BACK TO RACING

Hello All. Sorry for the long delay in getting a new blog post up. I appreciate you all checking in & will commit to keeping you all updated on a more regular basis. We've had a busy winter preparing for the race season, with the team freshing up much of our equipment, including a couple of motors, all the transmissions, cylinder heads, & engine blocks. Have also spent lots of time working in the office with Terri to prepare for the upcoming season.

I have to thank the entire team for all their hard work in the off season, including two of our newest members, Charlie Connelly & Brandon Wilkinson. We're also welcoming back our long time team member & tuner, Tom Howell, who spent another off season in Afghanistan & has returned to the states safely to rejoin the team for the 2012 season. Always great to have him back on American soil!

We competed at the Gatornationals this past weekend, where we were qualified in third place after two runs on Saturday & continued qualifying rounds on Sunday to get to the second round of eliminations on Sunday, where we lost to our opponent John Lombardo, Jr.

Will blog again soon & thanks again for checking in.

Jay

HAPPY HOLIDAYS

Merry Christmas & Happy New Year! I apologize I haven't blogged in a long time. We have been busy in the office wrapping up the year and preparing for next year. The crew has some time away from the shop and have been busy with their jobs and families. I hope you all got the newsletter, & if you didn't, make sure to get us your address so we can add you to our mailing list. The race car is resting and we've sent all the specialty pieces out to be recertified to adhere to NHRA safety regulations. Shop activity will pick up after the first of the year. I'll be blogging again so please check back.

Thanks

Jay

AT AAPEX SHOW WITH PERMATEX

Hello All!

WOW....its been awhile. Sorry for the delay is posting to the blog-we've been busy, busy, busy. Spent some time at the shop after returning from Maple Grove at the end of September & then headed off to our final race of the season @ Silver Dollar Raceway in Reynolds, GA. Beautiful weather, great people & a really nice facility. We had some good runs & qualified 2nd in the field & then went on to compete in the finals where we lost to Mickey Ferro. We're holding on to 6th place in the national standings right now but have to wait for the outcome of the last couple races of the year out west to see where we end up. Will hope for a top 10 finish!

I flew out to Vegas on Sunday evening to meet Todd & the Permatex crew @ the AAPEX Show where we've been displaying the car & talking with show attendees. We'll finish up there later today & will load the car for the return trip to Massachusetts tomorrow morning. Eddie & his wife Noreen drove out ahead of me & will get the rig back to the Cape as well. My wife Ann is going to fly out tomorrow for a couple days of rest & relaxation & then we'll fly home Sunday.

Will be back in the office on Monday, getting prepared for the PRI Show at the beginning of December & working on preparing for the 2012 season.

Will touch base early next week.....I know......no promises I can't keep! Please check in again-I WILL blog soon.

Have a great day!

Jay

DRIVING HOME FROM PENNSYLVANIA

Hey everybody,

We fought rain & cold weather all weekend at Maple Grove. The crew did a great job throughout the weekend & the car got quicker on every run. In the semi finals we shook the tires & lost to Frank Manzo, who set a new elapsed time record, won the world championship, & eventually won the race, all in one day. Congratulations Frank! Charlie, Ed, & I took the trailer to Goldrush Trailers in PA after the race for liftgate repairs. That went well thanks to Kevin, Jeff, & the whole gang there.

We're on our way home now, in Connecticut & expecting to be back on the Cape by 9pm. We'll get the car ready to leave in a week for Silver Dollar Raceway in Reynolds, GA for the last race of the year.

We'll let you know how things are going before we take off again. ESPN2 will air the Maple Grove event from this past weekend on Sunday, Oct. 9 @ 3pm.

Have a great day!

Jay

GOOD EVENING RACE FANS

Hello All!

Well, after several stops, we're @ Maple Grove & getting the pit set up to begin racing in the morning. Most of the team is on the road in Massachusetts heading our way & will be at the track late tonight. An FYI for anyone planning a trip to the track this weekend, due to extremely wet ground conditions in the sportsman pit area, Super Comp, Super Stock, Stock & Super Gas will not compete this weekend, which changes our run schedule for tomorrow. We are now scheduled to run qualifiers @ 11am & 3:45pm. If you have questions, www.maplegroveraceway.com should be updating regularly with any additional changes.

