Edmonton Testing: We fired the car at Nathan's work, Eco Medical and it sounded good enough to head down the the race track. So, the next week, we made our way to our home track, Castrol Raceway in Edmonton, Alberta and fired the car a few more times, made sure the wheels were torqued and sent Nathan down the quarter mile. The Team Ace Racing Arrow looked great sitting in the staging lanes with fresh paint and our driver was ready for the first hit of the year. Crew Lenard, Mark, Pete, Randy, Troy and crew cheif Ken were nervous but anxious to get out on the track after a long, long winter. It was windy though, so the team opted out of making any full passes that might require parachutes. Afterall, the car looked good and we didn't really want to paint the guard wall to match. The weekend went well, with three great half passes and only two burnt pistons. We hear that's good for a nitro funny car. Las Vegas' Rockabilly Rod Reunion: Talk about a long trip for the first race with a new car. After the 24 hour drive to Las Vegas Motor Speedway, the team were all looking forward to some fun in the sun. So, Nathan, Troy, Carla and Shelley packed into the Dodge diesel dually and headed down the highway. It rained, it was windy, there was fog and at some point, snow. But, once we neared the Nevada border, the sky cleared up, the thermometer in the truck read 80 degrees F, the team members in the transporter could all breathe a little easier. Until we got the Las Vegas wind, that is. Ken, Lenard, Pete and Randy rode the jet plane down. They even made a day trip out to Hoover Dam while the rest of the team was winding their way through the mountains. But, all went well and we stored the car for a couple of days at a fellow drag racers home and enjoyed a couple days in Las Vegas before the event. Thanks to Chris Bennet and team for their hospitality. The team made two passes on the test day (Friday) before the event and everything stayed together in one piece except for one spark plug which decided to fire it's way right out of the hole. We made some repairs and headed back to the hotel after a beautiful 75 degree Las Vegas day. The next day, walking to IHOP, we noticed the wind. It had picked up quite a bit but not horribly. It was supposed to be hot that day, so a breeze certainly wouldn't hurt. On Saturday, we made two great passes and didn't hurt a single part. But, when we went up to make the third qualifier, the wind reared it's ugly head. It was so windy, a couple of teams lost their trailer awnings. The third run was cancelled and Sunday faired no better. The track decided to make a safety call and race on Monday. We weren't in the field. This sucked. But, here we were, ready to race on Monday and it paid off. Some teams couldn't stay the extra day, so even though we were third alternate, ahead of Steve Plueger's second car, we would be lined up against #1 qualifier, John Hale in the first round. We lost our matchup, but made another clean run down the track without a single hurt part. Just our wind burnt skin. Edmonton Testing 2: Team Ace Racing, our sponsor, also sponsors a great pair of motorcycle races at Castrol Raceway and Harold, the main man at Ace Manufacturing and the godfather of Team Ace Racing, asked if we wanted to come out and make a couple of passes. Of course we did. This time, Troy would be behind the wheel and we were thrilled to be out there with some great motorcycle teams, including a whole bunch of nitro harleys. We made three passes on that Saturday and two of them were full pulls. Troy was ready to earn his license. More fans should check out these bike drags. There are some crazy riders out there that had some incredible passes. Maybe we should set up a match race for that weekend for next year? What do our fans think? Edmonton's IHRA Rocky Mountain National Nitro Jam The biggest event we get to participate in at home. And what screws us over again? Weather! The weather at this race is always iffy. It'll be hot the day before while working on the car and then it will rain and thunder every night. And of course, we're scheduled to run at night. Friday night went well even though we only got to make one of the two scheduled runs (for some unknown to us reason). But, the car ran well enough and we got it ready for Saturday. We must have found some power, because the ol' Arrow lit the tires right off the starting line (turns out we had a little too much clutch). We figured this out quickly looking at our on-board computer and made the necessary adjustments. Then, three pairs in front of us, there it was again: wind, pushing in a wall of black cloud and the rain fell. They quickly called the event (good call, since it rained well into the early morning hours) and we were destined to watch Sunday's action from the stands. Too bad, because that nitro funny car field was the best thing the Rocky Mountain Nationals had to offer. Great drag races with great side-by-side 5 second runs, a couple of pedal fests, and two local racers making it to the final round. Mission's NHRA Candian National Open 32 funny cars, all out on Mission Raceway Park's sticky track surface at once for a great photo op. That is was greeted fans as they walked through the gates Saturday evening. And the stands were packed. Friday, before the race, the track held a test day and it is definately a track you want to test on. Smooth, fast, sticky and right about sea level air conditions gives you every advantage you'd want to run your car. Troy took the wheel to finish the licensing process and dropped a great 6.07 second pass on his first pull, followed by another great 6.15. He is now officially licensed. Nathan drove the car for the race and the team nailed it on Saturday night running back to back 6.0s, including a team personal best 6.03 and reaching a speed of nearly 227 miles per hour. Sunday, the team was in tough against 5.80 player, Tim Nemeth of Chilliwack, BC. This was his home turf. The boys cranked her up for the first five, but fell short when the Team Ace Arrow lit the tires instantly. A little too much in the gearing department. Tim ran a great 6.00 and the hometown crowd was very proud. Thanks to Bill Ade for the accomodations over the week and to Eddie Godwin for getting his hands dirty on our hot rod.