Douglas Race

Time to go racing!!!! April 14 & 15th. While others were scrambling to finish their taxes, the Miss Ta Fire team was heading out of town to Douglas, Georgia to go have some fun. We decided to leave home on Thursday night as Sparkplug was off from school on Friday. It was a great decision. We made it to Lake City and pulled in for the night. Chris and Andrew watched some TV and we all went to bed early to get some rest for the weekend. My crew chief E. Lowe (who loves to get up at the crack of dawn) left home with the crew car and caught up with us before we could get out of bed. We had breakfast and headed out.

We made it into town at 12:00 and met up with Paul Miller and his crew. Paul was one of the two jet drivers that signed off on my license, so it is always fun to run up against him. He is now driving the Dream Machine 3, that is owned by Dale Keesee. You might have seen this car before, it has been on display at most of the Super Chevy's across the country. We all hooked up and met Tim (the track manager) at the Golden Correl for lunch. Paul is always trying to fatten me up!! It didn't work this time, just salad for me thank you.

We then headed to do a display in front of the local Burger King. At 4:00 I was picked up and taken to do a radio spot. After promoting the race, it was back to the display to load the car. We were scheduled to each do a qualifying run on Friday night. One of the highlights of the night was when the announcer talked about Paul and his crew which was driving the Barbie Car. They tow the car with a Pink Tracker and we like to tease Dale that it is the Barbie car. We both made great passes. I had low et. and Paul had the top speed. After the runs, it was time to get some food. Yes, this is all I think about!! Huddle House, the best place to go after a race. Okay the only place still open. But hey I love their loaded hash browns.

The next morning Chris and E. Lowe went to the display and unloaded the car while I stayed back at the hotel to give Sparkplug some extra time to sleep. (It is good to pull the Mom card) they picked us up and we finished the display and headed to the track for race day. I got to meet some really cool people. That is my favorite part about racing. You get to hear so many cool stories and make friends all over the country. We also had the pleasure of having some of the Embry-Riddle Aeronautical Family come out to the race. Terri who works in Risk Management decided to see what all of the fuss was. I think she thought it was worth the risk.

The first pass went great. I was lucky enough to get off the starting line first to win on a whole shot. The next pass Paul decided to beat the light and I chased him down. All in all every pass was over 200 mph and the fans went wild. I want to thank Terri for taking the time to come check us out.

We spent Easter driving home from the race. Came home and started preparing for this weekend where I will be in West Palm Beach racing again. Thanks for stopping by at the races. Hope to see you all again.

Elaine