On our way to Pennsylvania we made stops @ Gateway Community College in North Haven, CT & then at team sponsor Permatex headquarters in Hartford, CT on Tuesday. Got to show off the racecar to some employees that had never seen it & was able to also speak to a small group too. We then made our way to PA where we stopped Wednesday at Universal Technical Institute in Exton, PA. Spoke to a group for our friend & team supporter Steve Davies, who will be joining us at the track this weekend.

Not sure if I mentioned it or not but while at Cecil County in August we lost our awning to a wind storm. Just took delivery of the new one today when we got to the track. They tell me its beautiful, thank you Larry DeForrest @ Arrow Components for getting this done so quickly & for doing such a great job. Check out the photo above.

Well, hope to see some of you at the track this weekend, come by & say hi.

Jay

ON THE ROAD AGAIN...

Hello Blog Fans!

Well, we're hitting the road again on our way to Maple Grove for the national event this weekend. Heading to sponsor Permatex in Hartford today for meetings & to showcase the racecar for employees. Spoke at Gateway Community College in North Haven, CT last evening & will be stopping at Universal Technical Institute campus in Exton, PA tomorrow to speak for students & faculty their. Then Charlie & I will make our way to the track & setup the pit while waiting for the team to arrive to begin competition on Friday.

Spent the last couple of weeks catching up in the office while some of the guys helped out at the shop preparing to hit the road. Ozzie worked on brackets for the awning, among other things & Eddie worked on cylinder heads.

Will touch base next week to fill you in on results from Maple Grove. Remember to check out our pit cam beginnng Friday to see all the action & log on to facebook for updates from the track.

Have a good day!

Jay

DRAG RACING IS NOT FOR THE FAINT OF HEART

Hello Followers,

Sorry I didn't blog before we hit the road late last week for Etown. We pulled into Etown with high hopes & after 2 qualifying runs that went totally haywire we did not qualify for the event. The team kept their spirits up & we're preparing to test this week to ready for our next race @ Maple Grove Raceway at the end of the month.

However, all was not lost as we were informed as we loaded to come home that we had won Best Appearing Crew for the event. We were wearing our "Free To Dream Thanks To Our Troops" custom t-shirts (thanks to Maura) in memory of 9/11. I guess when it comes to the big picture we have to be thankful that we have the ability to go out there & participate.


We're back home & working in the shop getting ready to test mid week @ New England Dragway. Will touch base again later in the week.

Thanks for checking in.

Jay

HELLO DREAM FOLLOWERS

Hi All,

We were very lucky here on the Cape following last weeks hurricane Irene. Got to work on Monday & had power & internet service. Not everyone in the area has been so lucky, some still without power. My father-in-law Ray Borski still doesn't have any power & has a downed tree across his driveway with live wires wrapped around it. As I said, we were lucky.

Busy doing all of the stuff that they don't talk about in Hot Rod magazine. Tommy is here putting a motor together to replace the one we hurt in Cecil. Ozzy serviced all the bearings in the motor that's in the car from Cecil on Tuesday night & Brandon & I will pull it out of the car tonight & put it back under the bench in the trailer for a spare. Joe Connelly was here on Tuesday too, getting a variety of things done & set up for Englishtown next weekend. Terri has been busy in the office this week & I've been working on adding more tie downs in the trailer. Always plenty to do & never enough time in the day to get it all done. We'll work next week on getting ready to leave for Englishtown & will update you before we hit the road.

Have a wonderful holiday weekend.

Jay

BACK AT THE SHOP

Hey All!

Thanks for checking in. I wish I had more of an exciting blog to write but, we're back from Cecil County where things didn't go well. We tested on Thursday, which went fine & then Thursday night a storm came in. Fortunately, we got the car put away in time & as we were tying down the awning a gust of wind kicked up-around 60-70MPH & ripped the awning to pieces. The weekend had begun!

