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

Here's where we go to kick back after the races with our pals. Pour a tall one, punch a few buttons on the jukebox, and relax...
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Re: Racin' and Rockin'..."JB's Take"

Postby WildcatOne » Mon Oct 02, 2017 8:53 pm

My pick for Racer of the Week is Tyler Brooks, from Prophetstown, Illinois. I found Tyler when I was looking through one of Jay Wilson's albums on the Quad Cities Drag Racer's Page on Facebook. I was immediately fascinated by his awesome orange '81 Monte Carlo Mod/Pro hot rod. I decided to feature him, I sent him the graphic and he accepted. Thanks, Tyler!

Tyler Brooks got hooked on bracket racing when he was in high school and all his buddies would run at the battle of the high schools races at Cordova International Raceway, and then he started racing high school points races and just continued working his way into some bigger classes. He said once you get the bug you can't stop.

He bought the Black Monte off a good friend named Derek Snodgrass for 600 bucks, and over the years he's been upgrading it. As it is now, it's been painted hugger orange with white stripes Tyler said he's glad to be past that stage of the rebuild, but the results speak for themselves. It's not only a great race car, it's also top show-quality.

The motor is a 406 cubic inch small-block Chevy with a powerglide transmission and pro brake with a safety shield. It has a 9-inch rear end with 4.11 gears, and an 8-point cage. Tyler's best ET is a 10.60 at 124mph, But usually the car runs 10.80s to 10.90s. Some accomplishments are a battle of the high schools win and a runner-up spot in a few bracket races, but he's still hunting for that first race win, and he's getting close!

His goals are to win his first race outright and he said he sure would love to have an Iron Man or Wally but he added, who wouldn't! Got that right, Tyler!

He sends special thanks out to his mom and dad, Ariel Hamstra, Craig Adams, Bob Cramm, Larry Black, Derek Snodgrass, and Roger at OTR Tire.

Tyler, we look forward to hearing about your upcoming win with that fine hot rod, and we wish you good luck, safe racing and the best of times in the future!
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Re: Racin' and Rockin'..."JB's Take"

Postby WildcatOne » Mon Oct 16, 2017 5:55 pm

My pick for Racer of the Week is Andy Frost, from Wolverhampton, United Kingdom. Andy was recommended to me by our friend at C & C Engineering, Andy Cowen. Thanks, Andy!

Andy owns and drives one of the quickest and fastest street legal cars in the world. It's a 1972 Vauxhall VX4/90. When I first saw the car I could have sworn I was looking at a '69 Camaro, but that's not it. It's a genuine British Vauxhall.

Frosty has owned Red Victor since 1982 and he's been drag racing with the car since 1988. Together, they have won a multitude of races in all different classes and travelled to the USA, Canada, and Europe. Now, he's taking the ultimate step in door slammer racing with Red Victor 3 and taking the car to Bahrain to do his best to recapture the quarter mile street legal world record!

The engine is a 539 cubic inch big block Chevy that was built by Marc Lamude of Lamude Racing Engines and tuned by Shane Tecklenburg of Fast Motorsports. It has Twin Precision Turbo GEN2 102mm Pro Mod turbos, Billet 2 piece from Steve Morris engines. The transmission is a Hutch trans/Andy Frost Reid cased 2 speed TH400, with custom billet internals and a Precision Performance shifter.

The list of high-performance parts that are in that engine is too long to list here, but I recommend going to the Red Victor website of which I will link up in a minute, and checking all this cool stuff out.

Andy's best quarter-mile performance is a 6.27 at 237 mph, off the throttle at 1000 feet. His best 8th mile run is a 4.09 ET at 191 mph.

The car is already in Bahrain, but the engine is in the UK at present time, having new heads put on and getting a killer tuneup for the upcoming BDRC season which for the team will start at Round 2 in January. Frosty's goal is to try and become the world's fastest street legal car.

From seeing what he's done with this amazing hot rod, I have no doubt he will achieve that goal! November can't get here fast enough!
Frosty thanks his dedicated crew, who have helped him reach the heights that he and his car have gotten to: Shane Tecklenburg, Debbie Frost, Gary Frost, Badger Bourton, Webmaster Larry Stockford, Team Photographer Matt Woods, and Rob "Henchman" Kearns, who sadly passed away in 2015, but he will always ride along with Red Victor 3!

Andy also thanks his many sponsors, which are simply too numerous to list within this time frame, but I am putting them in the text file which will go into the DragList.com Forum along with his feature tonight. He told me without his sponsors, they couldn't do what they do, particularly the Red Victor 5-second club.

He has a great website, http://www.redvictor1racing.co.uk

Frosty, we wish you good luck, safe racing and the best of times in the future. We'll check on your runs in Bahrain!

