HUGE multi-part Photo TR: NHRA Supernationals

[pete4winds]

My good friend Peggy Llewellyn is a Pro Stock Motorcycle driver with the NHRA, currently in her second season on the NHRA PowerAde Drag Racing Series. About five years ago I agreed to develop a promo video for her in exchange for some technical assistance she gave me on a drag racing-related project, so this past weekend I was finally able to make good on my promise, and she got me and my wife Jen team tickets for the NHRA ProCare RX SuperNationals in Englishtown NJ.

 

Part 1 (day 1) :

 

We got on the road about two hours later than expected, right around 2:00 Friday afternoon. That was a big mistake, because we'd expected to get to E-town early enough for Peggy's second qualifying run at 6:30. Wasn't happening, because we were in construction-zone traffic (oddly, without the actual construction work) through the entire state of Connecticut, and then afternoon rush hour traffic coming out of NYC. A 4.5 hour trip took us almost 8, and we finally stumbled into our campsite at the Allaire State Park in Farmingdale NJ at 9:45. We're old pros at pitching camp in the dark, but that doesn't make it suck any less

 

This will take me awhile to post, so feel free to comment between segments. On to the photos:

Late entry: Jen's just cruising along...this was in CT. See? I told you I have a thing for redheads!

Massachusetts-resident in-joke alert! "Five states and 200 miles, and I'm still on the Southeast Expressway???"

Yup, still about 70 miles to go.

8:08 PM, and still on the highway. We were supposed to be at the track at least two hours ago.

Jen's still figuring it out. Here, give me the map. You drive, I'll naviguess.

Jen: Where are we? Pete: I dunno, you have the map, genius.

Meal number 2, a $3.00 slice of pizza. At that price, you'd think I could at least get a credit run in.

Finally, state number 5...although we still have about 70 miles or so.

Big Apple Circus, as if I needed any more antics at this point. Just freakin' get me there.

Back in Hawai'i...Diamond Head.

The Tappan Zee Bridge THROUGH THE...well, traffic.

The Sun God Ra landed his ship THROUGH THE TREES!!!

How'd we end up at Holiday World???

Space Mountain goes residential!

The license plate says "WAYKEWL." The car was, the driver, maybe not so much.

And now he's going to try to get back into the truck. Good luck with that one, friend, and godspeed.

Yes, that's a person standing in that trailer.

Finally, state number 4. Theoretically our shortest, but thanks to our departure time, we got caught in outbound NYC rush hour traffic, particularly on the Tappan Zee Bridge.

Boo hoo...so close, yet so far.

What is this? Now we're in freakin' Korea??? How long is this trip, anyway? Stupid AAA.

The truck came out of the bathroom with toilet paper stuck to its shoe.

Karma is a bitch...

HA! Chumps! Look at the traffic you're in!

Sorry Thomas, sorry Wiggles, sorry home park, sorry Pete. Not this trip!

Highway porn = good.

Token Alvey-friendly photo.

Apparently Yoda built this building, because the Force is keeping it upright.

No, we're in the Outback. See? There's Ayers Rock!

Now we're in freakin' Hawai'i???

...and begins again!

That section of highway just...ends.

Future home of Tatsu East Landscaping, Inc?

This was the biggest fricken' American Flag I think I've ever seen. Figures it was at a car dealership.

Chaos and destruciton reign at our table. I know Wendy's isn't entirely Elissa-approved, but I have a thing for redheads

Our first meal of the trip.

Do all TPR cops look alike?

State number 3 (unless you count Wyoming).

Wait, Wyoming? I thought we were going to New Jersey?

Independence Day (the movie) invades this trip report.

Yup, that was the last of the rain.

Got milk?

That's sheet rain. We just caught the edge of it, and fortunately that was the last we saw of any rain all weekend.

Finally on the road.

