Racin' and Rockin'..."JB's Take"

[draglist]

Congrats, Derek! bp

[WildcatOne]

I want to wish everybody a happy Cinco de Mayo. It's a perfect day to have it!

My pick for Racer of the Week is Brock Moshier from Lititz, Pennsylvania. Brock was recommended to me by our friends Rich Panicaro and Rick "Pappy" Stieff. Thanks, guys! Brock runs his own construction company and is the father of twins, a boy and a girl. I talked with him today and he is a fine gentleman. He told me a couple of things that surprised me about his car. I asked him straight-up, are there any special modifications that you've
done to the car to make it so good? And by good, I'll give a run-down in a minute of what his '71 Vega wagon has done. Well, he thought for a minute, and then he said, no, nothing really out of the ordinary. Nothing that would stand out as special. It's just a Pro ET car, same as everybody else, it just runs real good. He said the engine is a 410 cubic inch small-block Chevy and they tune it perfect. It's been reliabale and consistent in his racing career. He does this not so much with a superior car as he does with superior starting line reflexes and driving skill with a lot of savvy thrown in on the numbers he runs. His best ET with this wheelstanding monster is an 8.81 at just over 151 mph. It's just a standard hot rod that goes out there and wins and wins and wins. Brock sure didn't brag, I'll give him that for sure. But he did thank us for this feature. He's one of those drag racers who lets his on-track performances speak for themselves and here are just a few of his accomplishments:

2013 Maple Grove 10K Spring Footbrake Winner & Runner UP,
2013 Super Chevy Last chance winner,
as of August 2013, he'd been 13 times in the winner circle!
2012 St. Patrick's 10K Spring Fling winner,
2012 Maple Grove King of the Track,
2011 Pro Class Champion,
2008 NHRA Division 1 Pro Champion,
2008 Runner - Up at Pomona, CA.
2008 Super Street Winner of the National Open at Numidia Dragway.

Brock's home track is Maple Grove and he is a consistent long-term champion at the track and with his fellow racers as well. He mentioned to me that he's looking for sponsors, and if any potential sponsors are listening, here's your guy. He'll go more rounds and win more events with your product on his door than you would imagine.

Brock Moshier, Racer of the Week for May 5th, 2014. Good luck and safe racing in the future to you, Brock.

I'd like to give a special shout-out to our friend and recent Racer of the Week Rod Harvey from Auckland, New Zealand.
Yesterday, Rod drove his v-6 Toyota Pro Extreme to a new class record at Sydney Dragway. He ran a 6.32 at 234 mph.
It don't get no better than that. Great run, Rod, and best of luck this season.

I'd like to send my condolences to my Citykings Brother Randolph Arrington. Randolph lost his mother over the weekend. He called

me today from Mississippi to let me know when he gets back he's going to have a big get-together at his place. I'm looking forward to it and I wish God's blessings to you now and always, Randolph.

Something I've been thinking about lately is a phenomenon that took place in the history of rock and roll that I never quite completely understood or could relate to all that much. The Rock Opera. The most significant rock opera that I can recall was Tommy by the Who. There were 4 versions done of it. The original album by the band, the movie, which was in my opinion awesome if for nothing else than the Jack Nicholson-Ann Margaret flashback from Carnal Knowledge scene, there was a studio album done with a philharmonic orchestra, and the live version of the same. If I am forgetting anything there, I apologize. I thought Tommy was great, but it lagged in spots. I saw the Who perform Tommy live for the last time as a band, and even a live
performance by the Who of this magnum opus had me yawning in spots. Quadrophenia was a cool movie, but the album never reached its potential as a groundbreaking masterpiece. There were some great songs on it, but I preferred Who's next and the Who by Numbers to get my Who jollies. Although the Pretty Things' 1967 album SF Sorrow classifies as the first rock opera, it didn't have any hits and it never had the notoriety or the worldwide fame of Tommy or another contemporary release, Hair. The original Hair was a musical with a plot, it very nearly classified as a rock opera, but in my opinion it was the best pop musical of all time. The Kinks did Preservation Act 1 and Preservation Act 2 in 1973 and 74, we had Jesus Christ Superstar, Godspell, Phantom of the Opera, Jeykyll and Hyde, I saw Superstar live and it was awesome, but after a few years of philharmonic orchestras backing up rock
bands, I started to grow just a little weary of the whole spectacle. I recalled in the last years of my classical training, I couldn't wait for the lessons to get over with so I could go home and play blues and rock n' roll, and now here it is being thrown up to me again like I'm supposed to dig it, and I did not dig it anymore. You had Deep Purple, Procol Harum, all these heavy rock bands doing it, when in 1967, Days of Future Passed by the Moody Blues was recorded and it stands to this day as the greatest blend of orchestral rock n' roll. The Electric Light Orchestra based their sound on "I Am The Walrus" and ran with it for a good 15-20 years and it was great. But although this whole genre was a noble experiment, I was really glad to see the bands return to the roots.
Much of rock n' roll had become something of an overblown, bombastic and unwieldy chunk of tedious machinery, working with orchestras. I have always thought, if it works, don't fix it. I'm glad we're back with straight-ahead rock n' roll again. It's outside of the mainstream again, I think that's a good place for it, and I hope it stays there.

