--- December 27, 2001 ---

There have been several changes since October. Becky Roberts is on board to run the Pro Stock bike. With her weight advantage, plus the plan to switch to a 5 speed transmission, we should be even more competitive in 2002. Just as exciting is the addition of a new bike to the team. We are putting together a nitro methane Pro Dragster to compete on the Canadian and American circuits. We are starting with a tried and true Bonnie Truett 3 rail frame and building an S & S 120 cubic inch motor to add power. Look for exciting things from CourtJesterRacing this season.

--- October 24, 2001 ---

The season wrapped up with a combination of good and bad. The first Ashcroft race saw the beginning of a continuous problem with the Bandit clutch on the bike. The old dryflex clutch discs are no longer offered by Bandit, having been replaced by carbon ceramic discs. Unfortunately, they are more difficult to dial in than we'd have liked and as a result, we had several races in a row with less than satisfactory clutch performance. Those problems pushed us down to a fourth place finish.

The problems continued in Woodburn, made even worse by the fact that several of the fastest bikes in the country showed up to race at this great old track. Dave Feazell, Dirk Higgins and Tom Bradford, the world record holder were all present. We still qualified, but because of the clutch and the stiff competition, we slipped to 6th place. Despite that, we were still in 3rd place in the Western Division of the AHDRA and in the top 5 in the Canadian series, the CMDRA.

The next Ashcroft race was much better. We finally seemed to get a handle on the clutch problems and the bike ran well all weekend, turning times in the mid 8's. I even had my best all time reaction times at the lights, a .402, which is two thousandths off a perfect light. With the problems seemingly resolved, plus a bit of luck, we managed our first win of the series. It was a great feeling after a long year.

The trip South to Sacramento and Las Vegas was typical of this year. Good things and bad things wrapped up together. The bike ran well all through qualifying and the first rounds of elimination in Sacramento. We managed to make it all the way to the finals. Unfortunately, the clutch gremlins returned in the race for first place, so we ended up runner up. Still a good result considering the competition. Las Vegas did not go as well. Virtually every running pro stock bike in the country showed up and when the smoke cleared, we did not make the cut. This is the first time in the history of CourtJesterRacing that we have failed to qualify and it was a terrible disappointment. The good side however is that the bike ran well and turned some of its fastest times ever on the trip.

Overall the season was a successful one. We ended up the year ranked 3rd in the western division of the United States in AHDRA, and 2nd in the Canadian CMDRA.

So, what's in store for next year? Obviously we need to make some changes. We are one of the last bikes in the country running a 140 cubic inch engine and we simply cannot compete against the fastest bikes in the world unless we move up to 160. Given the cost of a new engine, we are looking at a couple other alternatives. One would be adding nitrous oxide to the mix and running as a Pro Gas bike. That has turned into an interesting class and nitrous should allow the bike to run in the 7 second range at about 160 mph. The other alternative is moving to a nitro methane bike. There are several decent rolling chassis for sale and I have no doubt we could build a great engine for one.

These are all decisions that have to be made in the next few weeks. Only six months til Phoenix!!! Thanks to everyone who supported us this year and especially our sponsors, including Delkron, JARZ performance, Award One Graphics, Northcoast Thunderbikes, Shinstine Associates LLC and Bauer Software Design.

Most importantly however, our thanks to Becky Roberts and Mark Flynn who worked with us all year. Without their help at the track, we would not have been as successful as we were.

--- August 13, 2001 ---

Mission , BC :

The races in Mission in July went like seemingly all races in Canada go this year..rain. Qualifying on Saturday went well, with the CourtJesterRacing entry qualifying 3rd, behind Lee and Nino, both local racers from BC. We waited all day Sunday but finally packed it in around 3 pm. That left us getting ready for the Sturgis races, which were scheduled to be a non-sanctioned, or "outlaw" event.

