WE HAVE A GUEST BLOGGER

Hi Friends,

Wanted to fill you all in on last weekends SuperNationals in Englishtown, NJ. No better way that I can think of than to get a fresh perspective. Please take a look at what team member Joe Mitchell's girlfriend, Meaghan Foulds had to say about her weekend. Enjoy & will be back at you all soon.

Jay

Hey Everyone,

This past weekend at Old Bridge Township Raceway Park in Englishtown, NJ for the Super Nationals was bittersweet. I could not write about this weekend without first taking a moment to think about Neal Parker, who was in a fatal accident on Friday during the qualifying session. Neal Parker, who drove “The Excavator,” was also a Top Alcohol Funny Car driver, and that certainly affected the rest of the weekend for this class. In his honor, the other drivers in this class put a black line through the numbers on their cars. My thoughts and prayers go out to his family and crew.
However, this weekend the Follow a Dream team also had a lot to celebrate. For one thing, they made it to the semi-finals. Also, their driver Todd Veney was married to his beautiful bride Jacque. There certainly was a lot of happiness for them.
The weekend started on Thursday. Joe and I left a little later than we planned and after braving both traffic and weather, we arrived at the track around 7pm. We were not allowed to drive in, so Charlie and Spencer picked us up in the golf cart and took us to the pit area, which was all set up. The best part was that we were next to a walking path, so spectators were able to walk adjacent to our pit area and see everything. We only stayed at the track for a couple hours, and then Joe, Spencer, Pam, Ozzie, Mike and I headed to our hotel to check in and make it an early night.
Early Friday morning, Joe, Spencer and I headed to the track. I took my usual spot at the table with my book, although I did help Pam make some toast. If you needed to find Pam at any point this weekend, it would have been by the grill cooking up some delicious food for us. She certainly kept us well fed.
Shortly after eleven, we headed to the staging lanes for the first qualifying session. Right as we got into the crowd by the starting line, the Top Alcohol Funny Cars began racing. Shortly after, we heard about Parker’s accident, but it was not until we were back in the pit that we learned the full extent. Everything was put on hold until about 4pm. At that time, Linda invited me and Pam to her suite for a tour, which was awesome. We sat in there and watched some of the Pro Stock Motorcycles. It was nice to be out of the heat, and I really enjoyed it. Then we stood on the balcony and watched some of the Pro Stock Cars. After walking around the pits, collecting hero cards, we went back to our pit to prepare for our race. It wasn’t until close to 7pm that we ran our first qualifying session. Todd ran a 5.64, and we were currently qualified third. It was a great start.
Shortly after, Todd and Jacque went to Central Park to be married. They had met on June 11, 11 years ago, and they wanted to be married on this date. They were- at 11:30 that night. We were all very excited for them. The rest of us had a BBQ, and the boys were hard at work getting the car ready for the next day. Once they were done, Joe, Alan and I went and sat in the stands to watch the Top Fuel Funny Cars. I love watching them under the lights. Right after, Joe, Charlie and I watched the Top Fuel Dragsters, and we saw Corey Mac make history by running a 3.752, the fastest time in 1000 foot history. It was pretty exciting. That ended up being a late night. The boys put the car away, and we all sat around talking. We weren’t back at the hotel until midnight, and we went straight to bed.
We got to the track early the next morning, and Joe, Spencer and I took the golf cart to where the fuel is tested after the races. The NHRA official took me on a tour of the trailer and showed me how the fuel is tested. He explained that it takes too long to run the full test for every car, so they are randomly selected. I found it interesting.
Shortly after this, Mr. and Mrs. Veney were dropped off at our pit in a limousine, which provided some excitement for us. During our down time that day, Donna and I went to the Geico trailer for free backpacks, and Pam and I went to the Copart trailer for free t-shirts. Who doesn’t love free stuff? Also, Alan was having the whole team sign a hero card for his neighbor, who just happens to be Siobhan Magnus from American Idol. How exciting is that?
At 1:30, we went up to the staging lanes and we certainly caused a scene by writing JUST MARRIED on the hatch of the car and by tying a string of cans that Jay had made to the wheelie bar, which proceeded to fall off along the way. It was hilarious. Unfortunately, during this run, Todd crossed the center line, hit the block and was disqualified. We did, however, end up qualifying 4th.
After this, I had more down time, and the boys worked hard to turn the car around. I took a nap, and we had lunch around 5pm. Joe, Spencer, Jay and I went for a walk to speak to a vendor. Then Joe and I went on our “date” we have at every race, which is to take the golf cart to buy a fresh squeezed lemonade for the outrageous price of $6. Delicious!
First round was that evening, just as the sun was setting. It was a beautiful night. We were racing Wayne Morris and beat him by running a 5.59.
The boys had a lot of work to do, and it was pretty late by the time we got everyone together for a reception for Todd and Jacque, complete with hors d’oeurves, chicken cacciatore, a champagne toast and cake. It was such an amazing night, and I loved it. It was also an extremely late night, and we went to the hotel for a few hours of sleep.
Sunday was the big show, but rain was in the forecast. I walked up to the stands just in time for a moment of silence and the National Anthem. Jacque came and found me and we watched first round for the Top Fuel Dragsters and Funny Cars. Just as we got back to the pit, the team was getting ready to head up to the staging lanes. It was unbearably hot. We were up against John Anderika, and we knew it was going to be a close race. We beat him by running a 5.63, and we were headed to the semi finals against Manzo. The guys had their work cut out for them, but the rest of us were trying to stay out of the heat. Jimmy, from NHRA, came over to say that we were scheduled to run at 2:30, but that the rain was also expected at 2:30.
In the end, the temperature did drop a lot, but the rain held off just long enough for our semi final round. We smoked the tires, and we were not able to get the win light, but it was still a great weekend.
The skies opened up just as pit takedown began. I have never seen them take the pit area down so quickly. Goodbyes were quickly said as everyone rushed to get out of the rain and on the road. And my and Joe’s weekend ended the exact same way it began, sitting in rain and traffic.
All in all, it was certainly an emotional weekend, in more ways than one. I am certainly looking forward to my next drag race.

Best,
Meaghan