Andy Frost's Sponsors and Technical Partners:

Lamude Racing Engines, Precision Turbo & Engine, Shant T. onsite or remote tuning and support, R-Tech Welding & Equipment, PRO Alloy, Steve Morris Engines, RFD, Cam Auto, Injector Dynamics, Belistore, Turbosmart, Turbowerx, Zircotec plasma-sprayed thermal barriers, Goodridge Fluid Transfer Systems, KA Sensors, Total Seal Piston Rings, Mick Gould Commercials, Neal Chance Racing Converters, Superpower Unlimited, Red Line Synthetic Oil, Braille Battery Lithium & AGM Performance Batteries, VP Racing Fuels, PEC, Manton Pushrods, Diamond Pistons, Victory Performance, New Century Performance, Activ8, Plastics 4 Performance, Wallwork, Radtec Racing Radiators, rep air services, Magnecor, race engine technology, Wilson Manifolds, PowerLite Performance Electrics, Pro Torque, Club Calibra.net, PST Precision Shaft Technologies, Prestige Group, Cartec Motorsport Electronics, Ankatags, and Trackstuff Racing Fuel & Track Tires.
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Re: Racin' and Rockin'..."JB's Take"

Postby draglist » Mon Oct 16, 2017 8:46 pm

I was amazed at the performance of this car. Awesome! bp
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Re: Racin' and Rockin'..."JB's Take"

Postby Wheelzman » Tue Oct 17, 2017 8:49 am

That thing, and I do mean "THING", idles almost like a stock engine, a nuclear explosion takes place and that puppy is gggooooonnnnnnneeeeeee! 8) I wonder if he has shock absorbers on his eyeballs? :shock:

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

Postby WildcatOne » Tue Oct 17, 2017 11:37 am

I agree on all points, gents. This is a fantastic hot rod! I'm rooting for Frosty to take the record home! Best, WC1
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Re: Racin' and Rockin'..."JB's Take"

Postby WildcatOne » Mon Oct 23, 2017 7:08 pm

My pick for Racer of the Week is CJ Craig Durbin, a custom car builder, and outlaw racer from Colona, Illinois. CJ was recommended to me by our friend and former Racer of the Week Steve Plumb. Thanks, Steve!

the graphic I made of CJ's feature lit Facebook up like nobody's business! On my page alone, it garnered 131 Likes, 15 Shares and 11 positive comments. On the pages it was shared to, there were upwards of 105 more Likes applied to his showcase. That brings CJ in second-place all-time behind Bret Kepner for Likes. Congratulations, CJ!

I've been chatting with him over the last few weeks, and he sent me some info on him and his hot rod. I will read it word-for-word as a quote. CJ said:

"My car addiction and wrench turning started when my dad helped me buy my first car. It was a '91 Camaro with a 305 and a bad transmission. He told me that he would buy the car for me if I put a new transmission in it. And that's how it started. That car broke every single day I drove it so I learned a lot from it. I've been racing and cruising cars and trucks ever since. Today I mostly focus on turbo LS street and race cars. I have built around 10 LS swap cars for friends around my area; nothing to make big money on, I just like to see other people out cruising and racing with me.

Last year a buddy and I entered the "Holley LS Fest Motor Swap Challenge" and won it by a mile! We pulled out a running and driving drive train and put in a new motor and transmission in it in just 1 hour and 26 minutes and we were driving it again! That was one of my biggest accomplishments!

My truck is a 1990 Chevy S-10 with a 2004 LS 6.0, on 3 78/75 mm turbos, th '400 trans, and a ford 9" rear end. I drive this truck everywhere! Just last Friday I drove it to the local race track, ran a 9.50 1/4 mile at 141 mph (which is my personal best in the truck) and then back home. As far as racing goes, I don't enter a lot of big competitions, I mostly just do a lot of Friday Fun Nights and some street racing with it.

The truck is really too fast for its own good, as for it does not have any safety gear whatsoever. This winter I plan on adding some safety gear and it will open up my options of attending more races. I do drive the truck as much as possible to Hot Rod Power Tours, Street Car Takeovers, and I have even entered in a rally cross with it. My goals are really to just drive it to as many events as I possibly can all over to meet and race new people!"

CJ, it's none of my business, it ain't my truck and it ain't my life, but if I was you I'd get the safety gear. Sure couldn't hurt!

We wish you good luck, safe racing and the best of times in the future!
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Re: Racin' and Rockin'..."JB's Take"

Postby WildcatOne » Mon Oct 30, 2017 5:40 pm

My pick for Racer of the Week is Tony van Helmond, from Masterton, New Zealand. I found Tony on the NZDRA website. His front-engine dragster and '59 Ford Fairlane street car caught my eye, and in my opinion, he represents the spirit of drag racing in our worldwide family.

Tony has been involved in hot rodding and drag racing in New Zealand for as long as he can remember. He started drag racing a T-bucket with a supercharged small block chevy years ago but moved on from that as the family got bigger. A good friend of Tony's built a front-engine dragster a few years back on which he was his crew chief. This got Tony hooked on nostalgia type racing and he always wanted to have his own.

