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May
20, 2006
Toronto, Canada
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The Reflexions
Dodge Daytona was ready early this season. With only several
small changes the team was set for the tow to Toronto
motorsports park. A very dim weather forecast for Toronto
area, with rain, cold temps, and high winds caused us some
concern for a low fan attendance or rain out was possible.
early
in the trip the tow truck we commonly call “ole whitey”
pushed out an exhaust gasket, so a long noisy trip was on.
We later repaired it at the track to make for a nice trip
home.
The
rain held off but cold and wind did not!!!
The Canadians made of good tough stock showed up and
race we did. The burnout complete, George eased Jody up to
the staging lights. The car left hard with some tire shake
then about 80 feet it turned right and Jody did a great job
keeping the car from hitting the wall. With one shot
qualifying we ended up in eighth place and only the quickest
four returned.
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May
27, 2006
Norwalk, Ohio
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The
race at Norwalk was just as good as it gets as this is a
very well run event. Track
officials met us at the gate, took care of the paper work,
and led the rig to our assigned parking spot.
Then took geo and don on a cart ride to see the track
layout and make sure we had no questions.
Next,
a driver meeting was held and it put their plans out and we
knew what was expected from us as teams.
An
autograph session followed by qualifying.
Rain
the week prior had left the ground saturated and just before
we ran the officials looked at the track and there was some
chance of water down track so wisely had us run 1/8 mi.
We
were first out paired with Rob Atchison. The Reflexions
dodge ran a 4.0 to hold onto 4th quickest.
In the
next round our clutch pulled Jody through the stage lights
resulting with a red light. All done.
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July
7-9, 2006
IHRA Motor City Nationals
Milan Michigan
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The
team members stepped up for the next few race events.
George is now a full time caregiver for his mother.
Therefore, his time is limited to devote to the car.
With this situation in mind George requested an extra effort
be put into working on the car from the team. He got
it and then some!! So a special thanks to all
especially ken, don, and Jody.
The
plan for the IHRA Motor City Nationals at Milan was to get
new tires from Hoosier before the first run. Next see if we
could make the 8 car field or at least learn more about our
set up. Competing at a national event we find time to
work on one adjustment at a time.
Evaluate that adjustment after a run and go from
there. We ran well but the car pulled to the right.
Jody couldn't get the car to respond so quickly made the
right choice to shut it down early. Still
posting a 6.15. Back in our pit area we looked for a
reason. Our only change had been the new tires so we checked
there first. Don and the Hoosier specialist
mounted the new tires the day prior and the rollout
checked out fine. Recheck found one tire much
different than the other causing the car to pull to the
right. The Hoosier technicians were shocked and could
not explain why but replaced both tires without hesitation.
They did recommend we purchase safety liners at the next
event. We were ready just in time to make
the next qualifying session. We ran a 6.082 at 230
mph. Respectable, but off the mark to make the 8 car
field.
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August
5, 2006
IHRA Northern Nationals
Martin, Michigan
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This
is a quote from “notes from Jim Lukens’ reporter’s
notebook” drag race central. http://www.dragracecentral.com
i
think it sums it up.
“Martin,
Mich.- the
largest crowd in the 25 year history of the northern
nationals filled every nook and cranny of us 131 Motorsports
park for this event. the mass of incoming fans was so great
that race traffic backed up onto the nearby us 131 highway
not just once, but twice, on Saturday. finding a place to
park for all these fans was a challenge, eventually
necessitating moving the fireworks from the long end of the
track to create additional parking. in the end, Saturday's
night of fire was delayed for 45 minutes to allow the most
fans possible a chance to see the evening’s program from
its beginning.
Jody
Gucwa was one racer that experienced the ramifications of
this gigantic crowd first hand. during his afternoon
qualifying run Jody's parachutes tore off the car, sending
his dodge into the
sand trap. minimal damage meant that the car could be
repaired for the evening qualifying session if another set
of parachutes could be located. unfortunately, the teams
spare chutes were back at their shop in battle creek. a team
member was duly dispatched to retrieve the chutes but was
concerned if he could reenter the track in time if he got
caught in the backed-up fan traffic. the teams ingenious
solution was to have their runner pull over onto the
shoulder of the adjacent us 131 while Jody ran out to the
highway to get the desperately needed chutes. the trip
through the brambles and bushes were hard on Jody's legs and
shins but he made it. as luck would have the heroic effort
was nullified when the rear end broke during his final
qualifying attempt, leaving him outside the alcohol funny
car field.”
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