Y'all be sure to tune in tomorrow evening at 7 PM Eastern on RacersReunion Radio for Racing Through History. It's a Goat Rodeo
you don't want to miss. Thanks, I'll see y'all next week.

[WildcatOne]

My pick for Racer of the Week is Gary Phillips from Brisbane, Queensland, Australia. Gary was recommended to me by our friend Greg Gow, also from Brisbane. Thanks, Greg!

Gary Phillips owns and operates one of the best Top Alcohol Funny Car and Top Doorslammer teams in the world. The numbers his cars put up are staggering, as are his list of wins and accomplishments with these machines. Here is the data I have on Gary:

The Funny Car is a Chevy Monte Carlo body and the Doorslammer is a 1953 Studebaker Commander.

Gary Phillips is a 16-time Top Alcohol champion with 37 gold Christmas Tree Trophies. He's a 12-time ADRL Winternationals and 11-time ADRL Nationals winner. He's the first drag racer anywhere in the world to run over 400 kph in a doorslammer. On June 7, 2008, Gary ran 249.86 mph with translates into 402.11 kph. He was the first Australian TA/D to run in the 5's. He ran a 5.98 in April, 1994. In 2011, Gary was the first Australian to run in the 5.40's. He ran a 5.469 then and he's the current TA/FC national ET record holder with a 5.438. Now, if Gary was racing here, it looks to me like these numbers would hold up well enough for him to be a world champion. There aren't but a handful of cars that run this good, and I don't know about y'all but I'd put my money on him to win it all if he came over here and raced. These are incredible stats, and he keeps getting better with each season.

Gary's cars are sponsored by Lucas Oil Products with associate sponsorship provided by Speedflow, Champion Spark Plugs and Odyssey Batteries. His best ET with the Funny Car is a 5.438 at 263.92 mph, and the best numbers his Top Doorslammer as run are 5.923 @ 253.28mph.

I connected with Gary on Facebook this week. He sent all this information to me and he said to thank Racin' and Rockin' for featuring him this week. He is a fine gentleman, a fan favorite and a world-class drag racer, and I'm proud to showcase Gary Phillips as Racer of the Week for May 12, 2014. Congratulations and best wishes in the future from us, Gary.

I stumbled onto a couple of situations in the last week that I thought I'd talk about here. I found out that one of my lifelong friends and fellow musicians has suddenly come down with some kind of cancer. He didn't call me because he had lost my number, but our drummer and my studio partner called me with the news weekend before last. I called him yesterday and we had a conversation that lasted about an hour, and I have to say that his voice was in such bad shape that I couldn't understand 99% of what he said. He got whacked real hard with this. I asked him a few questions and I took note of his answers as best as I could make out what he was saying. He is waiting on final results from his tests, but it all indicates that he has cancer.

The same time this was going on, one of my son Kyle's friends acquired a license to sell kits containing CDB oil, which is a liquid that is extracted from the roots of hemp plants. It's not dope. It doesn't contain THC and it's 100% legal. This element is condensed and purified and put into an inhaler device that is similar to an e-cigarette. Cancer sufferers who were told there was nothing more that could be done and were given no more than a few months to live have used this system and in a few months were cancer-free. The ingredient attacks and breaks up and kills the cancer cells and leaves the healthy cells alone. I told my friend about it and I told him I was going to get him a kit and bring it to him. He said he'd give it a try. Today I bought a CDB oil kit from my son's friend and I'll be taking it up to Huntsville this week to give to my friend. I believe that there is divine order. I believe that things happen for a reason, and they happen when and where they're supposed to happen. I have no doubt that this will cure him like it's cured thousands of others who took a chance and stepped outside of the mainstream, which in this country only allows chemo, surgery or radiation as cancer treatments. This is a proven effective herbal remedy with an extremely high success rate. God willing, it will work for my friend. I truly love this guy as a brother and an influence. If it wasn't for him, I would not have had nowhere near the success I've had as a musician and as a person. Now he's down and he needs me. I'll be there for him.

