51st Annual Kragen-O'Reilly Auto Parts NHRA Winternationals Eliminations

Congratulations to the winners at the 51st Annual Kragen-O'Reilly Auto Parts NHRA Winternationals, Morgan Lucas (Top Fuel), Robert Hight (Funny Car) and Jason Line (Pro Stock).

In the Top Fuel final round Morgan Lucas (3.835 ET @316.38 MPH) defeated Shawn Langdon (4.047 ET @ 313.73 MPH).

In the Funny Car final round Robert Hight (4.056 ET @ 312.71 MPH) defeated Matt Hagan (4.023 ET @ 310.20 MPH).

In the Pro Stock final Round Jason Line (6.529 ET @ 211.89 MPH) defeated Greg Stanfield (6.595 ET @ 210.70 MPH).

My picks in Top Fuel and Funny Car, Larry Dixon and Jack Beckman were eliminated in Round 1 and my pick in Pro Stock, Greg Anderson made it to the semi-finals where he lost to teammate Jason Line.  My picks had a combined 2-3 record in eliminations.

Disney Magic Happens

I ran across these Disney commercials on YouTube.  I think they are from the early 2000's but not sure when they started/stopped making them but they should brink back the concept!  Although they are all great commercials I put my favorite one at the end.  Which one is your favorite?



















My favorite one - 

51st Annual Kragen-O'Reilly Auto Parts NHRA Winternationals Qualifying

After taking the winter months off the NHRA Drag Racing season has begun at the Auto Club Raceway At Pomona with the 51st Annual Kragen-O'Reilly Auto Parts NHRA Winternationals.

Larry Dixon, the 2010 Top Fuel champion was the #1 qualifier and set a new Top Fuel national record with a 3.770, which was just slightly better then the previous record of 3.771 held by Tony Schumacher.

Cruz Pedregon took the #1 spot on his third qualifying pass with a run of 4.015.  Cruz will take on his brother Tony Pedregon in the first round on Sunday after he finished qualifying in the #16 spot.  John Force, the 2010 Funny Car Champion qualified in the #5 spot.  Unfortunately one of my favorite cars of 2011, the In-N-Out Funny Car driven by Melanie Troxell will not be in the field of 16 on Sunday.

Erica Enders ran a career-best 6.553 in her first qualifying attempt and that ET held up through two rounds of Pro Stock qualifying giving her the #1 spot.  Greg Anderson, the 2010 Pro Stock Champion qualified in the #2 spot.  Former Pro Stock Champion Mike Edwards failed to qualify for the 16 car field.

Larry Dixon	Cruz Pedregon	Erica Enders

Here are are my picks for the winners:

Top Fuel - Larry Dixon

Funny Car - Jack Beckman

Pro Stock - Greg Anderson

We Got A New Car

So with all the excitement of my new remote control car the purchase of our new (to us) 2008 Chevrolet Suburban kind of got pushed to the side!  With the arrival of our 4th child we decided it was time to upgrade our 2005 Chevrolet Tahoe for something a little bigger. We needed more room for the stroller, port-a-crib, etc. so we looked at new Suburbans online but realized they were a little expensive so we decided to look at good used ones. We found a '09 Suburban at the Chevrolet dealership but after looking at it had too many miles for being a '09 and it didn't seem like it was well cared for.  We were driving by the GMC dealer and saw a Suburban so we stopped and looked.  We liked this one.  It is 4 wheel drive (good for Cheyenne), has a sunroof, BOSE speaker system and a DVD player. It was a year older but had the same amount of miles as the '09 we looked at earlier and in much better shape overall so we traded in our '05 Tahoe and drove the Suburban home.

Side view.

Front view.

Interior view.

The kids' favorite part, they can finally watch movies on our
long trips to Nevada and California or maybe someday to Florida?

Time For A New Body?

So I have had the new remote control TRAXXAS Slash 4x4 a little over a week now and I already want to make some modifications.  As the stock parts break or get worn I will replace them with heavier duty parts but today I started looking at different bodies. Here are some that I have found that I like so far:

Chevy Silverado 1500

Volkswagen Full Fender Baja Bug

Volkswagen Baja Bug

The bodies will come in clear plastic and I will have to paint them.  Not sure how creative I can get with the graphics as I don't have any experience painting but we will see.  So which one should I get?

Caster Block Replacement

So I went by HobbyTown to see if they had the replacement parts for my broken left-side caster block (c-hub) and picked up these new blue anodized aluminum caster blocks from TRAXXAS.

New in the box.

Inspected them to ensure they weren't cracked or anything.

Install complete, took a few minutes each side.  

Left side.

Right side.