[pete4winds]

Day 2, part 1:

 

We arrived at the track at 11:15, and ended up walking about 2 1/2 miles out of our way because we didn't realize the Pro Stock Motorcycle pits were on the sportsman side of the track where we entered, and not with the rest of the Pro pits on the other side. In any case, we eventually made it trackside for Peggy's first qualifying run on Saturday (her third overall).

 

When we did finally get back to her pit stall, it was very cool breezing past the dozens of fans waiting for an autograph and a Kodak moment. Oh, and to add to the coolness factor (literally), the pit stall had fans (of the electrical kind) and chairs, and the fans (of the human kind) had to stand out in the sun. We pretty much hung out in the shade of her pit stall most of the weekend.

 

The photos tell the story:

Hey, move the Valkyrie. You're blocking my parking space!

Here comes Peggy.

Karen Stoffer, PSM points leader coming into this event.

Shawn Gann and his very loud racing leathers, again.

The Pro Stock Bikes begin their final qualifying round.

The Saturday reserved-seat crowd was a little thin.

World's fastest AMX?

Very cool sportsman Camaro.

The Undertaker's Pro Mod.

Pro Modified sportsman.

Entering God's country...or the grandstand, depending on your perspective.

Dude, once she's on the bike, don't freakin' stop her for an autograph.

Peggy rolls out for qualifying.

Peggy says "Karl, that's my helmet."

The bike is just about ready.

Peggy talks to Peggy and some guy from another team.

Peggy and I chat before her next qualifying run.

Peggy and that media guy that's been hanging around.

Shangri La

My token artsy reflection picture.

Our resident vert-loop aficionado needs to decorate his coolers thusly.

In honor of Eric Medlen, one of John Force's drivers. he died in a testing crash a few weeks back.

Shane with George Bryce's wife Jackie. The Drag Specialties hauler across the way belongs to George and Jackie's other team (they co-own it).

I believe the guy in blue is the owner of Fatburger. Hopefully his meeting with Karl went well, and you'll see Fatburger on the side of the bike and hauler next year.

Here are two TPR references in the same photo. Garrett is the teams pack mule (donkey reference) and all around gopher (Elissa-friendly rodent reference).

Shane checks the telemetry.

In honor of the stillborn child of a friend of Shane's. Jen and I went through the same thing in December, so we were touched by this.

Shane (left) and assistant mechanic Garrett get ready to tear the bike down for the next round.

My friend Peggy.

That's Peggy rolling back from qualifying, being pushed by co-crew chief Shane Maloney. Pro Stock bikes are too loud to ride back under power.

The top two guys on the team, owner Karl Klement (right) and coach/crew chief George Bryce.

The big boss, Karl Klement.

The back of Peggy's team hauler.

Shawn, if you're sponsored by "Race Girl," shouldn't your leathers be pink?

Shawn Gann rolls back to his pit next door.

Teammates Angelle Sampey (far lane) and Antron Brown qualify together. The synchronized burnout was very cool.

What's the Zamboni for? It's 87 degrees not a bit of ice for months!

Well thank you, Toyota. It's good to be here.

Funny cars in the staging lanes.

Funny car qualifying.

Motorcycle parking. I miss the days when I could get the best parking...I need another bike.

Um, dude...we're not at a NASCAR event, genius.

Good to know...thanks. Good thing I got my tickets at Will Call...I don't think counterfeiters have infiltrated that office yet.

Finally!

See? i told you we should've left the campsite earlier.

The auction...Englishtown's OTHER big attraction.

And Englishtown's sprawling city hall.

The giant post office in Englishtown...it looks like a cinder block.

Only we would find a way to LOCK a freakin' tent...or a reason, for that matter. I've been camping way too long.

Move along...we're not here to see this kind of motorsport...this wa son the way back from breakfast.

Our campfire wasn't the only fire we'd see this weekend...more on that later.

Home AND a yard with driveway.

Home for the next couple nights.

Jen has a mouth full of white foamy goo...it's toothpaste, you pervs.

