Look out Rockingham, here we come!

Nitro Saver

Hey everyone, your old pal Double-B here with another often-neglected, non award winning edition of Gilby's blog.
 
As you probably know we've taken the summer off from racing to get our chassis up-graded to the latest SEMA specs.  The car is up in Lafayette, Ind. at Murf McKinney's shop and very soon our car chief Kevin Fenstermaker (yes that's his real name) will make a hot lap up there to pick it up.  Our plan is to compete at the new race here in Charlotte next month and we should be at the IHRA World Finals at Rockingham in October.
 
Since we haven't been racing, Gilby has been hard at work at the world headquarters of Trick Tank and he's come up with two new products designed especially for the sport of drag racing.
 
First off is a new addition to the Trick Tank product line.  Our traditional Trick Tank, the only aluminum portable air tank built in the US, are horizontal in design, but Pro Modified racer Quain Stott wanted an upright tank that takes up less floor space in his trailer so Gilby came up with the "Fat Boy."  It's about the same size as the traditional Trick Tank but has a smaller footprint and is ideal for last-minute tire pressure changes in the staging lanes.
 
Next up is a new product for those of you who burn nitromethane, we call it the "Nitro Saver."  With the ever increasing price of nitro a lot of teams are now warming up their cars on alky to save some $$$ and this tank makes it easy.  It holds approx. seven gallons of alky and features a siphon tube on the supply side and with 10 pounds of pressure it will supply enough alky to warm up the car for about 5 minutes if needed before the crew chief switches over to nitro to check the idle and wack the throttle to seat the clutch.
 
With nitro going for almost $50 a gallon, this tank can save about $250 every time you start the car.  If you warm up three times at an IHRA national event during qualifying, then another three warm-ups if you go to the final round, that's a $1,500 saving or almost a full drum of nitro. 
 
If you need more information on either of these products or want to order one go to: www.tricktank.com  When you get there make it a point to check out the apparel page where you also get our t-shirts and other collectables from our race team.
 
Last but not least I've got to give a shout out to our neighbors down I-85, Andy Kelly and his race team for their first IHRA win last weekend in Martin, Mich.  I know how hard these guys worked to get their first IronMan and congratulations to them from all of us here at Terminator Motorsports.
 
That's it for now, type at you L8R.
 
BB

Summer Vacation

Another Drag Racing Icon Is Gone

Hey everyone, Double-B here with a heavy heart.  As you probably know, Scott Kalitta was killed Saturday in a horrific fire and crash at Englishtown. 

What can anyone say?  Words can not express the feelings all of us have right now.  Scott was a racer's racer.  He won the NHRA Top Fuel title two consecutive years (1994-95) bookended by second place finishes in '93 and '96.  He was one of the few drivers to win in both Top Fuel and Nitro Funny Car.  He also won a bunch of races in the IHRA series.

But his stats don't tell about the real Scott Kalitta.  He appeared gruff to many at the races but that was his race persona, he always had his game face on.  Away from the track he was a devoted husband and father and a very sharp business man.  The guy was also one of the biggest practical jokers I've ever met, there's a lot of Scott stories out there and some of them can't be told here.

All of us who knew him will miss him...RIP Dude.

Scott's death really affected Gilby.  I've never seen him so somber as he was Monday morning.  Gilby is usually a happy-go-lucky guy, always cutting up but not yesterday.  His quote was "Why do I do this?"  He's asking himself that question right now and I wouldn't be surprised to see him back-off a little to re-group.  Time will tell.

The team is currently going over every inch of the car checking every nut, bolt, and weld, making sure that it will be 100% the next time Gilby straps in.  You know Gilby will be thinking about Scott...

BB

Budds Creek and Tequila

Look Out Milan Dragway

Hey all of you "GilbyManiacs" Double-B here with our Milan pre-race blog.
 
The trucks and motorcoach should be pulling into Milan Dragway as I type this Thursday afternoon.  They'll set up camp and then it's going to turn into a war zone.  Gilby, Nicky and the rest of the Tradicion Azul Tequila Funny Car team are on a mission.  After not qualifying at Rockingham they're all determined not to let that happen again.
 
Their goal is to qualify No. one, get the Last Man Standing points both nights, set both ends of the national record and win the race.  This team has done it before (Epping 2006) and wants to do it again to climb back up the ladder in the points race.
 
By the way, if you're attending the Motor City Nationals this weekend, make sure you stop by our pit and check out our brand-spanking-new souvenir operation.  We've got a lot of one-of-a-kind items you might need to decorate your shop, garage, bedroom or for a great Father's Day gift.
 
Last but not least I want to give a big shout out to IHRA's Director of Operations, Sharon Ramlow and Competition Director Mike Baker for accommodating our needs at the last minute.  Thanks guys...
 
Gotta run now, see you at the drags...
 
BB

A Streak Ends At Rockingham

Hi everyone, BB here with today's edition of Gilby's blog.
 
