Southern Maryland- Women in Racing

Countdown until March 6th

2010-02-11T11:42:00.000-08:00

It has been a very long offseason for me. I dislike cold weather and snow and it seems like thats all we have had since the racing season ended. We have been snowed in the last week or so and I am going crazy. the white stuff is starting to get depressing!!!! I thought this picture would explain how I am feeling about the weather. This is how you know someone has had enough snow!!!!!

The countdown has begun on the 2010 racing season. The season starts with some test and tunes on March 6th. ( Click on the link below for the 2010 racing schedule at Maryland International Raceway.) I do not get to race until the first weekend in April because of my work schedule. I am looking forward to the IHRA Pro Am race April 16-18. My goal is to race a weekend or two prior to that race to get some seat time. I did not get to race much last year due to having shoulder surgery, so now I am really looking forward to racing Hot Rod again some this year.

We took the motor out of the Camaro at the end of the season to get it freshened up. Thank God we decided to do that because we found out the crank was cracked and had we not found that we would have major problems soon! I would rather find the problem now and not after the motor blows up! Its much easier on the pocket when you find it before something bad happens. The motor should be done soon. Thanks to Wayne Campbell @ Waynes World Racing Engines in Clinton, Maryland. He is the best!!!!

Countdown.....23 days until the racing season begins :~)

http://www.mirdrag.com/v2/schedule/

Class Index Racing

2009-09-11T12:40:00.000-07:00

The classes that we will run at the national event are Quick Rod and Hot Rod. I have tried to explain a little about each class below.

The fastest of the "Rod" categories, Quick Rod offers dragsters, altereds, vintage roadsters, coupes and passenger cars racing with heads up start. The objective of the class is to beat an opponent to the finish line without going under the 8.90-second Class Index, or 5.70 in the 1/8 mile.

Using a National Standard of 7.00 seconds (1/8 mile), 10.90 (1/4 mile), Hot Rod may appear as an entry level division but presents some of the closest competition of any category. Races are often won by a margin of only a few thousandths of a second, which equates to mere inches at the finish line. The same driving strategies and electronic driving equipment which prevail in both Quick Rod and Super Rod are evident in a class where the speeds can reach 140 mph. While each vehicle must retain a production apperance, virtually all are constructed specifically for the division. Hot Rod is open to all entries with qualifying position determined by performance against the National Standard.

National Event Here I Come

2009-09-09T13:40:00.000-07:00

After a long weekend of racing we have FINALLY got the car back together and it is running great!

Over the Labor Day weekend we raced three out of four days to try and get everything straight. By the time Monday morning came my son looked at me and said, "Mommy can I stay with Grandma and Grandad today I am to tired to go to the track today". I do not think I have ever heard my son tell me that he didn't want to go to the track. That just shows how much time we had spent there over the weekend.

The time spent at the track was well worth it. We now have both the dragster and the camaro ready to run quick rod and hot rod.

Tomorrow I will explain the classes that we are going to run at this race.

I am going to call the kids, get ready to leave work and head to physical therapy. BUSY BUSY

Have a wonderful evening!

Luck is not on my side

2009-08-20T07:53:00.001-07:00

Well I havn't updated about this past weekend because I DIDN'T get to race. We put the trans back in the car Friday night and it still wasn't fixed. We had to take it back out and give it back to our transmission guy. Don't get me wrong this guy is great and does great work (Freddy Frye) I think what ever the problem its just something minor and he will get it fixed for me. I have to get it fixed soon because I only have a month to get some seat time before the National Event at Maryland International Raceway. I have been looking forward to racing at this event for a VERY long time. But I have faith that the trans will get fixed and everything will fall into place.

Todd raced on Saturday. He lost third round but it still was a good night. He is doing pretty good in points. Well it could be better but at least he is having a better year than last. He is finally gaining some confidence back in himself and his driving abililties and that is making a difference. And the fact that the car is finally staying together helps to. The last few weeks he has won some money and that is always a good thing.

Since there was no racing last Sunday for me Tyler was pretty angry because he can't wait for mommy to race again. We decided to go shopping. He starts school on Wednesday so we went school shopping. He is so easy to go shopping with. He knows what he wants and what he likes, he picks it out and he is done. We bought all his school supplies and clothes on Sunday and last night we went and bought his new shoes. We were in and out of the shoe store in less than 15 minutes. He got his foot measured and he walked around picked out two pairs of shoes and said, "ok mom Im done". If that were me picking out shoes we would be there forever. After shopping my husband called and asked if we wanted to go eat crabs with our friends Freddy and Larry. We went to Drift Inn and had crabs. They were the best crabs I have had in a long time. The kids ate crabs and played the games that they have there. We had a good family weekend.

