A Mother must brag.........

[86gngirl]

Well here are some photos of my son and his 2nd place trophy from this past Saturday. I must brag about him because he is just amazing. You would never know it unless I told you but he is color blind, has a stigmatizum in his left eye, and has asthma. I refuse to let any of this stop him at what he wants to do, I will not have children learn to eat off the system. He gets no free rides in life, just works hard, if not harder, for what he wants. His reaction times are unreal !!! His best ever was a .007 and a worst of .070 and a few red lights here and there, but only by hundreths of a second. He has adjusted to any combo on his car that we have thrown at him almost instantly. This will be his first full year at this. His birthday is in June so he only got half a year in last year, but managed fifth place in points.Hopfully he'll do good in points this year and maybe even a track campionship.

Thanks for reading, here are a few photos.

 

[imjoesnuffy]

That is awesome! Guess the go fast thing is genetic. Best of luck with the championship chase!

 

[86gngirl]

Thank you. I just wish I could say the reaction times were genetic . He could teach his dad and me a thing or two.

 

[Gary Wells]

Congratulations to you all. That's really raising them the right way.

 

[cruzn57]

Outstanding!

you should be proud, he's doing what most youngsters dream of.
continue to encourage him, and you will continue to be proud !
best of luck

 

[turbofabricator]

That's great! He'll be out on his own before you know it! I truely miss my time cheering my kids on.

 

[tom j]

How did you get your son involved in jr. dragster, did somebody else in the family do it prior to him? I would love to get my sons involved in this sport 4 & 5yrs. old. Do you have any recomendations on how to find out some info, it does help that I have a dragstrip 15min from home (chicagoland route66).

P.S.congrats on your sons success

 

[86gngirl]

Thanks for the kind words everyone.

Tom J,
At most tracks , if not all, the child has to be 8 years old to race at the strip. As far as my boy getting into Jr.s , he comes from a family of racers, so he has spent allot of his time at the track. He wanted to do Jr. Dragster for a long time but the age was a problem, had to wait till he was 8 last June. If your Sons want to get into the sport I recommend to do it as cheap as possible. Do not however go cheap on safety equipment. We live in Pa and bought my sons Jr. from Michigan as a roller. It was a fair price for a top of the line car and some safety equipment, about $2500. Then we updated the fire coat, pants,gloves, helmet, arm restraints,belts, and neck brace. Summit sells a ready to go car for I think $5000 to $6000, thats not including the suite, restraints or helmet.You will find that the money is in the motor of these little cars. That's where I say go the cheap route. We use Brigs motors from Sears push mowers and the one on his car now is from a pressure washer.:biggrin: All of which were being thrown out. Just a little 5 hp motor is all you are aloud to have. I have seen the Block Zillas, just a bigger 5 hp motor, sell for $5000 - $6000. Problem with that is it is bracket racing, so does it really matter? Our little pressure washer motor runs 12.95 @ 53 mph in the 1/8. Sad thing is the Jr.s are mostly faster in the 1/8 then most big cars. My GN runs 12.80 @ 108 in the 1/4. The older your kids get they move up in class which means they can go faster. 8-9 yrs. old no faster then 12.90, 10-12 @ 8.90, and 13-17 @ 7.90 all in the 1/8. You can find good deals on cars, but stock up on Brigs motors. Encourage them and make it friendly competition, not always about the win, that's just the bonus for doing well. They will also have to be licensed before they can really race. Our track offered a safety licensing class for the kids of all ages. They showed them the track in detail, where to get off the gas, start to apply the brake, turn off, and get your slips. Each kid got 4 passes in a ready supplied car after the walk threw. If your track offers it, do it. You will also have to sign waivers from BOTH parents, Mom and Dad. Don't let that scare you though, the cars are safe. My boy rolled his ( you can see the scuff marks in the one picture on his car, on roll cage and part of the body.) But the safety equipment is there for a reason. He walked away without a scratch but now learned a valuable lesson. He panicked, hit the gas and break, then cut the wheel. The cage did its job along with the helmet, restraints, etc. Just a few scratches on the car, but oh well he was fine. Now he knows this is no joke. Talk to the parents at your track that have kid in Jr. They are a wealth of knowledge and are always willing to help and answer questions. We are in our second year and still learning. Most of the parents will say that they are still learning as well. I hope this helps you out some what. Good luck with your boys.

