I really want to get this posted before the Winternationals, because I hope to have some great things to write about after the race.

First of all, I hope you all had a wonderful Christmas and New Year. We had Christmas at home with the family and some of the crew. Santa was very good to me (best thing was a Kindle) except he forgot to bring a contract from a major sponsor for the rest of the season. I guess I’ll have to keep working on that myself, along with some very loyal people who are trying also (thanks Christina, Vinnie, Charlie, and many who keep buying Lotto tickets for that purpose).

After Christmas dinner, we all had to rush to the airport to catch the flight to Australia. As much as I love going to Australia to race and see friends, a 14-hour flight is definitely not fun.

When we arrived in Australia, even though we were tired and beat up, we went right to work unloading and putting the cars together (they had shipped a month earlier). After two days of steady work (in hot, rainy weather), everything was ready and we had four days left before the race. We spent time showing Jack Wyatt and his crew around Brisbane and catching up with old friends. Some friends, crew guys, and I even played golf, which I am not very good at. It rained so hard that you couldn’t hold onto the club and the putts had rooster tails going across the greens. As the Aussies would say, “We nearly pissed ourselves laughing.”

The day of the first race, everything went fine until we were suited up in the staging lanes, listening to the Australian and U.S. anthems. It promptly decided to rain for 30 minutes. When they dried the track, we only had time for two runs. I was racing Peter Leahy in a nostalgia, front engine dragster. That was exciting since I raced his father, Roly, during my first trip to Australia in 1976. My nostalgia car is a close replica of that car. We won both rounds with a best of 6.14 at 228 mph, which is a second quicker than I ran in 1976. The crowd loved the long, old-style burn outs and dry hops to the line. Peter put on a great show. Jack’s car had a bit of trouble getting down the track, but the crowd could really see the evolution of the funny car.

After servicing the car on Sunday, we all took off for a 10-day holiday (it stopped raining, thankfully). We spent the first six days in Surfer’s Paradise. It has really changed since the first time I went there, from a small, sleepy resort to four miles of giant skyscrapers. It is still a fun place, with lots to do. One day, I rented a pontoon boat to cruise the canals behind Surfer’s. We looked at all the million-dollar homes with their million dollar boats out front. I thought about knocking on doors to see if someone might want to sponsor a Funny Car, but I thought I might get shot.

Talking about nice boats, the next day we went north to Bribie Island where a friend, Aaron Lynch, and his family took us out on their boat. Talk about nice. It is 60 plus feet long and beautiful. It has twin 1,000-horsepower Cat engines and will do about 40 miles per hour. We went over to Morton Island for the day and enjoyed lunch and dinner with the family.

The next day we went farther north to scuba dive the Great Barrier Reef. We took a very rough ride over to Lady Musgreave Island which is an atoll. I have been diving several times, and am certified, but I felt more comfortable going with one of my crew guys, Kevin Sherron, who is a Master Diver. (You might want to ask the Master Diver how the rideto the island went). There is so much to see diving the reef, but when a couple of sharks started to circle, it sure got my attention. Kevin was OK with it, so I figured we were all right, but I still kept my eyes on those sharks.

We got back to Ipswich (where Willowbank Raceway is), a few days before the race to do a press day and get everything ready. The weather was cooperative and we got all our runs in. We ran a best of 6.01 at 240 mph, which is the best the car has run thus far. The Aussies won the AA/Funny Car part of the show this year with Damian Harris’ great 4.86 at 320 mph. Congratulations, guys.

We spent the next three days cleaning and packing the cars for the trip home. I am hoping they will get here in time for the Bakersfield March Meet.

It was hard to leave beautiful warm weather to fly 14 hours and return to 4 days of rain in Southern California. But I guess we need it, and the rest of the US was freezing, so we can cope with some rain.

We are excited about going to the Winternationals. Thanks to Lawson Rock and Oil, Neal Investments, and Cleaire systems, I will the whole team back together and hopefully do well at the race. After all, the last 50th Anniversary race I went to, I won. Why not again?