[pete4winds]

Day 2, part 2:

Antron Brown meets with fans.

Partial PSB nudity at the Screamin' Eagle pit.

Just about ready to roll off.

And yet another. It would drive me bonkers working under a red canopy.

Another Pro Stock team.

Pro Stock

Mohegan Sun bike's clothes.

Naked Mohegan Sun bike.

An official track vehicle.

The pit bikes of the Screamin' Eagles Harley teams of Andrew Hines and Eddie Krawiec. Some teams get eletric scooters, these guys get V-Rods.

Geno Scali's hauler.

This is what a Pro Stock Bike looks like naked.

For you drag slick fans.

Garrett and Shane at work.

Jen liked Shane's tool...heh heh heh.

Garrett does what he does best.

Jen and Garrett jump in on the fun. I think Shane took the photo.

Friends hanging out.

Peggy gets a rare moment to herself.

More fan face time.

Peggy watches Peggy signing autographs.

I love this shot...for all you wheelie bar enthusiasts.

Art or commercialism?

Karl Klement.

Karl watches his investment very carefully.

Peggy does the autograph shuffle.

My feeble attempt at a Myspace portrait...love the shirt, though!

Shane picks a winner.

How many teammates does it take to eek out more horsepower?

Returning from qualifying.

[pete4winds]

Day 2, part 3:

See? One more day of racing!

Almost a credit? Well, maybe not, but perhaps this photo legitimizes the TR.

This guy is TPR-sexy!!! Clearly he's "too sexy for his shirt."

Drive safe! Day 3 (Sunday/final elimintations) coming up!

Very cool view of the Replay screen near the end of the track.

Pedregon (near) and Tim Wilkerson

Cruz Pedregon

Robert Hight (near) and Jeff Arend

Jeff Arend

Robert Hight's burnout

Tolliver and Bob Gilbertson rolling back to prestage

Jerry Tolliver's burnout.

...and qualifying.

The two Garys staging.

The two Garys: Densham (near) and Scelzi.

Pro Stock Motorcycle pits from the general admision section top row.

Gary Densham (near) and Kenny Bernstein

By far the most popular vehicle on track all weekend...the debris truck.

Schumacher's respectable 4.602 at 327.90 MPH.

Schumacher and Millican

Tony Schumacher

Driver Clay Millican tells us: Not only is hair metal not dead, but it's alive enough to sponsor my car! The Ratt 2007 "Back for More" car.

Brandon Bernstein (near), son the first NHRA driver to ever break 300 MPH, the legendary Kenny Bernstein

Whit "Blazemore" Bazemore (near) and Cory "CoryMac" McClenathan

Steve Johnson's pit.

[pete4winds]

Day 3, part 1:

 

Final elimination day. Peggy was qualified 10th of 16, and was #8 in points coming into this event.

 

We got to hang out with the guys from ESPN on the track during driver introductions. There were about fifty or so people there, and ten of them were Media. The rest were friends and family of drivers. That was a very cool experience, especially since the grandstands were filling up quickly by that time.

 

Sadly, come race time, a late reaction seemed to be the reason behind Peggy round one loss. She fell to Antron Brown, and dropped to tenth in points. However, we found out later, when Shane and Garrett tore the engine down, that a bad main bearing was her bigger problem on the track. She might've made up her reaction time deficit if the engine hadn't kept hitting the rev limiter prematurely.

 

The metal shavings throughout the gearbox and the fuel in the oil drain pan pretty much told the story. She was quite relieved to know the loss wasn't entirely her fault, but we were all still disappointed. The good news is that it gave us a little extra time to shoot the video I was there to shoot.

The team gets the bike ready for round one.

Peggy makes her way back to us so we can head back to the pit.

Here's Peggy's 5'1" to Steve's 5"10"

Steve Johnson, far and away one of the most popular Pro Stock Motorcycle drivers, emerges from "the door."

Another view downtrack

Yup, we're down here with ESPN while you chumps are way up there.

