Dalcorp/AREA 51's Kimberly Nocita in stage play "It's A Wonderful Life"

I know this is a little different direction for our blog, but hey, it's Christmas! I think just about everyone has seen the movie, "It's a Wonderful Life." It's one of the best Christmas feel good movies of all time and was recently put on at First Church of the Nazarene by The Cornerstone Theatre Group. The movie was presented as a live radio show broadcast, done in period costume, complete with foley artists right on stage. Our very own Kimberly Nocita played Mary, George Bailey's wife, and put on a fabulous performance as did the entire cast! The broadcast was performed as it would have been in the mid 40's and the attention to detail was incredible. You felt as though you were part of a real radio broadcast, complete with "On the Air" and "Applause" signs to cue the audience. The costumes were done by Janet Vincent Lee and were perfect in every way. Directed by Marc Pierson, it was a great way to move into this Christmas season and slow our lives down for a few evenings to enjoy this "wonderful" story. Thanks to all who came to support Kim and all the players of The Cornerstone Theatre Group. And thank you players and production team for an awesome broadcast!

Kimberly Nocita as "Mary."


Check out the mics....how cool is that?

After each performance, the cast met with friends
and family in the lobby for refreshments and more
good times.

Aunt Colleen and Uncle Bill came from Valley Center
via Visalia to see the performance. Via Visalia? Don't ask.

Mom, Keith and Denise Brown getting ready for
the show to begin.

Kim had several friends from her office come
and support her.

Grandma Mahgy always makes time to see Kimmy
in her shows...even when she's training for marathons.
(That's right, marathons...at 86!)

Kim with Amy Ulrich who played "Violet Bick".

Kim with New York bud "Colorado Lauren", or

as we call her, "CoLauren".

The big guy, grandson Dane Roblee, with mom and

dad, Kristy and Mike, made an appearance. Dane

made it about 20 minutes before it was siesta time.

Kim's long time supporter and violin teacher Judy

Berry came with smiles and hugs for her on Friday night.

1946? Great costumes!

Mom and Sean on opening night....

Monrovia Days Parade: Dalcorp Drives 4 Time Olympian Kim Rhode and Mayor Hammond

Kimberly Rhode was the Tiger Woods of women's double trap shooting, winning gold medals in the 1996 and 2004 Olympic Games and a bronze in 2000. Notice the word "was." After the 2004 games in Athens, the IOC dropped double trap from the program which meant if Kimberly wanted to compete it would be in skeet. From what we've been told, that's like a swimmer changing over to diving! Well, Kimberly was up to the challenge and came away from Beijing with a silver medal which makes her a 4 time Olympian with 4 medals! It was great getting to spend a little time with Kim and listening to her describe her Olympic medal experiences. But the best part was getting to put her medals around our necks! It's amazing how heavy they are! Kim does a tremendous amount of community service work and speaks to children's groups whenever her schedule permits. She is an inspiration and an example of what you can accomplish when you put your mind to something, even when they change the rules on you mid stream! Thanks Kim for all your hours of service, for representing our country, and for being a great role model to so many of our young people all over the nation. And thanks for letting us wear your medals!


Kim Rhode with Dr. Montgomery (L) and
Mayor Hammond. (Andy got to wear the medals
first!)

Kim and Rob practicing their waves.

I think Mayor Hammond has done this before!

A little fun at Rob's expense...

Oops! He figured it out! Watch out, Rob! I hear

she's pretty good with a gun!

BG Oil at AREA 51 Features "Nitrofill" Machine

Looking like something out of the movie "Star Wars," BG Oil met at AREA 51 on December 1st to demonstrate their "Nitrofill" machine. This machine exchanges the air in passenger car and truck tires for nitrogen. Why change to nitrogen? Compressed air contains a great deal of moisture. Most new cars today come with tire pressure sensors and they have found that the moisture contaminates these sensors and causes them to fail. Nitrogen contains no moisture and is also less affected by temperature and conditions that cause tire pressures to go up or down. Nitrogen has been run in race car tires for many years for these very same reasons, especially for the consistency in pressure.

It's always great to spend time with the gang from BG and find out what's new in the world of lubricants and additives. We've run BG products exclusively for years with great success and look forward to the 2009 season....with nitrogen in our tires!


Even "Bob's Big Boy" looked interested...

"The Boss" making sure things are done right!


Good eats once again provided by SubWay Sandwiches.

The Nitrofill machine doing it's thing...

Speed Wong Racing hosts thank you party at AREA 51 for Irwindale Fire and Rescue

Most of the time you never even see them. Oh, you might catch a glimpse of a yellow jump suit or two standing by a shiny truck. But, when there's trouble on the track or an emergency of any kind, they seem to appear out of nowhere and are on the scene before the cars even come to a stop. That's the Fire and Rescue Team at Irwindale Speedway and Dragstrip. David Wong of Speed Wong Racing decided to say thank you to those who give us a safe place to race by throwing a party for them at AREA 51. About 40 team members, wives and girlfriends showed up for a great evening of sharing experiences, great food and an awesome slide presentation put together by their leader, John Baham, who was also the organizer of the event. The slide show had many humorous moments, but also included some incredible accidents showing the team at work. A big thank you goes out to David Wong and Speed Wong Racing for recognizing the men and women who keep us safe while we do what we love to do. What a wonderful gesture to a great group of guys. Fire and Rescue, you're the best!