I have been lucky to race in Australia 12 more times since my first trip in 1976. I have always had a great time, but what I would like to see now? How about returning for the 35th anniversary with John Force and I racing together again in Australia. I know it probably won’t happen, and I would probably lose all my records, but it sure would be fun, wouldn’t it, John?
 

Before we went to Las Vegas, we had to pack up the nostalgia car and Jack Wyatt’s car for Australia. Trying to put two cars and all of our spare parts into a 40-foot container is no easy job. Remembering what all you need and what you might need is even harder. You have to take everything you might need because there is no manufacturer’s midway at those races.

After we got (hopefully) everything shipped off, we headed for Vegas. Now, since most of my crew have real jobs now, we lack a full-time truck driver. Our Aussie crew guy has a permit but he needs a licensed driver with him. I’m the only one who fills that position now. I haven’t driven the big rig for a long time, so it was kind of fun, like the old days. Once it was there, all my people got time off their jobs to make it to the race. I don’t know how they manage it, but I think it shows just how committed my team is to racing. They work all week and then come on their days off to work even harder for me. Not only do I feel that I have the best team in drag racing, they are all my best friends.

Even though we didn’t win either Vegas or Pomona, I thought we put on a great show. We qualified well and lost close races each time. We actually had the fourth-best time of first round in Pomona. We just raced the wrong person at the wrong time.

I would like to especially thank four companies who made it possible to race most of the races we got to this year. To John Lawson of Lawson Rock and Oil, Central Valley Concrete and Trucking, Cummins West, and Cle aire, thank you so much. The whole team, and hopefully many fans, appreciates what you have done.

Also, thanks to Kwan International. Your hard work on my behalf has given me hope that there are still possibilities out there for my team. I hope you keep on keepin’ on. We love both of you, Christina and Vinnie.

I want to congratulate all of the champions this year. I have to admit I’m happiest for Robert Hight and Jimmy Prock. Some of the guys are still there from when I brought them and Auto Club of Southern California to John Force in 2000. I love them all and am very happy for them. Robert did a great job and I think Jimmy Prock is one of the best tuners out there. I think my current crew chief, Greg Amaral, might be as good, and I hope someday I can find the money so he can prove it.

I have two crew guys to help in the off season who will be going to Australia. I’m keeping my fingers crossed each time they go play. Last year, I started the year with the bottom end guy’s arm in a cast. When I went to Australia last year, the racks girl had her wrist in a cast. Snowboarding is hard on my team, but they play as hard as they work.

After Pomona, everything had to be sent out for updates, recertification, and servicing for next year. I have been spoiled the past few years having such a great crew who did all that. It didn’t seem like that much work, but, without them, I can tell you it really is. I think I will have everything ready for the Winternationals by the time I leave for Australia Dece.25. I hope that we will be able to race at Pomona in February. It will be the 50th anniversary, and the last 50th anniversary was at Indy, and ,well, I won that one. Maybe it’s a good omen.

I would like to wish all of you a very happy and joyous holiday season. The pictures are of our Christmas tree and the dog taking it easy. So from all of the Densham family and crew, and Tazzie, the dog, have a wonderful off season. I look forward to seeing you at Pomona.

P.S. While you are all shoveling snow and dreaming of the Winternationals in Southern California, we will be hanging out at the beach and racing in Oz. Ain’t life great?

Love you.
 

Since I last wrote, one sort of good thing was going to Indy. I hung out in the tower with Bob Frey and watched some good racing. Indy has always been a magical race and I am so proud of my win there. (My license plate reads “IWNINDY”). I do have to say that I really missed the Showdown for funny cars. It is a great race within a race and I hope it will be brought back. I wish the Countdown drama had not come down the way it did, and I hope John Force and the Pedregons can make up.