Sort of a driver's-eye view.

Peggy tells me which way I need to go to get a good spot. Team owner Karl personally drove us and dropped us off here.

Driver's meeting from a distance.

Naked Screamin' Eagle V-Rods

...and Karen Stoffer isn't. Actually, that's far from the truth. I just caught her at a slow moment.

Wow, she's popular.

I had to do my finest impression of a "regular fan." I failed miserably.

Peggy

An NHRA official visits with Shane and gives me "the look."

A little side-boob action for all of you so-inclined fans...shame she was a quad-boober.

The team daddy watches his highest-profile employee do the non-driving part of her job.

Peggy's fans are getting an early start. Oh, the looks we got pushing past them into behind the proverbial velvet rope...

...but who the eff is Al Suggs, Jr.?

The rest of this very nice truck. The babe wasn't too tough on the eyes either...

For all you Punisher fans.

The back of the same cab.

Jen communes with the hotness.

Almost 321 miles and the gas light still isn't on. Let's fill up now while we have a chance.

The local bike gang rolls in for breakfast.

This is Connie's. Best breakfast around, but the bathrooms need a little help.

Jen's

Breakfast at Connie's. Mine.

Farmingdale trash cans have three times the collection power. That third space on the far side of the can is for actual trash.

Cedar Fair ain't got NOTHIN' on Farmingdale NJ.

[pete4winds]

Day 3, part 2:

 

Final post for now. The rest of day three and our trip home will be posted later tonight! Thanks for reading so far!

Peggy rolls by us. I'm right behind ya!

Here come a very disappointed Peggy and Shane.

Matt Smith rolls back to his pit.

Karl and Garrett roll back our way.

You can see the advantage 'Tron has. Stupid main bearing.

Peggy and 'Tron stage.

Peggy's bike (red) and Antron Brown's bike, and that damn Zamboni again.

Force totally smoked Scelzi.

Staging.

Last engine check.

Rolling back to prestage.

John Force's burnout.

John Force (in the green Castrol car) and Gary Scelzi.

And I get to share my joy with friends and family.

Hey, I humiliated myself on national TV for a stinkin' PowerAde shirt? Wait a minute...I was on national TV. COOL!!!

Your winner.

During the break to clean up the track, NHRA got two buffoons from the crowd to "drag" race for prizes.

Check the right side of the previous photo to see how badly tire shake can ruin one's chances.

Gary Densham's tire shake (near lane) gave Tommy Johnson, Jr. the win, but Johnson's car went up in flames just past the finish line. He had about 45 minutes to get it race ready for round 2.

Ashley Force and Robert Hight. For such a low-end camera, it certainly has a quick shutter. Another green light shot.

Ashley Force

Kalitta and Arend in yet another perfectly-timed green light shot.

Scott Kalitta (near) and Jeff Arend light theirs up.

Cruz and Tony Pedregon (far lane). Again, note the green light.

Cruz Pedregon lights 'em up.

One of NHRA's upper-echelon fans. I think this was a woman.

Rolling back into the prestage area.

Schumacher and Grubnic stage their cars.

Davind Grubnic (near) and Schumacher.

Kind of a "Kooky" name for a custom header company.

Tony Schumacher gets ready to burnout.

J.R. Todd (near) and Brandon Bernstein. Another greenlight shot (you can see it if you look carefully at the tree at the end of the center wall).

Dixon smoked Whit Bazemore in the first of several perfectly-timed green light shots. Jen took them while I was shooting video.

Larry Dixon in the SkyTel Top Fuel Dragster.

HA! I'm in here, and you're out there!

[pete4winds]

Day 3, part 2:

Back off, tough guy. We're shooting a movie here.

My head alone is bigger than her entire helmet.

Please remove all earrings before riding.

Peggy stares down one creepy person with a camera while listening to the other one.

Luke. I am your father. Peggy, shut up and buckle the helmet so I can get this shot.

