It’s always great to see a racer do well on Phoenix Race Tires, but one team that sticks out in the drag racing world is the DeFrank family and their Super Stock supremacy. Jim DeFrank has been in the game for a long time, and the drag racing bug is obviously hereditary as his sons followed closely in his foot steps. Jim and his sons Jimmy and Tony are dedicated to the sport and prove the undeniable performance of Phoenix tires every time they hit the track. World championships, national events wins and all around great performances speak volumes of DeFrank’s world class operation and the consistency of Phoenix tires.

Jimmy DeFrank qualifies his California Car Cover Cobalt at the 50th Annual Winternationals. Thanks to Bobby Bennett at Competitionplus.com for the photos.

The DeFranks are a racing family, but Jim does a great job of balancing his racing habits with his business, the California Car Cover Company. You’ve probably heard of the company, as it produces way more than just car covers–everything from memorabilia, apparel and car care products are available from California Car Cover, so check out the website if you haven’t already. The DeFranks obviously did their homework during the winter months and started off the 2010 season with a runner up finish at the 50th Annual NHRA Winternationals in Pomona, California.

A scene from the finals at the Winternationals. Jimmy is in the far lane. Thanks to Bobby Bennett at Compeitionplus.com for the photos.

When you hear about a racer fighting through the brackets, you might sometimes think of a 16 car field like you see in the Pro ranks, but the Sportsman series are generally packed with many more racers. This past weekend in Pomona, the Super Stock field consisted of 79 entries. That makes for a long weekend at the track, especially if you make it all the way to the finals. The weekend started and ended great, as Jimmy qualified his California Car Cover Cobalt in the 12th position with a time of 8.67. After battling through 7 rounds of racing, and taking out some of Super Stock’s biggest contenders, Jimmy DeFrank lined up in the finals against Jeff Lane. And though Jimmy didn’t take home a Wally, he certainly represented Phoenix Race Tires in a positive way.

Congratulations are in order for Steve Cox of Southern California who recently won the PSCA (Pacific Street Car Association) Bracket-1 championship on Phoenix, PH336 9.00/30.0-15 tires.  Steve took the 8 race series title that started in March and ended in November, touring Southern California and Nevada.

http://www.pscaracing.com/ChampChase/champlistbracket109.html

2009 PSCA Bracket-1 Champion, Steve Cox

Steve is no stranger to the winner’s circle and is a long time customer of Coker Tire Performance Division VP, Mike Crutchfield.  For more information about his accomplishments please check out his website http://stevecoxracing.com/default.aspx

Speaking of winners, check out the Phoenix Tire 2009 national honor roll;

•Jimmy DeFrank (NHRA Super Stock World Champion),

•Mike Crutchfield (multi-time NHRA Super Stock, divisional race winner),

•Charles Fitzimmons (NHRA Super Street divisional race winner),

•Emmett Mikolajczyk (NHRA Super Stock divisional race winner)

•Byron Latino (NHRA Super Stock divisional race winner)

•Bub Miller (NHRA Competition Eliminator, divisional race winner)

•Johnny Labbous (IHRA World Champion, footbrake, former champion “Million Dollar Bracket Race”)

•Davey Boyd (IHRA “no box” World Champion)

Well done gentlemen.  With an expanding Phoenix radial product line that is geared towards the NHRA sportsman ranks, as well as brand new outlaw 10.5 tires for ORSCA, UORS, PSCA, NMCA…plus contingency $ for racers that get it done in the winner’s circle, 2010 is shaping up to be another banner year for the brand that is rising up from its 40+ years of Firestone racing heritage.

Stay tuned for photo’s and an update on project 5.30…my old ghetto cruiser has lost a few lbs., picked up a few hp., and might possibly have acquired a new sponsor or two along the way.

Until next time…

EG

the goose is getting fat…
OK, sit down, strap in and hold on for a top-fuel-type review of what’s been going on for the past couple of months.  The season finally came to a close on November 22nd in Steele, AL at ORSCA the same way that it started back in March, with a rainout.  Oh well, it was still a great rookie season for many reasons. By the grace of the Almighty, I was able to advance to the semi-finals or better in over 60% of the races I attended…which ain’t too bad considering I really didn’t know what I was doing for most of the time.  As I alluded to in a previous post, we’re planning on coming strong with it for 2010.  ORSCA is adding a 5.30 ET class, with no restrictions on weight, tire size, engine displacement, power adders, noise/mufflers (I hated that rule in 6.0)…so it looks like I’ve found a new home.  Look for picts and posts of project 5.30 as we progress through the winter.

As much as I enjoyed getting acquainted with the ORSCA outlaws, I would be remiss in my duties if I didn’t acknowledge the tremendous success of some other competitors who’ve won in various race classes on Phoenix for 2009.  Jimmy DeFrank clinched the NHRA Super Stock title at Pomona last month.  This would mark the 3rd time that the DeFrank’s have won a national title on Phoenix drag tires!  Check out what Jimmy and his Dad, Jim, had to say about it in this upcoming add for NHRA’s National Dragster magazine.

