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

Postby WildcatOne » Mon Mar 30, 2020 6:26 pm

My pick for Racer of the Week is Wayne Allman, from near Stratford on Avon , England. Wayne was recommended to me by our friend and former Racer of the Week, Kirsten vanCroonenborgh. Thanks, Kirsten!

Wayne is an incredibly talented and creative fabricator, engine builder and automotive artist. I’ve visited his Intergalactic Custom Shop page and saw the work that he’s done, and it is some of the finest work I’ve ever seen. He is the owner, builder, tuner and driver of the “Mental Breakdown”, a one-of-a-kind VW Bulli Mk II dragster. He’s a very popular and respected racer and personality in UK Drag Racing, and it’s an honor to feature him tonight.

Wayne, age 52, started going drag racing back in the late 70s as a kid. He kept hearing loud engines every few weeks and one day his brother and he jumped on their bicycles and went to look for the loud noise. They found Long Marston Drag strip. They let them in for whatever pocket money they had between them. Wayne was bitten by the drag racing bug that day.

When Wayne got his driving license, his friends and he would go down to Long Marston or Avon Park, as it was called next , and would race their street cars at night until they got chased off by the owner or someone. They’d be back a few weeks later. His first official trip down the street was in around 1991 at Avon Park again , at a run-what-ya-brung where a friend was testing his Vmax with Nitrous (which ran a 9 on street tyres without a wheelie bar) so Wayne thought he’d have a go his my beach buggy. He ran a 17.2 @75 ish !
Wayne did an apprenticeship doing mechanics, body work and fabrication and started building building his old roof chopped , pillarless bug when he was about 24 which got magazine featured and won a show. He rebuilt it in the late 90s with a 460 big block Ford in the front. The car was street legal and ran low 11s. When a friend made him an offer he couldn’t refuse, it went, and Mental Breakdown which he’d already started building became a lot more serious.

He built the chassis to sfi 2.1a spec. It’s really a very short nosed dragster chassis with a large crumple zone at the front and Wayne sits in the back of the cab - the crew cab bit.
The body is all steel. Wayne stretched it from a single cab truck into a crew cab to get his feet behind the centreline of the front axle for the sfi tag. It has a 135” wheel base , powered by a 526ci blown hemi, with a Keith Black stage 7 raised cam block, Bryant Crank, MGP rods, Arias pistons ,Dart fuel heads, a 14-71 blower , a 3-speed CS1 Lenco, and a Crowerglide clutch. Wayne built the engine at work in his office, as he decided he needed an engine building room more than an office.

Mental Breakdown is pretty heavy being all metal -2800 lbs , he looks front heavy but weight distribution is 49% front , 51% rear ,
Wayne painted the body work in his workshop . It’s Gold kandy over flake with ghost flames and stars , raspberry kandy panels over silver flake with copper leaf lettering, which was his first attempt and cost only £30!

Getting his license in MB, Wayne ran a 7.67 1/4 on his first full pass and his best so far is a 7.10 @196mph. He said he’s trying for 6s when things get back to normal!

Wayne has his own business (The Intergalactic Custom Shop ), building cool stuff from Drag cars, tube chassis, roll cages, hand made body panels, etc. He’s currently building an Outlaw Anglia Van like a scaled down pro mod, with a twin turbo big block in an aluminum body. Life is good.

Wayne said he’d like to wish everyone well during these strange times . He says “Stay safe everyone and don’t forget Drag Racing is Far Out !!!”

Wayne, 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 Apr 06, 2020 2:00 pm

My pick for Racer of the Week is Pat McGlynn, from Park View, Iowa. I was impressed with Pat’s gorgeous dragster from having seen it on the Quad Cities Drag Racers page and it’s turned into a wonderful friendship and connection for future Racers of the Week. Pat is a very successful and popular racer in the Quad Cities area and surrounding region and it’s an honor to feature him tonight.

Pat’s dragster is a 2001 undercover. It’s powered by a 598 cubic inch Chevy. Pat started racing when he was 15 (somewhat illegally) and now he’s 37. His family got into racing through his uncle Carl Schatz who is no longer with us and Bill Huff. They raced anything from bracket cars up to a Top Alcohol Funny Car since they started racing in 1993.

