"Live" from Houston
 

Well, we are in Texas. Should be in Baytown in 1-2 hours. It has been a nice day for driving, except for the wind. Only had a few sprinkles of rain on us and it is sunny now.

We left our rig at Jimmy Hidalgo's just outside of Belle Rose and spent the night in Baton Rouge with relatives, then left about lunchtime. Thanks to Jimmy and to Denise for the loan of her car for us to use!

I will post again tonight and let you know how things look at the track for parking, etc.

Hopefully we will do better racing here than we did in Belle Rose. At least the car is running well and looks good!

Patsy

Re: "Live" from Houston
 

WE ARE HERE! There are probably 50-60 rigs here already. It looks like it has not rained here yet. We came in the last gate on the west side of the track. They have everyone stacked on the paved strips, so when it rains, we shouldn't get stuck here. I guess they are still planning to start parking us at noon tomorrow, depending on the rain. We have enough room to get our slides out, so we are set for the evening. I am ready for that 1st glass of wine of the evening. And Jeff, I am drinking from a proper wine glass!

If anyone is here reading this, come on by and have one on us!

I will post more after I see who is here. Sam Pouciau pulled in right behind us. That is all I know of yet.

More later.

Patsy

Re: "Live" from Houston
 

Larry & Patsy,
I enjoyed meeting yall at the Buckner camp in Belle Rose, been keeping up with things a while reading all your "Live" posts, being able to put faces with names was a pleasure. I wont be racing Houston but I will look you up sometime Friday. Good luck on parking in a dry spot.

Re: "Live" from Houston
 

Well we are still here in line and it has not started raining here yet. I overestimated how many rigs were already here. This morning there are probably only 45 sportsmen rigs in line. They were supposed to start moving in the pros at 8 but I haven't seen anything moving yet. We just finished breakfast, so I am going to make another walk up that way.

Hey Bob, come on over anytime.

Patsy

Re: "Live" from Houston
 

They have come out and started handing out the packets with sticker for pit vehicle and gate passes. It still is not raining. In fact there is just a peek of sun coming thru. They are moving the vendors in. Hopefully they will at least get started on time at noon.

More later.

Patsy

Re: "Live" from Houston
 

Still no rain!! They actually started parking us at 11:15, but were only pulling out about 5 at a time. I think there were only 2 people parking us. We have a great spot, I think. I guess we will see after it rains. We are across from the grandstands, behind the manufacturers. I am going out on the golf cart now, so I can get my bearings as to where everything is. Just met a nice young man, Drew Whalen from Illinois. He is coming down later for a glass of wine with us. (He said he is 21. Is that right, Dad? I don't want to get caught contributing to the deliquency of a minor!!)

Jerry Newsome is here by us, as well as Charlie and Austin Ford. Buckners and Teutons are supposed to be here tomorrow. Looks like a great weekend.

More later.

Patsy

Re: "Live" from Houston
 

Actually he is 22. He will graduate in about 6 weeks from the University of Illinois.

Re: "Live" from Houston
 

Well it is 8 pm and still no rain. Looks like we won't make it thru the evening without getting a little wet, though. I've been down talking to Bobby Brannon and Ken Faulk and hearing about Alamo stories. They weren't impressed. Not many stockers here yet. I'm sure everyone is getting in that extra day of work and will be here tomorrow. I will try to get some pictures tomorrow and hopefully I will do better at posting them than I did with the Belle Rose pictures.

Well my team (Kentucky) just got beat in the NIT, so it's all over now for the Wildcats. Anybody know a good basketball coach?

Well, so long until tomorrow.

Patsy

Re: "Live" from Houston
 

Well it is overcast and cool, but not raining. We had one little shower around 9 or so last night and I don't think it rained anymore all night. Racers are pulling in this morning and tech is open. It looks like rain, but forecast says none til noon or so. This afternoon and Friday still look a little iffy. I just hope we get to run class tomorrow. We will just have to wait and see what tomorrow brings.

More later.