The bad part of Indy was not racing; nor, for that matter, since then. I would have liked very much to have been a part of the four-lane race in Charlotte. It’s been difficult to know that everyone was racing each weekend and I was at home. You can bet I wore out the computer keeping up with what everyone was doing.

Now comes the good stuff. With all the time off, we have finally finished the Nostalgia Funny Car for my son, Steven. We have been planning this project for over two years. Steven and I did all the work ourselves, with help from Gary Seaward. Gary is a multi-talented guy from Australia who has worked on my team for four years. Steven has been around racing since he was born and has absorbed so much from it and his schooling in engineering. And, I must say, I had to reach back many years to remember everything.

We modified last year’s Plueger chassis, then mounted and tinned a 1969 Camaro body on it. The car is painted like my original 1973 Dodge Challenger. Pete Pasillas, who used to paint my cars, even did the headlights, grill, and tail lights. They look absolutely real. It was very gratifying to know I can still go back to my roots and build a car that is as much a show piece as a racecar. And, being the teacher and parent, I hope I handed some of that knowledge to the younger generation.

Steven has driven since he was nine. He drove Jr. Dragsters, CIFCA, West Coast Eliminator, and even made a squirt in my “big car.” He has made six-second passes at over 200 mph, so I know he can handle the car.  However, we just ran out of time for him to upgrade before the Reunion. “Well, I guess I will just have to drive it.”

It’s good to know that I still can remember to do the burnout in high gear, leave in low gear, drive with one hand and reach between my legs to shift the car, and not run into anything. But I had forgotten how loud the car is inside, with no side windows. I guess it’s like riding a bicycle.

Bakersfield had 32 cars for an eight car show. A show of 32 Funny Cars--sound familiar to anyone? We made one full pass at 6.06 at 230 mph. Not bad for a first full pass, but unfortunately, not good enough for the field. Still, tenth wasn’t so bad and the parts looked good. Next time, I feel we will do better.

When the promoters in Australia saw the car, they realized that it looked just like the car I took on my first trip to Australia 35 years ago, when I went with John Force. They asked if I could bring the car for the International Funny Car Series and make some exhibition runs in January. I know I will have a great time, but my son is not too happy, since he won’t be able to get his license until the car gets back in March. He has wanted my ride for a long time, but I guess a couple of months won’t hurt. We both would like to race together some day, but as long as there is only one “big car” --thanks, I’ll drive that for awhile more.

We are looking forward to running the national events at Las Vegas and Pomona. Thanks to some great sponsors that you will see on the car then. I have really missed seeing my friends and fans over the last couple of months. And my team will be together again. I hope we can be a part of some great shows for the fans.

I wanted to get this written before Indy, but didn’t make it. Indy was hard for me, but I got to do color commentary with Bob Frey, which is always a lot of fun. Not racing was the hard part.

The second part of the cruise started with a day at sea. Boy, did we need it. We only had four the whole trip, but they seemed to come at just the right time. They meant sleeping late, laying by the pool, and gambling later (and sometimes a movie).

The first port was Dubrovnik, in Croatia (used to be Yugoslavia). When we read about the town before we left, I didn’t think I would like it. Was I wrong! This is a walled city that underwent a siege during the war with Serbia. You can see all the replaced roofs from up high, and see the pockmarks of bombs on buildings.  But the city has a flavor to it. Tiny alleyways, beautiful buildings and a view of islands in the sea. The first picture is of a unique house with its backyard (the sea).

Corfu was the next port. Neither of us really liked this island. There wasn’t much to see and do. The overcast weather might have had something to do with it.

But next was Olympia--the site of the first Olympic games. Although in ruins, you could see how large some of the buildings were -- not just temples to the gods, but the gymnasium and training buildings. The picture is of the starting line (marble) which had grooves in it for traction (sounds like drag racing!). I wished we could have spent more time here (instead of Corfu) because there was so much more up my alley and we only had a half day.

