Capitol Returns as Team's Title Sponsor

Capitol Auto Group, a Salem, OR based auto dealership comprised of Chevrolet, Cadillac, Toyota, Scion and Subaru have opted to renew their marketing program with ProMotion Motorsports. This season there will be an added emphasis on Capitol Chevrolet's Parts Department. "True Capitol Performance" will be used on the team's website, www.capracing.com, on hero cards and on t-shirts. "We are excited to once again carry the Capitol brand on the side of our blown alcohol dragster for the twelfth year. Now, the season can't come quick enough" said Rich Bailey, driver and team owner.

The car will retain its current look that was debuted in the middle of last season. "The car showcases Capitol's identity better than the previous two years so we have chose to leave the wrap on for the entire 2012 season" Bailey said.

Last year the team finished fourth in the Pacific ProComp points standings but since the series will be competing exclusively in California this season, the team will be staying in the Northwest and will race in Woodburn, Spokane and Yakima. It's possible the car will compete at the Governor's Cup at Sacramento Raceway in the fall, but it will depend on how well the financial resources are holding up at the end of the season.

Capitol Auto Group is building a new facility on the Salem Parkway that now includes a Toyota and Scion dealership. Chevrolet, Cadillac and Subaru will be located in the new complex later this spring. Capitol's new facility is a hot topic and people all over the Salem area are excited about the location. "It's important for us to continue to participate in as many events as possible to help keep Capitol's name front and center. We strive to take the racing exeprience out to the community and hope that people will walk away with a good feeling about Capitol after allowing them or their kids to sit in the race car" Bailey added.

Capitol joins 1430 KYKN, Royal Purple Motor Oil, King Engine Bearings, Marsh Canby Racing Transmissions, DR Audio and NGK Spark Plugs USA to have officially renewed with the team this year.

A Record Breaking Month for capracing.com

It's not a track record but still a record anyway. Capracing.com is having its best month ever! So far in January, we have experienced 4,458 visits, 2,928 unique visitors and 150,960 hits. Thanks for making www.capracing.com one of your daily stops on the internet.

 

Mail Section:

Paul Checks in from Down Under!

Hi stumbled across ur site from Facebook, very nice, l am from Australia and love drag racing of course top fuel dragsters, funny cars and our own invention top fuel Door slammers (original name was Wild Bunch) with notable pioneers John Zappia and Victor Bray you must have herd of Victor Bray he is a Legend here, l would love to see times from all over the world like from US, Europe and Australia from world records and more its so very hard to find atm, as l think here we are still pulling 4 seconds in top fuel where l know in US u guys are pulling 3 seconds thats insane but l love it, I love to go alot to the drags but l suffer chronic illness and we also lost out track in Victoria state l live in, but they have been talking about building a new track for drags, F1, Moto GP, and our own V8 Supercars plus many other categories, keep up the good work and l hope to see more to ur site, thank you for ur time

Paul

 

 

Capitol Car of the Week: 2011 Chevy Camaro
Take it for a virtual spin here!	Spring will be here pronto! Not to mention that two week stretch of great weather in February. Time to buy a Chevy Camaro from Capitol at a great price! Body style: 2 door Coupe Engine: 3.6L V-6 cyl Transmission: 6 Speed Automatic Ext. Color: Rally Yellow Mileage: 9,766 Stock Number: Z4514AVin2G1FB1ED7B9184392 Model Code: 1EF37

 

Craig Smith Named Spokane Track Promoter

Craig Smith one of the last active Top Fuel pilots in the Northwest is now the lease holder for Spokane County Raceway. Smith is the third promoter in as many years and will take control of the track on Wednesday of next week. Smith will be making some schedule changes including the addition of a Fox Hunt race. With Smith now in control the Capitol Dragster may pick up the two lost races in Medford.