Patsy

Re: "Live" from Houston
 

Have you all looked at the schedule that they post at the NHRA trailor to see how many time trials stock will recieve before running class......Will there be a time trial on sat morning or right into eliminations...

Re: "Live" from Houston
 

Chris, We have not found the trailer yet, still looking.

Re: "Live" from Houston
 

The only schedule that is up is for Friday. Super Street starts out at 8, then stock 1 time trial. Then we start right in to class. They're showing 3 rounds of class all on Friday morning. Saturday's schedule is not up, but I bet we go straight into eliminations on Saturday morning. I will check back later in the day and see if they post the schedule.

Lots more stockers have pulled in today. Teuton, Corda, Bratsen, Bob Shaw (by the way, he has to be 120 pounds heavier this weekend), Lusco, Fletcher.

Had a great lunch today. Charlie Ford brought us some local Texas chicken. And boy was it good. Not spicy hot, just good spices. Thanks, Charlie.

More later.

Patsy

Re: "Live" from Houston
 

Well the rain is here. It is not raining hard. Just a heavy sprinkle. But everyone has their cars put up and have brought out the beer.

Found out Charlie Ford cooked the chicken. Fried it in a turkey fryer. Really good. And who would have thought he could cook!!

More later.

Patsy

Re: "Live" from Houston
 

Hay, If he dose burgers you most definitely want to get in that line too ! They are Outstanding.

Re: "Live" from Houston
 

Patsy, we got back to the house about 6. We drove thru some heavy stuff on the way back here to Spring. Susie said it was really bad here. Lots of rain. My radar showed "possibly" some heavy stuff by the track. How's the pits??

Re: "Live" from Houston
 

The pits are the "pits". The ditch between our motorhomes and the pro pits have lots of standing water now. We were sitting in Jeff Teuton's trailer talking with him and his wife Carolyn when all the heavy rain came thru. Couldn't even get out to get more beer and wine. It rained really hard for an hour or so. Hopefully it will be dried out by the time we leave here on Sunday. I'm just glad we are parked where we are and not back where Hidalgo and lots of stockers are. We have lots of sand here so maybe it will dry out a little quicker. They are still calling for more rain tonight. But it has cleared off a little for the time being. Well we are probably in for the evening since it is so messy out.

So more tomorrow.

Patsy

Re: "Live" from Houston
 

Hi Guys. I just looked at the radar and it looks as though your in the clear at least for a while. The weather channel is only calling it a 30% chance for rain tomorrow, so the odds are in your favor. Looks like Saturday and Sunday will be pretty fast. Wish you guy's well in class and the eliminator.We won't see you until Joliet I guess.Stay well and say hello to everyone for us.Were going to miss you at Indy in April.

Mike and Janice

Re: "Live" from Houston
 

I think the rain is gone for the next 24 hrs(Slight chance). After that it's gonna' be beautiful. "Our" pits should drain quickly. It's been so dry here that all of the grounds should be good by tomorrow, not like 2 yrs ago!! See you guy's AM!!

Re: "Live" from Houston
 

AA/SA should be fun to watch, Corda, Pendarvis, West and maybe more.

West changed his GTX to a Road Runner so the car would fit AA. The change was grill, badges,and "The Chicken" all nicely done.

We are on hold for wet track, more later.

Re: "Live" from Houston
 

They just announced we are still probably 30 minutes away from racing. Trying to dry the top end of the track. It hasn't rained since last night, but the moisture is still in the air bad. The sun is trying to peek thru a bit but not enough to help yet. I just drove back thru the pits and everyone has their cars out. The last ones to come in after it rained are just parked on the roads. There have been a lot of changes in Class. Now in AA/SA are Corda, Fletcher, both Mick----,. Still in A/SA, us, Latino, Brannon.

I'm afraid it is looking more like a 1 shot deal for class. But maybe not--we will just have to wait and see.

I have already been out mud bogging this morning. Got stuck with my golf cart next to Teuton's motorhome. Larry, Jeff, and Jerry Newsome had to push me out. So now I have to park the golf cart in the trailer when I am not riding it.

More later.