Santorini was the next stop (my wife’s favorite). Here, we rented a scooter and helmets, and we were off. We went from one end of the island to the other. The island itself is the edge of the caldera of an ancient volcano. It’s so narrow at the top that they build down the cliff wall, which is very steep. From the ship, you had three ways to get to the towns--walk the switchbacks in the picture or ride a donkey, or take the funicular up the face. No fools are we, we rode in the cable car. The island is incredible. It has black, white and red beaches. All the buildings are white and the church (Greek Orthodox) domes are blue. I finally got my swim in the Mediterranean. At six at night, the water was nice and warm, but the beach we ended up at was a gravel and rock beach and I had no water shoes. Feet took a beating.

Next was a port technically in Asia--Ephesus, Turkey. These ruins were some of the oldest we saw. The pictures show the library as it is today (in wonderful shape) and a Roman mile-marker (I guess this wasn’t a modern invention). Our only disappointment was that they were out of audio guides in English and no English-speaking guides were available.

Athens was my favorite place. We rode the metro to the Acropolis and walked up and down for hours. I liked how the whole site sat up on a wonderfully high hill and could be seen from everywhere. We joined up with a guide from South Carolina who had married a Greek girl and moved there. He was very good, but he did burst my bubble. I just kept imagining these great white buildings shining in the sun, but he showed where you could still see remnants of paint -- all the buildings were painted bright blue, red, yellow, etc. The new museum opened right before we got there and it is very impressive. The building is the exact dimensions of the Parthanon, which helps give you a feeling just how large the building was. And the floor is glass, so you can see the excavation being done under your feet. I have omitted pictures since I am sure all of you have seen pictures of the Acropolis.

One sea day and we were back to Sicily, where we saw Mt. Etna and an ancient Greek theater in Taormina (way overpriced).

On our way back to Rome, we passed within one mile of Stromboli (don’t think Pinocchio), which is an active volcano, last erupted in 2002, I think. It has a total of about 200 people in two villages. No roads connect them, so they must go by boat. I couldn’t stop thinking, why would anybody live there?

We returned to spend three days in Rome. I was amazed that whenever you turned a corner, there would be another statue, fountain, or ornate building. Oh, and I loved the Pantheon because of the dome. I have mentioned how amazed I was about the domes, but this one was spectacular because of the perfection (as tall as it is wide) and it has a big hole in it. And that is the oldest building in Rome!! How?

The other night, we were talking about where else we would like to go, and I mentioned that, now, I am less reluctant to go somewhere another language is spoken. My wife just smiled and said, “You know the Universal language.” I was puzzled until she showed me the final picture for this blog. I wondered why she chose that picture, but knew it showed how we felt the whole time we were gone. She said, “Do you know how you made yourself understood?” I didn’t get what she meant, and looked at the picture again. I thought about how people looked when I tried to communicate and when they tried back, and it hit me. The universal language is SMILING.

Next blog will be the trials of remembering what you did 30 years ago. We are building a nostalgia funny car.
 

Well, I guess you all know that I had a great time, but how did it come to pass? The most obvious answer is that I had the time because I didn’t have sponsorship to run the whole series this year. My wife’s mother had left her money specifically earmarked for a trip to Europe. It had been sitting in the bank for 22 years, so we had the money.

Early in our marriage, summer meant two school teachers could go on vacation. But to one teacher (me), that meant more races farther away from home. So that’s what we did for 28 years. Of course, we did stop and see things as we traveled across America. But summer was racing season. Time off for vacations was in December and January. Not a nice time to go to Europe. (Besides, it was often a great time to race in Australia).

Joanne had powerful arguments--cruises were really cheap. We could put two, ten-day cruises together for not much more than one. Besides you don’t want to go all that way for just ten days. Cruise ships have free food and CASINOS. A friend could get us a cheap room in Rome (that added three days to the end of the cruise). You’ve never been to Europe and you can swim in the Mediterranean. We will see Casino Royale (I’m a James Bond fan). Have you ever seen anything 3,000 years old? But the final argument was “I’ve followed you all over the world doing what you wanted, so now’s my turn.” GAME.SET. MATCH. To be fair, it really wasn’t that harsh--maybe it was my own guilt.

