Posted: June 17, 2009

Catching up again

After my first NHRA win I received a tremendous amount of congratulations from a lot of great people from all over. I appreciated every sentiment as I have worked very hard at my passion. The win is the right kind of inspiration to keep me focused. Along the way I have had so many really awesome folks help me out and I am always glad to be able to thank as many of them as I can publically in our media releases.

I am very happy to announce that Mickey Thompson and Millroad Manufacturing have joined our team. I’d like to welcome them and thank them for their support.

The first contingency check I received after Indy came from the folks at JEGS High Performance. Along with the check was a box of JEGS hats that had the event and my name embroidered in them. These JEGS hats, that Wally trophy, and a Lucas Oil hat that says Event Winner are the coolest things. I am very grateful to JEGS for their support.

After Indianapolis I set the car up to run quick as we were getting set to debut at the inaugural Quick 32 Sportsman Series race in Cayuga, ON. I was really excited to kick off this new series. And also it was my first return to Toronto Motorsports Park since my fire there last year. We were making a different kind of highlights there last year and I was hoping to vindicate all that this year.

I qualified in the eighth position with a 7.441 on Saturday. When we woke up Sunday morning the cool air had made for really fast racing conditions. I squeaked through first round running right on my index with a one. Add that to my twelve thousandths reaction time and my total run was .013 from perfect.

In this series the dragsters run one side of the ladder, the door slammers on the other, and the two finalist meet in the final race. On the dragster side I managed to get around the number one, two, three, and eleven qualifiers.

The final round I was paired up with Jeff Gable who got through on the door side. Jeff came over and told me he wanted time between rounds which I agreed to as they had run a few of the rounds pretty close together. When we both were set I hit the starter on my car and sheered the teeth off my flexplate. Due to the terrible noise this made I remember a whole group of people came running. Marc McCrea, Mike Wagg, and Dave Bell helped out big time to get me up to the line. Jeff was cool and gave me lots of time to sort through this and then once we got the car started seemed to go through his own issues to get his car started. I waited for him and we managed to have a great final at the first race of this new series.

Winning the inaugural event in this new series is very cool. As the race date got closer, winning it was something I was really hoping I could accomplish. I wrote a letter that was posted on the www.quick32.ca website thanking everyone who made this series possible. I also dedicated this win to Bruce Mehlenbacher’s daughter Jackie. I’ve never met Jackie but when I hear someone is dealing with health challenges my racing does not consume all my thoughts and I wish her the best.

I had some time off before this past weekend. Last Thursday I left for Chicago for my second Lucas Oil Division 3 race. My time trials went well and I was looking good for fist round. I drew Rusty Cook on Sunday morning. Unfortunately my car slowed and I knew there was no way I was getting to the finish line first after Rusty and I posted identical reaction times. So that was the end of a twelve round winning streak. I hope to start another one next week in Grand Bend, ON.

Here is our schedule of Canadian races:

June 27-28
NAPA Auto Parts Quick 32 Sportsman Series
Grand Bend Motorplex - Grand Bend, Ontario

July 11-12
PMRA Challenge & NAPA Auto Parts Quick 32 Sportsman Series
St. Thomas Dragway - Sparta, Ontario

July 17-19
IHRA Nationals Event Grand Bend Motorplex – Grand Bend, Ontario

August 8-9
Stratford Spectacular Hot August Nationals presented by Ideal Supply & NAPA Auto Parts PMRA Challenge & NAPA Auto Parts Quick 32 Sportsman Series Grand Bend Motorplex - Grand Bend, Ontario

September 5-6
Fourth Annual PMRA Challenge & NAPA Auto Parts Quick 32 Sportsman Series Grand Bend Motorplex - Grand Bend, Ontario

September 19-20
PMRA Challenge & NAPA Auto Parts Quick 32 Sportsman Series
Toronto Motorsports Park - Cayuga, Ontario

 

Posted: May 6, 2009

Well, How about that…
Admittedly it’s been long overdue that I update this section. April was a bit of a thrash to prepare for our race season. A big part of my race program is offering my sponsors the best value possible. And that means car shows and other appearances that are very important. We then had to turn the car around and prepare it for the 2009 season. So I’ll spare you on the details of that thrash but I will say a lot of good people helped out and got us ready on time.

