On August 2, 2009 when the alarm clock went off at 4:30 AM, the first thing I heard was “It’s raining”.  By the time we rolled out of the driveway at 5:0clock, it had stopped.

When we got to the meet spot a little after 6, the sun was coming up and it was dry!  It hadn’t rained there at all.

We had a little McDonalds breakfast and coffee, had our card draw and driver’s meeting.  Then we made sure ALL the car’s except Nasty Neal’s had air in the tires and we headed up the hill to meet Jeremy who had been posting cameras along the course.

By the time we got the truck up there, got it turned around and started to unload, it was raining.  Then we had to move all the tow cars and the trailer to a parking area about ½ mile down the course.

When we were back at the cars to get ready for the start, it was POURING and there was heavy Thunder and high winds coming.  It got real dark.

The card draw went to hell as everyone just got their car and got lined up where ever they wanted.  But the weather was too nasty to worry about that and we needed to get this race run and get down off the mountain and away from this storm!

On the Pole we had New comer Rookie, J2 driving  loaner car Blue By You.  On his left was the Jerm, driving the car he doesn’t want called the “Jerminator”.  On the second row, right side was Jola’s Roller with Rexy Mingo on her left driving his new car in it’s maiden run.  The third row was Nasty Neal on the right driving his Monte Carlo with a new high tech roll cage.  On his left was Jolly Roger driving the loaner car DW1386X.  Bringing up the rear in the last starting position was Drscope driving his newly re-bodied wedge shaped car.  Ironically, Drscope drew the #1 starting position in the card draw!

With the call of RELEASE THE BRAKE, the Jerm rolled out into the lead.  Jola’s Roller was somehow able to maneuver around and between J2 and Rexy Mingo and she set off in hot pursuit of the Jerm.

In the back, Drscope pulled out around Nasty Neal who was beginning to realize he had a problem.  As Nasty Neal came into the first right hand bend, it quickly became apparent he had a left rear flat tire.  A little while latter, his brakes would stick on as the scrub pad linkage got hung up on the body work.

Drscope pulled out left over the center line and made the pass on Jolly Roger and J2.  Up front, the Jerm and Jola’s Roller were pulling away from the field, as neither driver would touch the brake pedal.

Approaching the first left hand bend at a high rate of speed, Jola’s Roller moved left across the center line to make the pass on the Jerm.  The Jerm, driving the only car in the field with rear view mirrors, moved left to straighten out the corner, right into the path of the rapidly approaching Jola’s Roller.   With no place to go, and not wanting to brake, Jola’s Roller plowed into the back of the Jerm.  The impact sent the Jerm out ahead and slowed Jola’s Roller.

When Rexy Mingo approached the first left hand bend, he applied his brakes only to shower those behind him with plenty of sparks, lighting up the dark morning road.  Drscope, who discovered his brakes weren’t working much at all, was able to get around Rexy Mingo for third, all the while standing on the brakes trying desperately to slow the car.  Once he had made the pass on Rexy Mingo, he set off after the two leaders who had almost disappeared from view.

Nasty Neal’s car was having no part of this, and when he approached the parking area about ½ mile from the start, he gave up and pulled in.  He figured this was a better place to wait then to maybe have to push the car the rest of the way down the hill.

Out front, the Jerm was flying with Jola’s Roller close behind.  These two probably reached some of the highest speeds yet of any MISFITS racer as they sped towards the finish.

At the finish, it was the Jerm taking his first ever win, with Jolla’s Roller just behind.  These two were followed by Drscope a few seconds latter, who was still unable to stop his car.  Next was Jolly Roger, followed closely by Rexy Mingo, and a few seconds latter, J2.

In spite of the rain, this has got to be our best trophy run so far!  It was definitely the fastest speeds we have run so far.

After the Trophy Run, we loaded up and headed back up the mountain a few miles for our fun run on a different road.  This was another high speed run on a narrower, much more twisty, bumpy road.  Many of us thought this was a much more intense run then the Trophy Run.

And maybe latter, when the weather is not so bad, and the road is not covered with tree debris from the storms, we will run that course as our Trophy Run.

All in all, if you missed this one, you missed one of our best days yet!

Official Results Race #6

First                       the Jerm       10 points

Second                  Jola's Roller     9 points

Third                    Drscope            8 points

Fourth                  Jolly Roger       7 points

Fifth                    Rexy Mingo        6 points

Sixth                   J2                      5 points

DNF                    Nasty Neal           0 points

Those of you who have been to a Saturday “get Ready” day know Drscope lives near the interstate highway.  A few years ago they did erect a large sound barrier wall that also keeps the highway out of sight.

This past Saturday night, as we were frantically trying to get all the cars finished up and ready to go, there was a horrific crash on the highway just on the other side barrier of the sound wall.

Of Course we couldn’t tell what happened, or how many cars were involved, but it sounded like about a 10 car pile up.  Lots of screeching tires and crashes, then silence as all the traffic came to a stand still.

We made the 911 call and then went back to work on our cars.  For the next 30 to 45 minutes, emergency equipment continued to arrive.  The clean up went long into the night.  And they were still at it after everyone left and went to bed.