Back in the driver seat

2009-08-14T11:18:00.000-07:00

I am sorry that I havn't updated in a while. I received great news from the doctor on Tuesday. I can get back in the driver seat. It has been 4 long months since I have been able to drive and I can't wait. Did I mention I can't wait. The weather looks good and the car should be finished up tonight.

If anyone is looking for something exciting and entertaining to do tomorrow night, there is a special race going on at Maryland International Raceway. I will post a link.

http://www.mirdrag.com/v2/schedule/calendar/2009/09-08/09-08-15.htm

Southern Maryland- Women in Racing: Update on the weekend

2009-07-04T10:42:00.000-07:00

Southern Maryland- Women in Racing: Update on the weekend

Happy 4th of July

2009-07-03T13:09:00.000-07:00

I hope everyone has a HAPPY and SAFE 4th of July. There is no racing for us on Saturday but I believe weather permitting we will be racing on Sunday. I will post and update next week.

HAVE A GREAT WEEKEND!!!

Update on the weekend

2009-07-03T11:31:00.001-07:00

Well it was a great night for drag racing but we didn't make it to the winner's circle. Dad lost first round and re-entry (he had problems with the car) and my husband lost second round. But it was still a fun day. Congratulations to Steve Klock Jr. and Brian McLaughlin on their wins. This is a winner circle picture of Steve Klock Jr. with his racecar.

This win puts Steve in 6th place in points. But look who is number 1....its a FEMALE...Lisa Bolton from Mechanicsville, MD is showing the guys how its done. She has had two wins already this season. She is on a roll. SILLY BOYS RACECARS ARE FOR GIRLS!!!

Current Points Standings for Mod ET
1) 312 1243 LISA BOLTON
2) 270 1753 FRANK THOMPSON
3) 250 1919 DAVE HILL
250 7X81 ROBERT ROBERTSON
5) 241 ZX45 JOHNNY BURCH
6) 231 2590 STEVEN KLOCK JR

Here are a couple other pics of my kids at the track...they have fun whether mommy, daddy and grandad do good or not.

On my way to the track

2009-06-27T11:04:00.000-07:00

It's a beautiful day outside and a GREAT day for drag racing. Unfortunately I will not be driving today. :-( I really miss being in the driver seat. But I will be back in a couple weeks. I will go and be there to help my dad and husband and hopefully one of them will bring home a win tonight. Maybe I will drive one of the cars around the pits to get my racing fix until I am able to be in the driver seat again ;-)

We have a new sponsor on the car THANKS TO DEBBIE @ AdPro for all that she is doing for us. We would LOVE to have a win for her tonight. We will have to wait and see....

I better get the rest of my work done so I can head to the track.

I will post the results hopefully tomorrow...Wish us luck!!!

HOPE EVERYONE HAS A GREAT WEEKEND!

No racing=one unhappy girl

2009-06-27T10:36:00.000-07:00

It has been a while since I posted last. I think I have told you enough about how I started racing and how I met my husband and all that boring stuff. Lets get to the racing part.

I havn't raced in a couple of months. Can you hear the dissapointment :-( My last time out I broke the trans and rear oh and lets not forget the driveshaft (NOT A GOOD DAY) on my last time run. I was a little angry-disappointed because I knew that was going to be my last weekend to race until after I had my shoulder surgery. I had the surgery on May 21st. I had a torn labrum and had to have my bicep muscle pulled back up and reattached to a different part of my shoulder. The surgery went well I had to have three screws put in. It is a month after surgery and I am recovering well. I have had a month of therapy and finally was able to stop using the sling. When I had the surgery I thought the healing process was going to be short and sweet. Boy was I wrong. I am looking at another two to three months of therapy before I have full use of my arm again. BUT the good news is I will be able to start racing again soon. I have a follow up appointment on July 8th with the doctor and it looks like she is going to release me to race. I CAN'T WAIT.

Even though I havn't been able to drive I have been at the track supporting my husband and my father. I couldn't stay away. I had surgery on Thursday and was at the track (in pain) on Saturday to be with them.

The picture above is from when Todd was in the final a couple of weeks ago. He made it to the final. It came down to him and our friend Will Kivett...it had been a long day, everyone was tired and ready to go home so they decided to split the money and not run the final. So I guess you could say they were both winners. The kids just had to have their picture taken in the winner circle in dads car. They were so proud!

69 Camaro

2009-05-07T10:19:00.001-07:00

This is the racecar that I am currently racing, along with my dads dragster from time to time.

This is a 69 Camaro that belongs to my husband Todd. This was Todd's first car that his grandmother bought him that he drove on the street everyday when he began driving. He later turned it into a racecar. Actually this is the car that he was racing when we met. Now he races the dragster.

