Post by dustymojave on Mar 2, 2011 13:05:40 GMT -8
Hello
DustyMojave here ...aka mojaveracer208
Haven't been on here for a long time. Was one of the originals and an early member of the DRM Yahoo group before this forum was started. My old log-in wouldn't work so I had to try a new ID. So how the he-- uhm...Heck! have you all been doing?
For those who aren't familiar with me, here's a little bio:
Born on a mountain, raised in a cave, truckin' and....
oops...wrong line...
I mean...uuhhmmmm...
I'm a 55 year old kid.
Grew up around car racing. Started working as a Tech Inspector at car races with my folks when I was 7. Still do.
Built model cars back in the 60s and 70s. When the Sylmar earthquake trashed my home in 1971, I was in High School and had just inventoried my built model collection with a count of 112 models in the shelves. Had a lot of boxes of models to be repaired right after that.
1st ride in an offroad buggy was in a "Burro" in 1966. That was with a guy who I knew from Tech Inspection at sports car races. Later he became the chief of Tech for NORRA, the organization that started the Mexican 1000. Then later he was my brother's father in law.
When Mickey Thompson decided to start SCORE, he came to his old buddy my dad to help write the rule book. Mickey had figured out the classes, and my dad created the technical rules. Much of it was written by them sitting discussing it at our dinner table.
When dad had to retire from the Tech Chief position due to heart trouble, Bill Savage took over and was still the Chief through 2012. I don't like his way of doing business, so I haven't done SCORE tech since shortly after he took over. Another old friend, Art Savedra became the co-chief of Tech for SCORE in December of 2012 when Roger Norman bought SCORE. Art had worked Tech at the sports car races starting in 1972. Art credits my parents for getting him into offroad race Tech in the early 80s after Art had a terrible crash and burn on a street bike back in the late 70s. I work Tech with his Tech team ARTS now.
In the late 70s, I race motorcycles in the desert. That was great fun and I was quite successful at that. But it was a sideline while I built an unlimited class offroad race buggy .
When that was ready, I started racing it. You can see it in my avatar taking a green flag for the race where I clinched a championship with the AMSA organization. That was 83. I nearly repeated in 84, but my co-driver flipped the car at top speed and ended our season. We got 2nd in the championship in 84.
I got re-introduced to model cars in the mid 80s when I worked at Mattel Toys and went to a designer's office to evaluate a new design for a Hot Wheels car. While the guy went to get his boss, I saw the then new issue of Scale Auto Enthusiast on his desk and leafed through it. I stopped by a hobby shop on the way home and bought a kit and a magazine. I was hooked again!
After getting laid off from the Plastics industry in 86, I turned to building race cars for a living. I opened my own business doing that in 87. PREPCo still exists 24 years later.
I took 9 years off from that from 97 to 06 to be a Public Water System and Civil Engineering consultant. The housing market dump combined with my boss retiring ended that. So I brought back my PREPCo, which I had moved to the back burner, but never completely retired.
Over the years I've worked on many different sorts of race cars. From offroad racers which have won their class in the Baja 1000; to USAC Super Modifieds which with their tube axles and engine hanging outside of the frame will run with the Indy cars at Phoenix; to a TransAm team in their championship winning season; to restoring vintage midgets and sprint cars; to restoring vintage road racers worth 7 figures.
When times are slow with race cars, sometimes I pick up a hammer and saw and build homes or commercial. Not too much of that work around lately either.
I've been married for 32 years to the same woman, Pat. We have a 17 year old son Warren. He works with me at Tech Inspection and is working part-time at Crumco building Class 5-open race cars. He has been racing with the AGS team in a 5-1600 Baja Bug. They are the reigning MORE Champs having entered 9 races including the Powder Puff race and took 1st place 7 times and 2nd two times. A week after we got the 2010 trophy, they went out and won the 2011 season opener race at Barstow. AGS repeated the MORE Championship in 2011 and very nearly missed in 2012. He's been invited for a ride in a Class 1 race car and a Trophy Truck. Both have won 1st Overall's in California races.
My son has been bugging me lately to get back to work on our 92-93 Ford F150 models. I'm building mine like an 80s style Class 8, and Warren is building his more like a 1450.
My daily driver vehicles are a 58 Baja Bug caged from bumper to bumper and a 90 Toyota Pickup Pre-Runner with long travel suspension on Fox Coilovers. I still have my old race buggy out back too.
