Gigantic shit in the shop dump

Hi. Here is-are what I have been doing-done. All about me you know. This ego of mine needs a place to broadcast. The internet is inner-involved. Introspective progressive regression. Interjection of passive aggression. Self projection lacking affection.  

Gary gives me a beautiful tig welded piece of art. Chop and destroy is my nature. Added a chunk with gas torch and ss spoke filler rod.

I have work to do. And then I need to go racing. Wipe the dust off your wings and the sleep out of your eyes old Pontiac, you will climb hills of gravel roads slideways once again.

The shop is busy. Yes, I know, that is good. I am lucky. If money was the reason, I would not be the same. Work is my middle name.

The after hours project is slowly creeping along. Like a bug. A purple baja beetle bug...

The Torino someday project. Starsky and Hutch; I haven't seen it either.

Heart of the Pontiac hill climb car nears completion. Layla is a might bit camera shy... But she sure knows where it's at.

 And in other news I have been suffering with an inner groin issue getting on and off the sofa. It is an old snowshoeing injury ( I wish I were joking) that has me un able to lift my foot to walk at times. Absolutely ridiculous. The pizza and beer physical fatness training program is still yet to be determined an adequate method...

Good day-  

The art of racing and growing old

 OK, so I know I am not old yet but I am older than I was yesterday. Older than my prime. At least I feel that way. It could be my achy clicking knees or the friends no longer with me but I know I have a lot of gas left in my tank. Last year was... last year.  It was not all that bad for me but I am sure we all agree that there sure as hell was not enough racing. The couple of years before that were a bit consumed by my relocation which involved my wife spending a year schooling abroad in Kansas and me living out of an old Cowboy camper in a sketchy junk yard but after the dust settled we are content and I have my own property for my shop. Back out west and away from the hustle of the big city. It is hard to believe that 5 years ago I was attending the Denver Art Museum where there was a giant movie screen showing my ugly mug talk about racing, my race bike and leathers on display alongside a bunch of valuable samurai stuff and a bunch of high class folks eating wine and cheese. I remember at the time I had become numb to the attention and I was nonchalantly doing interviews left and right. I am not even sure I kept a single copy of the Westword feature. Much the same as I never kept a single issue of the Dirt Bike magazine with my full page |Klim advertisement years prior. Perhaps, even then I knew those things were not important to who I really am. The experiences shaped me but the person I am today is who I really am. I am still the same obsessed nut I was 15 years ago; Plotting out my yearly racing itinerary with sloppy ink on a calendar. I want to give 2021 a good run and focus on some racing again. It gives me reason to stay in shape both physically and mentally. I refuse to let any outside crap drag me down because after all anything is only going to ever be what we make of it. The world may seem to be a wreck and it may very well be but that does not matter. The potential for quality spent time is any time. All the time. A positive point of view is a powerful perspective.

Just another rambling preach about taking the reins and blah blah blah. Go and get it. make it happen. And blah blah yeah.

The Universe Provides

 So we all get dealt our fair share of shit now and then. Sometimes we bring it on ourselves and sometimes it is hard to know where it comes from. Like a meteorite or even a chunk of blue ice from the sky chunked down right on your melon. But I try not to dwell on the negative as it never seems to do me a bit of good and what is the good in telling others about your problems when most everybody does not care and some are probably glad you have problems. So how about the positive shit that the cosmos deal out, the good shit. The stuff smiles, hopes, and dreams are made of. Like an inspirational poster that speaks to you. How about some go fast old school race car revival. This old Vahsholtz Pikes Peak Torino of mine is not on my front burner but it is stuck on my trailer at the moment so I started checking around town for some old tires or wheels get it at least able to roll of the trailer. No luck at any of the tire shops. 14" not so common nor the 5 on 4-1/2" bolt pattern. None nowhere, but then I ask my neighbor who has an old car shop and: ... no.... wait, them old slotted aluminum mags above the tool box way up on the wall that were there when he bought the shop from the previous owner, coated in dust and mounted with old Mickey Thompson circle track rubber. I'll be damned if they are not the same wheels mounted on the old Red Sled in the picture posted way down below when Len raced her way back when she was new. My neighbor was just happy to see them find a proper home. As an old Cosmic Cowboy used to always say: "The Universe Provides."  And the other week I saw a Craigslist ad for some old Ford engines and parts just a few blocks from my shop so even though I am still simmering the Torino on the back burner I thought I better see if he happened to have a builder FE block. He had four. two complete, two bare blocks, and a big block. And a shed packed full of FE cranks, heads, and all sorts of other stuff including tools, old memorabilia, and random shed bits. I said I could not take the whole lot of his hands, I just needed one engine. I told him I only had $300 in my billfold. He said "How about $150 for everything".  And voilà, I am a horder. 

1964 Ford Galaxie 427 stock car Junior Johnson at Ascot Park

Of all the different things I have done, I have yet to find a thrill that is greater than flat tracking, the simple pleasure of pushing it on a dirt corner over and over and over again.

Ronin #1 (OISHI YOSHIO) in the 93rd Pikes Peak International Hill Climb

Samurai shit.

This will probably always be the most gnarly I ever get.

Right up to the edge and over it just a bit.

It was just three days after Carl died on the corner at 10:20

Strong feelings.

I still can't believe I dumped $150K after the finish hamming it around. Typical :)