So we picked our cruise and made our reservations. I did insist that we take out the cancellation insurance in case some one came up with money to race. We did have some time constraints, since I was going to run Sonoma (and , I hoped, Seattle). She found a perfect cruise.

As we got closer, I really started to look forward to it. We did our homework. Each night, we would sit in our gazebo, listening to her waterfall, and research one of the ports. She had everything ready to read. During happy hour, we would learn what there was to see, what shore excursions were offered, and what we could expect.

Early on, we decided the shore excursions were very expensive and we could find our own way where we wanted to go. We booked one in Tunisia. Mostly, we would go on our own, using public transportation or our own feet.

So off we went. The flight (no non-stop available) was long, but I was used to that. We got to Rome the next day and went to the ship and our verandah room(my wife insisted). It was in the back of the ship--what was this! But, now I would recommend it to everybody. When you enter or leave port, you don’t just get to see one side. You can see everything. We spent every evening on the verandah at happy hour, just enjoying the whole country. The views were spectacular.

The first 10 days were the Western Mediterranean. The ports were Livorno (Florence and Pisa), Monte Carlo, Barcelona, Mallorca, Tunis, Palermo (Sicily), Naples, and back to Rome. I won’t bore you with a day-to-day account. Although I am not particularly religious, the first European church in Florence (the Duomo) was spectacular. How did they make the domes? The picture (photo 1) does not do it justice.

The Sagrada Familia church in Barcelona--by the architect Gaudi (photo 2). I thought this must be where we get the word gaudy, but my wife says not. It is beyond words, as I hope you can see in the picture.. Another theme throughout the trip was my wonder of people starting projects that lasted so long, they never got to see their dream come true. This church has been being built for over 100 years.

Some guy tried to pick my pocket in Mallorca while I was getting on a bus. We had read about taking precautions while traveling. I told Joanne that the wallet she had given me for Christmas (made of stingray skin--we had a moment of silence for Steve Irwin) was so hard for me to get out of my pocket because of the rough skin, nobody else could get it out. I was right. I turned around, our eyes met, and we both knew the other knew. I couldn’t hit him. I’m in a foreign country, I don’t speak the language, and he didn’t have my wallet. So I turned and got on, and he walked the other way.

In Tunis, we saw the remains of Carthage (photo 3). I had visions of Hannibal and Alexander the Great. Mostly ruins now, they were three thousand years old. Somebody had pieced together the most amazing mosaics that were floors and wall decorations (photo 4). What a jigsaw puzzle that must have been. The baths were huge buildings which included hot, warm and cold areas--an important social part of life back then. The city itself is beautiful--whitewashed buildings trimmed usually in only blue (photo 5).

In Naples, we went down to Pompeii--ruins from the eruption of Mt. Vesuvius in 79AD. People were frozen in their agony under layers of ash and pumice. They still preserve the graffiti and erotica found there. The picture is a temple with Mt. Vesuvius in the background (photo 6).

The layover day in Rome found us on the train to the Vatican. The largest church in the world. I looked at Michelangelo’s statue of the “Pieta” and could only think --one man, a hammer, and a chisel made this. No machines. I’m a machine kind of guy and respect the talent of men who use machines. But, how could this be done without machines?

I was in awe the whole trip. The grandeur of the buildings. The creativity of the artists. How long ago?

Before we left, I have to admit I worried about going to a country where people spoke a different language. I only speak English. Joanne speaks some Spanish and Italian and can figure out some French. I made her do all the talking in those places. But what about Arabic, Greek, and Turkish? Guess what happened in those countries? Joanne said, “I don’t speak this language, so you go and make yourself understood.” She was right, that is part of the European travel experience. And, I admit, I had fun doing it. Sure, you can find a lot of English speaking people now days, but not everywhere. I know.