My helmet doesn't fit as well as it did this morning. Maybe that extra waffle was a mistake?

Looks like Peggy stole Darth Vader's gloves. Well, they do both wear helmets and leather.

Must get the pivotal shot of her elbow.

Finally, we get around to the reason I was there in the first place...let's shoot an intro video for your website, Peg!

There's that creepy media guy again. Nah, just kidding. He was a decent guy...just hung around a lot.

Definitely Peggy's youngest fan.

Some of Peggy's younger fans.

Peggy signs autographs for one guy in hotpants and one guy in his underwear. NHRA has such classy fans (insert :: here).

Some chunky bald guy ogling her helmet and jacket (actually, I was getting a shot for her promo video).

My "official" Peggy Llewellyn autograph.

Whoda thunk a Chevy Beretta could look cool?

More Pro Mod action.

Former Pro Stock Motorcycle driver Reggie Showers stops by to offer his support.

Peggy signs a...football? Wrong sport, kid.

This bad boy was parked outside Peggy's pit when we got back...me likey!

[pete4winds]

Day 3, part 3:

The Michael Jordan of the Pro Stock (cars, not motorcycles) division, Warren Johnson. hipoor hauler driver had to turn around on this road. Guess who got stuck behind them for it?

Garrett, Peggy, and Shane say farewell to us.

Jen says farewell to Peggy.

The Screamin' Eagles' pit bikes are loaded.

This TR sponsored in part by...

The extent of Shawn Gann's sponsorship as seen from Peggy's pit. Shawn, how can you afford such gawdy green leathers on such limited funding?

But the Screamin' Eagles have a ways to go.

Except for the woman, some stancions, and the pit bike, Steve Johnson's hauler is ready to go.

Last one out gets stuck with cleanup.

At the end of the day, fans can walk the track.

Awards ceremony at the winner's circle.

The team kart is just about loaded.

The highlight of Peggy's fandom. Shane thought they were pretty hot. So did I. So did Jen.

Kids can make the underwear look work a little better than grown men.

Some of Peggy's more "interesting" fans. They were, quite literally, heartbroken that she lost in first round eliminations. I thought the guy was gonna cry.

Another of Peggy's younger fans.

Pete's camcorder watches Peggy sign autographs.

Peggy's still watching Peggy sign autographs.

These guys say hello to Peggy's family for her "family DVD" I'm also developing.

I didn't realize Robb and...well, Robb, were there until I uploaded this picture!

Gratuitous spamity spam spam spam placement.

Independence Day reference # 2: Color the fairing grey and it looks like the alien's head (without the biomechanical suit).

Gratuitous sponsor placement alert! This is on her dashboard.

The attractive brown mesh halter top brings the shoot to a screeching halt. OK, reset, and....ACTION!

[pete4winds]

Day four, part 1: The trip home!

When I took this and the next picture, this caption was supposed to be a sarcastic "R.I.P. Mr McMahon" quote. How ironic.

The heavy gauge wire mafia is on its way to Sandusky to make Kinzel an offer he can't refuse. This stuff doesn't splinter.

Wow, that didn't take us long.

If you look closely, right behind this Romantic Depot is a company called "ScrewsAndMore.com." Ironic. But brilliant. Shame it's a machinery screw distributor.

Back to Holiday World.

Somewhere out in that haze is NYC. We could see it on the way down, but this was a "poor air quality" day.

The Tappan Zee Bridge was moving much faster this day. This is what happens when we stick to our schedule.

Fortunately it only went about as far as that highway sign up there.

BLAMO! Traffic.

The INSTANT we hit the state line...

And thank you, Garden State Parkway, for taking my money.

Holland? Now the trip HOME is gonna take us overseas? The trip down wasn't long enough? Wait, never mind. That goes to NYC.

Oh, crap. It was the the OTHER 195 in New Jersey.

I-195? I thought that was at the END of our trip? How'd we get home so fast?

