August 31, 2000 A Bunny Tale Update!

Since we chatted the last time, "Bunny and the Boys" have been on the road for 33 days, competed in 12 races, and displayed the race car for 9 days. I have been having the time of my life.....but the BOYS are about to turn me into "rabbit stew." I cannot believe that time can pass us by this fast. All of this, since the end of June. We did come home once for 2 days and I did 22 loads of laundry. Thank God that Mike, Bear's boss of JIM'S TRANSMISSIONS, is a sponsor of ours and let's Bear off to go racing!!!

Every season, I promise not to book so many dates, so I don't turn the BOYS into "Bunny Burnouts," but I have a hard time saying NO! I want to race every date that I can, because the day must come sometime, that I turn the seat over to one of the BOYS.

Now, do not panic....that time has not come. I have four guidelines that will determine when I say "I QUIT." I will race as long as 1. I AM HEALTHY...(I may be pushing that just a little now. It is very hard to keep going at this pace with the permanent disabilities from the crash) 2. AS LONG AS I AM DRIVING IN A COMPETITIVE MANNER... (I do not mean winning all the races, because that is not possible on my own pocketbook, but that I am driving well. The only problem that I have driving is the broken ankle "foot," my throttle foot, is slower than my clucth foot. This plays havoc with my reaction time on the starting line and sometimes causes the car to leave at lower RPM's, because I let out on the clutch and then went down on the throttle.) Of course, I am not complaining, I am lucky to race at all.  3. AS LONG AS WE ARE HAVING FUN AND HAVE OUR FANS..... Lord knows that wew do not put ourselves through all of this hard work for money or our health, so we just stay away from anything that will cause us a hassle. I can honestly say that the number one thing that keeps me going is my fans!   4. AS LONG AS THE CHARGE CARDS DO NOT MAX OUT!

..........AND NOW, WHAT WE HAVE BEEN UP TO!!

June 24, Capitol Raceway, MD, WAR ON WHEELS CIRCUIT, all the way to the finals and Billy Gibson showed me the way home... Nice crowd.

July 2, Capitol Raceway, MD, Match Race/Grudge Race with Billy Gibson, this time I sent him home early, winning both rounds with a best of 6.18 ET (Billy Tolson Promotions)

July 8, Maryland Int'l Raceway, MD, Supercharger's Showdown, we got lucky again, we found our way to the Winner's Circle again, with a 6.21, 6.21, and 6.29. We are going bracket racing!!! Our final round was an interesting one. I was matched up with Johnny Rocca's Pro Mod, and we dialed in and ran on a full tree. Well, I got an easy win as he had a real early red light. That one brought the fans to their feet, since both cars are favorites at MIR. He has demanded a rematch. Of course, I said yes! We had covergae in the Washington Post on this match up.

July 9, Capitol Raceway, MD, QUARTERMASTERS TEST AND TUNE

July 12, Raceway Park, Englishtown, NJ, match race with Cape Codder, he trimmed me real good with a 6.23 to my 6.17. I was busy looking at the biggest crowd of fans that I have ever raced in front of at Englishtown. They stayed getting autographs until wee hours of the morning. This was a FREEBIE by BUNNY AND THE BOYS for Vinny Napp, because he paid me full money last year when I blew an engine on my first run. Thank goodness for my fans, they helped me get gas money to go on to New Hampshire, by buying souvenirs. After driving all night to NH, after checking the car out in the motel parking lot, we did take a break for our lobster! Smokey and the Bandit do not have anything on Bunny and the Boys, we make a lobster dinner run every year and have since 1976.

July 15, New England Dragway, NH, match raced Rich Hanna's jet car, heads up. I should have had at least 4 tenths head start, his 5.80 to my 6.20. Needless to say, I really did get my doors blown off! It was fun for the fans, because the way the funny car leaves the line, I was way down the track, before he passed me at 270 mph! It was "FIRST" at NED. I have challenged him to a rematch with a dial in and a full tree next year, that will make the playing field a little more equal. It was a real hit with the fans, and they want to see it again!

July 15, New England Dragway, talking to my wonderful FANS. Just an example of their loyalty. It was very clear to everyone that BUNNY AND THE BOYS were not having much fun on the track. The car would leave the line, stand up and chatter, rattle the tires, dart around a little, forcing me to shift early to get the car to settle down and stay in it's own lane. (Very important.....with a jet car behind me, coming by at almost 300 mph!) The reason for the problems were very simple, my tires were worn out, with 27 runs on them and the spares in the trailer had over 30 runs on them. GOODYEAR slicks, the best and only tire that we run, now cost $950.00 a set. We just could not afford new tires, after all the breakage that we had at the beginning of the season. We are cutting every corner possible just to be able to go to the next race. Anyway, a fan named Diamond Paul, asked what was going on and my souvenir lady, Suzanne, told him. Talk about MIRACLES, on Tuesday, FedEx delivered a check from DIAMOND PAUL to purchase 2 sets of new Goodyear slicks. We now have a new "Crew Member" and we are giving him a "Sponsor Space" on the racecar.   =) THANK YOU PAUL FOR YOU KINDNESS =)

July 25-26, Delaware State Fair, Ethanol Promotions, MD Grain Producers.

