Sunday 20th April 2008: Trailer for the new season.

There are a lot of things that need my attention at the moment so the blog entries are not sent in as frequently as I would like. If you attended the Easter Thunderball, you would have noticed we were using our new trailer, but without any signage on the outside. A plain yellow trailer is not what you expect when you are looking for the MPM logos on our trailer. When you come to the Main Event, you will be able to find our team again. Here are a couple of images of how our new truck and trailer will look like. The work to realise the design has already started and will be finished in time to serve us in the soon-to-begin 2008 season.

People ask me how many Top Fuel cars will enter the Main Event. The first entry list has been posted on Eurodragster; it's hard to tell how the list will look after the closing date (25 April) but I reckon we will see more than eight cars battle for an eight car field.

One of my main tasks is to get everything into place to have a strong start to the season. The 2007 season was a really tough one in many ways. There are some things I can not handle or steer - I mean things like weather conditions are something you have to deal with the way it's presented by the weather gods. Track conditions can be different because of weather or oil downs and don’t forget the track preparation. The condition of the Santa Pod track is relatively easy to predict, not least because we make the most runs of our year at this track, but also because the track crew has a consistent way of preparing the track. When you go, for example, to Alastaro and the temperatures are above 30 degree Celsius it can be a real problem to find a tune up that will get you down the track.

Saying this, all the other things that can be organised up front need to be handled with greatest care; my main concern now is to get this preparation done so we start the season with a 100% prepared car and crew. The new Fully Synthetic MPM nitro oil we used during the Easter Thunderball has been analyzed in the lab and the outcome is awesome. This product will be one of the innovations we will use this season to go after our second FIA TF Championship.

Monday 31st March 2008: Snow phobia.

We got back home safely after our first outing of the season; we are now thinking making tee Shirts with a message like "Easter Thunderball '08 - we were there." Looking at the calendar, it will be a very long time before the Easter is again so early in the season, so the chance of snow during a race event in future is now narrowed big-time.

When I was sitting in the car, strapped in and ready to fire up the engine, one of the track crew members started spraying the bleach box with water, something that's always done to help the tires start spinning before the burnout. My first reaction was to stop this guy; I didn't want to take the chance the water would turn into ice before I could start the burnout. It will give you some idea of what kind of conditions we had to deal with.

I bet no Top Fuel team in the world can say they had snow lying beside their pits during a day of racing. Don Jackson, one of our advisors from the U.S., gave us a short, sharp answer when we asked him what he would have done under the given conditions: I would have left for home on Friday, he said, and probably he was right. There were many people that asked me during the weekend if we were planning to go home; the best one was as we took the car out the trailer Sunday in the afternoon, one guy came to me and asked me if we were leaving seeing all the action we were undertaking. I said 'No sir, we just are taking the car out of the trailer to make it ready for tomorrow!

We couldn't leave the track crew alone in their quest to get things ready for racing. We often say the track crew did a awesome job during a race weekend; I can tell you this time can't be bettered. Starting at 6.30 in the morning, fighting against elements that are not mentioned in the drag racing dictionary like snow, ice and blizzards was difficult but they didn't give up and the race was finished as it should. I don't know all these girls and boys who make it possible for us racers to have a safe track at our disposal, but when I say a big Thank You to all of you, probably the message will come through.

One man I do know by name is Ian Marshall; when he told Gerda she wouldn't have to worry about the safety because he wouldn't allow us to run our cars when it was not safe, it was for me the signal to make the rounds as we did each time on Monday, you are the man Ian, great call!

My birthday was a very special one because not a lot of people can say they celebrated their birthday at Santa Pod making pictures with a snowman. I want to thank all the people who stopped by to say hello and wish me well, two names I want to highlight, the Tramm and Webster families did an extra awesome job making my birthday a real special one, thank you all.

The three rounds on Monday gave my new crewmembers an idea of what racing will be going to bring them in the future, especially after the second round when we found out we were running the final and there was a 75 minute window to service the car. My crew made it in time, something I'm really proud of especially taking in account the conditions they had to work in, with temperatures just above zero.