Packed and ready to go, then on Monday before the race, we received a call from RT Shaw, who manages the Sturgis track. He advised there were not enough bikes signed up so the race was cancelled. Becky and I decided to go anyway, without the race bike, just for a vacation. Tons of fun. Can't remember the last time I "did" Sturgis without worrying about being at the track.

We did receive some sad news on the way back. Jon Andres, top fuel rider and partner of Lee Urich at JARZ performance, was killed Friday night racing in Spokane. Jon was a class guy and his loss is felt thoughout the Northwest motorcycling community. Our love, thoughts, prayers and support to his family, friends and partners. God Speed, Jon.

I would also like to specifically thank Travis and the gang at Award One, who did the outrageous paint job on the new body. See Travis for all your specialty killer painting projects. We've also added some new photos to the web site, showing the new body with Travis' paint. Click here to go to the gallery.

--- July 7, 2001 ---

Seattle, WA :

The Pacific Nationals happened over a beautiful Northwest weekend on June 30 & July 1. The field of racers was smaller than I'd have thought, primarily because there is a race the following weekend in Budds Creek, Maryland and many teams just can't make that kind of turnaround.

We started the weekend doing a promotional appearance at the request of the AHDRA at Freddie's Club in Auburn, Washington. The folks were very hospitable and we had a great time. Before we left we fired the bike up and did a good old smoky burnout in their parking lot. Everyone loved it.

The races were tough for the CourtJesterRacing team. We finally got the new carbon fiber body back from the painters--Award One Customs in Olympia, Washington. Man does it look great. Travis and his crew did a fantastic job in an incredibly short time and even delivered the body to the race track for me. I'd recommend them to anyone for custom paint work.

In the first round of eliminations I got to the end of the track only to find the track official rushing over asking what happened. I looked down and found that the frame on the bike had broken completely in two, just in front of the rear wheel. It was so damaged I could barely role it back to the pits. Even worse, the damage put a hole in the brand new bodywork!!! Got everything welded back together and off we went for the second round. We'd been in such a hurry I did not get the rear tire properly aligned and we ended up pushing hard to the right. In the third round, after adjusting the wheel, we took off hard only to spit a pushrod out at about half track. Thankfully we were still qualified based on earlier runs. The bad news was that when the pushrod spit out, it put another hole in the new body....grrrr....

Sunday started out better. We ran a test lap in the morning and the bike ran great, turning about 150 mph in the mid 8's. In the eliminations however, we drew Tom Bradford in the first round. He's the world record holder and came to Seattle from the Midwest just to set a new record. I was determined to give him my best shot and was fortunate enough to leave him at the lights by almost two tenths of a second. Unfortunately, he's fast enough that he caught me a short way down the track. We were still having a great run when at about half track, a wheelie bar bolt broke, which forced the bike pretty violently to the left, so much so that my feet came off the pegs. I finally had to back out of the throttle to avoid the wall and that was pretty much that, as far as racing goes.

Even though we had a hard luck weekend, it was still fun and I want to thank everyone who showed up to support the racing. Look forward to seeing you all in Mission, British Columbia on July 14 & 15.

--- June 25, 2001 ---

Denver, CO :

The Rocky Mountain Nationals were a mixture of good and bad for the team. Did not break any major parts, but ended up fifth. Despite that, we've moved into second place in the Western Division of AHDRA Pro STock bikes. Weather in Denver was hot...hot...hot, which, along with the altitude, make it very difficult to tune. The corrected altitude was over 9,000 feet! Everyone was running slow, but it was still a good race. I lost in the eliminations, even though I had a .4 light against the eventual second place finisher.

Started ordering the parts for next years engine. Delkron will supply the engine cases and Jon Miller racing will fix up the heads. I should be one of the first bikes running a 4.800 bore. That should allow me to shorten up the stroke and rev the engine higher.

We're busy finishing up the additition of the MPE datalogger to the bike, and hope to unveil it, along with the new carbon fibre body this weekend, for the Northwest Nationals, in Kent, Washington. We will be at the track on Friday night and all are welcome to stop by.

