VOLUME 151, ISSUE 9 SEPTEMBER 2011

Hello to everyone. Hope you all had a great month. The Club was very busy with a ton of activities. We had Big Bear, where Sue and I went up for the day on Saturday. What a great show; the setting in the mountains was awesome, and a KOOL bunch of cars, 500 to be exact.

Our Club came home with a handful of trophies:
Nick Sfetku – Best Fat Fender Car
Ray Astamendi – Best El Camino
Stan Dalton – Top 25 Award
Jim Gascoigne – Top 25 Award
Blake Wilcox – Top 25 Award

GREAT JOB ROAD KINGS to those that attended, because I know that event takes a lot of effort!

Be Boppin’ in the Park was a hit as well. The only glitch was a problem with parking for some of our members. Next year the plan is to arrive onto Magnolia Blvd. about 30 – 45 minutes earlier.

Santa Anita seems to be going along without a problem! OOPS I didn’t say that did I? So far so good! Roger is working on a new plan. We have been given the go ahead to bring in our own vendors and Roger has met the challenge

As I am writing my article, I’m heading on over to the Elk’s Lodge for a Chili Cook-off and hope to see some of you already there. Today is a scorcher so not sure how chili is going to go over with everyone.

The Officers and Board are starting to work on the Club’s 60th birthday. Ideas are very much appreciated and welcomed, so let us know what you have in mind.

I want to thank Ronnie Alves and George Bess for a fantastic Cruise. I wasn’t able to attend, but everyone that did said how well it was planned and organized. Hope this inspires all members to put a cruise on for the Club, or to let us know of any and all ideas you have and we will make sure it gets done.

ATTENTION ALL MEMBERS

There has been some talk, or I should say some of our members have been complaining to event coordinators that are putting on different events (outside of our Club). That is all well and fine, but in the future if there is a problem please bring it to the attention of our Officers or if another member is there. As long as you are wearing a Road King shirt, or your Club plaque is displayed you are representing our Club. So if you have a problem please do not complain to the city or to the people putting on the event, we as a club will deal with the situation.

You know that old saying about one bad apple. Well ,we don’t want a reputation that the Road Kings Car Club is full of bad apples, so be courteous at all times when representing your club.

Keep Cruisin’
Rick

For those of you coming up to the Harbor Cruise, remember to bring your pot luck item. We are going to have our annual after show get together and BBQ. So if you haven’t signed up and want to attend, give me a call.

HAVE FUN! Frank Nay

We are getting ready for the Santa Anita Show, so get the word out. There are only a few flyers left but Don Baldaseroni is in touch with Santa Anita to have more printed. Good Job getting out the flyers to everyone. Don’t forget to tell everyone they can also access the flyer off of our website. See all you at our next meeting

Don Hoffman
Secretary

I’ll jump on the band wagon and say, GET THE FLYERS OUT! Santa Anita is next month. We have just over 70 registered at the moment, so get busy and sign everyone up.

Chuck Stein
Treasurer

The officers are working hard to come up with a fantastic 60th birthday for our Club next year. It will be a GAS, so jump on board and let’s get going!

Ed Drogmund
Sergeant-At-Arms

One of NHRA’S 50 Greatest Drivers Stops at the Bellagio of Drag Strips

CONCORD, N.C. (Aug. 25, 2011) – Drag racing’s greatest showman and one of NHRA’s greatest drivers “TV” Tommy Ivo will be honored at the fourth annual O’Reilly Auto Parts NHRA Nationals, Sept. 15-18, at zMAX Dragway in what Ivo claims may be his “last hurrah” on the East Coast.  “Because of my age and my health, this will probably be my last ‘hurrah,’ traveling this far for an event of this stature,” said California resident Ivo. “It started for me with a trip to Concord in 1960 and it looks like it will end with a trip to Concord. Other than my Motorsports Hall of Fame of America induction for my 70th birthday, this is about as good of a present a 75-year-old can get!”  The “start” that Ivo refers to at Concord was one of the stops on his first nationwide drag racing tour in 1960 at Concord Drag-o-way, coincidentally the same year Charlotte Motor Speedway ran the inaugural Coca-Cola 600 in the same city. Ivo still has the event poster, drawn in pencil, of his first drag race in Concord and added upon reflection of potentially book-ending a long and illustrious career in Concord, “How’s that for a time warp?”  Ivo will be honored at zMAX Dragway during the O’Reilly Auto Parts NHRA Nationals weekend as a part of the NHRA’s year-long 60th Anniversary Celebration.  One of NHRA’S 50 greatest drivers, Ivo will be at the Bellagio of drag strips Friday through Sunday, Sept. 16-18, during the event weekend signing autographs for fans, as well as participating in the Legends Track Walk down the concrete quarter-mile on Sunday, Sept. 18.