Somewhere along the winter I decided I was going to return to the US for some NHRA and IHRA races this year. With the Top Dragster series we’d been running since 2005 completely up in the air, I wanted to return to the stuff we built our car for. First up was the season opening NHRA Lucas Oil Drag Racing Series race in Indianapolis. You likely already know the results but just in case, I won my first NHRA race. What an amazing feeling that was. And a great way to start the year.

I was very fortunate to get the assistance of the Klomps family from Bayfield, ON who loaded my car in their trailer. It was on the way down to Indy that we figured out I hadn’t run an NHRA race since 2004. I have also had a very limited number of races on the 8.90 index. So either way this weekend was going to be exciting for me. I can’t thank the Klomps and Mark Snyder enough for all their help. Because of them the weekend went really smooth. In fact, there wasn’t a whole lot about the race that stood out other than I put four runs in the 8.90 range together over the seven rounds. In round six I earned the bye run into the finals so I just staged and returned to the staging lanes to prepare for the finals.

Congratulations are in order to Bill and Dave Klomps as well. Dave has earned a spot in the JEGS All-Star race in Chicago this June. Dave will be representing Division 3 in Super Gas. Indy was the last race to capture points in this division and Dave got it by 2 points.
On Saturday night of the event, Steve Schmidt Competition Engines and Gebhardt Trailers through a BBQ for all the racers. The food was incredible and it was a great time. And we'd already won first round and knew we were racing on Sunday.

Right now I’m working on the dragster to make it go much faster than 8.90. This Victoria Day weekend we start our NAPA Quick 32 Series season in Cayuga. I’m really looking forward to getting this series going and my return to Cayuga Dragway.

Posted: March 24, 2009

All systems go!
March has been a whirlwind month. Last I left off I was waiting on the announcement of the new Quick 32 series in February. And not only was it announced a few weeks ago but it also came with the announcement that NAPA was the presenting sponsor. I am really excited about the platform of this series and where it may go. I sent a media release stating our commitment to the new series out to Bruce Mehlenbacher. He packaged it and distributed throughout the industry. The response was tremendous. I was featured on every motor sport website known. I am really looking forward to kicking this series off in May at Cayuga Dragway. This series will be awesome for everyone involved.

I was actually travelling while the official announcement was released so it was pleasant news upon my return. I sold our trailer and somewhere along the negotiations agreed to deliver it to Winnipeg. Not the most desirable destination during the winter months. The trip was great however cold it may have been. I was lucky we made it there with zero problems and fairly good weather. The day after we had delivered the trailer to it’s new owner I was two and a half hours into what I was hoping would be a speedy trip home and the truck had other plans. I figured it for a fuel problem and was able to limp it to a tiny gas station with not much in the way of tools. I did however McGuyver a bungy strap into a filter wrench to see if anything noticeable was in the fuel filter and get the part number. Not really sure what I was hoping to accomplish there but I was still in blast-home mode. When that didn’t produce anything better it was time to call the tow truck. While the tow truck driver did his best back at his shop with a new filter and a few other ideas we both knew there were still fuel issues. We were stranded in EGF for the night. The giant GM dealer in town, Rydell’s got us on our way the next day. The diagnosis was gelling of the fuel due to the cold temperatures. After that excursion we headed south and chose a new route home that was warmer and gave me cell phone coverage.

I’ve ordered a new trailer from The Trailer Shop in Jordan Station and hopefully it will be here in time for our first race. I’m finalizing the race schedule now and it will be posted on our website soon.
This past weekend I was at the Performance World Custom Car Show in Toronto. Our car took home class champion in two categories. The show was cool this year and there were some really cool rides. This weekend I’m off to the SuperCross at the Rogers Centre in Toronto. Last year was my first time at one of their events and I was blown away. They really know how to entertain.