Good thing I wrote the short form here huh? You guys would get tired and give up if this was the long form. LOL
Revised/edited 11/18/2013 - DustyMojave
DustyMojave here ...aka mojaveracer208
Haven't been on here for a long time. Was one of the originals and an early member of the DRM Yahoo group before this forum was started. My old log-in wouldn't work so I had to try a new ID. So how the he-- uhm...Heck! have you all been doing?
For those who aren't familiar with me, here's a little bio:
Born on a mountain, raised in a cave, truckin' and....
oops...wrong line...
I mean...uuhhmmmm...
I'm a 55 year old kid.
Grew up around car racing. Started working as a Tech Inspector at car races with my folks when I was 7. Still do.
Built model cars back in the 60s and 70s. When the Sylmar earthquake trashed my home in 1971, I was in High School and had just inventoried my built model collection with a count of 112 models in the shelves. Had a lot of boxes of models to be repaired right after that.
1st ride in an offroad buggy was in a "Burro" in 1966. That was with a guy who I knew from Tech Inspection at sports car races. Later he became the chief of Tech for NORRA, the organization that started the Mexican 1000. Then later he was my brother's father in law.
When Mickey Thompson decided to start SCORE, he came to his old buddy my dad to help write the rule book. Mickey had figured out the classes, and my dad created the technical rules. Much of it was written by them sitting discussing it at our dinner table.
When dad had to retire from the Tech Chief position due to heart trouble, Bill Savage took over and was still the Chief through 2012. I don't like his way of doing business, so I haven't done SCORE tech since shortly after he took over. Another old friend, Art Savedra became the co-chief of Tech for SCORE in December of 2012 when Roger Norman bought SCORE. Art had worked Tech at the sports car races starting in 1972. Art credits my parents for getting him into offroad race Tech in the early 80s after Art had a terrible crash and burn on a street bike back in the late 70s. I work Tech with his Tech team ARTS now.
In the late 70s, I race motorcycles in the desert. That was great fun and I was quite successful at that. But it was a sideline while I built an unlimited class offroad race buggy .
When that was ready, I started racing it. You can see it in my avatar taking a green flag for the race where I clinched a championship with the AMSA organization. That was 83. I nearly repeated in 84, but my co-driver flipped the car at top speed and ended our season. We got 2nd in the championship in 84.
I got re-introduced to model cars in the mid 80s when I worked at Mattel Toys and went to a designer's office to evaluate a new design for a Hot Wheels car. While the guy went to get his boss, I saw the then new issue of Scale Auto Enthusiast on his desk and leafed through it. I stopped by a hobby shop on the way home and bought a kit and a magazine. I was hooked again!
After getting laid off from the Plastics industry in 86, I turned to building race cars for a living. I opened my own business doing that in 87. PREPCo still exists 24 years later.
I took 9 years off from that from 97 to 06 to be a Public Water System and Civil Engineering consultant. The housing market dump combined with my boss retiring ended that. So I brought back my PREPCo, which I had moved to the back burner, but never completely retired.
Over the years I've worked on many different sorts of race cars. From offroad racers which have won their class in the Baja 1000; to USAC Super Modifieds which with their tube axles and engine hanging outside of the frame will run with the Indy cars at Phoenix; to a TransAm team in their championship winning season; to restoring vintage midgets and sprint cars; to restoring vintage road racers worth 7 figures.
When times are slow with race cars, sometimes I pick up a hammer and saw and build homes or commercial. Not too much of that work around lately either.
I've been married for 32 years to the same woman, Pat. We have a 17 year old son Warren. He works with me at Tech Inspection and is working part-time at Crumco building Class 5-open race cars. He has been racing with the AGS team in a 5-1600 Baja Bug. They are the reigning MORE Champs having entered 9 races including the Powder Puff race and took 1st place 7 times and 2nd two times. A week after we got the 2010 trophy, they went out and won the 2011 season opener race at Barstow. AGS repeated the MORE Championship in 2011 and very nearly missed in 2012. He's been invited for a ride in a Class 1 race car and a Trophy Truck. Both have won 1st Overall's in California races.
My son has been bugging me lately to get back to work on our 92-93 Ford F150 models. I'm building mine like an 80s style Class 8, and Warren is building his more like a 1450.
My daily driver vehicles are a 58 Baja Bug caged from bumper to bumper and a 90 Toyota Pickup Pre-Runner with long travel suspension on Fox Coilovers. I still have my old race buggy out back too.
Good thing I wrote the short form here huh? You guys would get tired and give up if this was the long form. LOL
Revised/edited 11/18/2013 - DustyMojave