Patsy

Re: "Live" from Houston
 

Finally made our 1st run. We were off by .13 from Belle Rose, but most everybody else was, too. Sam Pouciau is #1 at 1.06 under. It is really slow. 69 cars. Lots of red lights in qualifying. A couple of Emmons had trouble as well as Unkefer. They should be putting up times shortly. They still have us on the schedule to run class today--1st round after pros, then finish up after the 2nd session of pros. Bad news is though, that it is looking like a little rain later on this afternoon.

More later.

Patsy

Re: "Live" from Houston
 

Well we are on hold again for a few sprinkles. In the 1st run, something happened to Williams and Bratsen on the starting line. Newsome's was a scale issue.

More later.

Patsy

Re: "Live" from Houston
 

Hey Patsy enjoying your posts, I know we were supposed to be there. Charlie Ford had us a spot right there with you and the Teuton's. We had to take Mom in for emergency gallbladder surgery this morning, so unfortunately were gonna miss out! Mom will be OK she is going in to surgery here in a few minutes. Some times, rarely, there are more important things, LOL. I hope we can get our entry back, Glendora told me to talk to Craig Hutchison, so hopefully we can work it out. Wish we were there, but gotta take care of momma! Good luck! Tomorrow is gonna be fast!

Re: "Live" from Houston
 

Hey, Dave, Tell Gwen "Get Well, Quick" from us. Charlie and Austin had you a real good spot here by us. You would have made it 4 Mopars in a row.

Too bad Class wasn't able to be completed. It was actually sprinkling pretty good on the last 2 cars that went down. We got to run but got beat. We have slowed down since last weekend, but the air wasn't nearly as good. It rained pretty hard again, and they were not able to get the track dry enough to run.

Congratulations to Jerry Newsome and all the rest of the Class Winners.

We run 1st round in the morning probably around 8:30. It is supposed to be about 40 degrees . What do you think we ought to dial????

Later.

Patsy

Re: "Live" from Houston
 

9.99

Re: "Live" from Houston
 

Patsy:
It was nice meeting you yesterday. I enjoy your posts; as we don't get to race much before April in NH!
The new paint job looks great. Pls. keep an eye on those biys from D1 for me.

best of luck this weekend...

Dean

Re: "Live" from Houston
 

Well, I guess as soon as we get back home the Dana will go back in the Cuda. We broke a rear end last week at Belle Rose, then again this morning in the first round. It broke right on the starting line. And Larry wasted a .007 light! I knew as soon as I saw it what had happened. This time it had to come back to the pits on a rollback. It is totally locked up. He is out there putting another one in so we can at least get it loaded in the trailer.

Talk about a change in the weather. Our guages were showing -374' this morning as opposed to 2200' on our last run yesterday. It is cold and windy but bright blue skies. It was 49 degrees when we went down the track with about 15 mph crosswinds. It was really cold sitting in the stands watching because the wind was blowing right in your face. We were showing that it was about .15 faster this morning. As you could tell on DRC there were lots of breakouts. Cars were hooking and get way up. Jeff Teuton's car got up higher than I have ever seen it get. I asked him if he had to change pants when he got back to the trailer. LOL Jerry Newsome is running a great race. His car really looked good this morning.

We will be here the rest of the day, so I will try to give you some updates later in the day. Looks like we don't run again til after 2 rounds of pros today. Oh, it looks like Unkefer did blow his up yesterday. He was a no show this morning.

More later.

Patsy

Re: "Live" from Houston
 

Larry, I could save you some weight, (you don't need a Dana),..... give you 8-10 more hp at the rear tires, .....and make you a believer ! Ask,...Jeff Teuton, Mike Beard, Scott Macy, Steve Wann, John Shaul, Chuck Beach, Jim Nichols, John Dinkle, John Lovins, Randy Martin, Gene Mosbeck (Dana), Phil Baldacchio, Jeff Day, ...the list goes on, Call me ! ....JB.