The Tradicion Azul Tequila Funny Car team went into the IHRA Springnationals at our home track, Rockingham Dragway with high hopes and big expectations and after the smoke cleared Saturday night we weren't in the show.  All three of our qualifying laps had really good numbers for the first part of the track but the bottom line is that we didn't make it to the end of the track under power.
 
Nicky and the guys went over every inch of the car and found some problems in the management system that most probably were the issues that kept us out of the show.  This happens every weekend in drag racing but we are all a little dejected that for the first time since he started racing at  Rockingham, Gilby didn't qualify.  Plus his track record was taken away by his former crew chief, Paul Smith so it wasn't a good weekend for us.
 
Here's a few photos for you to check out in case you weren't there.  Top is a shot of our pit area all decked out in our new Tradicion Azul Tequila colors.  If you look carefully you can see our Limo in the background.

 
Next up is a photo of a well-oiled team just after we started the car for the last qualifying lap.  I like this shot as it shows everybody doing their job looking spiffy in our new uniforms.

Last but not least is the infamous Belmont Playboys, the band that has played our Saturday night parties for the past three years.  Even though we didn't have anything to celebrate, the band kinda put everyone in a better mood.

That's it for now, we're racing at Atlanta this weekend then a few weeks off until we race at Bristol then the next IHRA race at Milan, Mich. where we are looking to redeem ourselves.
 
We'll type at you next week.

Gilby Nitro Maniacs Headed To Rockingham

Look out Rockingham, you're about to get invaded by "GilbyManiacs"
Hey everyone, Double-B here with a very special edition of Gilby's "NitroMania"

As you probably know we'll be racing this weekend at Steve Earwood's Rockingham Dragway at the IHRA Spring Nationals. This is going to be a big race for us for quite a few reasons.

First off it's our home town track, Gilby has been racing at the "Rock" since the early eighties and since it's only 80 miles from our home town base in Charlotte we always want to do well here. Being that Gilby's last pass down the track here in October resulted in a win at the World Finals we're looking to keep that momentum going and score big this weekend.

Another reason is since we're so close to our home town and Gilby's businesses we've got a lot of family and friends coming out to cheer us on, we should have a mob scene in our pit.

We're also throwing a little party in our pit Saturday evening after night of fire qualifying is over featuring a live band (The Belmont Playboys) who were a big hit at our party last year after the World Finals. We invite each and everyone of you at the track to stop by and enjoy the music and help us "Rock at the Rock."

I received a few emails asking about our infamous Limo and I'm pleased to announce that the Limo will indeed be at the Rock, make it a point to stop by and check it out.

And last but not least is that we'll be debuting our new marketing partner/sponsor Tradicion Azul Tequila to the North Carolina fans. Here's shot of our brand-spanking-new, right from the printers, hand outs. Rockingham will be the first race that they'll be distributed so make sure you pick one up as they're sure to become collector items.

Well that's it for now, we're heading out to the track early Thursday morning see you at the drags...

BB

Berserko's Post Texas Blog

Hey everyone, this is "Berserko" Bob Doerrer here with you.  In case you don't know who I am, I'm Gilby's PR flack and I'll be writing the none award-winning, often neglected Gilby's blog here on IHRA dot com.  To learn more about me I invite you to visit: www.bbobslounge.com
 
To start off we were in San Antonio over the weekend at the IHRA opener and we went into the race with big hopes and left with most of our goals accomplished except getting the Iron Man trophy. 
 
We qualified No. 1, set low ET, won the first round and everything was going good for us until Dale Creasy Jr cut a .001 lite against Gilby in the second round.  Creasy was the first to admit he was lucky and his quote was that "He did a bad job of red-lighting."  We dropped a cylinder on that run and with Dale having a .09 advantage it would have taken a stellar run to catch him.  Oh well, we'll see him in Rockingham.
 
In other news as you probably know by now we debuted a new sponsor in San Antonio, Tradicion Azul Tequila.  Although we didn't get them the win we did win the prestigious "Best Appearing Crew" award, something we're really proud of.

 
SPEED TV stopped by to interview Bob, we all miss Julie Atchison who did the pit interviews last year but she's taking a year off as she's expecting in May so the very lovely and talented Megan Gunning filled in and did a great job.  She's a little cutie and I just can't wait to see the TV coverage on SPEED.

 
During the race I got a little sick but luckily for me there was a nurse at the track who cured what was bothering me.  LOL

 
That's it for now, we're all WFO getting ready for our home-town race in Rockingham.  If you're going to be there make sure you stop by our pit on Saturday night after qualifying as we're having a live band, the Belmont Playboys, who performed for us last year at the World Finals and maybe, just maybe I'll get up on stage to belt out my big hit, The Surfin' Bird.
 
Be there or stay home and cut your lawn...

Gilby's Nitro Mania Blastoff Blog

Hey all you IHRA drag racing fans, this is Bob
Gilbertson typing at you for our very first blog here on IHRA dot
com.