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AT PRESS TIME!
The Latest News: August 5, 2018
Richard Smith Returns with his Latest Blog!
Jet car teams are getting ready for the Summer Nitro Nationals and Jet Car Finals coming up August 17-18 at Spokane County Raceway. Hope to see everyone there!
SPEED TALK!
Jet Car Facts
Top Speed: 309.83
Top Elapsed Time: 5.12
Type of Fuel Used: Jet A
Gallons per run: 20
Engine: Pratt and Whitney
SEE US LIVE! 2018 Race Schedule
May 27-29 June 11-12 June 17-18 July 1-2 July 8-9 July 29-30 August 12-14 August 27 September 9-10 September 24-25
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RACE COVERAGE AND THE TOP STORY Richard Smith's June Report! The month of june gave us all the variations of weather in the Pacific Northwest. It came in wet, got hot in the middle, and went out mild. Our first race of the month , Woodburn Dragstrips Rose Festival Drags succumbed to rain. I was crossing the Cascades when I got back into cell service, Jay Livingston left the message to turn around and go home. Portland has a Rose Festival Parade and I think that it is a state law that it has to rain on that parade. Portlanders don’t care. They put on rain coats, or plastic trash bags, and enjoy the festivities. Jays family are like cats...we don’t like to get wet !! The next stop was the Foxhunt at Boise. Nice warm and dry weather and a tremendous amount of spectators. Some old friends and I am fortunate enough to always make some new ones there. Derek and I did our best to disturb the peace ! We then travelled on to Grand Junction Colorado. I have never raced there. What a treat! When you get into south eastern Utah and western Colorado, the scenery looks like a backdrop of a Roadrunner cartoon ! I was looking for Wylie Coyote to be strapped to some kind of an ACME propelled product ! The track sits upon a plateau and is surrounded by the most beautiful scenery. The track officials, competitors, and spectators were so friendly.
Warped Speed "Springs Into Action! I love spring ! Even though we had a mild winter in the Pacific Northwest, i welcome the longer warmer days. Here in Powell Butte our population grows everyday. New calves in the pastures and new foals standing beside the mother mares. And then i get to go to our “corral” and let the race cars out ! And the following weekend, Memorial Day, we followed Derek to his stomping grounds at Renegade Raceway. The Dee Adams Memorial Race brings competitors from all over the Northwest. From an outsiders viewpoint, it looked like the program ran smooth as glass. Derek and I had our “Showdown at Sundown” both friday and saturday night. I get to meet and hangout with so many great people there and i always look forward to it. So now, a couple days of shop time and maybe a little lake time. See ya in June !!
The Warped Speed Fall Report! My my how time flies! It has been over a month since I sat down at my typewriter to put our adventures into words. At the end of August, Dick Fuller and I headed to Mission B.C. from our shop in Prineville, Oregon. Prineville as many may recall, was part of the “line of totality” for the famous Solar Eclipse. The predictions were massive traffic jams, food and fuel shortages, and total chaos. That pretty much describes a typical day at the races, so Fuller and I weren’t worried. We ran both cars and the dragster came up one and a half miles per hour short of 300. That track gets a huge car count so there is plenty of action to keep me entertained all day.
The Wapred Speed Dragster on display makes an appearance at Sam Barlow High School. Below is Meghan Jianni getting a hug from Richard Smith. Our next race was the Fall Classic at Woodburn. This marks the beginning of the “end of the season”. It was a very special weekend for me. My granddaughter “ Peanut” wanted to go to a race with me, so she climbed into the semi and off we went on a 4 day road trip. The last time she was a pit crew member, she was 6 years old, She is now 22. Before she was just wiping down the car and explaining to fans how fire comes out the back of the car. This time we had her changing tires and helping us load and unload (while she was still explaining how fire comes out the back of the car)! Our friend Derek could not come to this event, so we took the dragster and raced the clock. The Incinerator knocked on the door of 300 but just couldn’t quite push it open. Last year at this event it went 305....hmmm maybe i packed on a few pounds!!! The following Monday we took the Incinerator to Sam Barlow High School in Gresham. Our honorary crew member Megh I just got home from Salt Lake City. We were invited to bring both cars to Nite of Fire 2.0. The original date was rained out, so we were able to attend the rescheduled event. Now, the old question “Can you really have too much fun?” YES you can!!!! Tony Franco and I squared off again and I played a little too long having too much fun and ran the Incinerator out of fuel! I envy the NASCAR guys because they can refuel during the race! I would have given anything for a quick pit stop and 10 gallons!! Now we shift gears and get ready to go to Vegas. We are taking the Warped Speed funny car and the new and improved Tomahawk, (formerly the Warhawk). Derek has a new paint scheme and name on the car, so we are going to load both cars in our semi and hit the road! AND our semi has a new beautiful wrap on it ! It is typical Darin Bay...off the chart gorgeous!!! I hope everyone has a great off season. Enjoy the winter holidays and we will see you next year!!!!
Richard Smith's Really Wild Race Report!