Friday things were held up due to water seeping through the track because of the heavy rains Thursday evening. We got one qualifier in where we broke a blower belt. Then on Saturday racing was held up again because of water coming up through the track again. Around 4pm we finally made out 2nd qualifying pass where we broke an intake rocker arm (engine part) which caused the engine to break-torched the head & the block. The crew worked extremely hard dropping a new engine in for first round of eliminations so we could meet up with multiple world champion winner Frank Manzo. We smoked the tires off the starting line & Frank drove off to victory once again. We loaded up & headed back to the Cape on Sunday morning. Charlie Connelly, Joe Connellys dad has been traveling with us for the last couple of races. Charlie's been driving the truck & helping out wherever he can & has been doing a phenomenal job. We very much appreciate all of his efforts. My stepson Brandon has also been to the last two races helping crew, and has been doing a great job too. He worked with me Monday at the shop getting everything offloaded & back into the shop. Today, Brandon & Eddie worked together getting the engine all apart so we can send the block & cylinder head out to Brad Anderson Enterprises for repair.

Will catch you all up again soon. Please also let us know if you have comments or have specific questions you'd like answered & we'll add info to the next blog.

Have a great day race fans!

Jay

JUST SURVIVED A WHOPPER STORM @ CECIL COUNTY

To back track a bit-we went to Atco a couple weeks ago & struggled. We did not qualify for the first time in four years & the entire team was pretty disappointed. But we shook it off & headed home to get prepared for Cecil County this weekend. We arrived at Cecil early this morning for testing & we were able to make two passes. The track is very green with not much rubber on it & we shook the tires first run.. Second pass was better with a 5.75 which isn't bad for the track & weather conditions we're experiencing. We should be in a good spot for qualifying tomorrow. Had a severe storm this evening with marble size hail, heavy rain, wind, thunder, & lightning. We're all fine but our trailer awning didn't make it. It has served us well for a number of years & the fact that it was old & probably fatigued didn't help. I guess it's time to invest in a new one.

Everybody is in good spirits & looking forward to a super weekend of racing. Crew member Joe Mitchell wasn't able to make the trip due to illness. Hope you're feeling better soon Joe!

Well, back to work for me. Hope you'll all check facebook for updates throughout the weekend & don't forget, we'll have the pit cam up & running too.

Have a great weekend & see you at the races!

Jay

HEADING TO ATCO

Hello All!

We're heading to Atco for the NHRA Division 1 event this weekend. Qualifying is Friday & eliminations Saturday. Come check out the action if you can. The crew has serviced the car while we were home & it's ready for action.

After returning from the points meet in NH I was able to get away with my wife Ann for a couple days to celebrate our wedding anniversary-5 years have gone by so fast! This week two of the guys on the team lost family members. Mitch Sullivan lost his mom Edith last Friday & Scott DeWitt lost his dad Bud as well. Our prayers & well wishes go out to both Mitch & Scott and their families.

Follow us on facebook this weekend, we'll be updating from the track. Will blog results next week.

See you at the races!

Jay

NEW ENGLAND DRAGWAY HERE WE COME!

Hello All,

Had a great trip west. Todd, Eddie, & myself made a stop at Illinois Tool Works, Inc. (ITW), parent company of team sponsors Permatex & Wynn's on our way to Joliet & had the opportunity to introduce Follow A Dream to many of the folks there including the CEO David Speer-we even had him in the car for awhile! The people there were all very interested in what we do & enjoyed getting to check out the car. Then it was off to the Jeg's Allstar race & the Route 66 NHRA Nationals @ Route 66 Raceway. We had a good weekend with the Allstars, where we went to the finals. We were somewhat disappointed in our showing @ the national event, where we unfortunately went out in the first round. Team worked their butts off again & then we all headed home for a short time before heading to New England Dragway today. We'll test tomorrow & then participate in the division 1 Lucas Oil Drag Racing Series Friday & Saturday. Boy is it gonna be HOT, HOT, HOT!!

Hope to see some of you at the races & will fill you in on our progress next week.

Have a good day!

Jay

I'M STILL HERE

Hello All!

We're in Illinois & the trip so far has been a good one. We had a great weekend in Norwalk where we went to the finals before losing that round & this past weekend went out in the semifinals at the Lebanon Valley division 1 event in New York. All the race recaps are on the website if you'd like to check them out. After leaving Norwalk we made a stop @ the University of Northwestern Ohio, where my nephew Jamie Blake is a student. I spoke throughout the day to some 2000 students. The weathers been great for the first half of the trip & Eddie and I are now in Illinois, where I'm speaking at the ITW headquarters in Glenview, IL tomorrow. ITW is the mother company of our sponsors Permatex & Wynn's. Then we'll be off to Route 66 Raceway where the team will meet us for this coming weekends race. If you haven't checked out our live stream of the racing please check our website for coverage from the pits. We're also updating facebook throughout the weekend as well so check that out too.