The picture below below has Don Prudhomme behind the right tire pushing the 4-Buick engine ‘Showboat ‘ across from Ivo behind the left tire 51-years ago . . .

NHRA Legend ‘TV’ Tommy Ivo’s ‘Last Hurrah’ on East Coast Only at zMAX Dragway’s O’Reilly Auto Parts NHRA Nationals

RACE REPORT

Larry Dixon, Al-Anabi Racing Top Fuel Dragster (silver)

Qualifying:   Larry Dixon was the No. 5 qualifier at the U.S. Nationals. During the final round of qualifying late yesterday, Dixon recorded a 3.850-second pass at 319.60 mph.
Eliminations: Dixon defeated David Grubnic and Spencer Massey before losing to Antron Brown in the semifinals.
Unofficial Point Standings: Dixon moved up one spot to fourth place in the NHRA Full Throttle Top Fuel point standings. He will be the No. 4 seed when the Countdown to the Championship NHRA Playoffs begin in two weeks at zMax Dragway near Charlotte.
Dixon on Indianapolis: “We had a great car today, and it’s obviously disappointing to smoke the tires and not have a shot at another Indy title. The Al-Anabi team did great this weekend, and I really think we have a great car going into the playoffs. We moved up a spot so now we’re only two and a half rounds behind Del, and we’re looking forward to going to Charlotte in two weeks when the playoffs begin.”
cited: http://www.alanabiracing.com/aev-145.aspx

WELL KINGS AND QUEENS, JULY STARTED AS JUNE LEFT OFF. WE CARTED OFF TO SACRAMENTO, THE WORST TRACK I’VE EVER BEEN ON. EVEN THOUGH THIS WAS AN OFFICIAL NHRA RACE ,THE HERITAGE SERIES, IT WAS AN ILL PREPARED TRACK FOR A/GAS AND JR FUEL. NOBODY COULD GET DOWN THIS TRACK. BUT IT WAS THE SAME FOR ALL OF US, SO I WENT TO MY BAG OF TRICKS, TAKING POWER AWAY AT THE INITIAL HIT AND WHERE A FEW NICE BUMPS WERE, AND BY THE TIME QUALIFYING WAS DONE, I HAD MUSTERED A 7.64 GOOD FOR #3 . MY 1ST ROUND WAS AGAINST A BLOWN VINTAGE DODGE HEMI, AND I JUST ANNIHILATED THAT HEMI, AND LET ME TELL YOU FOLKS BLOWN HEMIS DO NOT LIKE GETTING TRAINLENGHTED BY UN BLOWN CHEVYS. NEXT ROUND WAS EASY, A BLOWN VETTE THAT JUST LIT THEM UP AT THE HIT. THE SEMIS I DREW ONE OF THE POINTS LEADERS, NEWTON, THE STUDEBAKER I HAD JUST BEAT IN THE FINALS AT ANRA A FEW WEEKS BACK. THE WORD WAS HE HAD A LITTLE SOMTHEN SOMTHEN FOR ME. HE DID A GIFT WIN AS HE GOT LOOSE, AND THE OLD GTO JUST HOOKED AND LEFT. NEXT MY 4TH FINAL IN AS MANY RACES, COULD MY GOOD FORTUNE HOLD UP? YES IT DID, THE BLOWN 57 CHEVY RAN A 7.71 TO MY SLOWER 7.74, BUT I GOT THERE FIRST, A HOLESHOT WIN, .039 TO HIS .105 LITE.SO LIFE IS GOOD, AND FOR THOSE OF YOU AT THE NEXT MEETING I HAVE A SURPRISE FOR YOU. I HAVE SEVERAL RACES COMING UP, I WILL KEEP YOU POSTED, SPECIAL THANKS TO STAN AND SHARRON DALTON OUR RACE DIRECTORS AND MY GUARDIAN ANGLES. THANKS TO ALL OF YOU THAT READ OUR DRAG NEWS, HOPE IT DOESN’T BORE YOU. THANKS FOR YOUR SUPPORT,    AS ALWAYS,   AL WHITE

GARAGE SALE