Cleaned up and ready for some more action.

Lets hope it is a few more weeks before I break anything else and have to upgrade that part.  :)

"You Broke It Already?"

"You broke it already?"  That is what Marsha said when I got home.  Jordan, Kaylee and I decided to take the car to the track and run a few laps.  With the new batteries I bought and the stock one I figured I could get 30-40 minutes of driving in. Well within the first 5 minutes I took jump and didn't quite make it and snapped the left-side caster block (c-hub).  

Something is not quite right with the left side suspension?

 

This is what is supposed to look like . . .

. . . and this is what it looks like now.

So now tomorrow I will be visiting the hobby shop and see if they have the stronger aluminum style caster blocks.  Something similar to this - 

It sucks to break stuff but it is so fun at the same time!

RC Car Test Drive

Jordan and I took the new TRAXXAS Slash 4x4 out for a test drive this morning.  The weather was nice and clear, no snow or rain and it was about 25 degrees, perfect Cheyenne weather! The track isn't that well maintained as it is a public track and I don't think anybody owns it?  Hopefully if they start a racing series it will be worked on a bit.  Definitely need to invest in a few more batteries since they only last 10-15 minutes and takes about an hour to charge.  Jordan got to drive it awhile and was the first to put in on its roof.  I was driving when these pictures were taken.  I think Jordan wants one now, he better start saving his money! 

Rounding the corner.

Don't think I am make this jump . . .

. . . but I made this one!

Jumping over the tabletop.

Getting some air!

Jumping over Jordan's shadow.

Jason's New Hobby

I have been wanting to buy a remote control car for awhile now but have been putting it off, until Uncle Sam decided he wanted to give us back some of the taxes we paid in 2010.  So today I went to HobbyTown U.S.A. and after talking to the guys there came home with this 1/10 scale TRAXXAS Slash 4x4 Mark Jenkins Edition.

Right out of the box it can do 35+MPH and with the change of the gear pinion that is included it can do 40+MPH.  Another upgrade with the gear pinion and battery and it can get up to 60+MPH.  This will happen very soon!  For now I will just get used to driving it at 35+MPH.  Definately a lot quicker then the car I raced with my dad when I was teenager.

There are a few body styles pictured below.  I like the Jerry Whelchel version but they didn't have it there.  The three options I had were the Mark Jenkins Edition (which I bought), Scott Douglas/Mike Oberg Edition and the Greg Adler Edition.

There is a public track around the corner that the boys and I will be hitting tomorrow morning to test out the car.  I am positive they will want one after seeing how much fun dad is gonna have!  The staff at HobbyTown said there is plans to run some events this year and will have a class specifically for these cars which is one of the reasons I decided on this one.  If it doesn't happen then hopefully I can find some races in Colorado to attend.

Here are some videos I found on YouTube.

Disneyland Day Trip

So since most of my family was leaving Las Vegas on Sunday and heading back to California I decided to take a quick drive down to Disneyland for the day.  I went down with my mother-in-law and had a good time just walking around and doing a little shopping.  We ended up riding the Big Thunder Mountain Railroad and took a trip around the Rivers of America in the Sailing Ship Columbia and spent the rest of the time walking around and just taking pictures.  We had a late lunch/early dinner at the Carnation Cafe which is some of the best food I have had at Disneyland!  It was more crowded then I expected which could have been because of the great weather which was in the 70's.

The Main Street railway depot as you walk into
Disneyland.

Main Street railway depot.

Mickey Mouse.

The Partners Statue is one of my favorite things in
Disneyland.

Donald Duck statue in The Hub.

The Sailing Ship Columbia coming back to get us.

Looking at Big Thunder Mountain Railroad from the
Sailing Ship Columbia.

Another shot of the Partners Statue.

Entrance to Adventureland.

Entrance to Frontierland.

Main Street Fire Station.

Emporium.

We are already planning our next Disneyland vacation with the whole family for June of this year after the kids get out of school.

Cameron and Amy's Wedding Day

So the main reason I went to Las Vegas last weekend was for Cameron and Amy's wedding. I had a great time, the weather was great and here are a few pictures from the special day.

Amy getting ready.

Trace waiting to leave.

Jackie (not sure what she is looking at?)

Gracie.

Matthew looking sharp.

The Chapel . . . Chapel of the Flowers.

Dad in a suit?  LOL

"What are you looking at?" - Bailey

Amy and Cameron pulling in.

Mom and Dad.

Amber saying hello.

Cameron and Amy getting ready to leave in the limo.

We weren't allowed to take pictures during the ceremony or afterwards when the professional photographers were doing their thing.  Amber took a bunch of pictures after of Amy and Cameron.