First of all, I would like to thank everyone involved in making the BPG Nats a huge success. It was everything I had hoped it would be and more. The people were very friendly and the payouts to the racers were good. The BPG is a great new club for the Buick enthusiast, with a Nationals get together that is first rate. Thumbs up to all those who had a hand in making it happen. It was great to see old friends like Gary Kubisch, Jeff and Tammy, Bob and Amy, Goeff Ketchum, Freddy Catlin, the California Bad Boys: Dave, Bruce and Ollie, Doug Jones, Jim Haas, Rob Chilenski, and Greg Gessler, Perry Carlini, Jack Fisher, Marvin Marksbury, Norm Dihle and Rob, T/A Mike and Nick McCale and many others that I am probably forgetting. It was also great to put faces with names and meet people like Rick Martinez, Doug Hecker, Bruce Hunter, Carl Rychlik, Denny and Renee Moore, Cole and Beth Smith, Bruce and Shirl, Brett Slater, Randy (Outrages), Alan Wander, AM&Ps Mike Phillips, Charlie Evans, John Osborne and his wife, Jim Shiels from Mass with the 67 GS that went 10.30s, and several more that have slipped my mind. My wife Ronni and I took two trips on the three wheeler Sunday morning to find and meet JW but failed both times. I would like to personally congratulate Jeff Hart for not only winning GSM, but for running his personal best while doing it. Good job Jeff, you deserved it and I know it has been a long time coming. What had shaped up to be one of the best finals ever in a GS heads up class had a bad ending, for me anyway. I believe the previous round Jeff went 9.96 and on my bye I went 9.97. While both of us were sitting at the head of the staging lanes, Jack Cotton went up to make a pass in his V6 Regal. I hoped he would take the left lane which I had been in all night. He did but the car did not hook. I decided to stay with what got me to the final, the left lane. Bad decision. Race over. Thats racin!! I got over it after about 15-20 minutes and just realized that I should be on cloud nine after running my personal best of 9.95, 9.97 and 9.97 without adequate cool down time. I had back to back 60s of 1.361 and went 107.66MPH in the 1/8th four passes in a row and three times went thru the lights at 131.97MPH. All under the lights . That was way cool! I am still on cloud nine for being very competitive with such a basic combination. More on that later. I hope someone took some pics of the GSM eliminations as I would really like to have a good pic of one of my cars 1.36 short times. I really dont need to see any pics of the final.( I saw enough watching that red car haul ass to the tune of 9.92.) Although it was kinda cool to watch while staring over my new Stage 2 scoop! On a final note, I would really like to give a big THANKS to all the guys who jumped in to make the GSM class a 10 car field. Randy, Denny, Steve Thanks again! Gary Laughlin :beer
Sorry I missed you Gary, thanks for coming out and supporting the event and the GSM class. Next year's event is only 360 some odd days away, and counting! See you there! JW
Hi Gary,it was great to meet and talk to you and your wife. I am sure you both had a great time as all of us did. Looking forward to seeing you both again at one of the other Buick meets.
Typing Gary First off, it was great to finally meet You, Ronni, and Brian. Second, after we were over at your trailer talking about posting on the board.......i have to know, who typed that thread up, you or her?? And if it was you...how long did it take you...:grin: :grin: :grin: :grin: Again, thanks for a great time and for beating me by a good 40 cars in the first round of GSM. Anytime that you guys need another car to get into that class, and we are there, just yell....that .400 pro tree is a blast. Take care
Hey Denny, first I wrote it on paper. Then I had Ronni get me on some kind of document so I could type without getting booted before I was done. Then she had a fit when she had to edit and fix all my errors! Then she cut/copy/paste (you know) and finally I was done. Started around 5pm and it is now 8:30pm and it has not been posted for too long!!
Gary, I don't think I was there....o No: Judging from what I've read the last couple of days, if I was there, I would DEFINITELY remember it :laugh:
Sorry, I have you mixed up with the guy that has the green GS with hubcaps who ran with us in GSM. I talked to him at Quaker and have talked to him in KY before. His car is a post car and I think he may have ran in the modified production class also.
Gary Was good seeing you again as well....Sorry we couldn't spend more time catching up,I spent half of Saturday dropping my trans to fix a loose oil line fitting on the back of the block. Congrats on touching the 9's........It ain't easy but with the right approach it can be done. Tell Brian,He's next.
Steve Schlater.............I knew I had the last name correct,in pronunciation anyway! That is a very cool car. Gary K, we both know how it is trying to race. There is not enough time to visit with everyone and get a handle on the car. I remember the days when my '67 was running 12.80s-13.teens and Brians car was 12 teens and we rarely opened the hoods. There was always plenty enough time to BS with anyone. Chasing every hundreth has changed that drastically.
It was fun!!! Gary, i had a blast racing in the GSM. I had fun with the pro tree too. You guys put on a hell of a show with your cars. Where's is the next race?? If you need the tenth car ever... i'll be there with the '71 ! Nice meeting everyone again.:TU: Randy
Hey Gary thanks for being the guy in the final round and thanks for finally letting me beat you, it was awesome finally making it work and laying down some 9 second times. I really was hoping for a 9 second final for both of us. It was getting a bit late and we are already on the edge, when it comes to traction. You want some pictures? Dont have any but we do have video(If you play it frame by frame it is like pictures only bigger! It was great seeing you, Ronnie and Brian. We really need to put more of these races together it is way too much fun. :TU:
I am really looking forward to recieving Tammy's video. She always does an excellent job with it. I was hoping someone had taken some pics of the GSM eliminations. Hopefully Alan Wander has some.