The last thing I want to share with you in this blog is a news scoop not a lot of people know about yet. The Easter Thunderball was for us the first time using a new product from our sponsor MPM. During the winter break MPM manufactured a new high tech motor oil especially made for Top Fuel engines. It is a full synthetic motor oil made in a laboratory; it is made out of the latest products available and will mark a new era in motor oils for street, high performance and race applications. Our findings with this product are really awesome; despite the difficult conditions around freezing point, the oil worked perfectly, with no problems in lubricating any part of the engine and a much longer bearing life despite he tricky track conditions. More news about this latest MPM product will be released when available.

That's it for now, thanks for reading and let's start looking for that suntan lotion. Perhaps it will help us to forget our snow phobia.

Monday 24th March 2008: Running in the cold.

We were the runner up in the final of the Pro Shootout to Jari Halinen. I gave it a shot but it's hard in a car with all the latest equipment to detune and get down the track in such cold conditions. It's always good to win the race but we came up short, although we were travelling 20mph faster and passed him just after the stripe.

The car left pretty good and our 60 ft time was 0.86 which is great for the conditions. By 330 foot I had lost traction as the car was shaking hard. It's difficult to see where you are with tyre shake, let alone being in the dark as well. So I lifted and saw that we were close to the centre line. I also saw that Jari was close to the centre line. I gave the throttle another hit to cross the finish line but he was there first.

Looking at the day positively, if you had asked me this morning how many runs we would make today, I would have settled for one. The fact we ran three is not only a tribute to the track crew but also good for the crew who had the opportunity to turn the car round twice between rounds. We've a few new crew members this year and it's important for them to get used to the routine at races.

Next for us is to go home and prepare for the Main Event. Everything is working on the car and it was good to get on track and run passes again.

Saturday 22nd March 2008: Potty-mouthed at the weather.

What would have been for us the first day of racing in 2008 ended in a game of who can make the bigest snowball. This kind of weather gave me another view of the portable toilets we can rent here at the Pod. Did you know when it's in the middle of a snowstorm, the snow enters the toilet through the ventilation holes? Don't be suprised when you see somebody stepping out of a portable toilet and he or she is covered with snow. I don't mean during the summer, of course, but the conditions we are experiencing this weekend are 'good' enough to create a snowman-exiting-the-loo situation.

Also, did you notice inside those particular toilets, there is always a sticker attached with the address to contact the builder? Probably they rent out a lot of them to contractors, but I always have to laugh reading those words. The picture of a builder sitting on the toilet and reading those words is somehow funny.

As you will understand by now reading all this none racing-related related crap, is that we didn't do any racing, or related activities, today. Hopefully I can report some more interesting things later this weekend.

Thats it for now, going to find some snowboots.

Sunday 16th March 2008: Full throttle ahead.

After we finished our last race in 2007 (the European Finals), it seemed to be a pretty long time before we would return to the Pod for the first race of the 2008 season, the Easter Thunderball. Well, as you probably know, its just a couple of days away. After spending some time in the U.S. at the end of the 2007 season to work for my sponsor MPM and going after the latest stuff in nitro racing, we found some small items on our programme that needed to be changed; we ordered the parts and have updated the car accordingly. In January, our new trailer arrived, and most of our free time has been spent updating the trailer to make it suitable and ready for the demands of Top Fuel racing in 2008. Looking at the parts and equipment we need nowadays to make these Top Fuel cars run, a well organized trailer is a must. Another important item on our trailer is a lounge to welcome guests and sponsors, also there will a location to accommodate our computer centre, where we can monitor and collect all data from the race car. You can imagine you need more than 24 hours in a day to get all these features fitted into a trailer, when you have to combine this all with your daily job.

After a rather disappointing end of the season, Sebastian and myself worked through all the details from each run we made in the 2007 season. We found the reasons why the car did not respond the same as it did at the Easter race which we won. At that point, the car was running really strong and it needed just some minor changes to get it right where we wanted. After the Easter 2007 race, the car never came back to the potential it showed during our first outing. You can imagine that we as a team and me as the driver don't need much encouragement to get out of the gate to see what the car will run, now it's back to its previous tune up. We will add some power where the car likes it and when the conditions are there, we will try to make some big improvements in our ET and speed. I have already told my crew I want to give myself a special birthday present this year, and guess what, my birthday will be this Easter weekend.

