Joe Welder Does It In The Dirt!
Thursday, June 4th, 2009While many of us like to kick back on Memorial Day Weekend, I was reflecting on the sacrafices made by many to keep this country free. I was also enjoying the weather and excited about the opening of racing season. That’s right, I recorded the F1 Gran Prix from Monaco, the Indy 500 and the Coke 600 NASCAR race. But the best thing I did all weekend was traveling up the road to Glen Helen Raceway for the First outdoor Motocross race of the season, the Lucas Oil AMA Pro Motocross series, which got underway in sunny So Cal.
I raced at Glen Helen some years ago and I have not been there for sometime. I was shocked the first time I saw those riders head up the hill and come down the other side at speed. My jaw dropped open, I couldn’t believe I ever raced on that track with my Yamaha YZ 250 in a champion frame with 4”of shock travel! Excited to attend her first race, my six year old daughter yelled out “Wow that was radical!” when the bikes left the starting gate and headed up to the first turn.
Most of the pros were there except James Stewart and I got up close with the Factory Suzuki of Chad Reed. I’m not the kind of guy to ask for a picture or an autograph, so I you won’t see that here, but I did get some good pictures of the pits, the starting line just before the first Pro Moto and the track.
Weather – From daytime highs in the mid 60’s (20.0C) to vicious cold near 27 (-2.2C) degrees in the dark of night!
I had raced motorcycles in TT, flatrack, scrambles, and Gran Prix events like Hopetown and Barstow-to-Vegas but, that was a long time ago and I was not prepared for the events that unfolded. First off, I was shocked at how many completely buffed-out people had signed up for this event– men and women who take this stuff seriously. I had to train, Unlike my dirtbike I couldn’t just bolt on a new pipe or add some nitro if I wanted to go faster. I had to completely modify my diet, that meant no more In-n-Out Burgers! Instead of nitro in the tank, I found myself mixing different kinds of chemicals—fuel for my body. This is how it went down; A special drink one hour before, followed by another 15, and 5 minutes before I started my ride. Once racing it continued, 15 and 45 minutes into the ride, then immediately after my stint I mixed a “recovery” drink and ate some pasta. The rest of the time was spent trying to catch a few hours sleep and working on my bike and gear. I repeated the process four more times in the 24 hour event. I hope I never see another package of GU energy! Not even the Cappuccino blast sounds good now.
When I read Dan’s letter to the President I was impressed that it clearly tells the story of a real person trying to build something of value, and it includes facts — no emotion, no negative attacks — about the shift that has taken place in the American economy, a shift which clearly is not working.
Recently I headed up the road to the
We talked about the new cars and old friends. Jac told me he is putting a winged Sprint Car team together for his son Sheldon and he has been fabricating some of the parts needed to get him on the road. 

So where do Joe Welder and Arc-Zone.com come into this? Well, in order to create great hot shoes, you need the proper welding equipment by your side. And what better place to find it at than Arc-Zone.com? If you’re interested in welding hot shoes, check out our 
I took my bike out back to the shop, and asked for Joe Welder to give me hand. We coulda pulled out the old hack saw but that would have been messy. And the cutting torch would have required us to take apart the whole bike. 
Last night I was in the Shipping Department. It was late and the guys were jamming to get the late day orders out. Dennis, our UPS driver, was there waiting.
And we didn’t even tell him about the M&Ms that we include with every order!