I gotta get out and start jamming again. I have the itch to do it and there are players willing to play my stuff. I'm getting invitations all the time. It must be the Wildcat in me that's doing this, and I'm paying attention to the signals I'm getting. I'll keep y'all posted on it. The band is goiong to take one weekend off each month from now on. That leaves a free window of opportunity to take my show back to the roadhouses and beer joints where it belongs. I'm going to get on that as my first and most important project for 2014.

Y'all be sure to tune in tomorrow evening for Racing Through History on Racers Reunion Radio. It's a Goat Rodeo you don't want to miss. Thanks, I'll see y'all next week.

[WildcatOne]

For Racer of the Week I have selected Mr. Dirt himself, Bret Kepner from St. Louis Missouri. When I featured Derek Allen a few weeks ago, he acknowledged Bret's guidance and influence on his driving technique and I said ya know, Bret's the man. I need to feature him, so thanks to Derek Allen for pointing me towards Bret Kepner. Now, from doing some research on Bret, there is simply not enough room, time or space to completely detail this incredible man's history in drag racing. I'd like to suggest that one fine day we'll have him as a guest so he can tell us his story. I'll try to put this in perspective in my segment, though, and I know I'm going to miss a lot of what Bret Kepner's contributions to drag racing have been. Apologies in advance to the man who is debatably the foremost drag racing authority on the planet...and as I'll indicate shortly, he ain't no slouch behind the wheel, either.

Bret has attended thousands of drag racing events since his first, the inaugural NHRA Summernationals at York, PA, in 1970. His drag racing journalism career began at age eighteen with editor Jim Kelly of Super Stock & Drag Illustrated magazine and continued with SS&DI through its demise twenty-two years later. Thousands of his manuscripts have been published in sixty-two different publications. He has announced hundreds of NHRA, ADRL, AHRA, IHRA, and UDRA national events and, since 1984, has appeared in more than eleven hundred television shows as a motorsports commentator on ESPN, ESPN2, SPEED and twelve other networks. In 2004, Bret Kepner picked up photography as yet another “secondary occupation” and has covered hundreds of events for a variety of publications and his BretKepnerPhotos.com website. He was inducted into the East Coast Drag Racing Hall of Fame in 2007 and the Gateway International Raceway Hall of Fame in 2008. He also helped BP get DragList going by providing crucial data and information that BP needed. That in itself was a monumental contribution, and we thank you for that, Bret.

As a racer, Bret has visited around 300 different dragstrips and has competed in everything from bracket dragsters to rental cars. He has earned multiple track championships, major event titles and has held NHRA National Records in Stock Eliminator. Since 1991, Kepner has scored well over a hundred eliminator victories and just as many runners-up in 182 semifinal-or-better finishes. He carries a lifetime round-win average of right at 75%. Since he first competed in a 1966 Plymouth Barracuda in 1976, Bret has driven around 70 different vehicles in competition. The graphic for this week's feature shows Bret driving his Mercury Grand Marquis. What Bret has taught me is that it's not all about the car...it's in how you drive the race. He knows how to run the numbers and cut a light. His room full of trophies speaks for itself. In 1997, Kepner began operating a Drag Racing School based at Gateway International Raceway in Madison, Illinois, which produced over six hundred graduates in categories from Junior Dragsters to Top Fuel Dragsters including several NHRA Divisional bracket racing champions.

Bret resides in St. Louis, Missouri, with longtime companion Marianne Schultz and a menagerie of animals including his well-known Flemish Giant rabbits. According to Bret's profile on the StLouis Mustangs page, he is 108 years old. His experience in our sport is right in line with those numbers, folks, and we're proud to feature Bret Kepner as our Racer of the Week. Good luck, safe racing and best wishes to you from Racin' and Rockin', Bret.