I hope everybody had a great 4th of July weekend. See you at the races.

Jay

GETTING READY TO TAKE OFF AGAIN

Hello All,

Unfortunately, the Funny Cars Under The Stars show scheduled for last weekend at New England Dragway was rained out but we're all looking forward to the division 1 event there on July 22 & 23rd. We've been hard at work at the shop readying for our next trip. It's been a short trip home but the team has pulled together & serviced the car. We've built another motor that goes in the car tomorrow when Tommy comes down. Eddie & I will be headed to Norwalk on Wednesday with the team flying out to meet us on Thursday. We're excited about the next 3 races, where we'll be involved in the Jeg's Allstar race in Chicago. We're having guests at the track from the TA Travel Truck Stops while at the Norwalk race & Wynn's folks when we're in Chicago. Most of us are fighting colds & hoping to feel better before we take off next week.

Will be in touch.

Jay

MID SEASON

Hello All,

We're back home, after a good trip to OH, PA, & NJ. The Permatex/Follow A Dream funny car drew lots of attention at the TravelCenter/Petro convention in Sandusky, OH & it was great to reconnect with some of the people who've taken care of us as we travel throughout the country. Then it was off to Maple Grove raceway, where there was much chatter as to whether the race would be postponed due to weather. It turned out to be a beautiful weekend, where we qualified 3rd. We lost in the finals to world champion Frank Manzo. Eddie & I stayed after the race to service the car for Englishtown the following weekend. We made a stop at Reading-Muhlenberg Career Center, where we spoke to students & faculty while displaying the racecar. We arrived at Etown on Wednesday & HOLY GOD it was hot! Temps were almost 100 & setting up the awning from the roof of the trailer felt alot hotter than that. The crew arrived on Thursday to prep for racing on Friday. Friday morning started a little differently than most. While we were unloading the racecar from the second floor of the trailer, a bearing on the right side of the lift blew out, causing the lift to stop moving on the right side. The car ended up at a 30 degree angle-one side a foot from the ground & the other side 4 feet from the ground. The team all pulled together to get the car ready to race while it was still on the gate. My brother Jimmy took over the work of getting the car on the ground & with the help of a forklift & lots of suggestions from an ever growing peanut gallery, he got the car freed up. The team showed great determination working through the difficulties Friday morning to record a semifinal finish on Sunday afternoon. Check out the race recap on the home page of the site.

We loaded up Sunday night & headed home. I spoke at Cape Cod Technical High School today & will be at Upper Cape Cod Technical tomorrow. Going to New England Dragway Friday night to get ready for Amalie Oil Funny Cars Under The Stars event Saturday evening.

Will be in touch-please come to New England to see us if you can.

Take care,

Jay

GETTING READY FOR THE ROAD AGAIN

Hey All!

We've been busy at the shop. We did a picture layout with Permatex & the racecar last week that went really well. We're ready getting everything ready for the next two races. Ed & I are heading out on Saturday for a TA Travel Centers of America convention in Sandusky, Ohio and then meeting the team @ Maple Grove for the first division 1 event of the season. Then its off to Etown for a national event & the following weekend we'll be at New England Dragway for Funny Cars Under the Stars, Saturday, June 11.

Will blog from the road when I can. Keep an eye out on our website for the webcam in the pits on race weekends & check my facebook for updates throughout the races.

Talk soon,

Jay

HEADING HOME FROM HOUSTON

Hello All,

The National Automotive Technology Competition in New York went great. The Permatex kick off breakfast was successful & there was a steady crowd throughout the show. I competed with a blindfolded ESPN analyst & retired Nascar driver Ricky Craven @ the Universal Technical Institute booth in a spark plug competition, removing four spark plugs from the cylinder head & then repplacing them. Ricky was a great sport & we both had lots of fun. He needs a little more practice doing it in the dark but not bad for the first time. I also competed in the General Motors booth against a sighted Dan Fuller, a former GM Tech instructor & current Bristol Tech High School Automotive Instructor in Bristol, CT. Dan got the better of me by just a little bit but was too afraid to be blindfolded. Congratulations to all the competitiors.

