Thursday Night at Irwindale Dragstrip - A touch of nostalgia in the air...

There's something about being at your local dragstrip on a warm summer night that really strikes a chord with racers - especially the old guys who grew up in this area 40 or so years ago. The smell of high octane fuel, burning rubber, the sounds of the strip and good friends seem to work like a time machine and take us "back to the good old days." The GNP Chevelle was rockin' last Thursday night and putting down some good numbers on one of those warm, summer evenings. AJ did a great job driving given the slippery track conditions, while "Pato" and John Pandeles finally found the gremlin that had been giving us fits over the past several weeks. It was great to see one of our friends, Ron Walker, out with his Ford Falcon (you won't see the "F" word in many of our blogs!) making some nice mid 7 second runs. Ron's really done a great job with the Falcon and hasn't had to break the bank to do it. There's hope for us all when we see the numbers Ron runs with his low budget hot rod. Nice goin', Ron.

We'll be racing the final Summit Series race of the year on Sunday, September 14th at Irwindale, so we hope to see you out there. We'll be filming that race with our in-car camera and should have some footage on the blog soon. Wish us luck!

On a bit of a side note, Kimberly Nocita, the youngest daughter of the Dalcorp/AREA 51 gang just opened at the Covina Center for the Performing Arts in Covina in the stage play "Gypsy." Kim plays the role of "Dainty June," the sister of Gypsy Rose Lee in the show, which is directed and choreographed by Angelo Collado. The theater was recently remodeled and is absolutely beautiful. There is a small bar area and lounge in the balcony area and there isn't a bad seat in the house. The performance runs through October 12th with tickets available online www.covinacenter.com or by phone 626- 331- 8133. There are shows every Thursday, Friday and Saturday night and a matinee on Sunday afternoons. Hope to see you at the show!

"The Juice"...It's Go Time!

This could be any drag strip in the 60's...except for

"My other car is a Cobalt".

John Pandeles dodging flying parts on the

starting line. Never take your eyes off the

car that's running. (Glad it wasn't our car

spitting parts out the back!)

AJ checking in after a wild ride on a slippery

track.

Ron "the racer" Walker puttin' it down in his Falcon.

Total concentration produced a good run.

....I love black and white....