MM
Nitro Member
And they will STILL be different. It's wild.
Sean & Doug Show
- Thread starter Cliff
- Start date
Speaking of Doug Gordon, he's got some neat family operation. Anyone notice his pit crew? Doug and his wife do some of the work, but by far the major part of the servicing of the car is done his two teenage daughters, aged 16 and 18. These 2 young ladies are the REAL deal, not some phony affirmative-action ploy. He didn't have any sons, so the daughters all got trained at a young age how to work on the car. And they BRING IT! This is an operation to root for! I had no idea about this, and I became a big fan of theirs this past Saturday at
Pomona. According to Doug, the 18 yo is itching to drive the car, so in a year or 2 Dad Doug is going to get her licensed and put her in the seat.
Pomona. According to Doug, the 18 yo is itching to drive the car, so in a year or 2 Dad Doug is going to get her licensed and put her in the seat.
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Chili
Nitro Member
One of the girls is supposed to take over driving duties in 2024.
Randy
Nitro Member
I remember 30+ years ago racing against Mike when Doug was a kid servicing the car with his dad. Then when Mike and Cheryl put Doug in the car his reaction time to the ambers on the tree was so quick they had to slow down the clutch pedal linkage to keep Doug from red lighting.
Al
Nitro Member
I'm just curious about injected nitro costing less than blown alky. I know that a blown alky engine makes power at really high RPM and that nitro engines are less RPM. Would wear & tear be higher for blown alky? Seems to me that the cost of nitro would play a part in how much it costs to run the car. Asking for a friend.
You're right on the rpm Cliff. In Seattle, the guys with the car on display told us about the supercharger cost being so high. But we also spoke with Jackie Fricke (really nice lady) and she told us that (at least in dragsters) the A/Fuel cars only rev to 6800 rpm. The blown alcohol cars rev to 10.000 rpm and as a result have much higher parts attrition, higher maintenance and as a result often require more crew members.
.
Nitro Member
Here is a story / video the local NBC affiliate wrote about them:
Templeton High sisters excel at drag racing
Templeton High sisters excel at drag racing
www.ksby.com
reo bad
Nitro Member
Thanks for all of the nice comments. We are very fortunate to be able to compete at this level with a 100% family team. Yes the girls are definitely the real deal. Nicknamed "Team Estrogen" by Tony Bartone. Maddi 18 does the clutch, helps with the engine as needed, and is a great track specialist. She is going to take over the driving of the car in 2024. Macie 16 does most all of the engine work between rounds. She runs the valves, does the bottom end. She can take a bare block and turn it into a running engine by herself. We also have my wife Christina helping doing the little things of taking off valve covers, putting in spark plugs and things like that. Lastly my Mom Cheryl packs the chutes and other misc stuff needed. All this while my dad Mike tunes with some of my help. It is definitely a dream come true to be able to race like this and have success at the same time. On the off weekends we were jr racing but now starting to get into super comp and super pro bracket racing with Macie as the main driver of the dragsters.
Also Sean and I have definitely had some good battles these last couple of years. And the addition of Shane Westerfield back out running hard and DJ Cox making the run for the championship was impressive. Really looking forward to giving it a run again in my final year of driving next year.
Thanks again
Doug Gordon
#1 TAFC
Also Sean and I have definitely had some good battles these last couple of years. And the addition of Shane Westerfield back out running hard and DJ Cox making the run for the championship was impressive. Really looking forward to giving it a run again in my final year of driving next year.
Thanks again
Doug Gordon
#1 TAFC
sammi
Nitro Member
I don't want to come off as a fan boy, but I have been a fan of your family operation for decades.
As for your daughters, speaking as a long time, now retired high school teacher. What you did for your girls is want so many of our kids today need, you and your wife gave them a purpose. No phone will ever capture their soul like prepping a hot race car for the final round-then winnning. You also invested in them the idea that nothing is impossible. It is so cool to see them working on your car. I am guessing their view of boys, social media, youth sports and the Kardasians is kinda different than your average teen.
I am guessing you like your new car. That thing goes down the track like no other in the field.
As for your daughters, speaking as a long time, now retired high school teacher. What you did for your girls is want so many of our kids today need, you and your wife gave them a purpose. No phone will ever capture their soul like prepping a hot race car for the final round-then winnning. You also invested in them the idea that nothing is impossible. It is so cool to see them working on your car. I am guessing their view of boys, social media, youth sports and the Kardasians is kinda different than your average teen.
I am guessing you like your new car. That thing goes down the track like no other in the field.
- Thread starter
- #31
I know I'm gettin', uh, older, cuz I remember both Doug & Sean's dads racing back in the Daze. Now Doug & Sean and soon Maddi. I wonder how many 3rd & even 4th generation drivers are out there now? I have always loved the non T/F classes (for lack of a better term), going back to Top Gas Dragsters, JR/F, AA/FA, Combo Elim and then Pro Comp and now the alky classes. I'm the guy who went to Lions once to see a Top Gas Dragster show cuz Moates & Williams twin was there and the talk was big about someone running the first 6 second run for the class. Not a lot of people in the stands but I wanted to see a "6" so bad.... Didn't happen, but they put on a great show. Don't remember who won (but it was 2 single engined cars in the final) - but seeing those "twice motored" monsters was so cool! I wish people could see 2 twins go at it side by side. Just the noise and seeing those cars gives you a memory you won't soon forget.
reo bad
Nitro Member
Yea racing has done so many good things for my family. It really does give the girls something to look forward to. They understand that there job is school and have always somehow managed to still get A's while gone racing as much as we do. They live and breathe the sport just as we do and I think has helped make them better people. I sure know it did for me. Sometimes we fear they miss some of the normal kid activities but while we are in town they still do stuff with friends. But all their friends know if there is a chance for a race or need to work on a race car that is what they want to do first priority.
Yea the new car is great. We added a lot of downforce to it and feared it would not be fast enough but seemed to not slow it down much. But didn't seem to slow it down much at all. We did have to adjust the way we tune a little for the new car but all in all was very similar. Cant wait to go battle it out again next year.
Doug Gordon
#1 TAFC