I flew to Houston with the team on Thursday for the 24th Annual O'Reilly Auto Parts NHRA Nationals. It was a good weekend although the track was tricky-very hot & humid. The team worked very hard to get us another semi final finish.

Ed & I were on the road home Sunday evening & by Monday afternoon @ around 2pm we had a ttrailer tire blow out in Alabama, taking out one of the airbags in the suspention of the trailer. Thanks to our friends at the Petro Truck Service we got the trailer all fixed up & were back on the road this morning after a good nights sleep to continue our journey home.

Once again, thanks to the Dream Team for a great weekend. We're beginning to prepare for our next race & first of the season in Division 1 competition, in Reading, PA, May 27-28.

A special thanks to all the men & women of the Armed Services for keeping us all safe through their tireless work & determination. FREE TO DREAM...THANKS TO OUR TROOPS!

Jay

NORTH CAROLINA TO BOSTON TO NEW YORK CITY

Hey All!

I hope everybody had a good Easter & a great long weekend. I'm in NY City for the National Automotive Technology Competition through Wednesday. When I last blogged, I was still down in NC where I visited Gaston College & NASCAR Technical Institute. We met a great bunch of students & instructors & I was very impressed with both programs.

Eddie & I parted ways at the end of last week, when Eddie headed to Houston to get ready for this coming weekends race & I flew home to get ready to leave for the NY Auto Competition.

Had a great weekend at home with my family & had Easter dinner @ my mothers. My brother Jimmy & I headed out Sunday evening to drive to the Big Apple. We set the show car up this morning @ the Javits Convention Center & will be attending a welcome dinner this evening. I speak @ the Permatex sponsored kick off breakfast in the morning, where some of the best high school auto students in the country will compete. It's always a pleasure to be part of this event-lots of fun & I get to meet some terrific people.

Thanks for checking in, I'll be back later in the week with updates.

Jay

MONDAY IN CHARLOTTE

Hey All!

We're leaving the Charlotte track, just finished filling the fresh water tanks & emptying the holding tanks. We're now on our way to Gaston College in Dallas, NC, where I'll speak to students & faculty tomorrow.

Friday qualifying @ Charlotte went well, where we ended up #2 qualifiier with a 5.58. Saturday qualifying was cancelled due to the weather, fortunately we did not get hit with the tornados & extreme weather that was in the area but still got plenty of rain & a fair amount of wind. The weather did finally clear late afternoon & NHRA did a great job drying the track & getting it safe for racing to continue. We had first round of eliminations on Saturday night & won that round. The team then serviced the car & put it to bed for the evening. Spirts were high for Sunday & the car was running very well. Sunday we won second round, the team again did a great job-the car was getting quicker & faster. We got the car ready for the semi-finals, where we had a mysterious problem in the fuel system, causing a backfire, which shut the car off & allowed our opponent to drive around us. The team was very disappointed but kept their head in the game as we got back to the pits & took the car apart to figure out what happened. We were able to repair the car which had no major damage. We got the pit area cleaned up & we're ready for Houston in a couple weeks.

Thanks to the whole team for a great weekend. We'll go into Houston focused on the win. Will blog again later in the week.

Jay

GETTING READY TO GO RACING!

Hey Everybody,

We've been busy at the shop after returning from the World of Wheels in Boston, which was a great show. Traffic was pretty steady all weekend and it was great to see some friends I hadn't seen in many years & meet some new fans too. My big fear was that we would be waiting to roll out of the show until late into the night but I must say, I learned from the best-my brother Jimmy is a maniac when it comes to getting out of these things. The show was over at 7pm & we were the first ones out the door & loaded by 7:30.

Had a great visit at Madison Park Tech in Boston on Monday & we're looking forward to returning & getting to speak to more of their students. Madison Park Tech is the only public tech school in the city of Boston.

We arrived back at the shop on Monday evening & Tuesday we started the racecar, which has a fresh motor in it all set to go. I really feel like we're ready to go get 'um.

Eddie & I will leave the Cape early Monday morning & will be stopping @ Bristol Tech in Bristol, CT that afternoon. We're planning a stop @ a TA Travel Center in Virginia on Tuesday & then off to zMAX Dragway in Charlotte, where we should pull in on Wednesday to begin set up.

