Broadway Comes To The Marconi Automotive Museum. Covenant House Charity Event An Afternoon to Remember.

The Marconi Automotive Museum in Orange County, California has hosted many events over the years, but last Sunday's "An Afternoon of Broadway Stars" has to be at the top of the list of special events. Benefiting Covenant House California, an "A List" of performers came from all over the country to perform what could have been described as "Broadway's Greatest Hits." All of the artists who are currently in shows or in rehearsals for upcoming musicals literally dropped what they were doing to lend their support to this most worthy charity. Covenant House deals with the problem of homeless youth in America (as well as internationally) and provides hundreds of beds nightly for those needy children. Even more impressive than the performances of these Broadway stars was their willingness to give of their time and talents to support Covenant House and their programs. One of the artists literally arrived minutes before the show began. For nearly two hours it was one amazing performance after another; one standing ovation after standing ovation. By the end of the afternoon everyone knew they had just been a part of something very, very special.

A big thank you has to go out to Bo and Dick Marconi, The Marconi Foundation For Kids and The Marconi Automotive Museum for hosting such a wonderful event. For more information on Covenant House California, you can go to: http://www.coventanthousecalifornia.com/.

What a way to greet your guests.....I like it!

Lauren Paff, Debbie and Kim Nocita share a

little food and drink during the cocktail hour

before the program.

It is always fun to walk around the museum before

the start of an event. Here Kim and "COLauren"

stop next to a Michael Schumacher Formula One

Ferrari.

How about a couple of Indy Cars? The one on

the left was driven by Al Unser Jr., the other by

Mario Andretti.

If you're going to have one F50 you might as well

have two, right? Here COLauren stands between

$1.7 million of Ferrari.

This Marlboro car was driven by the late

Ayrton Senna.

Some of the vintage cars raced by Dick Marconi

and his son, John.

There is horsepower in every corner of the

museum...some have a little more than others.

How about 8,000 hp!!!

These three give the phrase "resale red" a bit

more punch....

This bad boy Ferrari is a one of a kind built for

The Sultan of Brunei. It not only has a specially

blended paint color but also an F1 transmission

designed by Frank Williams that is valued at

$1,000.000.00! I'd hate to have to send that

trans out for repair!

COLauren and Kim with the main man, Uncle

Dick.

Kimberly and Debbie in front of Deb's favorite,

a Gullwing Mercedes.

Priscilla "Bo" Marconi welcoming friends and

guests and also introducing Kevin Ryan, President

of Covenant House International.

Rita Harvey and Carter Calvert doing a Judy

Garland medley. Ms. Harvey starred in "Fidler

on the Roof" on Broadway. She also made her

Broadway debut performing the lead role of

Christine in "The Phantom of the Opera"

after performing the role with the second national

tour. Ms. Calvert's Broadway credits include the

Original Cast Album and touring productions of

"It Ain't Nothin' But The Blues."

Neil Berg who directed and emceed the program.

Mr. Berg is currently the composer for the new

Broadway musical "Grumpy Old Men". His latest

show, "The Man Who Would Be King", recently opened

at the Rubicon Theater in California.

Danny Zolli and Rob Evan doing a song from the

musical "Rock of Ages". The song, "Don't Stop

Believing" by Journey rocked the house! Mr.

Zolli has starred nationally and internationally

in "Evita", "Sweeney Todd", "Joeseph Dreamcoat",

and many, many others. Mr. Evan has starred in

the original Broadway cast of "Jekyll & Hyde", playing

the role for three years. He also appeared on Broadway

as Jean Valjean in "Les Miserables".

It was hard to pick a favorite from the afternoon

but this might have been the one. Craig Schulman

and Rita Harvey doing "The Phantom of the Opera"

duet. Mr. Schulman is the only actor in the world

to have portrayed three of the greatest musical

theater roles: The Phantom in "The Phantom of the Opera",

Jean Valjean in "Les Miserables", and the title roles

in "Jekyll & Hyde".

Mr. Schulman...."Music of the Night" from

"The Phantom of the Opera". Unbelievable.

A final number with some of the kids from

Covenant House. What a moment.....

COLauren and Kimberly with Danny Zolli.

Rita Harvey spending some time with COLauren

and Kim. What you don't see in this picture is

Ms. Harvey's little boy, Lucas, at the end of her

arm! From Broadway star to "Mom" in minutes!

Here, Craig Schulman, talking about Covenant

House with Kim and COLauren. His comments

were the same as all the other performers...

"When Neil calls for Covenant House, we come. It's

that simple".

Danny and COLauren having "a moment".

Danny and Rob called this their "Prom Picture".

Senior year, Broadway High!!!!

Street Rods Forever "Still Cruisin" In Monrovia. Chico Kodama of "Mooneyes" Grand Marshal of Annual Event.

Last Saturday downtown Monrovia took on a little different look than most weekends. The Street Rods Forever gang put on their annual car show along Myrtle Avenue and what a show it was! Countless numbers of street rods, hot rods, customs, "tri 5's", pro streets and trucks arrived early in the morning to set up and enjoy a beautiful Southern California day with like-minded enthusiasts. Vendors were also scattered among the cars selling everything from artwork, speed parts, clothing, food...if it was car related it was there. But the vendor with the largest presence and who did a great deal to help support the show was "Mooneyes". And as if that wasn't enough, the main man himself, Chico Kodama was there as the Grand Marshal of the event. Many thanks go out to Chico and his wife Sandy for their support and in helping to make the day such a huge success. And thanks to organizers Don Rohr and Steve Metz for inviting us to be a part of the day and giving us the privilege of driving Chico and Sandy up main street to start the day. Congratulations to all the Street Rods Forever guys and gals on a job well done. It was an awesome day!