Thank you, Allaire State Park. As beautiful as you were, I think we may hotel it next year.

There was a tent here. Anyone see where I put it?

Even the car's telling me to hurry up.

Just about ready to head home.

[pete4winds]

Day 4, the end! We're finally home. For a trip that only took four days, it seemed awfully long.

638 miles on just about 33 gallons of gas. Not bad. Shame you're a soccer mom van. No thanks.

Back in our parking spot.

It's not oftn I truly relish seeing this sign.

About fifteen minutes left.

Airtime hill? No. Stupid bridge.

Nibbles Woodaway welcomes us back to Providence. This guy's older than I am.

World's largest golf tee?

Back to Wyoming. No wonder we're so effing tired.

The guy behind us has a windshield. Yeah, but we have these cool goggles. I realize that, but goggles only keep bugs out of the eyes, not the teeth.

Capt. Picard's favorite off-duty pastime.

These guys were involved in some race. Our soccer mom van still smoked 'em.

Rhode Island, home of the 2007 World Scholar Athlete Games. WTF is a scholar athlete, anyway?

Almost home.

damn, another country? "Indian Country." Good afternoon, my brothers!

Mystic Aquarium. Or a HoJo. I couldn't tell.

Good to know. Thanks.

For all you bubbleheads. If you ain't surface fleet, you ain't $**t.

I can't get away from this freakin' circus. Maybe I should just get tickets to the damn thing and get it over with.

I think this guy was chasing down the cow truck from the first post.

[jten11]

that was longest non-coaster TR I've read.....but very nice job presenting it! Being completely oblivious to pro stock motorcycle racing(never knew it existed), I thourougly enjoyed your story. Peggy seemed like a real nice person (she's not that bad to look at, either) and it seemed like you and Jen had a blast!

[Scaparri]

Wow! I'm gonna take a chance and say that is the largest single page photo TR in TPR history. The biggest I've seen by far, but it was awesome!!!

 

I love the NHRA. I've always been a huge racing fan, but never got into the NHRA a great deal until last year when I went to the US Nationals in Indy. It is so incredible. The funny cars and dragsters just blow my mind. They are so incredibly loud, fast, and powerful. It's amazing how you can feel your skin shake when the hit they throttle. The Pro Stocks and Pro Stock Bikes are very cool too. The Bikers must have juevos the size of grapefruits. Peggy, Angele and the other women have something that's oversized too. I just haven't figured it out yet. Awesome TR. I'm definitely jealous!

[pete4winds]

^ I've always been more of a NASCAR fan (lifelong, and I used to drive at my local track in my younger days), but I've been a big fan of NHRA about as long as I've known Peggy, about six years now. This was my first attended NHRA event, and having been to numerous NASCAR events, I thought I knew what to expect, but I was totally floored by the noise level. It didn't take us long to pony up the three bucks a pair for earplugs. I was at Home Depot the day before we left, and I could've gotten a whole box of them for three bucks. Stupid me!

 

The bikes aren't nearly as loud as the fuelers and funny cars, but as you can see from the pics, each pit is between that team's hauler and the next one, so standing in the pit while Peggy's team was popping the throttle is plenty loud. We're already planning for next year.

[Freefallbestrideever]

Hmmm very nice, but i think i still prefer MotoGP.

[Scaparri]

^^Yeah, me too.

 

I have been to plenty of Nascar, IRL, Champ Car, and F1 races, so when my bro told me I HAD to get earplugs for NHRA, I wasn't sure what the fuss was about. We got to the event and top fuel qualifications were up. My bro told me to just listen to the first race without ear plugs. WOW!!!! Indycar is loud. Nascar is slightly louder. F1 is louder than both of those. But the funny cars and top fuelers make everything sound like a little kid making lip noises while playing with Hot Wheels. It's just unreal. I'm hopin' I can score some tickets for this year's U.S. Nationals. Again, awesome TR, Pete.