To quote someone's status on Facebook: "Why can't summer be as long as winter?"
The last time we raced was September 14th. We are nearing the six months of winter time and it doesn't seem fair that the
racing season has started in the Southern United States (in fact, they will be running their 3rd national event next weekend
already) and we still have the rest of March and all of April to go. And that's if we're lucky! I seem to remember years
when we raced the first weekend with the threat of snow. Everyone working on the racecar, wearing a thick jacket, holding the
hot motor pieces close, just to feel a bit of warmth in your fingers. But, lets not even think about that! This year, it
will be warm...I hope.
The Sitko Family Racing team is just getting going full speed ahead now. We've got a list of new sponsors and some of our
favorites returning (which will be posted here very soon) and the team can't wait to go out there and show them all what we've
got in store for this race season. Of course, the car has switched ownership as Nathan and I are now filling that role. The
engine will have some cool new components as well as a boat load of refreshed parts and pieces. When you want to chase after
the big fish, you have to push the envelope a little bit further and you need the parts to back you up.
All of the work and parts that we can get locally is nearly complete. The block and spare sleeves that we used last year
have been honed by Pro Stock Performance. The cylinder heads have been gone through and are nearly finished. Nathan
designed a new puke tank to correspond with new NHRA rules and it is ready and mounted on the car. Lenard and I have gone
through the transmission with my dad, Ken and everything looks good there. Mark and Pete went through the rear end gears
and have them back in the car already. So, we're just waiting on some parts that had to be shipped out of town.
The PSI superchager has been inspected and certified as well as refurbished. A screw-type supercharger must be inspected
by it's manufacturer every 3 years to make sure everything is safe and legal. It's been recoated for maximum output and
will be sitting on top of the engine again very soon. The connecting rods, bearings and piston rings have been ordered
and will be shipped up through the snow very soon. Next up will be new tires and a little bit of body work at Greg
Sereda's shop.
I didn't know what I should include in this blog and that's why it took so long for me to write it. Our little community
of drag racers up here in Western Canada lost a close friend this past week and it has been tough on all of us. I'm sure
even tougher on his co-team members and family. All I know is that we can't let it keep us down. I can only speak from
my own personal experiences this week but I'm sure the same goes for a lot of our racing friends. The dark cloud that
this has thrown up there has made it tough to see any possibility of a lesson learned. But, we do have to say something, I
believe that is our responsibility to anyone else out there who may be keeping these dark clouds inside of them.
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collaborations to prevent suicide and alleviate its effects." - Lanny Berman, Ph.D. (President of IASP)