Pepper's Mexican Restaurant provided an
awesome meal. Thanks Kelly!

Each team member received this engraved
mug courtesy of Mr. John Baham.


"Big John" Baham (left) was the life of the party.

Lots of stories, lots of laughs.

John put together a 20+ minute slide show along
with some great music. Each member of the team
also got a copy of the cd. Very nice, John!

On and off the track...A busy month for Dalcorp/AREA 51

It's been a wild several weeks for the gang at Dalcorp/AREA 51. The past five weeks have included drag racing, photo shoots, an exhibition run at a high school career day program, hosting a dinner for a tour group from England, and a display at the NHRA World Finals at Pomona.

The action started out in late October with the Hot VW's Drag Day Bug In at Irwindale Dragstrip. AJ Nocita was scheduled to drive the GNP - WR Racing VW Manx, but a schedule conflict gave Pete Selders a chance to get back behind the wheel. After several months off while waiting for his new engine to be built for his '67 turbo'd bug, Pete made the most of it with an impressive showing and consistent runs which took him three rounds of racing before a red light took him out of competition. It was great to have Pete back on the track.

Don Weberg of Garage Style Magazine was out in late October for a photo shoot for an upcoming issue of GSM. We were very honored to have Don out to do the pictures and enjoyed spending time with him and being a part of this unique publication. It's scheduled to hit the stands sometime mid 2009. We'll keep you posted on the date as it gets closer.

One of our favorite events of the year is the high school career day activities put on by the LA County School District. It was held the Wednesday before the World Finals at Pomona. We were invited back again this year to make an exhibition run and had a blast. There were over 10,000 high school kids there and the place was energized to say the least. The temperature was a little hotter than we expected so our performance fell off a bit, but Erica made a great run posting a 10.0 e.t. @ 145 mph. What made it such an astonishing run was the fact that she had the stomach flu and was still able to put together an almost perfect pass. She didn't tell us she was sick until AFTER the run because she didn't want to miss anything. Erica, we need to talk!

On Wednesday night, November 12th, we had the privilege of hosting a small tour group from the UK led by organizer and tour guide Robin Jackson of Blue Prints for Travel. Sharing our love for the sport of drag racing with fans from around the world is something very special. We really enjoyed hosting the dinner for them at the shop and getting to know them. It was also great having Tony Thacker, director of the NHRA Museum, join us and share his insights with our group. We ran into the gang during the four days at the races and they were having a blast! Glad you could come across the pond for a little drag racing, Pomona style!

It was then over to the GM Performance Parts booth where the Good Neighbor Pharmacy Cobalt was on display for the entire four days of the World Finals. It was great seeing so many of our friends and people who have supported us over the years. There were fans around the car the whole weekend and we really enjoyed making some new friends, bench racing, and enjoying the racing. Also, thanks to all of our friends at BG Oil Products, Barney's and The Only Place in Town, Chicago Title Insurance, Chris Shevlin and Avcomm Racing. You guys rock!

Lastly, I mentioned last month about our daughter Kimberly playing a lead part in the play "Gypsy" at a theater in West Covina. The show closed in mid October after receiving great reviews and almost selling out every performance. If you missed Kimberly in "Gypsy," you'll have another chance to see her in the Christmas classic, "It's a Wonderful Life." Check out this link for more information. Hope to see you there!


Pete...lovin' life back behind the wheel.

Jim Behrens, Pete and "Pato" in deep discussion.
That's always dangerous!


Here's a shot of Kimberly during one of her numbers
from "Gypsy" where she played Gypsy's sister,
Dainty June. The show closed mid October and
received great reviews. Awesome job, Kim!

The GNP Cobalt lookin' good for the Garage
Style Magazine photo shoot. We'll see the pics
in 2009.


There's even a lot of paper work in drag racing.
Erica, filling out her tech card for Wednesday's
exhibition run at Pomona.

Just another day at the office for "Pato".

Some of the other cars that made runs on Wednesday.
Five or six of the entries were built and driven by the students
from local high schools. Pretty cool.

There were A LOT of kids there.....



She didn't look sick....


Ready to rock and roll....



From l to r, Tony Thacker from the NHRA Museum,
two photographers from the UK, and Robin Jackson
with Blue Prints for Travel and leader of the group.

The Only Place in Town of Sierra Madre put on
a wonderful spread for our friends from England.

....ready for some racin'....

Erica with her GM teammate and Pro Stock driver
Dave Connolly. Dave also drove a car in Comp Eliminator.

Enjoying the sunshine at Pomona...and there was
plenty of it! Robin and the UK gang!

Another new friend, Ed, down from northern
California. Life is good.


There were people, young and old around the
Cobalt the entire weekend. We really enjoyed
making some new friends and talking with so many
GM Racing Cobalt fans.

Erica and "B"...if she's not driving, her favorite

thing to do is to watch drag racing with Brian.

With fires all around the area, they produced some

amazing sunsets.

Erica and teammate Greg Anderson, driver of the

Summit Racing Pro Stock Pontiac.

God Bless America!