Then Sunday morning, EVERYONE was late getting up and getting to the meet spot.  As we were driving there with the trailer, we were driving directly into a great big FULL MOON.  It was very creepy!  Some of us were in such a hurry to get going that we didn’t even have time to drink our coffee!

Then when we arrived at our meet spot at McDonalds, they were closed because they had a grease fire and we couldn’t get breakfast or coffee.

We should have known right then and there this was going to be a BAD day.

But we were too excited about the prospect of running a really exciting hill and then a day of fun runs on other roads on the mountain, to even think about things going wrong or to heed the warnings the universe was trying to send us.

And so, we headed up the mountain and got set up for our run.

We only had 6 starters for this race as Rexy Mingo and Jolly Roger couldn’t make it.  We had one new comer Chris who was driving loaner car White Lightning.

In the card draw, for the second race in a row, the new comer, driving White Lightning drew the pole position!  Drscope drew 2, Three wheel Neal 3,  The Jerm 4, Ice Man Brice 5 and Jola 6.

We planned on starting 3 wide with 2 rows, but somehow when we got lined up, it turned into 3 rows of 2.

At the start, new comer Chris on White Lightning rolled out into the lead!  The Jerm was able to maneuver to the left and get past the rest of the group who were starting to gain speed, and head off after White Lightning.

The order quickly became The Jerm, White Lightning, 3 Wheel Neal, Drscope, Jola’s Roller and Ice Man Brice.  We had a fairly tight pack at the front with The Jerm and White Lightning just starting to pull away.

Back in the pack, Drscope was trying desperately to get around 3 Wheel Neal.  Everywhere he tried to go, Neal would shut the door on him.  As they dropped down over a hump in the road, we had motorized traffic coming up.  3 Wheel Neal and Drscope were both to the left side of the pavement.

Neal saw the headlights coming and hit his previously unused 5” Azusa drum brakes and tried to steer to the right to give room to the on coming car.  Unfamiliar with how well the brakes worked, he locked the wheels and did a 360 degree spin right in front of Drscope.   Drscope hit his previously untested  5” Azusa drum brakes mounted on his front wheels and also locked them up.

AS 3 Wheel Neal’s car completed it’s rotation, it lifted off the ground and began to roll over.  Drscope, who was right behind 3 Wheel Neal crashed hard into the bottom of 3 Wheel Neal’s car sending it up into the air.

Drscope’s car slammed into the ditch on the right side of the road and rolled over on it’s side.  3 Wheel Neal’s car had also rolled into the ditch on it’s right side with it’s belly pointing to the roadside and the nose pointing up hill.

Jola’s Roller, who was right behind, also locked up the brakes trying to avoid the spinning, rolling cars.  She also spun in a 360, but was able to gain control without hitting anything and came to a controlled stop to render aide to the crashed drivers.

Just behind Jola’s spinning car was Ice Man Brice who had fallen back at the start on the DW1386X, but was now well up to speed and closing in.  When cars began spinning, flipping and rolling in front of him, he also tried to get the car stopped.  He lost control, and went off the road just a few feet up hill from where 3 Wheel Neal’s car lay on it’s side.  As he left the pavement, he was ejected off of the car and was slammed into the bottom of 3 Wheel Neal’s car.  Then the DW1386X fell out of the sky and landed on top of him.

Out front, The Jerm and newcomer Chris on White Lightning were oblivious to the carnage going on behind them.  They continued down the hill with the Jerm becoming the first driver this year to win 3 races in a row!  Newcomer Chris got to the bottom and was sure he had out driven the rest of us.  But when we didn’t arrive in a few minutes, it became apparent we had experienced a bit of trouble.

The Jerm and New Comer Chris, were the only ones to make it to the bottom of the hill and therefore the only ones to be considered finishers and receive Championship Points.

We had really been hoping that MrMopar’s crash and injury at the Opening Day race would be the worst of the year.  But this changed all that.  Ice Man Brice got banged up pretty bad and suffered a severe gash to the back of his head.  We don’t know what happened there, something must have gotten up inside the back of his helmet to cause this.  We did find part of a broken glass bottle in the debris pile where he landed and this may have been what got him.  He also suffered a severe impact to his foot and had a lot of road rash on both legs and one arm.  And while he was in a lot of pain Sunday, we know he is really going to be hurting Monday!

Ice Man Brice was the only one to suffer injuries in this wreck.  3 Wheel Neal’s roll cage and seat belts worked perfectly to keep him from injury, as did Drscope’s.  Brice was on an open car and was also the only driver in the race NOT wearing a neck collar! 

In discussions following the race, it was decided to ground all our loaner cars until they have adequate roll over protection.  We will also no longer allow open shoes, short pants, or even short sleeve shirts!  You need to be covered!  And that should include gloves as well.

This is a dangerous sport we are participating in and we don’t want any more injuries!  So please, when the videos are posted, use them as a training device and upgrade your safety equipment!

If you don’t have all the safety gear you need, let Drscope know and he will try to get it for you at the best prices we can get!  Azusa has a FULL line of some of the best race wear available.  From suits to shoes, to chest & rib protectors and Drscope will do his best to get it to you at the best prices anywhere!