About 10-12 years ago Tony became an NZDRA tech inspector. He also became the NZDRA area steward at his local track, which was then on an airfield. He was invited to join the Masterton Motorplex Drag Rracing Club, which organized drag racing in Masterton. This club was behind building their own racing facility which is now into its 5th season and it's only the second purpose-built track in New Zealand at the present.

Tony decided to build his own FED about 8 years ago and with the help of family and some close friends he built a 150-inch mild steel chassis car ,fitted a stock 305 small block and powerglide to a narrowed 9 inch with 28" spline axles and open drive. He used a lot of donated and home built parts including rear slicks thrown away by another racer just to get the car going. He finished the car and due to his official duties, he put his son Andrew in the driver's seat. At their first meeting they managed a best of 12 seconds but soon had that down to the high 10s by the end of the season.

The car proved to be reasonably consistent and reliable which resulted in winning the modified dyo class at the 47th New Zealand Nationals and also claiming the NZDRA modified championship that first season. Second season Tony fitted a Hilborn stack-injected 383 small block running dart heads, 13.5 compression, steel rods and a roller cam but went through the season learning how to tune and acheiving a best of 9.0 The last season they ran the car upgrading to a 4.3 ratio moser differential, a beefed 'glide with a transbrake and a new roller cam which resulted in a best of 8.7 @ 156mph.
The team also managed a class win at the 49th NZ Nationals. They were handicapped by still running those old throwaway slicks which they are replacing this season and with some better tune up info they're aiming to get more consistent and aiming for low 8s.

Tony runs on a shoestring budget which makes for a lot of fun and he's real happy to have the whole family involved, with his wife Philippa and daughter-in-law Jeni doing back up and tow car duties as well as the help of lots of close friends.Tony's grandson Tyler has also recently caught the bug and at 7 years old he now races his own junior dragster. The '59 he imported from Colorado approx. 9 years ago and is an original old survivor which has never been restored and has only 125,000 miles on it. It still runs the old 292 y-block and 2 speed. It's used as the tow car for the FED at nostalgia meets.

Tony said "I have been fortunate to have had the support of my family allowing me to participate in the sport of drag racing and one day might get back in the drivers seat. In the meantime I will just keep doing what I do to grow the sport here in New Zealand. One of my proudest moments was winning the NZDRA award of merit for outstanding contribution to the sport of drag racing in 2015 and sharing our racing sucess on the track with my son Andrew who does an awesome job driving the car."

Great job, Tony. We wish you good luck, safe racing and the best of times in the future!
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Re: Racin' and Rockin'..."JB's Take"

Postby draglist » Thu Nov 02, 2017 11:09 pm

Awesome as always, John! bp
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Re: Racin' and Rockin'..."JB's Take"

Postby WildcatOne » Mon Nov 06, 2017 6:58 pm

Thanks, BP! It's been terrific getting to know drag racers from all over the world! We all share the same passion for the sport!

My pick for Racer of the Week is Mike O'Donnell, from Tucson, Arizona. Mike was recommended to me by our friend Veronica Sterling. Thanks, Veronica!

This is a special story about some special people. It encapsulates the spirit of our sport, and it is well worth retelling here.

Mike was asked to help put Mike Osborne, a fellow racer's car back together after had passed from cancer a few years ago. At first Mike felt uncomfortable doing it because heI never really knew Mike. But in his heart it felt like the right thing to do. The car had been sitting since he fell ill and was exactly as he left it.

The car is a '64 Pontiac GTO that is set up to run as a track-legal street car.

Mike began the project totally blind with no clue where to start or what all it was going to take to complete the task but as he started it felt as if there was some Divine guidance and everything went together easier than expected with zero setbacks. Next thing you know the beast is alive and running and back in fighting shape. It was discussed and decided that Mike would run this car to celebrate Mike Osborne's life on what would have been his 50th Birthday.

Mike and his crew loaded the car took it back to Tucson Dragway for Street car takeover, entered the event with only 2 test hits in a car he had never raced, and went into eliminations with Mikes ashes riding shotgun in his fire suit.

With the help of his regular race crew, they spent the night chopping down the tree, going rounds and winning the event having no problems with the car .

All event wins are a blessing, but this one meant so much to Mike O'Donnell, Mike Osborne's family and his friends.

Mike told me: "It was an Honor and very Humbling to do this and I can't express enough how much I appreciate all the support I Got from everyone. This is a memory that will last for a lifetime for me and is something I can look back on and be proud of .Thank You to everyone that supported this project it couldn't have turned out like it did without you."

Happy 50th Birthday, Mike Osborne. You got another win and trophy for your trophy case!

Mike O'Donnell, we wish you good luck, safe racing and the best of times in the future!
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Re: Racin' and Rockin'..."JB's Take"

Postby Wheelzman » Tue Nov 07, 2017 7:21 am

Giving of one's self reaps huge amounts of joy that can not be quantified in dollars or cents. Being rich is not always restricted to financial gain and that feeling of doing the right thing is something that money can't buy. Good on you Mike. God bless. 8) 8) 8)


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