Winter=vacation? No way

I one time thought that the winter months were a time for a vacation from racing. Nope, no way. We had about a month to lay around and now we are getting ready for the new season at mach one speed. Since September I have bought a new/used carbon fiber funny car body. It is a 2002 Pontiac Firebird that weighs 67 pounds less than our current fiberglass Dodge Avenger body. It has a all titanium interior framework, the spoiler plates are carbon fiber. It is very very nice. With this and other changes we are making we should be right at making weight. The TAFC class is required to weigh 2300lbs and we should be right at that this season give or take a cheesburger or two. I went on a serious diet in the spring and summer and lost 45 lbs. Unfortunately a late season back reinjury slowed me down and I put back on 25 of those. Dang it- oh well, I can fix that. I am planning on taking that off and maybe a little more before the season starts. And speaking of seasons starting- We are planning on attending a preseason testing session at the strip in Las Vegas on the last weekend of January.
The race car transporter was in the shop last week getting the vinyl wrap applied for our marketing partner the Quinault Beach Resort and Casino. It looks great and we should have pictures on here soon. Stay tuned for the changes- things are moving at supersonic speed around here. Dave Germain

Woodburn Fall Funny Car Classic - Sept 2007 - The end of an amazing season

On September 15 and 16 the Germain Motorsports team ventured back into competition at Woodburn dragstrip. The event was the Fall Funny Car Classic, it included funny cars, dragsters, jet cars and a full complement of the sportsman classes. Over 700 cars were entered for this event. Saturday started off sunny with weather conditions that were as close to ideal as the team has seen all year. A checkout pass at 1 pm was successful with a 6.28 time at over 230 MPH. I originally had planned a half pass only but with things going well at the one-two shift I decided to run the car all the way through.
Sunday dawned cloudy but warm and dry. After talking with engine builder Bob Miner by phone I took another three fourths of a gallon of fuel out of the motor leaning it down. The first pass was a personal best for me with this car at 6.05 at 229 MPH. That is the quickest this car has gone with me driving and the quickest I have ever gone at Woodburn. It was also the quickest that the team has gone with the Miner Bros. motor. We attempted to lean the motor another 2 tenths of a gallon before the last qualifying pass of the day. Unfortunately the clouds had become rain which ended the event. I can assure everyone that although the rain dampened the event it didn't dampen my enthusiasm. I was really enjoying the weekend at a great racetrack with great weather. The density altitude had been under 1000 feet all weekend giving us a ton of air to run the car with.
And so ends our season, years before i was ready for it to end. It seems like we were just getting started when it was over. Our year started so terribly with a rain out at the first Woodburn event and the motor explosion on the first run at Mission. I truly thought our year was over before it had even started. With a monumental struggle the money was raised to buy the new MBR motor and we were again off and running. I want to thank Kim for her patience and belief in our struggle. Her willingness to allow me to bet our home on the race program was instrumental in our season coming back together. Then with the help of our newly acquired sponsor and marketing partner the Quinault Beach Resort and Casino we were able to finish our season strongly. I absolutely can't wait till next season. This is the first year in quite some time that we have ended the season with a running intact race car. This will enable us to start next year off in great shape. If our progress this year is any indicator then next year will be a breakout success. I am including a crew "in action" picture with this blog. Another great picture is behind the DGM Team tag on the website. I want to thank them for their help-nothing would have been possible without their efforts. As always, a big "Thank You" to the friends and supporters of the Germain Motorsports team and I want to encourage you to support our sponsors.