July 27, MD Grain Producers Annual Meeting, Howard County Fair Grounds.

July 28, 29, 30, NHRA Div. 1 Points Event, Numidia, PA. Qualified #7 and went 2 rounds with a best of 6.14 ET. (I had some flash back feelings when I went through Danville, PA, and saw the hospital again that I was flighted to, at the time of that horrible crash in 1995.) We had radio interviews at this race, The BEAR station live.

Aug 2, VA Food Festival, Richmond, VA. Ethanol Promotions, VA Corn Growers Association.

Aug 9, 10, VA Ag. Expo, Richmond, VA.. Ethanol Promotions, VA Corn Growers Assoc. John and Bad Bard Smith hosted a dinner that was unbelievable....scallops as large as silver dollars on the grill, that melted in your mouth and home grown corn and tomatoes. I thought that I had died and gone to heaven for sure! Lil Bear's Damian Moore sponsored Jr. Dragster was on display also.

Aug 12, 75-80 Dragway, MD, WAR ON WHEELS CIRCUIT EVENT. We won with a 4.14 ET in an eight mile over Mike Preslar, who had set track record in the first round with a 4.08 ET. I had a big surprise.....my back surgeon, Dr. Lauerman, from Georgetown University in DC, came to see me race, bringing his whole family. I guess that was one way to get me back for my very past due check up. We had a very large crowd for our Funny Car show.

Aug 16, Atco Dragway, Atco, NJ, Match Race with Craig English, we took the win with the ET of 6.14. It was like old times, towing back in front of the 1,000's of screaming Fans!

Aug 17,18, Montgomery Co. Fair, MD, After another all nighter from NJ, we arrived at the Fair to do our Ethanol Promotions for the MD Grain Producers.

Aug 19, Maryland Int'l Raceway, MD, I had to call on all the Boys to come and help check the car out from our Wed. night race in NJ. They did not let me down, they had me ready to roll long before first round. My crew chief, Bear, had to do double duty again, so Lil Bear could race his Damian Moore sponsored Jr. Funny Car. Lil Bear was runner-up and Big Bear was wiped out. The Bunny and the Boys Dodge Avenger Funny Car showed the home town Fans one of the best shows ever as "SHE" whipped up on a jet Funny Car, called ROCK AND ROLL THUNDER - 2 rounds in a row with an E.T. of 6.05. The roar of the fans was so great that Jason Miller asked us to tow back in front of the huge crowd to a "Standing Ovation!" I am positive that it was one of the most rewarding nights of my 35 year career...one that I was happy to my BOYS all the credit for. After all the all nighters and hard work that they put forth, just for a 6 second run! I wish I could do more for them, because without them, I can not race at all!!!

Aug 19 was also a wonderful night of celebration for a different reason. As usual, Mo and I celebrated our 39th wedding anniversary at a race track!!!! Goes to show you, the family that races together, stays together! If you can work at anything as hard as Racing, you can stay Married real easy!

As with most good times, especially with race cars, there is a price and the celebration does not last long. On the last run, we blew a burst panel, the body panel, broke a blower belt, broke the blower belt guard, damaged the air shifter lines and etc, etc, etc. After getting it apart in our garage on Sunday, we realized that a head stud had stripped, causing the terrible explosionm which hurt a lot of parts. The head had to be welded and the O-ring repaired. Our year 2000 breakage of parts continues. Old Mo engine had to be pulled and we went through the junk piles, because we had to be in the trailer, ready to roll Tuesday night.

We just about gave up at this point, Mo and Bear were both wiped out and for the first time in a very long time, I wanted to get another car to cover for me. They took it out on me and made me feel real guilty about pushing them so much, but they would not let me call Billy Naves to take my place in SC. We were all at the bottom of the barrel. We just did not have anything left to run, maybe it's time to quit?   Not too many people know that just Mo and Bear do it all. Thank goodness that the Boys come to the races to help.... but with Mo leaving at 5:30 am and getting home at 7:30 pm from his job, it does not leave many hours to work in the garage. We do not have a single helping hand during the week at home or on the road.... The Bear does it all! We made it to SC, Thanks to Mo and Bear.