Pat’s dad Frank has been the main crew guy that keeps his brother Pete and him going, although the whole family helps out in some way. Pat’s wife Melissa and their 2 kids Madisyn and Maisyn are always by his side when they’re racing. Pat’s mom Christine is a huge behind the scenes supporter of his racing! They generally race with the same group wherever they go, including Pat’s brother Pete, Rick Verkler and Scott Marsden. They strictly compete in bracket races. mainly local but they are known to hit some big money races from time to time.

Pat’s accomplishments are:
In 2003 at the Fun Ford Weekend, he was the winner at that race. Pat won $2,000 and a free 2 year lease on an ’03 Mustang GT. At the World Series of Drag Racing, Pat was the runner up in Super Pro in both 2006 and 2007. He was the World Series Champ in Super Pro in 2014 and 2018. Pat was the 2005 World Series Top Dragster winner in 2005. He was the IHRA Nitro Jam National Event winner at Cordova in 2015 in Box Class. Pat has won 3 Wallys: in 2007,2008 and 2012. At Cordova Dragway, he was 2nd place in points finishes in 2006 2009 2010 2016.
He has 35 total career wins.

Pat’s crew is:
Frank McGlynn (dad)
Pete McGlynn (brother)
Melissa McGlynn (wife)
Madisyn and Maisyn (daughters)
His goal is to win a big money race that pays 50k or more to the winner.

I’d say for that goal, it’s not “If”, but “when” you win the big money race, Pat. 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 Apr 13, 2020 7:06 pm

My pick for Racers of the Week are Michael and Sonya Blagg. Sonya sent me their info, so I’m going to focus on her driving tonight. Michael is a great guy who works on the car so that she can compete and win. Sonya Blagg lives in Sayre, Oklahoma. She races a 1982 Chevy El Camino, named “Hell Camino.” She is currently the race director at the Sayre Street Races, which is a non-profit street race event, hosted by the Sayre Chamber of Commerce. All the staff, including Sonya, are volunteers.  Her husband, Michael, serves as her mechanic and crew chief and is also the mechanic and crew chief for Justin Atkins’ Thunder Chicken Firebird. Justin will be featured next week, by the way. Sonya’s Elco has been built from the ground up by Michael and her. Michael is very important to her race program, as well as Justin’s. She said there is no way she could race without the support, knowledge, mechanical ability and expertise of Michael Blagg.

The Hell Camino is on small tires, powered by a 496 big block Chevy with old school Reher Morrison heads. It runs a powerglide transmission and nitrous. Sonya and Michael have progressed over the past four years and get faster and more consistent every season.

Sonya’s love for cars and all things mechanical began in her childhood. Her parents owned a salvage yard when she was a toddler and her fondest memories are of watching her parents and soaking up everything they knew. Her dad let her help, whether it was handing him tools or doing easy little tasks, and she grew to love everything about cars.  Michael grew up working on cars and eventually became a mechanic. He has a great love for cars and anything mechanical. He is a wiring guru and has done the wiring on the Hell Camino and Justin’s Thunder Chicken, as well as several other cars in the area.

Sonya did some street racing in her younger life and then she got into dirt track racing in her late 20s and raced for a few years before some life changes forced her to give it up. She was a single mom and needed to focus on her child. Michael did a lot of demolition derby and mud truck racing in his younger years.

Sonya married Michael, who was her high school sweetheart, in 2007, and they settled into a nice family life. In 2014, she got involved as a volunteer for the Sayre Street Races and Michael has helped her in every aspect of her volunteer work. A couple of years into volunteering for that, Michael and Sonya decided to build a car and race as well. In June 2016, they bought her El Camino, which was stock, and by July 2016, she was racing. In one month, they installed a roll cage, built a motor, plumbed the fuel system and wired the car. They built it on a shoe-string budget and did and continue to do all the work on it themselves, with help here and there from friends. By the end of 2016, Sonya became race director at Sayre Street Races (and Sayre Chamber of Commerce president for 2016 and 2017) and she continues to volunteer in the race director capacity. 
Sonya won the points championship at Sayre Street Races in the Motor Maniacs class in 2017. She has also been fortunate enough to get to race Farmtruck from Street Outlaws and was on an episode of the show in August 2018. She was on the SSR Top 10 list for two years. A few of her most memorable races have been racing Mike Qualley’s Mutt, (an early 1940s Ford F1), and Farmtruck, of course. She has competed, alongside her fellow 580 teammates, in annual Border Wars against the 908 (Texas) for the last two years.