" I'll be back" -----Dave Germain

Billings Div 6 race

I have been thinking about how I would describe this last weekend and in one word- WOW. What an adventure it was. We left on Tuesday morning, Aug 14. While on SR-12 crossing White Pass a passing log truck kicked up a rock the size of a baseball that struck the driver's side windshield of the Freightliner. It pretty well went right through, showering the entire interior of the truck with shards of glass. Thankfully both Kim and I had our sunglasses on which shielded our eyes from the flying glass. We checked our vitals and after finding them intact continued on. A few hours later while on I-90 in Spokane a trailer tire blew, tearing the fender on the trailer apart. It was then that I found the spare didn't fit. Wahoo...... Two hours later we were on the road again. We arrived in Billings at 4 am on Wednesday morning. A quick four hours of sleep later and we were heading to the Rimrock Mall for a car show. I had been contacted the previous week about a car show publicizing the upcoming race and asked to appear. I am glad I agreed after seeing the thousands of people who came by the cars on display. Autographs and handshakes were in plentiful supply. Wednesday afternoon we took the car to the track and set up our pit space. The Yellowstone Dragstrip facility is without a doubt first rate. If it was at sea level it would be home to many national records. After getting our pit space set up our tow rig was delivered to us by Menholt Chevrolet. They supplied a 2007 Chevy 3/4 ton crewcab truck for us to use for the weekend. The folks at Menholt are truly nice people. I don't think I can say enough positive things about them. There is no doubt in my mind that if I was in the market for a new truck that they would be my first choice of where I would buy it.
We had three qualifying runs, one on Friday, and two on Saturday. Unfortunately we weren't able to get into the field. Our best run managed to get us into the ninth position out of ten cars. But it was a eight car field. We weren't last but we did fall short of our goal of qualifying. In retrospect though it was an allstar group of cars with the heavy hitters of division five, six, and seven. Maybe my goals weren't realistic? When I consider that this was only the third time out with the new Miner Bros motor and only the fourth time out with the new car I shouldn't have chose such lofty goals?
Now for the good news- We didn't hurt anything substantial and learned a ton about how to run this new combination.
On friday night after qualifying we put on a salmon feed inviting everybody I could find. Kim and Marlene did a fantastic job of barbecueing the salmon brought over fresh from Quinault Pride Seafoods. We must have fed fifty or sixty people including many of the track workers and the announcers. When we ran Saturday they couldn't say enough about how good the dinner was. I was hoping the goodwill our dinner had brought would be remembered and I apparently underestimated how big of a splash it had made. I see now that I have started a welcome tradition. I wanted to repay the people of the Billings area for their hospitality. They treated us wonderfully and I can't wait to go back. The track is great, the people are some of the nicest I have ever met while racing and I still have that goal of getting into the show. So in the words of my hero- "I'll be back". Dave Germain

Nitro Extravaganza

The Quinault Beach Resort and Casino team ventured out into the heat of Eastern Washington on the weekend of Aug 3-4. It was the Nitro Extravaganza event, formerly the AHRA World Finals. There were 22 cars entered in the Top Alcohol Funny Car field. We took to the Spokane track for the first time with the new Miner Bros engine at 8 pm on Friday night. It was the second of 4 qualifying sessions scheduled. Right out of the box the car ran a 6.17 at 232 mph. Almost a full 3 tenths of a second quicker than the number two qualifier. With the number one qualifying spot firmly in hand the QBRC team skipped the last two sessions of qualifying during the heat of the day on Saturday. First round of eliminations was at 8 pm Saturday night. The first round was an easy victory as was the second round that was ran at 10 pm. The finals were at 1 am with the grandstands still pretty well full of fans watching the action. This is where we ran into a bump in the road. An untimely red-light caused by tuning decisions that I made ended our march through the field with a runner-up position. I recall thinking earlier that this was our race to lose- a thought both arrogant and unfortunately true. But a very nice runner-up trophy and an absolute ton of great exposure for our sponsors made it all more than worthwhile.
Our next event is Aug 16-19 at Yellowstone Raceway in Acton, Mt. - right outside Billings. We will be going over a day early to participate in a car show at the brand new Billings Mall after being requested by the race promoter.
For all of you who have contributed so much to the Germain Motorsports team and I appreciate everything you have done for us from actual money, products and most importantly friendship. Thank you.

Dave Germain

Checker Schuck's Kragen NHRA Nationals in Seattle

Hi everyone,

This is a short report on the Germain Motorsports team results from the Seattle National event. The new Minor bros motor didn't actually get fired till Friday Morning. We hit the race track for only the second pass on the new car and the first pass on the new motor Saturday. The motor was intentionally set soft with the idea of working our way to a competitive tune up as the weekend progressed. Thanks to intermittent rain storms we only got one qualifying pass but that one got us in the show with a 6.90 at 212 mph. That pass was good enough for the 16th spot in the field which gave us the number one qualifier Sean Bellemeur for the first round. We tuned the car up incrementally and the car ran a 6.35 at 222 mph. I am hoping that at this rate of improvement we will be competitive in a few more runs. The first round ended our weekend's competition but it didn't dim my spirits one bit. We improved, the car is still running and we will be out there again. In the words of my hero "I'll be back" .

Dave Germain (the Germinator)

Photos courtesy of Scott Hammett