I played a gig last night with a country band and I had a total blast. I've been a blues and rock n' roll player all my life, but a lot of my friends are country musicians. The cowboy style is probably the biggest fashion and cultural staple in Houston, and we all grew up together here. What's great about it is we have respect and admiration for each other's talents and styles.
The guy whose band I played with last night is Ronnie Walker. We go back a long ways and as it turns out, when I play with Ronnie, I apply a Saloon-Style Honky-Tonk piano to what he does and it works. His songwriting and his performing style are in a classic country frame. He's not a rock star wearing a cowboy hat. He's the real deal and he's never slid around changing his style. The first time I heard Ronnie play he was performing a country and western version of Sympathy For The Devil. I was immediately hooked on Ronnie Walker from then on, and when he calls, I go play if my schedule allows it. I'm looking forward to some great times playing in Ronnie's band. I appreciate good music and I like playing good songs. It was a blessing to meet Ronnie Walker.

Y'all be sure to tune in tomorrow evening at 7 PM Eastern for Racing Through History on Racers Reunion Radio. It's a Goat Rodeo you don't want to miss. Thanks, I'll see y'all next week.

[draglist]

Great stuff each week, John. Thanks! bp

[WildcatOne]

Thanks, BP! I'm having a great time with this. I appreciate the space to put these features!

My pick for Racer of the Week is Jim "Forever" Young from Troy Hills in Parsippany, New Jersey. Jim was recommended to me by our friend Rich Panicaro. Thanks, Rich! I've been talking with Jim this week and he is the genuine article, folks. He sent me a brilliant dossier, bio and spec sheet on his '85 Cutlass. I'll just shut up and read what he sent:

Racer info For Racin' and Rockin' with Draglist.com Racer of the week
One of my 1st racecars was called 4-Ever Young
Age:43 Born June 30, 1970
Started Racing: 1989 This is JYR Motorsports 25th season. I love to travel and have raced at 58 tracks in 20 states. I regularly compete in Pro ET, Super Pro, Stock, and Super Street.
Racecar info. 1985 Oldsmobile Cutlass. 388ci. Engine by Mark Osterbye, 1:76 Powerglide trans and 4:56-1 GM 12 bolt rear by Steve Gillan. 750cfm carb. Schoenfeld 1-5/8 to 1-3/4 step headers. Suspension mods by Larry Pappas and Steve Gillan. Paint by Maaco, Lettering and graphics by Alan Johnson Grafix. Car weight w/driver 3010 lbs. Best ET/MPH 10.31 at 131.05mph.
Sponsors/partners: Steve’s Transmission Repair, Jewell Computing Solutions, West 10 Tire & Auto, Speedy Carts & Coatings, Accellerated Travel, Coppermine Applicators, Nitroplate, Deande Trailers.
Hometracks: All the NJ tracks.
Occupation: Weights & Measures Scale Technician for Atlantic Scale Co. 19 years. Owner JYR Photography – Drag Racing Photo Calendars & photos. Have been doing this for 10 years.
Other Hobbies: Photojournalism, Founder of The Footbrake Division, Heavy Metal (and many other types of) music, Hanging out with my wife and friends/family, working around the house, cruising in our ’67 Chevelle,
Some notable wins:
Farmington Dragway Footbrake Nat’ls
Carolina Coalition Series – Rockingham & Farmington
East Coast Bracket Nat’ls US 13 Dragway
Atco Footbrake Nat’ls – Atco Raceway
Jim Harrington Memorial Footbrake Race – Cecil County MD
Dragraceresults BTE – Citgo Series – Cecil County MD
$50K Footbrake Shootout – Natural Bridge Dragway, VA
Super Chevy – E town NJ
Fall ET Challenge – Virginia Motorsports Park
Bracket Racing USA Nat’ls – E-Town NJ
NHRA ET Finals Pro ET – US 13 Dragway, DE

Some other tidbits:
Doubled twice in National Dragster Challenge (Wally Race)
34 round win streak to start 1997 season (won first 6 races)
Atco Heavy ET Driver of the Year 2005
NHRA Div. 1 ET Driver of the Year 2011
BTE Series Div. 1 sportsman Champ 2005
Island Footbrake Challenge Series Champ 2008
Series Championships-Island, Raceway Park, Atco
Closing arguments:
Jim said: I’ve been very fortunate to have surrounded myself with many of the great people in this sport. Not all of them are racers but many are race track employees/operators, friends and crew of other racers, photographers/media folks, race promoters, and folks I meet on the road between races. I feel lucky and fortunate to have met with success on the track and credit all of that to those who have shown me how to do it. The real payoff is the time spent and knowledge gained from all those fine folks listed above and a few in particular I will list below. If I never win another round or lose the ability to drive, I will still consider all the time well spent. I’d still spend every spare minute trying to help the sport or those involved in it. I’d like to close by thanking a few close friends for their friendship and their part in developing my racing career. (In no particular order) Thanx Jim Harrington, Larry Pappas, Al Vanis, Sal Biondo, Peter Biondo, Keith Sloan, Scott Macy, Ralph Seagrave, Ken Hunzer.
Thanks also to Rich Panicaro for nominating me for the Draglist Racer of the week. That's Jim Young, folks. A true drag racer's drag racer and a great guy. Best wishes from Racin' and Rockin' in the future, Jim.

