September 1, 1999 A Bunny Tale Update!

What a terrible outing (performance wise for our team) at the IHRA Mopar Parts World Nationals presented by Ethanol Performs in Norwalk, OH.

STRIKE # 1 - Was going to a national event without my crew. Not a single one could get off work to go.  I had to call on my old friend Jenny Smith from my IHRA World Championship Year and put her back in service. She always comes running when I call...a real good friend! Of course, I had my faithful husband, Mo, and right-hand man, Bear. Little Bear comes in handy to load and unload, but he spends all his time running around visiting with  all the friends that he makes everywhere we go.

After driving all night long in the rain on Wednesday, we arrived in Norwalk, a soggy mess. But well needed rain, with a very poor forecast for the weekend weather.

STRIKE # 2 - Because of the number of cars at this event, we were parked about a mile past the starting line in the mud. Despite my protests, I was told that "This is all we have left." It was obvious there was another row of better parking available, being saved for cars that came in later. While I know that there can not be any exceptions to the parking rules, you would think there would be some common sense and organization that goes into the planning of the parking situation by keeping each category of cars together and to park the so called "pro" cars in an area that is fan accessible. No one in their right mind was going to walk a mile, searching through 900 cars, to find any one person. IHRA parking needs some attention, at least park the same class together, where ever that may be...so the fans can find us.

At least this is one thing that I will credit NHRA for, it might be at the finish line, but it is always the same place every year and not all mixed up from pure stock to AFC in the exact same area.

This would solve another problem. The racers would not have to arrive on Monday in hopes of getting the best parking spot...if we knew we were going to be in the same area even if we came in later. IHRA was not born yesterday, they knew how many cars to expect in each category based on the previous years.

Thanks to Mopar and the IHRA, there were some pre-arranged autograph sessions for the fans in the Mopar Road Show Tent, which I was very happy to be invited to participate in (at least a few of my fans knew I was there and walked the mile to visit with our team.

I did move one row over on Thursday to the dry area that they were parking the late arrivals in. I found out in short order that I was not allowed to do that and was reprimanded by IHRA.

STRIKE # 3 - We lost our Thursday evening qualifying shot to the rain, after waiting until about Midnight and Friday brought horribly hot humid weather while racing in an elevation of 3300 feet! And my car NEVER....NEVER ...runs in hot weather and bad air.

We knew that when we left home that we did not have good enough equipment to be competitive with (we broke our 5.95 engine in July and it's over at C&C Automotive being repaired). But we wanted to be there for Mopar and show our support for them and let my fans know that I am still out there giving it my best shot!

We used all of the parts that we had available to us, changing blowers to the one that we blew up with twice last year. Thank goodness, the Lord watched over us and did not let us do anything stupid in our three attempts to put ourselves in the program. The last one at 12:30 am on Sunday after the rain almost wiped out our final run and our Night of Fire. (I could not go on without mentioning what a great job that IHRA did in preparing the track after the rain...it was the best that it had been all weekend). We thought that Mallory had found our problem when they found a bad mag cap and a bad # 1 plug wire, but no improvement. We just could not shake our rich condition and burn the fuel. To add insult to injury, I had to sit in the car about 35 minutes in 90 plus degree weather on one of the runs. I was told it would be "just a minute," when the car in front of me had an oil down. I was not a happy camper because this is a dangerous situation in that type of weather.

The end results were that I could muster up only a 6.20, only good enough for about # 20 in a 39 car field (We did not go across the scales because it was not good enough and IHRA never counted it as a run).

You can just imagine how frustrated our team must have been with both of our sponsors watching and counting on us. We really wanted to "shine" for Mopar and Ethanol Performs.

I must leave you with the possibility thought that I am really "nuts"... When I tell you that I would do it all over again... Just to be able to do a "burnout" like I did after Midnight at the Night of Fire for the thousands of fans that waited out the rain. Nothing can compare to rolling to a stop and waving out the window to the fans...knowing that they still support my team!

We got in at 3 am and were back at the track for another autograph session at 9 am, church at 11 am, and another autograph session at 11:30 am for the Mopar Guild Meeting.  After completing our obligations to Mopar, our team loaded and headed back home on the 10 hour trip, with a feeling of disappointment - but glad that we did not "hurt" a single piece of equipment. no matter how bad things are, you can always find something to be thankful for. It does not take me long to realize how lucky I am to be able to race at all! (Now it will take a bit longer to get Mo and Bear to want to go again - because I about killed the two of them, by insisting on making just one more run.

This week we go to the Maryland State Fair for the Maryland Grain Producers to promote Ethanol and next Wednesday and Thursday, we do a display for Allied Signal in Richmond. The weekend of the 11th we do a display here at home for Ryders Hobby Shop. (click here for schedule)  During this time, Mo will be trying to get me something together that will perform a little better for the NHRA Keystones, which we go to on September 16th. We are still waiting on a block and crank, which we want BAE Heads for...but spending as much as we did at Norwalk and a DNQ did not help our "no budget at all" situation....

"What does not destroy me......makes me stronger."

Till Next Time... "Run A Bunny"

...and the Boys, too!