25 years...and still cruisin'. Nice shirts!

.....ready for a trip up Myrtle Avenue.

Chico Kodama and his wife Sandy. Chico is the

owner of "Mooneyes", one of the most recognized

companies in the world of hot rods, speed

equipment and accessories.

It looks like Manny was the odd man out...Moe and

Jack got the girls!

Chico and Sandy ready to brave the trip up Myrtle

with the "Al" in Dalcorp.

The "Donutz Caddy" in car camera. What

a cool backdrop for a show.

Watch your back, Jack. Here comes Manny!

hot VW's BUG-IN 34 Coverage. Feature Article Highlites GNP/BG Oil/Dalcorp Racing Win!

Just a quick note to say thank you to all of you who sent emails and notes congratulating us on our Top Eliminator win at BUG-IN 34. For those of you who missed the hot VW's September issue, here are a few pics of the magazine that highlighted our win. Thanks again to all of our sponsors and supporters. It was an awesome day!


September 2009 issue of hot VW's featured the
class win and Top Eliminator honors of the Good
Neighbor Pharmacy/BG Oil Manx driven by
Wyatt Radke.

Next year's BUG-IN 35 event will have a picture
of the Dalcorp Racing entry on all the trophies and
plaques.

...victory lane.

It's good to be number one! Thanks to all of our

friends and sponsors who helped make this happen.

Good Neighbor Pharmacy, BG Oil, EMPI, Crow Safety

Gear, AVCOMM Racing, WR Trans, Chicago Title

Insurance and especially our families. You guys rock!

IDRC Fontana. A Hot And Wild Weekend. Pete Selders Back On Track With A Bang!

After being out of the driver's seat for a little more than 18 months, Pete Selders got back behind the wheel of the GNP/BG Oil 1967 turbo'd bug for the September IDRC event at Auto Club Dragway in Fontana, California. With crew chief Pat Selders having finished putting the car together just hours before, it was time to go testing on Thursday night at Irwindale to make sure everything was a go for the Fontana event on Saturday. Aside from a few minor problems everything looked good. Pete's driving was spot on with a nice clean run down the center of the track. Also running Thursday night was Erica Nocita in her 2005 Cobalt. A new shift controller had just been installed and a shake down pass was necessary to make sure everything was ok. And it was. So it was pack 'em up and head out to Fontana on Saturday.

Unfortunately Erica had a scheduling conflict and wouldn't be able to make the IDRC event. It would be up to Pete's bug and the VW Manx driven by Wyatt Radke to represent team Dalcorp.

As you would expect it was a little warm in Fontana but it didn't seem to effect the cars or their drivers. After the first qualifying passes everything seemed to be going as planned. As Pete entered the water box for his second pass and began his burn out, a major engine failure ended his day. It appeared to be a part failure in the number 4 cylinder.


Wyatt made three very consistent qualifying runs and the team felt as though they had a handle on the car and it's performance. After getting the first round win it was on to the second round and running the same 12.35 dial in. Everything was going as planned until Wyatt had a little trouble with 2nd gear and just missed getting to the stripe first. The car in the other lane had a near perfect run taking the stripe and the win light.

Although we didn't come away with the results we would have liked it was a great day. It's hard to describe the feeling you get from pulling together as a team and what it's like to experience the highs and lows of racing, win or lose. Some would look at the race as a bad day given Pete's engine failure and Wyatt going out second round. But as the saying goes, "A bad day of racing beats a good day doing anything else." It was great having Pete back in the car and with us at the track. Even with the second round glitch Radke put on quite a show for the crowd showing the speed and consistency that recently won Top Eliminator honors at BUG-IN 34. Thanks to all the IDRC staff for their hard work and a great event. We'll be back!


The Thursday before Fontana at Irwindale for a
little test n' tune. After 18 months out of the seat it
was good to have Pete back behind the wheel of the
GNP/BG Oil turbo'd bug.

In the lanes, "Big Jim Costanza" giving Pete a
few pointers.

....a couple of last minute adjustments.

Ready to rock n' roll...pulling up to the starting

line.

Pete looked great and made a nice clean run.

Erica was also doing a little testing after the

installation of a new shift controller. All systems

were go.

Brother AJ bringing her into the water for a

crowd pleasing burn out.

Saturday morning at Fontana. It was off to tech

and then qualifying.

Don't we have people that do this? Wyatt Radke

checking his own tires? I guess you're not driving

top fuel anymore, Rad. What a team player!

It seems as though Pete always has a crowd

around him. Young and old, Pete always has

time for everyone.

Usually it's a bunch of guys around Radke talking

about his top fuel days. Here he had some fans

offering the shade from their umbrella to help

him beat the heat. Drag racing families are good

people.

The first qualifying run was right down the center

and in the groove.

At Fontana in September it's all about shade.

Hurry up and wait......

Heading into the water box for second round

qualifying.

"Houston, we have a problem..."

The number 4 piston didn't like where it was

so it decided to exit prematurely...right out the

top of the case. "Hey dad, I think we can fix it."

The parking place nobody likes...under the tower

and waiting for a tow.

Wyatt had the Manx right on the numbers.

Between qualifying rounds Pat, Pete and Wyatt

go over what happened to the bug. It appeared

to be parts failure but the final word wouldn't

come down until after the autopsy.

Lookin' good......

Going over the numbers...it's all good.

The view every drag racer loves.