Well I reached my goal with a top ten finish in the Nation! Here's the final points standings for 2007.
http://www.nhra.com/stats/points.html
Unfortunately I was the recipient of a near perfect reaction time by my oponent the 3rd round (again) who then red lit the fourth round (again!) If only...woulda coulda shoulda...lol
Any more rounds would have moved me up higher in the standings but I'm just thankfull for the great year I had. One thing to note though is that I'm the only guy who finished top ten who still had the ability to claim points. I could take my best 3 of 6 National event points towards my points total but only attended 4. A couple more events could have made a nice impact on everyone above me ;)
Dad, Brad and Robin were great support. My buddy Paul flew in Thursday night from home and Matt drove down Friday. Matt is a fighter pilot finishing up his training in California with the Navy and had some crazy stories of some of the things they can do with our $55 million dollar aircraft. Here's a shot of us getting in some qualifying Saturday.
http://i31.photobucket.com/albums/c396/troy5118/DSCF0270.jpg
Another college friend Lynsey made it down Sunday as well as Matt Levonus who works with NHRA in my Division.
http://i31.photobucket.com/albums/c396/troy5118/DSCF0272.jpg
I've got a great picture of Lynsey crying from getting her first hit of nitro fumes but it had to stay on my computer. There were so many things that made this race special. Just going to the Pomona Finals chasing points for the first time rocked. With the new points system introduced by NHRA this year it also meant that I got to witness all the Professional level champions being decided at this event. We got a great spot at the starting line Sunday to witness all the history taking place. Here is a picture of Tony Pedregon as he was crowned early in eliminations.
http://i31.photobucket.com/albums/c396/troy5118/DSCF0286.jpg
And just a few minutes later some really nice guy and his son recognized me as the famous kid from Kansas driving the A/S car and asked for a picture.
http://i31.photobucket.com/albums/c396/troy5118/DSCF0290.jpg
Ok I can't really back that up but when I turned around to see Chip Foose standing there ya better believe Paul and I were getting a picture! With the unfortunate passing of Wally Parks there were celebraties of the sport on hand for a pretty emotional "cackle fest" of all forms clear down the track and return road of Pomona Raceway. I tried to take pictures but it doesn't come close to capuring the majic of around 50 race cars spread over the last 50 years running at one. The nitro was thick in the air but it wasn't needed to get a little teary eyed at what they accomplished.
http://i31.photobucket.com/albums/c396/troy5118/DSCF0295.jpg
http://i31.photobucket.com/albums/c396/troy5118/DSCF0293.jpg
I've made a ton of new friends as well as valuable contacts on this trip. I was pretty proud to find out there were alot more people then I knew cheering for me to put a stick shift car in the top ten. It's a tougher car to race consitently against the red-fluid cars for sure but I wouldn't change it for the world. I'm looking foreward to the winter to work on some projects and get caught up on everything that's been on hold lately. This will probably be my last blog on my trip but I am going to periodically post updates here from now on. Anyone who would like to come to the division 5 banquet this winter is more than welcome to join. I'm hoping to have a "thank-you" to everyone on the friday night before. I garantee it to be a good time ;)
http://www.dragracecentral.com/DRCPhoto.asp?ID=149988&Filter=100#indextop
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