We Lose One Track But Gain Another

There has been mashing of teeth lately on this web site about the downward spiral of drag strips on the west coast and we've focused much of the mashing on Medford. But there is some good news. A new track called Ridge Motorsports Park is being built in Shelton, Washington which is an easy two hour tow from Portland.

The new quarter mile track will be NHRA sanctioned and completed in May of this year. The building of the infrastructure (tower, grandstands etc.) will continue on the property through most of the year. Shelton is located west of Tacoma. Could this track some day be the new home for the Northwest Nationals?

While on the subject, there is still no word yet on that other track rumored to be built on the Warmsprings Indian Reservation in Oregon.

 

Frustration Looms Over Champion's Future



Let's face it, the track surface at Champion Raceway is scary if you have ever walked the track but for some reason you never felt it buzzing down the track at 190 MPH except in a couple of spots. But the track has a safe shut down area and concrete barriers all the way down the track. I was totally at ease racing there. Overall, it's a good facility. Racers sometimes don't know what they got till it's gone and then they wonder where they are going to race. In good times when racing was abundant at other facilities the Medford track was referred to as a "$#% hole" by some. But for us it was always our home away from home.

While Jim Taylor struggled to keep the facility open, he pulled off some good races before giving up his lease to the county at the start of the year. Perhaps my best memory will be my last time in the car at Champion. It was a beautiful summer night under the lights during a Pacific ProComp race and I was just inches away from knocking out my buddy Steve LaBurn for the victory. It was clear sailing to the finish line when Steve got around me right at the stripe after I had a sizable lead. The race was so close my crew came down and told me that I won as they were congratulated at the starting line and the crowd was on it's feet as they drove down to pick me up. But then we saw the time slip and we realized it wasn't to be.



That final round was a win for us anyway. The week prior we didn't have an engine in the car after cracking a cylinder wall. Jim Taylor was going to be low on featured cars and I promised him we'd be there no matter what, even though I didn't realize that it would be the most intense week of my racing career with the Night of Fire car show on the same weekend. But some how we pulled it off thanks to my dedicated crew of Rick Klampe and Richard Lytle. Now, that may be the last memory I will ever have of Champion Raceway.

That last race in August was also the last time I saw my buddy on the safety crew, Julian Gonsalves, who died just a few weeks later of a stroke. The Capitol team always had a good relationship with the track crew and the fans there. It wasn't unusual to see the track crew wearing Capitol Racing shirts during a race. I always gave out a lot of shirts in Medford. One guy use to give us fruit from Harry and David every time we showed up there so the giving went both ways.

And many of you might recall the "cruel summer" story when a massive thunder storm came through pulverizing the track with golf ball sized hail after experiencing two flat tires on the way to the track! I also had my absolute worse race at Medford too if that's even possible. Man, that was the NHRA race when absolutely nothing went right. But we returned much improved the next year.

Tonight, I read some of the messages on Facebook posted by local Medford racers frustrated that they likely won't have a place to race this year, if ever. The County is now looking for a new promoter and hopefully that person can bring enough money to resurface the track and be a friend to the racers like Jim always was to us and everyone else out there. He was once a racer himself and knew what we all faced just to get the car into the burnout box.

But with a horrible economy and too few regular racers, I'm afraid Jackson County won't find a promoter and will shut the track down. But the good news is that there is a group of racers that have formed an association that would like to take over the track and the IHRA is also interested in the facility. If the IHRA, owned by Feld Entertainment, the same folks that owns the Barnnum and Bailey Circus, can bring some money to the table I'm sure you will see a lot of racers return that haven't raced there in years. There is a real hunger by the grassroots racers ready to see the IHRA finally make it to the Pacific Coast and what a place to land but in Medford.

One thing is for sure, the county and the racers must have patience and shouldn't expect the place to become a palace over night once someone takes Champion over. Right now all we have is talk. Champion Raceway was in the right hands for the last five years. The question is will it fall into the right hands again or will my memory from that hot August night be my last?