No music news to report this week, folks, but I thought I'd give a special shout out to a couple of former racers of the week. Not only did a former guest, Scotty Richardson win comp eliminator, from the Racer of the Week club, the JAck-Approved Jeanne Linke, who was a Racer of the Week back in September, went 4 rounds in Stock Eliminator at the Summernationals yesterday, her Uncle Russ "Bubba" Linke, a member of the Linke family racing team, made it to the final in Stock Eliminator, our JAck-Approved buddy Doug Doll, also a Racer of the Week from last September, went to the finals in Comp Eliminator. And Dave Harvey, our Racer of the Week back in February, made it to the final in the 11.50 class, and his wife Michele was runner up in street. Dave won the event in that class last year. This year he lost in a close finish to his fellow Atco racer Robert Perrotte. Great job, guys, and congratulations on a fantastic weekend at a national event!

Y'all be sure to tune in tomorrow night at 7 PM Eastern on Racers Reunion Radio for Racin' Through History. It's a Goat Rodeo you don't want to miss! Thanks, I'll see y'all next week.

[WildcatOne]

Best to all, WC1

[WildcatOne]

My pick for Racer of the Week is Jeff Lewis from Perth, Western Australia. Jeff's English-built 1995 Ford Falcon is a very impressive hot rod, running mid-6 second ET's at over 214 mph using a small block 326 cubic inch Ford engine. I have gone over to youtube and checked out some of Jeff's runs with this car; it runs smooth, straight and fast. It's also one of the best-looking doorslammers you'd ever want to see. Can't ask for much more than that! I have been talking with Jeff this week and he sent the following data about himself and his car:

Jeff Lewis started feeling the need for speed at a very young age, he started driving soap box cars then upgraded to go-carts and
then hounded his dad for more speed. That’s when dad finally caved in and brought Jeff his first drag car an XM Falcon still not happy with the speed Jeff approached dad again ”Dad I need more speed” So along came the EB Falcon with a 326 cubic engine pulling 6.614 seconds down the quarter mile with speeds of 214.04 MPH or 344-45 KPH breaking the national record.
The class the car runs in is BB/AP, which means bb is small block engine and ap is altered production.
 Jeff then went on to break two track records in Sydney Western Australia, breaking the Et and the MPH national records.
 With his crew which included is dad Greg Lewis (chief Mechanic) Fraser Nicol (mechanic) Robert Nicol (mechanic) Bill Donald
(parachutes) Gavin Craske (computer tech) Karen Nicol (media) Gary Lewis and don’t forget mum  his biggest supporter. JEff Lewis Motorsport is on Facebook, too, folks, so drop in and like his page when you get a chance.

I wouldn't say Jeff's car is one-of-a-kind, but the performance speaks for itself. It is an extremely well-built, well-tuned and well-maintained hot rod. The engine has a psi blower, b&j 4 speed box, the car's best time is a 6.61 @ 214 mph It has a soft tune up just been having fun driving an going rounds. bb is small block engine and ap is altered production. It's for all intents and purposes a full-blown Pro Mod with a small-block engine. That, to me, is Racer of the Week material. Thanks, Jeff for accepting and working with me on your feature. You and your car look great up there, and Racin' and Rockin' sends best wishes, good luck and safe racing to you and your team. Jeff Lewis, Racer of the Week, June 9th, 2014.

A couple of Racers of the week did good this week. Andrew Bracuto, who is an upcoming racer of the week, won Super pro @ E-town yesterday & David Harvey won Pro on Saturday & Sunday @ Atco. Way to go, guys! This is sportsman racing at its best.