When people start talking about Easter and testing, you have to understand that when a nitro car is fired up, the first time after a long break of almost half a year, it needs something like a shake down to see if everything is responding the way it should. The first run will be at Easter; we cannot change this, because that's the way it is. After that first round, things will be in race mode, because we don't have any opportunity to test whatsoever during the season, and each run is like a final. When you want to win Championships and events like the Easter Thunderball, you need to go full throttle, and that's what I always do. Aborting a run sometimes looks like a driver is saving some money, for me getting of the loud pedal is because safety is forcing me to do so. Forget all the talk about testing. We will be there this weekend to run the numbers and win the event. It won't be easy looking at the competition but the sweeter the victory will be if we do win it.

The big picture for me this year is winning my second FIA Championship; our team may not be the most well funded team, also we don't have American tuners on board to assist us, but I believe in our strength, will power and, last but not least, our partners from MPM to get the number 1 back on our car again at the end of this season. Winning rounds is not done in a weekend's race, it's a ongoing process of working on your programme each day of the year, and that's something we at Lex Joon Racing understand and what will bring us success.

Saying all this, there something else what will give me the faith and help to be successful; most of you won't realize this, but when it's March 23rd and I celebrate my birthday, at the same time it will be exactly a year ago that Eric Medlen past away in a hospital in Florida after the accident in his Funny Car. Talking with his father John last November, I felt there is more than we humans can see; I know Eric is watching from above and he will help me through the difficult moments that will occur, the same he did last year when I had my share of problems qualifying for each race in the last qualifying round. I never had any doubt, because I know people like Monique Pels and Eric Medlen are there and will help me through these moments.

The racecar will have its maiden run in its new colors and outfit during the Easter event; our truck and trailer will carry its new colours at the Main Event; please stop by when you are at the Pod this weekend, and if you don't have the chance to come to the first race of the season, you always can check my blog which will be updated each day after racing is done.

Saturday 1st March 2008: A new look.

"Eurodragster is our lifeline to European drag racing", said one of its many daily readers and, for me, that's a good and simple way to describe the feeling I have celebrating the 10th birthday of Europe's premier web site dedicated to drag racing. Each day the first thing to do after the computer is switched on is to check Eurodragster's news page to see whether the news for that particular day has been loaded by Tog or Simon. After that I check the other sites like the NHRA website. Sometimes Tog has too much "daily" work which means the update will be done later that day; the short message that can be read on Eurodragster to explain why the news will be updated later that day says enough about the dedication this team of people have to their work. Although I think work is the wrong word to use, because Eurodragster is run by volunteers who perform an awesome job informing the world what's going on in our drag racing community.

The first time I came into contact with Eurodragster was through Tony B; he was the driving force that helped me to realize my first LJR website. You can't imagine how proud I was that my website was powered by Eurodragster, and it is a perfect way to keep my fans informed. My blog is another example of the opportunities Eurodragster has given me and the fans to keep in touch with what’s going on besides the quarter mile.

Eurodragster has become a media institution and I can not imagine what European drag racing would be without those boys and girl!

Although drag racing in Europe is still in hibernation, looking at what’s going on at the tracks around the world and especially in the USA, things are in full swing again.

After the accidents last year of the Funny cars of John Force Racing, a lot of rule changes have been made to make the cars safer. A lot of these changes are mandatory immediately for the Funny cars that are running here in Europe. In most cases, the FIA adopts the rules set by the NHRA one year later for the European rule book; this gives the teams time to make arrangements to get things organised. This new approach to implement chassis rules immediately is just something that for us race teams have to deal with; the FIA board makes a decision about which rules to adopt and when t oadopt them, and they will be mandatory for all teams. In the USA there a racers' organization exists (PRO) that communicates with the NHRA about safety issues amongst other things.

The opinion of the FIA is that the performance shown by the race cars in Europe is at such a high level that rules set by the NHRA need to be followed. It would however be preferable to have an European PRO organization to protect the interest of the racers.

Sunday 10th February 2008: In the field.

It's Sunday morning. Qualifying for the first race in the U.S. season at Pomona has come to an end. I'm looking at the NHRA website and I take a look at the final qualifying lists. Our European Top Fuel ace Urs Erbacher managed to slip into the field at position 16. This must have been a hard battle looking at the comments on the net from the U.S. reporter. Going into the last round of qualifying as number 17 means you are not valid to go into the race on Sunday. I know what Urs must have been feeling at that moment. Not only have I had my share of not being qualified last season, but when I was at Pomona in 2000 I tried to get into a 23 car Top Alcohol Funny car field and being kicked out as number 17 just before I had to make my run.

