Yet Another Year Has Passed!!

It has been a long time since I have posted anything on my blog. A lot has happened in the last year and most of it did not include race cars.

Last year we lost my dad at nearly 90 years old. Most people would have never expected him to live that long but after having him in our care for the past 20 plus years, we would not have expected anything less! He was a survivor!

Traci and I are still figuring out what life is like without another person being in our direct care. It is kind of different for us, but we are learning to like it. Traci and I have never lived alone in our house since we decided to start a family many years ago.

It is the first time in our life we have been able to go anywhere we want, anytime we want.

We have a few pets that tie us down but this year we moved my sister up near our house. She is great help and is always willing to take care of the animals when we are gone.

Traci and I lost one of our kitties last year unexpectedly, but God filled that gap with a new member that wandered up on our porch one night. Her name is Willow, and she is something! We are very attached to her, and she is very spoiled. We said we were not going to let any of the cats live in the house, but Willow changed that. She pretty much runs the house!

We have not done any racing in two-plus years but have stayed involved in the sport. Our friendship with the Janis family (3-time world NHRA  ProMod champs) and their crew has grown to the point that they have become part of our family. We try to go see them race at least 2 times a year. Last year we went to Bristol Tennessee to watch them race and they won the event. It was really cool to see them win. Mikey and Mike have been instrumental in guiding us to sucess some day. We are so fortunate to have access to their knowledge.

We were there when the Janis's won their first race with their new driver. Winning an NHRA race in the first season with a new driver is an amazing accomplishment.

Our plan is to start racing the Blue Banana (comp dragster) now that we have completely rebuilt it and updated it. It had some engine problems that needed to be fixed. We have updated the electronics and installed Electronic Fuel Injection on it to make it more competitive and consistent.

We are also getting the Black Hole (ProMod) ready to race again. Every item on the car has expired safety certifications and must be brought back into spec again before we take it to the track again. We also bought a new light weight carbon fiber body for it that must be installed and painted. We have completely disassembled the car and am completely redoing everything while focusing on losing weight, making the car safer, and making it easier to service. Everything that we can make out of titanium (very strong and lightweight metal), we are. Everything that we don't need on the car is gone. Our goal is to be at minimum weight for my type of car so we have a fighting chance to compete.

Titanium is awesome. Light as a feather and strong as alloy steel.

We are in the process of freshening up our engine and have it ready to go when we finish updating the chassis. We want to buy one of the Janis's new engines to be at the top of our game when we start racing the car, but we haven't committed to that yet.

We are somewhat in a holding pattern on while we are getting our lake house fixed up again. We are fixing it up so some good friends can live in it instead of letting it sit and get in disrepair. Traci and I have a hard time finding opportunities to go to Bonham, so we want someone to enjoy the place until we have more time to use it. Prices are so crazy these days that we are waiting to see what that costs before we go all out on the race car.

Even though our world is crazy, life goes on and we should not stop living! I know the last two years have been tough on a lot of people. It has been a crazy two-plus years but Traci and I learned a lot during this madness. First, love your family, friends, and God! Second, DO NOT STOP LIVING! You never know when your time will be up. Lastly and most important, remember, God is in control!!!!

Love you all!