 

NGK Spark Plugs Returns to Cap Racing

NGK Spark Plugs returns to Cap Racing in 2012 joining Royal Purple Motor Oil and King Engine Bearings. NGK is the perfered spark plug for nearly every alcohol team in drag racing and we are fortunate to have them return with so much competition from other teams for product sponsorship.

 

Our Facebook Time Capsule

Take a look at out Facebook Photo Page. it's like a time capsule that shows a lot of pictures from different events. Click_Here

 

The Winter Rod and Speed Show, January 7, 2012
Winter Rod and Speed a Big Success

While the Winter Rod and Speed Show started with a lot of behind the scenes drama several months ago, the Billings and Bailey event was a big success anyway as the popular show broke our previous attendance record with over 3,400 people that came through the front door and at least 100 vendors and exhibitors entering through the back door, totaling over 3,500 people, All were looking for something affordable and fun to do after the holidays.

Thanks to the local newspapers and radio stations KLOO, Joe Radio and KRKT in Albany, as well as KYKN in Salem, the word of the upcoming show got out and the public responded big time. The crowd wasn't disappointed either as there was something for everyone at this year's show from the replica "Bat Car" and "Tow Mater" to sports celebrates Charlie Sitton and Scott Haskin signing autographs. Haskin stayed for the entire event and appeared on three radio shows prior the event. But the big stars were the cars, most from mid valley car clubs. Over 115 cars took part in this year's event.

The show discourages stanchions while allowing the owners to sit with their car which encourages a lot more social interaction. In fact, it's said that the Winter Rod and Speed Show is one of the most lively indoor shows on the west coast and judging by this year's show that claim is spot on. This year, the socializing started on Friday night with an exhibitor's pizza feed and reception as nearly 100 exhibitors and vendors chowded down on 20 giant pizzas.

Another popular feature of the show was a model car contest promoted by Stan Reeser and model car expert Ed Janaury, both of Springfield. Some very good entries were displayed to the delight of the crowd.

Winning awards was Ted Dodge with his Merc recieving the King of the Show Award, the Rollin Oldies Car Club who won the Club Participation Award, Frank Durham for Outstanding Individual Participation Award, and a fellow from Siletz who won the Long Distance Award.

A special thanks to Bicoastal Media, Wilson's NAPA Auto Parts, KYKN and Burgerville for their support of this year's show.

See Winter Rod and Speed Show Photos Here

Quarterflash New Years Eve Concert Photo Gallery
Photos from the Aladdin Theater New Years Eve show Click Here

 

 

 

Toyota Steps Up to Sponsor Major NHRA Event

NHRA got a much needed shot in the arm as Toyota is stepping up their involvment in drag racing and will be sponsoring the NHRA Supernationals in Englishtown NJ. Read more here

 

 

THUNDER IN THE PIPES
Rain stories Part #4
Sorry Charlie No Money Just Bills, Bills and More Bills…….What a Tough Way to get Started

by Jim Rockstad

I took over as General Manager for IRP (International Raceway Parks, Inc.) on Labor Day weekend in 1976, just four weeks after the rained-on 64 funny car event – and just as all the bills came rolling in from the gigantic grandstand installation. Welcome to Seattle, Rockstad!

What a reality check as I “hit the ground running (or is that stumbling?)” That was a really tough winter to get through. I tried everything I could do to make some dollars throughout the winter months. We had nearly zero dollars as we attempted to spread the payments on the bills through the winter. I spent much time on the phone or meeting with those holding outstanding bills to try and buy time to get by.

I was forced to talk my head off to get by until we could pay everything off. It certainly wasn’t a lot of fun.

What did I do?

Well, with one of the radio stations I offered to let them hold the keys to my SIR-leased car just to get on the air for the NHRA Fallnationals in September. My offer was never accepted and we did get the air time which helped pay some bills. Theirs came first, of course.

I even co-produced a five-day car show at the Seattle Center, but it certainly wasn’t the most lucrative event ever done. The end result was some very important cash flow in February as we inched our way through the winter months trying to get to the 1977 racing season.

