Back on the road. The team didn't get much rest this week as it was time to hit the road again. We had a tire blowout just on the north side of Gainesville. It was so nice to have E. Lowe riding with us so he could help Chris change the tire and get us back on the road. We arrived in Gulfport on Saturday morning. I didn't watch the weather report, and a cold front had pushed its way through, and of course I didn't have a thing to wear. It was off to the store. Chris dropped me off at Walmart to get some supplies while the guys went off to get the tire fixed.
We had a little time to spare, so we decided to head down to the beach to see how they were rebuilding after hurricane Katrina. You could see signs of the damage inland, but that did not prepare us for what we were to see when we drove closer to the beach. Leveled doesn't even describe it. There was an aquarium that was just twisted metal. How anything could survive is amazing. But the best part of all of this was the hope that things will get back to normal. You could see that they will rebuild, and it will be better than ever.
We were here with the invitation of the Ford Performance Club. This is an annual race that we came to in 2004, but they skipped last year because of the hurricane. These guys were ready to race. We were scheduled to do a small show on Saturday night durning test and tune, but mother nature had other ideas. It started to rain, and the track had to cancel the racing for the night. We hung out for a while to see if it would clear up enough for us to do a line show of smoke and fire for the racers and their families that had come to camp for the weekend. The rain cleared and we pulled out the dragster out on the line and fired her up. I did a full track fire show and had a great time.
The next morning we woke up early to go grab some breakfast and head to the track. When we walked outside, it was disappointing. The skies were grey and it had rained A LOT in the night. When we pulled into the track at 8:00 a.m. our pit area was flooded and the track was really wet. But the Gulfport Raceway team and the guys from the Ford Performance Club got it done.
We went up for our first pass at 2:30 and made 3 total passes down the quarter mile. The Embry-Riddle jet dragster did not disappoint. All of the passes went well and I now feel like she is ready to fly.
This race is special, it is what drag racing is all about, I am talking about true grass roots racing. The whole family comes out to the drag strip and camps, kids are running around, moms and dads it was great. This was really cool. Frank, photographer, said that it gave him goosebumps to see the dragracing that he didn't think existed anymore. It was an amazing weekend.
We have to give a BIG thanks to the Ford Performance Club, Bobby and Darrell, for having us come out, the Gulfport Raceway staff, Frankie for taking care of me, ALL of the fans that stopped by, and last but not least my husband Chris for giving me the chance to FLY!!!
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