The Warped Speed Funny Car in Spokane! Photo by Christi Lane Photography August is not over yet, and so far this has been such a great month ! The 46th running of the Nightfire Nationals during the 50th Anniversary of Firebird Raceway will go down in the history books as the most anticipated and over delivered drag racing event in the Pacific Northwest!!!! How many nitro cars you ask?? 3 dozen of the finest cacklers converged to thrill and entertain the shoulder to shoulder crowd. And that's not all !!!! Throw in more than a full field of Pro Mods and this racing junkie is bouncing off the wall. Monday morning I went to the drugstore looking for a Nitro Patch!!! You can’t expect to give me three days of Nitro and then cut me off cold turkey?? I was in withdraws until Friday!! The Warhawk and Warped Speed funny car battle continued to be faugh out under the star lit western Idaho skies. With a Nitro, pro mod and a jet fix, its a wonder I don't need therapy!! AND THEN... Craig Smith turned Spokane County Raceway into a high horse power playground the following weekend! More Nitro, more pro mods and everything that had a blower on it! I think Spokane’s lawn mower has a blower on it!!! And seven jets!!!! We took both the Warped Speed and the Incinerator to this party! I got the thrill again to drive both cars each night. That is so much fun getting out of one car and diving into another! With seven cars, we made a single in the dragster friday night and raced the Warhawk with the Warped Speed. Saturday, Tony Franco of Terminal Velocity Lucas Oil fame volunteered to let us race the Incinerator against him. After two rounds of hard hitting racing action, we left Spokane with a one to one tie. Thank You Tony for letting me share the starting line with you. The Incinerator was awarded the trophy for the Fastest Jet Car. To put the icing on the cake for me, I was introduced to Char Irish by her son Heath. Char has been following our progress and my excitement since the internet was carved in stone. Our drag racing family really has some fantastic people in it! A couple of days of shop massage for the race cars and we’re off to Mission B.C. I get to run both cars again this weekend ! I better buy a lottery ticket, nobody can be this Lucky !!!! See ya at the races!
Richard Smith's Mid Season Update Well here we are in the middle of summer and i am finally catching up to the calendar. Days move quicker than I do ! During the off season, the Warped Speed and Incinerator got well deserved attention in preparation for the 2017 season. Darin Bay, being the parts bloodhound that he is, found us some REALLY nice internal engine parts. Both cars now have engines that are good enough to fly! The Warped Speed has been the busy car so far this season. We have been racing the Warhawk of Derek Snelson. There is only about 6 seconds of a day that i don't consider Derek my brother. When the chutes come out, we are family again ! We have been lighting up the western skies at Woodburn, Yakima and Boise, with both cars putting on great shows. Derek and crew are a pleasure to run with. I am looking forward to August 18 & 19 when we will be at Spokane. It sounds like Craig Smith is bringing in every jet car team that he can get a hold of ! We will be running both cars. First race of the season for the Incinerator. It went 305 MPH when we put it away last season! Another addition to the Warped Speed cavalcade is a new semi. Local Top Alcohol Funny Car ace Brian Hough and his crew at West Coast Steel Fabricators did a remarkable job of reconfiguring the inside of the trailer to fit our needs. Both cars fit in and ride beautifully and i have so many cabinets that i cant find a thing !! The final touch for the trailer will be a full wrap. That will be coming soon. Our next race is the Night of Fire at Woodburn July 28 & 29. Richard Smith
After two straight years where it was unknown whether or not the Warped Speed Jet Car Team would return for another season or go into retirement, team owner Darin Bay recently decided he’s in it for the long haul. Proof of his renewed commitment and vigor is the purchase of a new semi truck needed to replace the truck and trailer he sold last year. Darin realized this past fall that drag racing and jet cars in particular is where his heart is after already selling off parts of his team. “I decided that jet car racing is what I like to do. I really don’t have any other interests other than my family and business. And I refuse to set foot on a golf course” Darin said. Darin began his career in the 1980’s racing the Alky Motion Dodge Omni funny car before graduating to a jet funny car and then grew his team into a four car operation before scaling back to just one dragster and a funny car which are both driven by longtime drag racing veteran Richard Smith. One of the main reasons Darin decided to charge ahead with his plans to continue Warped Speed indefinitely is due to NHRA’s new commitment to racing jet cars at national events as an exhibition. “Prior to this year, NHRA would not pay us to make exhibition passes. Now, NHRA is behind us 100 percent and they want a jet car exhibition race at almost all of their national events” Darin said. Performance is also high on Darin’s list. “You will see more 300 MPH runs. I expect we will be in the 310 MPH zone or faster” he added. Darin also knew that parking his team would put local race tracks in a bind since there were only a couple of jet cars remaining on the entire west coast. Now, with renewed excitement and energy, Darin plans to spend more time at the races and get more involved with his team. “Last year I wasn’t able to be at the races as much as I would have liked. But this year I will be at the track more often and we plan to give everyone that stops by our pit a memorable fan friendly experience”.
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HOT PHOTOS Click Here to see photos by Larry and Andi McFarland
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an Jianni is a senior this year. Her Dad Tony, the vice principals and her teachers were so instrumental in setting up this presentation. Before daylight we were getting the semi in place and the car unloaded in front of the school. As the school started coming to life with students and school buses arriving, you could feel the buzz in the air. This was Meghan’s race car! She has always been such a huge drag racing fan, and now she gets to share her love of the sport with her friends and classmates. Meghan has been part of the WSR family for about six years. Her positive spirit and smile keeps us from having a bad day!
