The year started out just the way I love it. I attended some testing in several different states and tracks to begin with. I was in Bradenton for a few days and saw the first ever, although unofficial, IHRA Pro Stock car dip into the 6.30’s. Thank you Robert Patrick for the honor. A lot of people get a kick out of saying they were the first to do this or that or the only one to achieve something. I can now brag about the fact that I am the only person on earth to have witnessed the first 6.50 by John Montecalvo at Darlington in 2000, the first 6.40 by Brian Gahm in 2003 at Grand Bend, Ont. Canada and the 6.30 by Patrick. I know…..It isn’t a big deal to anyone except to me. But for now, that is the only thing in drag racing that I can claim as something special.

My traveling continued from the testing in Florida to the first national event in Pomona, Ca. I love going to the first event of the year in both NHRA and IHRA. It is like a family reunion. I get to meet friends I haven’t seen in a few months and I get to see all the "Go Fast" items that they got for Christmas. Which reminds me - at my age, the only go fast item that I get for Christmas is a box of ExLax.

Pomona was a real thrill this year because I got to work alongside Susan Wade for the first time. Susan is our new Editor and it was an exciting weekend. The other thing was that as a result of being with Susan for a week I ended up offering to photograph her daughter’s wedding in Seattle later in the spring. I can’t wait for her daughter, Angela, to do a burnout down the aisle and do a couple of dry hops at the altar. Hopefully, her fiancé, Kent, will not have a flame out on the return back up the aisle.

Leaving the event in Pomona, I got diverted back to Gainesville to shoot some more testing and new paint on a car. That little side trip had its own moment of excitement when I was overcome with old-timers disease and locked my keys in the van. I managed to locate a "slim jim" and wedge to use in an effort to open the door. Sometimes I manage to do a fair job in taking pictures, but I found out that I am pretty much useless using that apparatus. I managed to flex the window far enough for it to shatter. An odd thing about a shattered window is that when you sweep up all the little pieces from the ground and inside the van, there is enough to rebuild at least three new windows. In addition, I managed to cut myself fairly significantly on the shards and looked like a war victim when I went back into the convenience store to buy a roll of clear tape to build me a new window. Then I drove all the way back to South Carolina with the hillbilly window. I took my CompetitionPlus.com signs off the side so that no one would know the identity of the idiot in the van. I started to break out a taillight and cover it with red tape to complete the scene.

Upon the return from my self-mutilating trip to Florida, I made it to Mississippi for the inaugural ADRL Outlaw Pro Mod event. At Hattiesburg, Ms. I got a glimpse into the origins of the Pro Mod class. Now, there were a lot of big rigs and trailers from most of the teams, but there were enough of the low budget teams to give me an idea from where the class had originated. The teams that have been used to running on national event tracks were obviously struggling to find the right tune up for the venue that was less than national event standards. As a result, those teams pretty much got their butts beat. I don’t think I saw a single car make a perfectly straight pass all weekend. From all the stories that I have heard about the roots of Pro Mod, this must have been the way it was back then. This was a totally different experience from I am accustomed at most events. And you know what? I had just as much fun as I always do. I suppose it is the people and not the track or cars that make it my favorite place to be.