Todd and I met through my friend/roommate Toni. I knew who he was from being around the track but had never really talked to him. They were headed to a party one night and Todd happened to come by the house to pick Toni up and we met. It was just a quick hello and out the door they went. The phone rings at 5am and she is drunk...she says Jen we are in jail can you come get us (she likes to joke) needless to say they were not in jail but sitting outside the house. Since they were both drunk Todd ended up sleeping on my bedroom floor that night along with passed out Toni in my bed. A couple of days had gone by and Todd and Toni were chatting on AOL and he asked where I was at. Toni being her joking self said "she is out on the street corner handing out coupons". Needless to say he asked how he could get one of those coupons. I was standing there as she was typing this and I could of killed her. I left so who knows what else was said. I never thought any more about it. I worked in the tower at the track on the weekends and I went to work that day like normal. I started getting questions over the radio wanting to know about the coupons that I was handing out. I could not believe how that had already gotten around. Then Todd's best friend Joey came to talk to me. The next thing I know Brian came to the tower and handed me a timerun card that said coupon for Jennifer. I thought it was just a big joke since Brian and I always played jokes on each other. Then here comes Todd up to the starting line with his car. There is a piece of paper taped to the side with black writing it said "COUPON FOR JENNIFER". Needless to say this became the talk of the evening. The announcer had a blast joking about this and telling the story. Who would have known that four years later we would be married. We are still happily married 11 years later. And we both share the love of drag racing and two wonderful children Tyler and Ryleigh who by the way LOVE drag racing as much as we do.

Childhood dream comes true

2009-04-28T07:59:00.000-07:00

I left off telling you about how my childhood dream of driving a dragster came true. At the end of the 2008 racing season I made the necessary runs to obtain my license in my dad's dragster. That was one of the greatest experiences I have ever had. This is a picture from the day I got my license. You can see my dad in the background.

I better get back to work I will post again later this afternoon.

A little bit about me

2009-04-22T18:08:00.000-07:00

I finally have a chance to start my blogging. I will start off by telling you a little bit about myself and how I got started in drag racing.

My name is Jennifer. I am 28 years old and I live in Mechanicsville, Maryland. I am an only child. I have been around drag racing since I was born. My dad has been racing since he was a teenager and he is the one that got me interested in the sport. My mom and dad started taking me to the racetrack when I was just a few weeks old and I have been going ever since.

Being at the racetrack has always been my favorite pass time. Going through school I never really had alot of girly friends. Most of my friends have always been guys because the girls never understood why I liked drag racing so much. Most girls do not like to get dirty or break a nail and that is far from how I am. I have never been a girly girl and honestly I probably never will be.

I always told my parents that when I grew up I wanted to drive a racecar. My parents never told me that I couldn't but they told me that racing was not all about driving. I had to learn how to work on the cars before I could drive them. So when I was about 9 or 10 my dad made me start working on the cars with him. I started out just watching and learning what the different tools were. Then I became the tool girl. When he would work on the car I would help out and get tools for him. After a while I started helping him work on the car.

I was always there to watch my dad work on the cars and tried to learn as much as I could. It seemed like forever but the day came when I got my driver's license. As soon as that day came I told my dad that I was ready to race. He said ok but you have to start out at the bottom and work your way to the top. Meaning that I had to start out driving a slow car and work my way up to the faster cars. In the beginning I thought that I would be able to just get in and drive anything. I always told my dad that one day I wanted to drive a dragster and he would just giggle and say maybe one day we will see. My goal was to one day drive a dragster and I was going to prove to him that I was capable of doing that by starting out with a slow car and moving up. So thats what I did.

The first car that I ever raced down the track was the car that I drove on the street everday. A 1990 Chevy Beretta. I raced that a few weekends on Friday nights. In the Beretta I went 17 seconds @ 75 mph in the quarter mile. Once I showed my dad that I could do it I advanced through the years to faster cars. The cars that I drove to get me where I am today are...

A friends 1970 Chevy Nova..I went 13 seconds @ 100 mph in the quarter mile

My dads 1969 Chevy Camaro...12.30 seconds @ 108 mph in the quarter mile

My boyfriend at the time 1969 Chevy Camaro...11 seconds @ 120 mph in the quarter mile

My dads 1966 Chevy II...10.20 seconds @ 128 mph in the quarter mile

My dads 1994 Chevy Beretta...9.60 seconds @ 138 mph in the quarter mile

My dads 2005 S & W Dragster...8.20 seconds @ 157 mph in the quarter mile.

As you can see over the last few years I have achieved what I always told my dad I wanted to do since I was a little girl....I was able to drive a dragster and the best part I was able to drive MY DADS dragster.

I am done for tonight. I have to get my kids to bed. In my next blog I pick up where I left off and tell you what I am racing now and a little more about my life.

My 1st Post coming SOON!

2009-03-26T12:07:00.000-07:00

Looking forward to chatting with you!