With the one-year anniversary of Racer of the Week coming up June 23rd, I put a combined album and graphic on my Facebook page today featuring the 48 Racers who have been selected, and the likes and comments have reached close to a thousand as of tonight. It totally blew up. So far, Randi Lyn Shipp, Shawn Cowie and Dave Hirata are leading the likes, but there are several who are nipping at their heels. That's an encouraging sign for future picks...I've been contacted by a few people and they recommended 5 racers for upcoming features. Life is good! Y'all who have heard me talk about this before know the standards that apply to being a Racer of the Week, and I'm very happy to say it's been met or exceeded every single time. Thanks to everybody for getting involved.

If y'all have a racer in mind that you'd like to recommend, message me on my Facebook page, Facebook.com/john.r.bockelman, email me at pctalent@sbcglobal.net, or message me on my Drag Racers Reunion page. I follow up on every lead, and I guarantee results that will even satisfy Mick Jagger.

On a sad note, I visited my friend who suddenly fell ill recently at the hospital Saturday. I'm very sorry to say that there is not much left of him. He was a powerful and dynamic presence in my life for 40 years, and it's now at the point to where they're sending him home this week to deal with the inevitable conclusion. Buzz Nickell, you were so great I can't find words for you, except to say that you will live forever in my heart. Godspeed, my brother.

I'll be back on the road next weekend with the band and I'll have something to say about the music by the time we go on the air next week. I've taken a vacation from music for 3 weeks and it's been nice. Doing file management has worked out great for the show, and I'd like to see all these folks tune in and dig us on the air. Hope to see you all online soon.

Y'all be sure to tune in tomorrow night at 7 PM Eastern for Racin' Through History on RacersReunion Radio. It's a Goat Rodeo you don't want to miss! Thanks, I'll see y'all next week.

[WildcatOne]

My pick for Racers of the Week are Chris and Laura Adams, from Bradenton, Florida. Chris and Laura were recommended to our associate producer Barb Santucci by Karen Stone, who works at Bradenton Motorsports Park and has known and worked with the Adamses for years. Thanks, Barb and Karen! Chris and Laura drive Ford Mustangs in the ET Bracket class at Bradenton, and they are 2 of the best competitors in the area. Both are well-known and popular participants in the Sportsman ranks and we welcome them to our Racer of the Week Club. Laura sent me the data on this team and I'll recite it now.

Laura Adams, 28 years old, Lives in Bradenton, Florida.
I started racing when I was 16 and had started dating Chris. I had a 1996 VW Jetta 5 speed that once I got my driver’s license he insisted I learn. We would go out to the track during test and tune nights to play and I was horrible. I worked my way up to a 1998 Dodge Dakota that was also a daily driver but managed to reach my first final in the sportsman class during a Memorial Day race at Bradenton Motorsports Park. It was one of the coolest feelings in the world to be in the final against Rod Johnson, one of the most reputable and respected racers around. I lost, but gained a whole new perspective on the sport. Chris had decided as I was getting better that I should try my hand in his 1980 Mustang that we had bought together. We double entered it every week and had to flip a coin a few times to see who was moving to the final because we were in the same car. It only took him 2 seasons to realize he needed to build me a car of my own. I became the owner of a black 1989 Ford Mustang hatchback with a 306 Ford motor with aluminum heads, c4 transmission with FTI converter, 4.56 8.8 rear end. Chris built the car in 2009 and I debuted it at the first point’s race at Bradenton Motorsports Park in 2010. The car has been a great learning tool in bracket racing for me. In 2011, I was able to win my first bracket race in Immokalee with the car. Last May, I was able to score my second win after receiving some valuable advice from my coach, Manny Sousa. I owe him so much for investing his time in me and seeing something that others didn’t. He helped me gain my confidence on and off the track. He took the time to teach me what I needed to know on the starting line and shared how important the starting line is in bracket racing, and for that I am so grateful. Chris has given me the opportunity to race, but there is just something about listening to him and proving him right that I just can’t see doing. I have been by his side for almost 13 years and have seen him win so much that it drives me to be better than him and I can’t do that with the same knowledge as him. That is why I turned to Manny for help. I am very lucky to call Chris and Manny my crew. They have given me the tools and knowledge to become what I have and I plan on turning on many more win lights this year. So much thanks to FTI for my amazing converter, without it my car would not be consistent. I would recommend anyone without an FTI product to try them. They don’t just produce a great product, but they help to produce winners.