I’ll end the first installment of my trip with these thoughts, since we are talking about languages. While in Rome, we flipped on the TV and were confronted with Eddie Murphy’s character ,Axel Foley, speaking Italian. Hysterical . We found people everywhere who wanted to speak English with us, to practice what they knew. This universe is becoming very small. People do not hate Americans; in fact, they want to know everything about us and our way of life. I had several people who asked what I do, and when I told them, they actually had seen drag racing and knew what I was talking about. No, I wasn’t recognized over there ( I did try to drop the Greeks name while in Greece, but it didn’t help either), but the sport is out there. We need to recognize that people all over the world know what we do and would like to know more.

Next blog: Part II of the trip.
 

As some of you know, I’ve started tweeting, but now I have to think in full sentences. OK, let the newest blogger get going.

The Western Swing was great—we did just what I wanted to do. Although I had to let my team go in January, they still find ways to come race with me whenever I find money to go to the races. The people who have made this happen this year, especially John Lawson of Lawson Rock and Oil, are really appreciated. And those of you in Seattle should try Gonzo’s—their food is great. I know because they fed us four days straight.

Although off since Vegas 1, my team didn’t miss a beat. We didn’t run some rounds, not because we couldn’t make it, but because maybe by not running those extra rounds, I may be able to make more runs in Vegas or Pomona. I know the fans like teams to make every run, and so would I, but you have to be sensible. We make sure we represent our sponsors as well as we can. Does not running every round hurt you, yes, to some extent it does. But so does running on a very tight budget. I think we let everybody know that we can still run with anyone out there.

I would like to thank Tim Wilkerson for the nice comment about whomever makes the countdown should thank me for not running all the races—that was a very kind thing to say. I have enough confidence in Greg and the team to think that we would be right in the fight.

My first blog must give credit to my team. There are only six of them and the crew chief. How good are they? In Sonoma, we were the last pair of funny cars in round 1, so we had the shortest turn-around time. We were the second funny car in the lanes for round 2. They have never failed to make the call and I know that every round, I will have a car that is ready to make it down the track.

NHRA talks about diversity. My team is diverse (male and female) but also global. Mellisa (the girl Force was hugging after the win over Cruz) is from New Zealand (she is also Grant Downing’s sister and married to car chief, Ed Boytim). Our clutch guy is Gary Seaward from Australia. Steve Zelem, our truck driver, is from Canada. The newest members of our family, Christina Kwan, who is Chinese, and Vinny Perozzi, who is Italian, of Kwan International have brought our team a true sense of global unity.

Some of you may have seen reference to Christina in our press releases. She is a marketing whiz with a dream of not only getting sponsorship money for us, but also to take our sport to a global level. We have had coverage and competitors from Europe and Australia, and interest from the Middle East. Asia is the most populated continent and Christina hopes to carry the sport of NHRA Drag Racing there. Exciting, isn’t it!

It’s funny how NHRA is using boxing tie-ins for the countdown. Christina is our boxer—a real one. She was the USA National and World Champion for women at 95 pounds. So if NHRA wants to show racers taping their hands, or throwing punches, just call Christina—she’ll show you the correct way.

Well, many of you are probably thinking “What is he going to blog about if he’s not running all the races”. Well, I hope I can keep your interest. I have plans to give you insight into my great trip to Europe, a report on the nostalgia funny car I am building with my son, so he can drive, and the developments in taking NHRA global. (I might even tell you what the Chinese writing on my car says)!

Oh, and I should have pictures to show you. Here’s one that was taken in the pits in Seattle. Although I no longer teach school, I hope I always have time for kids—even those as young as two or three.

Next time will have more pictures. We took over 500 while we were in Europe. (They are just as pretty as a pond cam).