--- June 4, 2001 ---

The first CMDRA race of the season is now in the history books. Things did not go as well as we had hoped, but the news was not all bad. Due to some mechanical problems with the bus, after driving all night, we arrived at the track in Edmonton, Alberta at 8:30 a.m. on Saturday, two hours before qualifying was to start. We received a break because the weather was poor and it pushed qualifying back for a couple hours.

The track conditions at Edmonton were simply awful, which contributed to slow times in all racing brackets. In fact, the track was so rough that on our first qualifying pass, the bouncing shook loose the kill switch, causing the bike to shut down at half track.

The second qualifying pass was much better, with a .500 light and a time of 8.8. However, because of the rough conditions of the return road we broke the wheelie bars coming back to the pits. We did not get them repaired in time for the last round of qualifying, but we were ready for Sunday's finals. Sunday morning brought rain....and more rain. Shortly after noon, the CMDRA called the event and we all packed for home. Based on our final qualifying position, we went into the books with a fourth place finish, which puts us sitting fourth in the points standings.

The next CMDRA race will be in Prince George, B.C. on June 23. We will miss that event however, getting ready for Seattle the following week.

--- April 23, 2001 ---

Seattle, WA:

Took the bike to SIR on Sunday the 22nd for some testing after installing new exhaust valves. Becky and I managed to get everything ready to go, when it started raining. Never made a pass. Next tuning session tentatively set for the 23rd at Bremerton.

For those who support Harley drag racing, you're all encouraged to come out to the NHRA event at Bremerton Raceway on May 12 & 13. For the first time, the Northwest Division of NHRA has invited six top fuel Harley's to participate. They will compete for four slots in Sunday's finals.

Start making plans now for the AHDRA races in Seattle at SIR, slated for June 30 and July 1. Given the disproportionatly large number of Harley racers in Washington and British Columbia, this should be a huge event with several thousand spectators.

Next race for the CourtJesterRacing team is Edmonton, Alberta on June 2 & 3. Rumor is that there have been some improvements to the track so times should be quick.

--- April 10, 2001 ---

Phoenix, AZ:

The Court Jester Racing team car pooled down to Phoenix for the AHDRA races with Lee Uhrich from Abbotsford BC. He's another pro stocker. Weather down there was hot, track was slick and the air was bad, so I was not expecting good times, especially since we'd just put the engine back in the bike and only fired it once. We started qualifying with a 9.0, and got down to 8.7 at about 150 mph. Unfortunately, Lee was running 8.2's and Tom Bradford running 7.8's. They were number 5 and 3 nationally last year. The results were predictable; I qualified 7th, drew Lee in the first round and got thoroughly spanked. I ended up fifth overall. Bradford won. Lee broke his air tank, missed some shifts and ended up 3rd. Changes for the next race include installing the new data logger and the new R & D 5 speed transmission. Those additions, plus some tuning, should get us down in the low to mid 8's with good air like we have around Seattle.

Lots of fast bikes in all classes. Saw one horrific explosion. Ron Houniet's top fueler exploded during a burnout, lifted the cylinders and heads up through the restraint strap and into the frame. He ended with a giant paperweight. Our best wishes to the street rider who went down at the big end of the track. He was air lifted to the local hospital and everyone's prayers went with him.

Other Happenings:

We took the bike to the track in Bremerton Washington on April 8th for some testing and licensing passes for our NHRA license. Fought bad weather and only got to make some half passes. 60 foot times were good so things are looking up. We plan on being out at SIR soon, hopefully on Saturday, April 21. I have compiled an email list of those wanting confirmation of the date, so send me a note if you want notice of future local appearances.

A special thanks to new sponsors: Arlie and Kris Becker of Northcoast Thunderbikes and Lee and the gang at JARZ. Thanks also to Alan Mahon and the Delkron boys for their help and Mike 'mikey' Bauer at Tailgate Media for all the work on this site.

Finally, there have been some changes to the schedule with some races added in Canada. Check em out.