Aug 23, Maryland Int'l Raceway, Display for Chamber of Commerce

Aug 24, Shelby, NC, After another all nighter and calling on our Best Ever Clutch Man, Dale Brady, to give us a hand (Dale is also a great riding partner for Bear, he will not let Bear drift off). We arrived in Gastonia, SC for our Thursday night match race at Shadyside Raceway, near the border, with Mike Preslar. I had a radio interview at 9:00 am and the fans that heard me said I sounded real sleepy!!! Mike and I split the race. He had low et first round with 4.09, but got crossed up in the final and we won with a 4.18 ET and top MPH of 175. With a win for each of us we have been asked to do a rematch in the near future.

Aug 25, another all nighter, arriving back in MD to run Div. 1 NHRA Cecil County Dragway. We had promised Jimmy Halsey that we would be back for a special Friday night Funny Car Show. We know that we can not run with the Big Dogs, but Cecil County books us in for match races, so we came to the NHRA Points race in return. Our team has a huge Fan following at Cecil Co. Dragway, since I have been racing there since the late 60's. Thanks to Amanda for my GO BUNNY poster...maybe that is where the good luck came from?

We got the surprise of our life when we qualified #6, with a 6.06 in spite if racing with the last pieces of junk that we own. As expected, we lost first round, loaded up and headed home before the rain came.

This week has been used up, going through everything, trying to get an engine together to run the balance of theseason. We still have 6 more races to attend, along with 9 days of displays and numerous dates pending for the fall months. (Mo may kill me if I book any more!!!)

I spent 10 hours at C&C Automotive with Bill Barrett on Tuesday, flowing our fuel system. Dr. Bill always gets me back on track. Thanks to Carroll Carter and Bill for their continued support, C&C has done my work for over 30 years. We found out that my favorite Waterman Blue pump was coming apart. Now we are forced to go to the Red Waterman Pump, so Barrett flowed it until it matched as close as we could get it to the blue pump. In the meantime, Barrett went through his junk pile and found me another Waterman Blue Pump. Hopefully we will not lose our recent 6.00 combination, which is good for our 14 year old heads. Speaking of the heads, LADD'S PORTING in Baltimore has them right now, trying to make them go a few more runs...until we can afford to get the Newberry engine back together. I know that he can save them for me, he always does.

OTHER BUNNY STUFF.......

Our Damian Moore Project is coming along well, with a little down time, since he broke his wrist while riding one of his many toys. We are going to have an outing, for 2 TV Stations, Channel 13, Baltimore and Fox 5 News, Washington DC. We plan on showing his transition from his Jr. Funny Car into his Drivers Ed Car, which is equipped with a blown big block Chevy engine. The Corvette funny car is outfitted with the best of everything, has met NHRA Chassis specs, and has more safety equipment than is required by the rules. The Drivers Ed Corvette is set up the same as his brand new Gordy's Camaro Funny Car which is sporting a 540 c.i. BAE engine, an AFT clutch, and a B&J 3 speed transmission. Damian has done most of the work on the cars - including painting the Corvette himself.  I am positive that I am more excited about this Project than he is....because it fits into my future plans of having more than one Funny Car in the stables of the Damian Moore Racing Team. My Lil Bear is following along in Damian's footsteps, taking over the cars as Damian out grows them...and we all know that someday, one of the Boys will drive for me. I think it would be a great future for me to manage a 2 car race team. Our 35 years of experience in all apsects of racing and 2 young men that cut their teeth on a steering wheel can be a great combination. More on this later!

We still do not have a place to live. We have not found a place that fits our budget that you can move 39 years if "stuff" to. I just keep praying that something will come up, that someone will call us and make us a deal that we could not refuse!! We are willing to change locations, even states - if we can all find work. We can travel like we do now to race. Of course, I do not want to move to far away from Damian Moore, which is located in Baltimore.

Thanks to Paul Gill for the Veney Pistons that he can not re-use in his 5.60 Veney engine...but I can use in my 6.00 Veney Engine!!! One step closer to getting back together. Paul felt real bad, when he saw the mess we made the first time out with our Newberry combination. Paul, thanks again, we appreciate your help!

Royce and Linda Miller, MIR, made me feel like a "Queen" for a day, when I got the complete tour of their new home down on the water, about 20 minutes from the track. If I had a home like that, I would NEVER leave it for anything! I do not know how Linda will ever be able to come to work again. I offered to be the Live In Maid and just stay in Linda's walk in closet (which is about half the size of my house!!)  I for one, know that Royce and Linda have worked very long and hard, and they deserve even more than a beautiful home. May GOD continue to bless them.

It is 3:00 am, it's pouring down rain, again.... I have a million things to do tomorrow and I am very tired.  My broken bones still hate damp cold weather. Check my schedule and come see us!

Hopping off until next time......

Till Next Time... "Run A Bunny"

...and the Boys, too!