2012 Byron Festival of Maniacs

Me and a few of the guy's attended the big wheelstand contest at Byron Dragway a few weeks ago. As would be expected it failed to dissapoint. I will never be able to understand why people who work so hard on making a race car fast and look good would do what these people do but as Ron Leek will tell you This is his biggest event of the year for partipants and spectators. So for a measly 5 large these people turn 50-100,000 race cars into piles of twisted scrap. All for being crowned the official "wheelie king" I personally saw the winning wheelstand. A 65 Barracuda went 630 ft on the rear bumper. I don't think that will be beaten for quite some time. Even though it was cold we enjoyed a great event at Byron. More later.

Like Father, Like Son

A while back it was brought to my attention that Karl's son Kyle(who is now 17) has taken a liking to hot rod cars. In particular his fathers racecar. Karl's 66 Plymouth Sport Fury was put into storage right after his passing in 1999. It was started and fluids changed every so often so the car wouldn't detoriate to a point of no return. A few weeks ago Kyle with a lot of help from Tom Syron rolled the car out of the garage and gave it a once over,Filled up the fuel cell and put air in the tires and checked the brakes. Kyle learned the hard way how to detail a car. For the first time in many years they had the car running and headed to the local cruise night over at the Brauerhouse. It was really cool to see this car back out again. Kyle has many of the same qualities that his old man had. It's awsome to see that he has retained the gearhead gene of the Mortensen family. I hope with some practice Kyle will keep the legacy alive. I dug out some Pictures of the car when it was in Alaska. Karl dragged this car out of a junk yard in Alaska and put his drive line out of his 73 New Yorker he had. The same engine is in the car now. What was really cool was once a month the Fairbanks Lions Club set up a temporary dragstrip and held a race. Karl participated in many of these during his stay in Alaska. Check out the hand written time slip. That is something that you just don't see anymore. It seems Alaska is behind the curve in racing technology by about 50 years! The pictures are from a race that he won his class called super street. Best e.t 13.28 at 106 MPH. not bad for a car put togther with junk parts and a little bit of hard work. Seeing the car a few weeks ago brought back some good memories of getting the car from the military down in St Louis after it was shipped home. Then doing a frame off restoration on the car while adding some serious race hardware at the same time. Kyle seems to be enjoying himself and I hope that someday he understands who his Father was and how involved his family was in the racing industry.

Sycamore Turn Back Time Cruise 2012

We went to the Sycamore Turn Back Time Cruise last Saturday. Great turnout by the guy's. Here are some of the highlights at least for me. My favorite was the 39 Studebaker Coupe. I don't think I've ever seen one in stock or hot rodded form. I will post more pictures soon.

Turn Back Time Festival In Sycamore On July 28

We are going to The Turn Back Time Festival in Sycamore Il on July the 28th Which is a Saturday. We will be meeting at the McDonald's at the corner of Rt 38 and Rt47 at 4:30 PM then we will be cruising to downtown Sycamore. This cruise features a food court and a live band. Show runs from 3-11 PM so this should be a good time. I attended this show back in 2008 it was good then and i know it has gotten alot bigger. Here is some pictures from the 2008 show. Hope to see everyone on the 28th.

It's Miller Time!!

On July 8 I attended The Annual Millers at Milwaukee Vintage Indy Car Event. This is a unique car show. Showcasing vintage open wheel circle track race cars. There is a show and then the cars head out onto the track. The Milwaukee Mile which host the meet is the oldest operating race track in the country. The Mile opened in 1903 and still host a few major races a year. The cars that come to the meet are for the most part restored originals most have history tied to legendary racers,owners, mechanics, etc. As you look at the pictures I have posted remember that these cars where built at a time when there was no CNC milling machines, Laser cutters, Mig or Tig welders or computer aided drafting. Every idea came about from a hand drawn blueprint then carefully machined and fabricated into an absolute work of art. These cars also most of the time carried show type paint jobs and chrome plating , Hand lettering and pinstriping. As you look at the pictures these cars could be considered over-restored but it really is for the most part the way they where. If you have even a little interest in American racing heritage this meet should be on your list.

The 3rd Annual Edgewood Ave. Festival of Independence

The 3rd annual show is now history and it was a success! We had a radical storm on Sunday July 1st that damaged the Garage roof and took out the electric for most of the town of Lombard and surrounding areas. When the party started on July 3rd we still had no power and where running on generators. Thanks to my chopper pal Chris Hartman for repairing our roof right away and Andy Huotari for the use of his generator and portable air conditioner. Thanks to Kevin Vance for the D.J service he provided through the night,Eric Vanberkum for cooking a fantastic meal, and last but not least the Honey Bucket for their porto-john. You guy's who showed cars, a big thanks to you because without participants we can't have a show. thanks for your efforts as I Know how much of a pain in the ass a hot rod can be when it is over 100 degrees. Only got to snap off one picture. If any of you  took some pics send them too me and I'll post them. Hope next year is even bigger and better.

It's Go Time!!

It's the beginning of June so we thought it might be time to get out on Saturday Nite. So we took a ride to Millers Dog-n-Suds in Fox Lake. This place is like a time machine. The same family has owned this place since 1967 everything like the drive up speakers, canopy and the grounds are meticulously maintained and kept clean. hand painted signs for the menus and specials all add to the cool factor of this place.A great collection of cars showed up Saturday nite. Quality stuff. Check out the pictures! We also hit the new Superdawg in Wheeling but i forgot to snap a few shots of the place. More later.