Re: "Live" from Houston
 

Well, our Mopars here have done pretty well. Jerry Newsome and Jeff Teuton are still in. Stock runs 2 rounds in the morning before the opening ceremonies. We will stay as long as Jerry is still in. He has our transmission in his car since he broke his at Belle Rose, so I guess we will see it get home.LOL

We have had a great time around here today. My cousins from Baton Rouge and Port Lavaca have been out here all day for their 1st drag race. I think they have really had a good time. They had no idea what a circus this is.

Larry got the old broken rear end put back in the car so it would at least roll so we could get it back in the trailer. Thanks to Jerry Newsome for helping out and Jeff Teuton for running after some parts for us. So we have everything all loaded back up.

There are a lot of great and knowledgeable fans here in Houston. Had lots of people looking and taking pictures of our car today. I think it was the only pink car here at the track.

Thanks to the Abear Bros. from Houma for all the great food they cooked today. I am sorry about the spelling of their name. I'm sure that I butchered it badly. They cooked jambalaya and fried chicken legs and white beans. Really, really good. Thanks guys. I heard one of the guys in this bunch drank 48 beers yesterday. Now that's a lot of beer!!!

Pat, I talked with both your boys (Scott & Kevin). They are doing fine!

Dean, it was nice meeting you yesterday, too. Hope you had a good trip home.

Well it is bedtime again.

More tomorrow.

Patsy

Re: "Live" from Houston
 

48, hell that puts Painter out to pasture then !

Re: "Live" from Houston
 

What has Jim Bailey got ???
Gear grease with NITRO in it ? :-)

Re: "Live" from Houston
 

John; shame on you; you KNOW better than to ask for speed secrets on this board!!! ESPECIALLY MOPAR speed secrets!!! Jeesh...





Bill

Re: "Live" from Houston
 

Well, Newsome, Teuton and Pizzalato all won 3rd round. Jerry has a heads-up with Bertozzi next round, so Larry is out helping him find a little extra. There were a lot of red lights this morning and the air wasn't quite as good.

Well, more later.

Patsy

Re: "Live" from Houston
 

Well, we are back on the road after Jerry got beat. We stopped at Lafayette, LA and ate at a restaurant that Ronnie West recommended and it was really good. Prejean's--good cajaun food. Well worth tha stop.

Our plans were to go on to Las Vegas from Houston, but I hurt my knee before we left home 2 weeks ago and it hasn't gotten any better, so we decided we had better go on home and see what is the matter with it. And besides that, we're out of spare parts!

By the way, yesterday was mine and Larry's 39th anniversary and he was really a good husband. My cousin who owns a jewelry store in Baton Rouge came to the race yesterday with my anniversary gift from Larry. It was a necklace with a Fleur de lis. It has become a symbol of hope in LA since Hurricane Katrina. So thanks a bunch to my very thoughtful husband.

This past 2 weeks on the road has really been a great time. We have met folks we didn't know before and seen folks that we hadn't seen in a while. Hopefully we can make more trips like this this year.

Thanks to our son, Chris for staying home and handling the family business so this trip was possible.

We will see ya'll down the road somewhere!

Until then,

Patsy & Larry

Re: "Live" from Houston
 

Patsy, happy anniversary to you and Larry, and best wishes for many more. Thank you for all the reports from the races we don't get to attend. We hope to see you two soon, we should be hitting the road in a month or less. I hope your knee problem is nothing serious. I guess we'll have to be ready to run Top Stock at Bowling Green, Larry told me in the lanes that you were just about to bust my chops for not entering when we entered last year! Maybe bright pink and bright orange in the finals. Have a safe trip home.

Re: "Live" from Houston
 

Patsy, thanks for the post.... I guess weather wise I picked a good time to come back home! LOL I really enjoyed meeting you in Belle Rose. I've been reading your posts for a long time and wishing I could meet you but just had not had the chance to go to the same races you guys were at til this year. Glad the boys are doing good... I know they were both extremely disappointed but that's racin' ... You guys have a safe trip home and I hope your knee gets better quick. That is no fun!
Pat

Re: "Live" from Houston
 

BTW, HAPPY ANNIVERSARY!!! Wow, that is some accomplishment! 39 years with the same man!! LOL
Pat