Also storming through NHRA Super Stock was Coker Tire Performance Division, VP, Mike Crutchfield, who finished the year just outside the top ten in points.  Mike won 4 Lucas Oil series events along the way, and remains a threat in Super Stock anywhere he goes.  With regard to bracket racing, a couple of fellow Tennessean’s had late season stand-out performances also worth mentioning.  Former “Million Dollar Bracket Race Winner” and long time Phoenix race tire customer Johnny Labbous of Nashville cleaned house in the Florida Winter Series, taking home several wins in Super Pro, and Davey Boyd of Spencer capped a successful weekend of IHRA competition in Rockingham, NC by winning a world title in the “No Box,” bracket category on Phoenix tires.  Hat’s off gentlemen for these awesome accomplishments!!

So last week I loaded up the van with our race tire display and headed down the “inner state” going southbound for the annual PRI (Performance Racing Industry) trade show held in Orlando, FL.  PRI is a manufacturer’s who’s who (kinda like Cindy Lou Who, who was only two…when the Grinch made her go boo, hoo, hoo) and is a great way to showcase new products to prospective buyers from around the country/world.  It’s also a time to catch up with old friends (in my case 2 year old friends), and share some good old bench racing stories.  However, before I cruised into Orlando and PRI, I decided to make a stop along the way at Don “Big Daddy” Garlit’s museum of drag racing in Ocala, FL.

This is what the trophy case of the NHRA’s #1 racer of all time looks like.

Big Daddy’s Hardware!

Don Garlits started racing in 1950, and he’s got two warehouses full of memorabilia to prove it.  Big Daddy has the reputation of being an innovator, and it truly was a privilege to look at the progression of the sport through the eyes of the NHRA’s all time best.  If you’re ever passing through Ocala, do yourself a favor and check out.

The rat that started a revolution, “Swamp Rat I”

The front of “Swamp Rat 24”

Upon arriving in Orlando, I set up shop, and we were open for business Thursday through Saturday.  Aside from the ordinary task of meeting/greeting customers and talking race tires a few PRI highlights immediately come to mind.  1) The last lap crash of the celebrity go-cart race held in the trade show parking lot.  2) Mike “Heavy C” Clayton’s rental car burnout in the parking lot of the Red Roof Inn. 3) Seeing the look on Mike Crutchfield’s face after he discovered the free passes to the “Doll House” that I’d planted inside his note book.  4) Being reunited with my old buddy and IHRA Pro Stock legend Roy “the drill sergeant” Hill…who’s school I attended way, way back in the year of 2008. (see May 2008 Blog Post)

“Roy Hill and EG having a couple of har-har’s at PRI”

Have a safe and happy holiday season…and remember if you see someone that you think could pass for Santa Claus coming at you wide open & sideways in a rental car, do yourself a favor and get off the sidewalk!
Merry Christmas and Happy New Year,
EG

So I got a phone call yesterday from my long lost dysfunctional brother from a different mother and it looks like he’s gone and made himself famous again…and this time it didn’t involve law enforcement.  Last weekend at the 2009 Bonneville World Finals, driving the Guldstrom and Jesel ’32 Ford Roadster, Jimmy set a B/ST world record of 223.623 mph on the 5 mile long course.  Consider this for a moment…since 1953 there have been 658 people that have climbed Mt. Everest, to date there are only 458 people in the Bonneville 200 mph club.  What makes his accomplishment all the more impressive is the fact that two short months ago, in the same car at Speedweek, he went through the 5 mile banner sideways at 200+mph with the parachute out, slamming into a marker and causing extensive damage to the car.  See the links below for details on that one…

www.jimmyshine.com

www.popularmechanics.com article

Jimmy’s been my pal for a while, and I feel comfortable in saying that California is probably a safer place now that the two of us are 2,200 miles apart.  No matter how hard I seem to try, I’ll never forget our Thanksgiving weekend trip of ’06 and riding a 4-wheeler across the desert in the middle of the night with ding-dong on the back, on our way to check trout lines that we’d set earlier in the day.  While cruising along flat out at 40+ mph Jimmy started singing, howling, and flailing around like a lunatic…and in the process kicked the handle bar out of my hands.  Suffice it to say, the only thing we caught was road-rash as we jack-knifed then went flying through the air planting it face first on the unforgiving desert floor.  I recall glancing up and seeing this large, green, 4-wheeler (affectionately named “Broc”, short for broccoli) going end over end, landing on its wheels and then circling around us with its lights on like an abandoned jet ski.

We didn’t say a word to each other the whole way back until we pulled into camp…at which point Jimmy reassured me that even though we looked like a couple of bloodied up Spanish-American war veterans, he would do the talking to the wives, moms, etc. and that everything would be fine.  Keep in mind, he’s a fabricator, not a diplomat, so we got grounded for the rest of the weekend and were not allowed to ride anything capable of going over 8 mph, which relegated us to the kiddy-go carts (with roll-cage).  To this day, I can’t hear him say the word “fishing” without having the side of my head convulse and my knee’s start knocking.  Good times.

Jimmy’s ’06 World Record

Congratulations amigo Shine…very well done!!!
As for drag racing, we had last weekend off, ORSCA Atlanta was cancelled due to weather.  So, it was time to catch up on all things neglected…namely grass cutting, dog washing, etc.  Look for another update in a couple of weeks…until then…
Godspeed,

EG