Race Day was a CHALLENGE for many reasons: the biggest was three crashes and numerous “oiling the track”.
Here is a link to a couple of races. Enjoy!
Phoenix Bugorama Drag Racing 2010
April 7, 2010
by Tommy
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March 30, 2010
by Julia
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Phoenix Bugorama
Arriving at Firebird Raceway, shortly after 7:00 am on a blustery but sunny day in Arizona, there was already a crowd of cars lined up going through the entrance promising a good turn out for this year’s Bugorama.
Walter the Bus was in attendance welcoming new as well as old friends. By afternoon Walter was looking like an ant hill as he was ‘mobbed’ with people climbing all over him and getting a birds’ eye view from his top deck.
While walking through the massive swap meet, probably the biggest one we’ve ever seen here, we wondered who would ever use this much “stuff” and misc parts, some new to some really greasy dirty ones.
In contrast to the massive swap meet, the race pits were surprisingly sparse with a small number of racers. And racing was a struggle all day between cars oiling the track and a spectacular crash during time trials (at probably over 100 mph, disintegrating the car; fortunately the driver was not seriously injured, only banged up and able to ‘walk away’ from the crash) which delayed the start of eliminations until well into the afternoon.
The car show awards were also late in the afternoon and many of the winners (between 1/3-1/2) had already left the show. The promotors should consider having the awards earlier before participants are ready to or need to go home, since it is Sunday afternoon.
It was an exciting day for us, receiving a trophy AND the special delivery of our ‘Bus Eyes’ from Kristine Salazar via VTO’s Stan Ford. (thanks Kristine and Stan).
Isn’t the ‘Fillmore look’ great on our ’63 Double Door?!
Click here: Bugorama to see more pictures
March 27, 2010
by Julia
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Bugorama Racing Prep
Talk about great timing! We were just leaving from a delightful and delicious lunch at Urban Beans in downtown Phoenix when Tommy received a phone call from some Colorado friends, in town for Bugorama and wondering if we had arrived yet.
They were at Competition Engineering, a Volkswagen shop that builds high performance race engines used in race cars, dune buggies and street racers. Today they were doing ‘wheel dynos’ to set up cars for the drag races at Bugorama tomorrow and our friends were waiting their turn.
We were literally just a few minutes’ drive away and arrived to find a ‘mini’ Volkswagen show happening. VW Bugs, buses, dune buggies, and other interesting vehicles were parked anywhere and everywhere they could find a place.
We joined the crowd gathered around the ‘wheel-dyno’ watching the team measure the horse power and torque of each car and making adjustments to the carburetor for maximum performance.
The excitement for race day tomorrow is building as we see what the participants and competition is looking like!
March 17, 2010
by Julia
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Finding Ft Lewis
Traffic is really getting thick as we get closer to Tacoma, but our trusty ’61 Westy keeps up. We are watching for our exit, and suddenly realize we have been driving alongside the Ft. Lewis Army Base property for quite a distance. And when the planes fly close over the highway
(no it’s NOT a bug on the windshield of the camper!) we also realize that an Air Force Base is on the opposite side of the highway.
We are close to our exit but there doesn’t seem to be any hotels here, so we drive on. Being this close to the main gates of the base, there must be some hotels nearby.
We keep driving instead of taking the exit our grandson gave us in his directions and only have to go a couple exits
further, to find several hotel options. We choose one and check in about 4:30 pm. Since Marcus isn’t getting off duty until after 6 pm, we will be going to dinner late and have plenty of time to freshen up. It feels great!
March 11, 2010
by Julia
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Down the road toward Ft Lewis
On down the road toward Ft Lewis and our grandson Marcus. We are excited to get to see him again. The highway widens and traffic picks up and we keep rolling along in our little VW Bus! Aberdeen is an interesting transition into civilization. A HUGE lumber mill, some cattle, some fisheries and the first chain stores we have seen for awhile. We prefer the small little towns except for so many closed shops and businesses. We catch our first glimpse of Mt. Rainier…exciting! It is spectacular and so regal!
March 7, 2010
by Julia
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Westport Washington
Westport is definitely a tourist town with lots of shops, restaurants and charter fishing. There is a huge marina and sport fishing fleets but overall it doesn’t seem like a friendly place. We drive out to the point of Westport…it is disappointing. The light house almost seems like a joke …supposedly the tallest light house in Washington but is way back off the shore in the trees and we are not inclined to get out of the bus and go check it out, in fact, we don’t see where there is a visitor center. A big vacation condo complex is going up on the shore–some big money coming into town. We also see a sign for a big 18 hole golf course, so someone is bringing in development.
We go back to the boardwalk, park and get out to walk along the marina and shops. It is windy and cold. We go into a couple little shops…again not very interesting and not real friendly. Perhaps because of the cold wind, it isn’t much fun to walk around. And being July and what we think should be the height of tourist season, it is strange to be part of a small handful of visitors that the shop owners seem uninterested in. We decide to move on.
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