At least I knew going-in that this car show event wouldn’t get rained out…That was a good feeling. An event with a roof over its head was a good sight for me, that’s for sure.

As I assembled the 1977 racing schedule, I was able to require the different car clubs and the motorcycle groups to have deposits of 50 per cent down on their contracts, mostly for those events that used the SIR road course. That turned out to be a smart move on an annual basis because the number of clubs was growing.

I learned a lot going through the winter that year with the trials at hand. My hope was to never witness that big of a financial mess again. There had to be a way to get the company in a more protected position so this doesn’t happen again. It took about a dozen years for me to get the company into a positive yearly cash flow to offset the problem of running out of dollars in winter.

There was an old story about “rain money” (in our business these two words should not be used together…..if it rained, there was no money!!) Anyway, when Doner and the late Steve Evans were involved in the production of those early major drag races in the Northwest, a rain-out took place…..unfortunately, a most common occurrence over the years.

As that rainy mess continued, Doner and Evans headed for Doner’s home on the east hill of Kent. Once there, they got to jokingly betting on who would call them first wanting rain money. After much debate, the consensus was that Charlie Allen of All-American Boy funny car fame would be the first to call. Soon the phone rang and Evans picked up the phone and said, “Hi Charlie”. (This was a time long before any caller id existed). Low and behold, it was Charlie Allen in an effort to receive some rain money. “Hey Charlie, it rained and there is no money……just debt!

Oh, how we wish that the complications of rain-outs were that easy....but not so!

 

Royal Purple and King Bearings Return

We are very pleased to announce that we have renewed our product sponsorships for another year with two great national companies including Royal Purple Synthetic Oil and King Engine Bearings.

The Capitol Team has the longest running Royal Purple sponsorship in the companies' history as they have been with our team since the beginning, over 15 years ago. King has been with us for eight of those years. Both companies make high quality products that work together to take the abuse of our blown alcohol engine.

 

 

Taylor Drops Bid to Keep Champion Raceway

Promoter Jim Taylor has called it quits and Champion Raceway won't reopen unless a new track operator is found. A call in to Jim Taylor confirms that he has dropped his bid to continue to operate the Medford, Oregon facility. Meanwhile the Jackson County Commissioners are looking for a new promoter and has sent out a request for proposals.

Jim did say he would work with the new lease holder to make it a smooth transition if one is found. There is at least one potential operator interested in the track and Jim hopes he honors the new schedule he has already put together for 2012. Jim sited a lack of support far giving up. The track needs surfacing on the track at the very least to be operational.

Watch the Film "Wheels of Speed" Here

 

 

Stay Well! Comes to Capracing.com

Capitol Auto Group Racing is pleased to announce the addition of another column in addition to the popular "Thunder in the Pipes" columns by Jim Rockstad. Pete Farrell, a successful businessman and racer who resides in the Portland area will be writing a column here on the subject of nutrition.

The column came about as a result of many of his friends in the racing world who has contracted cancer and other diseases as a result of the racer's lifestyle: Hamburgers, Fried Food, Pop and Beer. It's nearly impossible to be a racer and avoid these staples but it is possible to get some balance in your diet so you can continue to thunder on the race track. Pete has studied nutrition along with his wife who is a cancer survivor for over a decade, which was why Pete begin to seriously study the subject.

Below is Pete's first articles:

 

Vitamin D3, the Sunshine Vitamin
Peter Farrell citizen health reporter

With all the medical advances made in the 20TH and 21ST centuries, Vitamin D3 deficiency is still an epidemic. Vitamin D3 is believed to play a role in controlling our immune systems and possibly reducing a person’s risk of cancer and autoimmune diseases.

Vitamin D3 deficiency can result in obesity, type 2 diabetes, high blood pressure, depression, psoriasis, fibromyalgia, chronic fatigue syndrome, kidney stones, osteoporosis and neuro-degenerative disease including alzheimer’s disease. Vitamin D3 deficiency may even lead to cancer especially breast, prostate, and colon cancers.