Chris Adams, 33 years old, Lives in Bradenton, FL.
Chris grew up at the race track watching his father race. He built his first car when he was 16, which was a 1981 Chevrolet Camaro, with a 400 small block Chevy, turbo 400 transmission with a 4:10 rear gear. He won the NHRA Division 2 high school championship in 1998, his first year in the car. The car was stolen shortly after and was never recovered so he built another Camaro. The 1979 orange car was also short lived after he wrecked it. He has raced a lot of different cars through the years and has won multiple track championships in foot brake. The first race car that we bought together was a 1980 Ford Mustang that he rebuilt into a foot brake machine. Chris was able to win track championships as well as two NHRA race of champions wins for Division 2. In addition to multiple track champion wins and Race of Champion wins, he has won bracket races at the NMRA and NMCA races. He takes care of all our race cars and always wants to be sure that they are safe and consistent. He made the decision last year to move into a newer car and scrap the blue one because it was getting unstable. He moved into a 1996 Ford Mustang, but wanted to try something different. It has a 383 Small Block Chevy on methanol, with an FTI powerglide transmission, 9 inch rear end with a 4:30 gear. We have to thank FTI for their continued support with the race cars as well as, our parents, and everyone who has ever let Chris race their cars. That is a list in itself!

Folks, that's Chris and Laura Adams, Racers of the Week for June 16th, 2014. Racin' and Rockin' sends our best wishes for Good luck and safe racing in the future.

Special congratulations to Jackie Fricke. She won top alcohol dragster at Lebanon Valley yesterday. Jackie's been on the show and she's Rich Panicaro's travel agent, basically every drag racer on the East Coast. Way to go, Jackie! Keep on Racin' and Rockin'!

If anybody's in Austin June 28th, that Saturday night, one of the finest bands in the region will be playing at 10:30 at Dirty Dog's. Force of Rage is a great band with awesome vocals, killer chops and they got the big beat. These guys are my friends and we go back a ways, so I can guarantee you that it ain't noise. They are all excellent musicians and they play modern dynamic music with roots in the classic sound of hard rock. I'd be there but I'm playing that night...I don't get around much to see my friends play because I'm always playing the same nights.

Folks, It's been a tough week. My friend Buzz died Wednesday. My only consolation is that he's not suffering anymore. He was cremated and his ashes were scattered across Horseshoe Lake East of Huntsville, where he and Judy lived. My deepest sympathy is with Judy, Chuck, and Buzz's family. He was an irreplacable loss to all of us. We'll keep going here until some fine day we'll all be together again, Buzz. God bless you.

I would also like to extend my condolences to the family of Casey Kasem, however fractured it is. Casey was famous and now so are you for fighting over him and his estate. Let the material things go and find peace within yourselves. That's the only way he will ever rest in peace. Don't you get it?

Anyway, I have 2 gigs and a family reunion coming up next weekend. It's my sister's birthday and she's coming down from Kansas City with the little puppy I gave her last year. I'm really looking forward to seeing the family again, but I'll have to leave early because I'm playing at 7 that night. It'll be nice to get paid for sure, though. The Pee Wee Bowen Band is the best it's ever been since the 8 years I've been a member. We're hitting on all cylinders and we seem to get tighter every time we play. I found out Friday night that we're now officially booked all the way through 2015. In today's economy and all, that's quite a successful deal, and I'm proud to be a part of it.

Y'all be sure to tune in tomorrow night at 7 PM Eastern for Racing Through History on Racers Reunion Radio. It's a Goat Rodeo you don't want to miss! Thanks, I'll see y'all next week.

[WildcatOne]

My pick for Racer of the Week is Rob Pearce from the Quad Cities area. Rob's '53 Studebaker Top Sportsman hot rod is a marvelous piece, and I had a lot of fun working on his feature for tonight. I'll tell y'all what Rob told me.

I'm 52 yrs old, and I have been hanging out/racing at Cordova since I was 15. My neighborhood was filled with drag racing guys who welcomed in us younger guys and more than likely kept us out of trouble at the time. I have raced with the Ozark Mountain Super Shifters since 1998. It never ceased to amaze that when someone has an issue at the track they can always rely on others to step up and help out. I know there are other racing communities that are great but in all of my experiences I am hard pressed to suggest there could be any better than ours.

When I asked him about the name Mary Beth Pearce on the side window of his car, he said: As for the names on the car out of respect to a supportive wife I added her name years back to the passenger window.

