Following the Las Vegas race over Halloween, the Motorcraft/Quick Lane Racing team stayed at the drag strip to test. It was nice to test on Monday in what was probably the best test session we had in three years. We made great runs, recorded some great data and a lot of things that we wanted to try, worked for us. A positive test session is always a good thing.
I was invited to the AAPEX and SEMA shows that took place in Las Vegas the week following our race. I think I was in Las Vegas for just about a week between the race, AAPEX and SEMA.
The SEMA show is amazing show to be a part of as a race car driver/owner and Ford dealer. Ford had an incredible presence at SEMA with the all-new Fiesta that’s in showrooms now. The Ford display also had the new Explorer and they unveiled the new BOSS Mustang. Take it from me and I know cars - there are some really cool products from Ford coming to dealerships soon.
One of the reasons I went to SEMA was to unveil our Factory Five 33 Hot Rod, it’s a spinoff of the old ’43 Ford Hot Rod design with an all-Ford powertrain with the new 5-liter Coyote engine and a supercharger on it. The Factory Five is a neat looking car and was on display in the Ford booth.
In addition to unveiling some of the new cars, I was invited to sign autographs at SEMA and met some race car drivers that pretty much do the opposite of what we do. I met Ken Block who does things with a Ford Fiesta that most people think is impossible; and Vaughn Gittin Jr., who is the world champion drifter. That was fun to be part of that group. I got to go for a ride with Vaughn in his Mustang; that was a lot of fun out in front of the SEMA show. Everything Vaughn’s race car can do, mine can’t and everything my Motorcraft/Quick Lane Shelby Mustang Funny Car can do, his can’t.
After Las Vegas, I spent one night at home and we were off to Connecticut for a two-day hockey tournament with my oldest son Bob. I get so much enjoyment out of seeing my son do well with his friends and his team. It’s just incredible at eight years old, their level of competition and how excited they get about playing and winning. You would have thought they won the Stanley Cup, after they were finished with that tournament. By winning the tournament in Connecticut, they were invited to go to Detroit for a major tournament in January. It was a lot of fun to be around my family and my son’s friends. They’re asking me about racing and I’m asking them about hockey. Just to see that level of teamwork and enthusiasm in such a young group of kids is pretty neat. I’m glad I was able to share that time with Bob and his team. I’m just thrilled to see them win their first major tournament and leaving with the champions shirts. That was a lot of fun this past weekend.
But we’re back on the road to Pomona this week. We leave on Wednesday for the four-day event, which is a little different than what we typically run. We will have tremendous conditions – world record conditions, in fact. I won’t be surprised if we see a couple of world record runs in the fuel categories with the forecast that they are calling for in Pomona. If you are in Pomona, be sure to stop by the Motorcraft/Quick Lane Racing pits.
See you at the track.