The most common reasons for Vitamin D3 deficiency in the United States relates to lack of exposure to sunlight and infrequent consumption of cold water fish such as wild salmon, mackerel and sardines. Vitamin D3 binds with calcium for proper absorption. Humans cannot digest calcium without adequate amounts of vitamin D3.

A standard blood panel provides your doctor with your levels of vitamin D3. The test is called 25(OH)D. Existing guidelines state a deficiency is anything below 50nmol/l, but recent studies show that 80 nmol/l may be optimal. Today, some foods are supplemented with Vitamin D, but this has not resulted in an overall increase in peoples Vitamin D levels. This is most likely because food manufacturers rely on inexpensive Vitamin D2.

To get the natural vitamin D3 a person needs you can spend 20 minutes a day in the sun with 40% of your skin surface exposed. Morning sun is best, do not let your skin burn and sorry, tanning beds do not provide Vitamin D3. Try to eat foods high in Vitamin D3 including Cod liver oil, salmon, mackerel, and sardines, egg yolks, beef liver.

If you take a Vitamin D supplement please make sure it is Vitamin D3, not D2. Take Vitamin D3 supplements with food. It is usually recommend to supplement Vitamin D3 2000iu-5000iu/ day depending on your lab levels.
The information on this site is provided for educational and entertainment purposes only. It is not intended as a substitute for professional advice of any kind.

The above information is provided for educational and entertainment purposes only. It is not intended as a substitute for professional advice of any kind.

 

Stay Well: Vitamin K Benefits Revaled

Peter Farrell citizen health reporter

Very few people are aware of the essential role vitamin K has in preventing and reversing coronary artery calcification. Vitamin K is part of a natural solution to keep calcium from depositing as deadly plaque in arterial walls. In addition vitamin K has a role in promoting cancer cell death (apoptosis) in cancer cells that have multiplied out of control.

The majority of people today lack sufficient quantities of vitamin K in their everyday diet to receive any benefit. Vitamin K intake can be increased by adding leafy green vegetables to your diet and supplementing with vitamin K in the form of vitamin K2 (menaquinone).

Calcium is an essential mineral and is used to fuel hundreds of biochemical processes in our bodies and it is critical to rebuild teeth and bones. The problem arises when calcium remains in our blood and is not laid down to as new bone. The consequence of a poor diet and increased blood pressure damage the inner lining of our coronary arteries. Our body attempts to repair the damage, oxidized LDL cholesterol (the bad cholesterol) attracts circulating calcium and other debris in our blood which become deadly plaque.

Research shows that vitamin K controls calcium and reverses coronary plaque by removing calcium from our blood so it can be used to build good strong bones. When vitamin K is insufficient in our blood, calcium is picked up by the soft tissues throughout our body, especially in the endothelial lining of the arteries that surround the heart. This causes tissues to calcify causing the normal function to decline as cells begin to age at an accelerated rate. The eventual result is arteriosclerosis and an increased risk of a heart attack.

Many studies have been released demonstrating that biologically active vitamin K2 (menaquinone) can reverse the build up of deadly plaque and that vitamin K2 can also reduce coronary calcification. Current evidence suggests that vitamin K2 can be a powerful ally in both preventing and treating certain cancers. An adequate intake of vitamin K2 could be an important part to everyday good health. Many people will need to supplement vitamin K2 to achieve optimal levels.

Vitamin K deficiency is rampant due to poor diet and lack of knowledge about its many health benefits. Research is beginning to show that many essential benefits are associated with this critical nutrient and we can use it to possible control disease and slow the aging process.

The above information is provided for educational and entertainment purposes only. It is not intended as a substitute for professional advice of any kind.

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The Race Team

Driver Owner:
Rich Bailey

Crew Chief:
Rick Klampe

Crew Members:
Richard Lytle
Mark Asbury