It'll be a busy couple of days packing up & getting ready to hit the road. The entire team has been working extremely hard to get everything ready & I can't thank them enough for all they do.

Will blog from the road-talk to you all again next week.

Jay

WORLD OF WHEELS SHOW IN BOSTON

Hey All!

Eddie I went up to Boston this morning to set the car up for the World of Wheels Show. We'll be partnered/displaying with HTC Racing, powder coaters out of Rockland, MA. If you ever need any kind of powder coating or ceramic coatings for exhausts or headers, these guys are the best-tell Tom & Maryann I recommended them. I'll be at the show all weekend.

This week I spent time in the shop & office. Trying to set some speaking events up & working on the racecar. Worked on getting the showcar ready for this weekend too.

I'll be speaking Monday morning @ Madison Park Tech in Boston and back in the shop on Tuesday. Then the push will be on to get ready for NC race.

Come visit us at the show this weekend & thanks for checking in.

Jay

ANOTHER DAY AT THE OFFICE

Hey Everybody,

Sorry, it's been awhile again. We're back at the office & most recently, we put a new motor in the car to get preped in case we need it in a hurry. We ran and timed that yesterday. Joe Connelly & I are going to pull that out tonight & we'll then put another motor in to get ready for NC race in a couple weeks.

To catch you up....the race in Gainesville went well. Recap of the events are on the homepage if you haven't already seen it. Everybody worked well together, Scott Spencer & Todd worked on the clutch together for the first time & that went really well. Ozzie & Ed did a great job with the motor. It was Joe Connelly's first time at the track as a crew member & he did a great job too with all the fluids & the oil pan. Tommy the tuner did his usual great job tuning, Maura did a wonderful job feeding us all, & Todd did a great job driving too! You always want to win when you go racing but, in reality it's not always the outcome, as was the case at Gainesville, where we went out in the quarterfinals. This was a great weekend, everybody worked well together, turning the car around & we're all really excited to get the rest of the season under way.

Working in the shop for now is keeping us busy & next weekend we're @ Boston World of Wheels. Then, before you know it, we'll be on the road to Charlotte for our next race.

It's great to have the support of the team & the support of my family & all of the families that allow us to do what we do. Thank you to everyone, hang on, the season has started & it's gonna be a great ride.

We'll talk again soon,

Jay

IT'S WARM IN FLORIDA

Hey All,

The winter preparations are over & now it's time to go racing. Ed & I pulled into Gainesville Raceway today & the rest of the team will join us on Thursday. We'll work on getting the pit area set up, the car teched, & be ready for our first qualifying pass on Friday morning. Weather looks like possible rain on Thursday but the rest of the weekend looks good. We'll be updating on Facebook throughout the weekend. Check the website too, we're going to try to get our webcam up & running. Testing on Monday after the race & will blog again on Tuesday to update you all on our progress.

Have a great day!

Jay

GETTIN' READY TO GO RACIN'

Good Afternoon,

It's Tuesday evening & we're working away at the shop. Ed's CC'ing cylinder heads, Scott Spencer & Joe Connelly are coming by tonight to work too. Scott's going to check out the rear end & Joe and I are going to do some work on the trailer. We've got the bearings & brakes on the trailer done, and tonight we'll continue to work down the winter maintenance list-at least the list is getting shorter!

If you're out there & reading the blog-email me any questions you have & I'll see if I can answer them. Sometimes I wonder how much information you really want to know. It's not always real exciting-just another day at the office.

Hope to hear from you & thanks for checking in!

Talk soon

Jay

THE CAR RUNS!

Spring is in the air! We fired the car today in preparation for the Maratta Auto & Cycle Show in Hartford, CT this weekend. Boy, did it sound awesome. You want to know the best part though??? We shut the car off, and not more than 2 minutes later, Terri walks out of the office telling me Tommy Howell is on the phone. Tommy's in Afghanistan! I think he heard the car from over there-he's ready to go racin'. It was great to hear from Tom & to know he's doing well.

We got the car loaded into the trailer & we're all ready to hit the road in the morning. Thanks to the whole crew; Terri, Spencer, Ozzie, Eddie, & Joe for all their help. It's a true team effort that makes it all happen-this team is the best!

I'll blog again next week to recap the weekend. If you're in the Hartford area, stop by & see us.

Jay