Posted: February 23, 2009

Lot’s of optimism, part 4
Well this is great. Four blog entries and we’re almost caught up. I received a lot of feedback last year on the blogs and I know people want regular updates so we’ll try to continue this pace.
A few weeks ago I attended a racer’s meeting for a new series in Ontario that is being put together by the same folks from the PMRA. I have been watching the PMRA as a fan for a long time, in fact I was at their first meeting years ago as well. The new Quick 32 series they are proposing has me really pumped up. As evidenced by the PMRA this will be an awesome venue to showcase my sponsors and get them more attention. It also looks like our success will be heavily rewarded as the winnings are very lucrative.
Lots of things coming up in the next few weeks, stay tuned…

Posted: February 20, 2009

Still catching up, part 3
One of the greatest things about my racing is the partnership I have with the companies involved with this team. Obviously at the top of the list is the support we have from Lucas Oil Products Canada. It means everything to me to receive the email I did following our appearance at the CME in January. The folks from Lucas Oil in California emailed me to thank me for making the appearance as well as acknowledging the media surrounding the event. To me that makes all the digging trailers out of snow banks, the long hours, and hard work all worth it.
This year will mark the fifth year Lucas Oil in Canada will be our primary sponsor. Hard to believe it’s been five years already. In reality it’s been longer. Our partnership started much smaller in 2003, the beginning of my days driving dragsters. It was kind of a let me show you what I can do start. The program increased each year and in 2005 they showed a lot of confidence in our program by signing on as the primary sponsor.
Since then, Steve Snowden has been my biggest cheerleader. He gives me a great amount of confidence as a racer as he understands all types of racing very well. Five years is a long time. This partnership is something I am very proud of. Driving the Lucas Oil dragster is the best gig in the world. It really motivates me, and this being a milestone year I really want to work hard and do something special for them. We have a lot planned for this season, I really can’t wait.

Posted: February19, 2009

The “Off” Season, part 2
In January I was very fortunate to appear with our dragster at the Canadian Motorsports Expo in Toronto. Talk about the red carpet treatment. We were a part of the Lucas Oil booth and managed to have our car front a centre at the International Centre. I signed a number of autographs and was part of a driver’s panel that appeared on the CME stage. This was an excellent way to kick off our 2009 year. We have since committed to two other show appearances. When offers like these present themselves I am quick to accept as we are keen to offer the companies on our team as much exposure in 2009 as possible.
At the CME I was able to meet with Tammy and Fred from APX Racewear. It was an absolute pleasure to sit and talk with them. They are two very genuine people and passionate about their company and all motor sports. I was very impressed with their product line and can’t wait for where this relationship will take us.

Leading up to the CME we had to piece the dragster back together and polish it good with our Lucas Slick Mist and Lucas Liquid Polish. As soon as the car returned we went to work on freshening and updating the car. It’s hard scheduling all this between appearances but I think we have it figured out and will be ready for our first race in April.

Posted: February 17, 2009

Back by popular demand, part 1
Now that we have a new website up at tjschippling.com, I thought it would be a great opportunity to catch everyone up on what’s going on. The first big thing I do in the off season is attend the Performance Racing Industry show in Orlando. It’s great to walk the isles and gaze at all the new shiny race car parts and dream of what we need for our race operation. I also like to thank all the folks and companies that were a part of our team last season. This year the condition of the economy was painfully obvious throughout the show. I however, had a very good show.
When I reflect on our 2008 race season I am very proud of the effort we put forth. Unfortunately it was the first season I did not win a race. Our team did appear in three final rounds and if I just could have turned the win light on once I would have been second in points rather than fourth. Still a great season but I’m a racer through and through. Not winning a race and missing the championship really has me amped up for this season.