car with a complete engine refresh. The car was running great, however Mike went a little too fast and broke out.

​A feel good story was when Mike and Emilee Ballard loaned Miranda Lawson their truck to run Sportsman. This year Miranda vacated her seat in the family's Blue Nova for her sister, Audi (Autumn), to run. Audi is quickly coming up to speed in the faster car. It was good to see Miranda behind the wheel. Thanks Mike and Emilee!

​During the event Troy Bogner and Mark Cryer asked for help for their launches. I was able to provide pictures for them to see how they looked. Both stated it is nearly impossible to gauge from inside the car. I hoped it helped. Also Mark's son, Nick who drives a Super Pro dragster, was not present for this race because he was at the hospital with his wife who was having a baby! Unfortunately, I didn't hear about the results yet, But am hoping everything worked out well!

​While walking through the pits, I was approached by Gary Swearingen. Gary is a long time drag racer and he was at the track with his brother. They didn't have any pictures of the two of them by the car at the track. I took some photos for them by the car.

​And then there was this motley crew! 

​All told, this was a great weekend at Route 66!

To see all the photos from this weekend, please click here.