She (along with her 580 racing team) traveled with a group from the 918 (eastern Oklahoma) to St. Louis in April of 2019 to race the Memphis Street Outlaws and JJ da Boss, to film for an episode of the show, which will be aired during the last part of Season 4, which is on TV right now. She also got the opportunity to run in the truck class at Outlaw Armageddon at Thunder Valley Raceway Park in Noble, Okla., last August, and she also ran in the OG Street Event at Kansas International Dragway last summer. 

Sonya’s plans for 2020 will be to do more traveling to compete at various street and track events. The Blaggs like the street events the best, but they do compete in some track events. They plan to try to race the Memphis Street Outlaws again some day, travel to different states to race some other race teams and they also plan to attend Armageddon again this year.  They plan to race at various street race events in Oklahoma this year as well. That is, when this virus stuff ever goes away so they can commence racing season again.

Sonya has one sponsor: Chris Rhoads with Texoma Tire and Auto in Sayre, OK, who provides her with Amsoil Racing Fluids. She said she is very grateful for him for that.

Also, be sure to check out the Hell Camino on Facebook and Instagram!

Great story, Sonya. Y’all have a great hot rod. We wish you and Michael 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 » Sat Apr 18, 2020 12:29 am

My pick for Racer of the Week is Justin Atkins, from Pampa, Texas. Justin was recommended to me by our friend and last week’s Racer of the Week, Sonya Blackshear Blagg. Thanks, Sonya!

Justin is the driver of the “Thunder Chicken”, a 1980 Pontiac Trans Am.
Justin has always had a love for racing and did some racing in his younger years, but the “addiction” really started in 2016, after a buddy invited him to come race at the Sayre, Oklahoma Street Races. He first raced at Sayre with his 1985 Chevy C10. The next time he raced there, he took his C10 and his 1972 Olds 442 to the event.

Justin won the Western Blacktop class at Sayre Street Races with each of those vehicles. He has since sold both cars. He had a lot of fun with them.

In January 2018, Justin bought the Thunder Chicken and started building it. He started the 2018 season at Sayre running the car and it has been through many changes since its debut race, including a paint job, and new everything from back to front.

Justin says it has been a long, fun road to get the car where it is. It is powered by a 632” big block Chevy, with nitrous, and also has a powerglide transmission. Justin’s crew chief is Michael Blagg, who also is the top wrench on Sonya’s “Hell Camino”.

Justin went undefeated in Sayre during the 2018 season, and ended the season in the #3 spot on the SSR Top 10 List. He participated in annual Border Wars in Amarillo in June 2018, which was his first nitrous run on the car. Justin (along with Sonya’s 580 racing team) traveled with a group from the 918 (Eastern Oklahoma) to St. Louis in April of 2019 to race the Memphis Street Outlaws and JJ da Boss, to film for an episode of the show, which will be aired during the last part of Season 4, which is on TV right now. He was also
privileged to get to run as part of Team St. Louis in JJ’s $100K 8-city Fastest in America race in Memphis, Tennessee, last June. That show aired in January 2020 and the St. Louis team race was featured on the first episode. He got the opportunity to run in the big tire class at Outlaw Armaggedon at Thunder Valley Raceway Park in Noble, Okla., last August, where he blew his motor during the first round as he lined up against Kayla Morton in the Hot Mess Express.

Justin’s plans for 2020 will be to do more traveling to compete at various street and track events. He plans to travel to different states to race with some other race teams and also plans to attend Outlaw Armaggedon again this
year. He will also race at various street race events in Oklahoma this year.

Justin’s sponsors include CarQuest of Pampa, Texas; Senter’s Trucking of Scottsville, Kansas; and the Boland Family of Pampa, TX.

He sends thanks to Mike and Sonya Blagg.

Don’t forget to check out Thunder Chicken Racing on facebook and Instagram!

Justin, we wish you good luck, safe racing and the best of times in the future!
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