Rob said: I have a hard time talking about myself but I am going to try to provide you some background. First I was lucky enough to grow up in a neighborhood with several gear-heads. I also grew up at a time when muscle cars roamed the roads. The first time I went to the drag strip was with a neighborhood buddy who had a 1964 Oldsmobile 442, 4-speed, 13 second car. It was way cool and I was hooked from that moment in time. For some reason I was always attracted to the clutch cars and befriended several of the local racers. Guys like Ralph Conner and Jim Wilson. Lucky for me they didn't run me off. I actually spent the first 15-16 years going to the drag strip and helping whoever needed help. Lots of weekends with Ralph Conner at the track or in his garage preparing his old 1969 Camaro. He taught me a lot. Most of all I learned to have a good time doing what I loved to do. In 1996 I bought a 1972 Monte Carlo, original BBC 454 car, with 32,000 miles on it that had been sitting for 20 years and brought it back to life. I completely
restored it in 4 months and had it at the drag strip by July of that year. After racing it that summer I decided it was way to nice to be a race car. I placed an ad in the National Dragster and ended up trading it straight up for the 1981 Camaro I raced for the next 10 years. The Camaro came out of South Dakota and was a full tube chassis car with 4-link, strut, BBC and a Liberty 4-speed. It was a huge jump from what I had raced in the past. I was fortunate enough to race it with the Ozark Mountain Super Shifters for 8 years and won several races with it. In 2003 my buddy, Gary Hughes, offered his spare 364 SBC up as he had been racing with another racer and this gentleman was at the end of his racing career. I had to think about it for all of a second and decided Gary would be a great partner as I had known him for years. After racing with Gary for 3 years I asked him one day what he thought of my building a new car and he was in. I bought a Suncoast fiberglass body, my 1953 Studebaker, in the fall of 2005. I then approached my good friend, Jim Wilson, and asked him if he was willing to build me a new car. Knowing Jim as I have for years he jumped at the idea of building a Studebaker. Jim loves old cars. I ordered a chassis kit from Richard Earle of Suncoast race cars. Jim had the Studebaker on it's wheel by March of 2006. We made our first pass in the finished Studebaker on September 15th of 2006. The Studebaker has a chromoly chassis certified to 6 flat. It has many RJ Race cars parts including a complete Strange sheet metal housing, Lamb Struts, Koni programmable electric shocks and a Racepak to help us understand what's going on. I named the Studebaker "Prostude" as it is a legal Pro Stock chassis with a Studebaker body on it. It was built to accept either a BBC or SBC and to date has only had a SBC within it's frame rails.

The best ET 1/4 mile is 7.61 @ 179 mph and 1/8 mile is 4.82 @ 146 mph, NATURALLY ASPIRATED. I have raced the Studebaker with the Ozark Mountain Super Shifters, Gamblers Drag Racing Association, Midwest Top Sportsman, Eddyville Modified Eliminator, Cordova's Q-16, West racing Q-8. We have been fortunate enough to put her in the winners circle at several drag strips including Byron Dragway, Cordova Raceway, Cedar Falls Raceway and Eddyville raceway. None of which could have been possible without the support of my wife, family and the Hughes Brothers.

Sadly we lost one of the Hughes Brothers last fall, Jim Hughes. He is missed.

And at some point I am hoping to provide you some details on Gary Hughes, my racing partner. He and his late brother use to race in Pro Stock in the early 70's.

This is Rob Pearce, Racer of the Week on the first anniversary of this feature, Folks. I will follow up on Rob's tips, because he has helped me this whole year in identifying and contacting Racers who are deserving to be in the club. Thanks, Rob, and we wish you good luck and safe racing in the future.

The album I made and posted on Facebook that had all 48 Racers of the Week for the first year was a huge hit. The top 10 for likes, comments, etc. were Rod Harvey, Dave Hirata, Shawn Cowie, Chris and Laura Adams, Dan Beale, Jay Wilson, Erik Carlson, Bob Bates, Joe Morrison, and the MOST likes and comments, by FAR were for Bret Kepner! The likes and comments went way over a hundred several days before Dave Hirata got there. Can't help but think, what if Bret drove a Pro Mod or something? But then, he wouldn't be the Bret Kepner we all look up to. Bret's one of a kind, and he wins with what he drives, period. Congratulations to all our Racers of the Week, and I'm looking forward to another fun year of meeting and working with you all.

Y'all be sure to tune in tomorrow evening at 7 PM Eastern on RacersReunion Radio for Racing Through History. It's a Goat Rodeo you don't want to miss. Thanks, I'll see y'all next week.