Reading further on, what was going on during Urs' last qualifier, I understand the crew had to push Urs back to the startline after he made the burnout. That's not the way you want to start your last attempt to get into the field, pushing the car back will take more time than when you can just use the reverse to drive it back. The outcome is that the engine will idle longer then its supposed to and it consumes more fuel than is preferred. Luckily, there was no opponent and the Swiss team was on a single run, otherwise the starter would have ordered to stop the motor and abort the run. Your opponent is not required to wait when the guy in the other lane has a problem. Urs managed to get the car off the startline but the engine did not make it to the finish line; probably the fuel tank was empty causing the engine to expire. But the mission was accomplished and Urs made it into eliminations for race day, Sunday.

This brings me to a trend for investments that European teams are making to step up in performance. Urs who was the first to hire a tuner from the U.S. and this has forced other teams who are getting behind in the field to find solutions. Micke Kågered announced this week that he has hired Lance Larsen, a top tuner from the U.S., to oversee his racing operation and in particular the tuning of his Top Fuel dragster. Team Kågered was always a major player in the Top Fuel ranks but, with more cars and tuning aid from the US being introduced in to the European Top Fuel scene, Micke was getting behind in performance and something needed to be done to get back to the top of the playing field. I send Åsa and Micke my congratulations on this step forward for team Kågered; my opinion is that with more US tuners involved in the European drag race scene, the higher the level of racing will go to. Also, the recognition of what we are trying to achieve will be better displayed, because before we started importing our cars and Urs started using the service of Glenn Mikres, European Drag Racing was a virtually unknown thing in the U.S.. This recognition is important to acquire sponsors and get our racing parts made and ready in time.

Hopefully Wayne Dupuy who is the US crew chief for Urs will find the tune-up to get Urs around the #1 Qualifier he has to face today; a drag race is decided at the finish line and that's why even the #16 has a chance to make it to the winner circle; it's been done before.

Saturday 19th January 2008: Trailer for the new season.

Happy New Year! The kick off of the 2008 season is getting closer and closer, especially with the Easter Thunderball scheduled at this year's early Easter Weekend on 21st - 24th March. I bet some of you are anxious to start breathing Nitro fumes again. Every year we run up against the same dilemma; what I mean is that the off-season is way too long. At least half a year without professional racing is the punishment you have to accept when you are a fan of under five seconds quarter mile racing.

Some of you probably think we have an easy agenda during the six months away from the track; well I can tell you our racing programme keeps me busy every day. The last couple of weeks have kept us busy going after a new trailer to transport the Top Fuel car and all the spare parts and tools we need for race events. Our search brought us to Bob Inglis; he had an advert on Eurodragster's Swap Meet with a trailer for sale. Bob helped me really well with all the information I needed to make the right decision. During our frequent contact more and more trailers were becoming available. I told Bob that before it took me three years to find a trailer, and now I could not make a choice because there were so many available. Life can be difficult sometimes!

When things go according plan the trailer will be available at the end of January. First, Bob will take it to the workshop to fit side doors. Yes, side doors; why? These trailers come in a cargo application without anything but rear doors and a lift. There is a lot of work to be done to convert a cargo trailer to a multi-functional unit with everything in place to serve a modern race team. After the doors are fitted, the trailer will be sent to our work shop; there will start our job. To get everything in place before the Easter Thunderball is not going to happen, but we will give it a go and, after we have spilt blood, sweat and tears, we will have our new home ready enough for its first trip to Santa Pod.

The next thing on my to-do list is to find a suitable truck to haul our new trailer, another challenge because most of what I think are interesting trucks are exported out of Holland. I will keep you updated when we start working at the trailer with pictures and reports.

If you are a regular visitor to the NHRA website you will have noticed the withdrawal of Evan Knoll as a sponsor from approximately 12 professional teams in US dragracing. This news is a significant blow for the teams sponsored by Knoll. Some of those teams are actually owned by the the man behind Torco Racing Fuels. In the next couple of weeks the actual circumstances of this shock will be translated into the number of teams entering the first race of the season at Pomona. The question is, will there be enough teams to ensure full fields? The NHRA is running 16 car fields, and at most of the races last year there were between 18 and 25 cars qualifying for a 16 car field, keeping some of the big names out of competition. To be continued...