 

[tom j]

thanks for the info, I going to check into it at the local track

 

[FlyinGN]

congrats!!. We wanted to get our Son involved back when he was 8 too but it never got off the ground.. Good job Shawn!!

 

[86gngirl]

congrats!!. We wanted to get our Son involved back when he was 8 too but it never got off the ground.. Good job Shawn!!

Just to let you know he said thanks!



Thanks again to everyone too. Back at it again this Saturday and every one after that, as long as we have no major issues with the car.

 

[Jerryl]

Congrats Shawn!
You make us all proud! (Your extended TR family :biggrin: )

 

[CHARGED]

Which track(s) do you go to?

 

[86gngirl]

Congrats Shawn!
You make us all proud! (Your extended TR family :biggrin: )

Thanks Jerryl. That means more then you'll ever know.

 

[86gngirl]

Which track(s) do you go to?

We go to Pittsburgh Raceway Park, use to be Keystone Raceway. We also use to go to Quaker City Dragway in Ohio but that track is no longer.

 

[GNandGS]

and his name is spelled correctly.

 

[86gngirl]

He just took first place today!!!! (pictures coming soon):biggrin:

 

[Nashty]

We got into it this year. Bought a complete car (former track rental) for $2500 including the rental safety gear (which is now in a landfill). I hear you about the motors. We went to a Fri T&T and were the only one of the dozen or more cars that ran a B&S motor. Everyone else was Blockzilla or Billet $$$$. I'm amazed by the grasp some of the young kids have on the strategy of racing and maintaining their cars.

My boy has only gone out twice so far but it getting better at it. He will still occasionally roll through when staging but we're not going for points this year. Maybe next year or some points races later this year for fun. Cordova has a lot of all run races so he'll get it handed to him more than he'll win. I only hope he doesn't get burned out on always losing because those kids (and parents) are TOUGH.

It's fun but you have to be prepared to spend a little dough up front. Just like big cars, parts for these cars can get expensive. So use good financial restraint or you'll lose your butt on the car when you go to move up.

Congrats to Shawn, that is spectalular that he's won ALREADY !! Those are awesome lights.

BTW, how did you slow your car down? Seems like you geared it high (numerically low) with a 53mph. Our first pass after converting to alky, we went 11.70 Prior to that the old tired gas motor only went 15.XX He likes it ALOT better on alky too. It sounds like a race car as opposed to a lawn mower.

 

[86gngirl]

We got into it this year. Bought a complete car (former track rental) for $2500 including the rental safety gear (which is now in a landfill). I hear you about the motors. We went to a Fri T&T and were the only one of the dozen or more cars that ran a B&S motor. Everyone else was Blockzilla or Billet $$$$. I'm amazed by the grasp some of the young kids have on the strategy of racing and maintaining their cars.

My boy has only gone out twice so far but it getting better at it. He will still occasionally roll through when staging but we're not going for points this year. Maybe next year or some points races later this year for fun. Cordova has a lot of all run races so he'll get it handed to him more than he'll win. I only hope he doesn't get burned out on always losing because those kids (and parents) are TOUGH.

It's fun but you have to be prepared to spend a little dough up front. Just like big cars, parts for these cars can get expensive. So use good financial restraint or you'll lose your butt on the car when you go to move up.

Congrats to Shawn, that is spectalular that he's won ALREADY !! Those are awesome lights.

BTW, how did you slow your car down? Seems like you geared it high (numerically low) with a 53mph. Our first pass after converting to alky, we went 11.70 Prior to that the old tired gas motor only went 15.XX He likes it ALOT better on alky too. It sounds like a race car as opposed to a lawn mower.

Crongrats or your little racer there. Its awesome to see these kids doing this. Good luck this year and please tell your son good luck and we wish him well.
To slow the car down we use a ballast that we fill with lead buck shot. I'll post some pictures of it to give you an idea. I have seen some people tie small sand bags in the drivers compartment under the body to add weigh to slow the car down. I like the ballast better then the sand bags just because its easy to get to and its not in the way. Plus it is easier to add 1 or take 1 out. The sand has to much guessing on amounts. If you would like I could give you the names of the companies that we use for parts. They are the most reasonable on price and very helpful with any and all questions. Also jet sizes in the carb can be changed to slow or speed up these cars.

 

[86gngirl]

Here are the pictures of the ballast. I showed my bot your sons car and he said the car is awesome. Also please wish him luck!! My husband wanted to know what gears you are running, front and back.