Las Vegas - Day 6

Hmmm...I'm thinking I might have my Harley Davidson day mixed up...I mighta gone this day? Darn it...this is why you should keep a DETAILED trip log lol.

Anyways, what I remember FOR SURE is that we made sure to make it to the track a little early today so that I could try to get some better pictures before the light went away.

The 'Pits'

Las Vegas

Lined up for track pack

I just happened to catch these guys as they were lining up for track packKatie & Garry!'Dad' Barber getting those tires buffed up!The race day format was a little different today...just 12 last chance qualifier races and then the feature event! Unfortunately after 3 days, and approximately 17 hours of racing...the only Canadian to make the feature was Steve Arpin...and it was cold. Alberta wind, bone chilling cold...I borrowed a sleeping bag from Frenchie and I am certain its the only reason I survived to tell this story!

HOWEVER...let me tell you, watching the very best of the best take that green flag is something I don't think I'll ever forget! A 50 lap main and I think there were only 4 cautions...that is applause worthy on its own. Lots of folk won't understand...fellow racers will...there is something about the rumble of a modified engine...times 28...lap after lap...it rumbles and vibrates through your whole body. In fact on the way home that night I came up with an 'Ode to Modified Engines'...it went something like this:

I could eat to that sound
I could sleep to it
I could work to it
I could wake up to it
I could fall asleep to it
I could...

well...I think you get the picture...

I really can not begin to describe how incredible the Duel in the Desert was...I don't have enough words! And its highly probably I'm just a racing junky who got her fix and 98% of the population won't understand. Meh...LOL!

Las Vegas - Day 5

This morning I tagged along with the #69 team for a trip to Harley Davidson...them boys are brave taking a girl to a Harley store lol!

The second day of the Duel in the Desert was definitely the Canadians day to shine! The starting position for the heats is determined by a pill draw, unfortunately (or fortunately...for some!) it seemed very difficult for anyone to really shine from the rear of the field...so the better the starting position the better chances of finishing top two...for most racers anyways!

#27EH...or Hollywood as folk around here like to call him, had a good pill draw and a good finish in his heat. This put him in a good starting position for the B-main where he finished 2nd...and a spot in the A-main!

#69...Jason 'Frenchie' Lacelle ...is not only the 2009 BCR track champion, but ALSO the 2009 Canadian IMCA Champion. Frenchie and his engine builder Garry have made quite the team, both on and off the track lol! Over the season I've gotten to know them quite well and I am very proud to call them friends.

Frenchie was in the second heat and the track was exactly how he likes it...tacky! Remember how in my Swift Current blog I posted how racing on 3 wheels probably isn't always the fasted...he proved me VERY wrong! I can't even begin to tell you how many times I heard Katie say 'that Crazy Frenchman's got his car all jacked up'...it was wild!

Anyways, on the first lap that crazy Frenchman made a big move and passed a handful of cars on the outside of corner 4...it was a very aggressive but successful move! A few laps later he took the lead, what a adrenaline rush...I literally started shaking I was so excited! Unfortunately a mistake cost him the lead but he was still in second until his engine blew...crap! Still an AWESOME race to watch...wow!

#44A - Steve Arpin is another Canadian driver, he raced in the NASCAR ARCA series this year (think 2 levels below the 'popular' NASCAR cars) so that might give you a idea about his success. He placed 2nd in his heat also guaranteeing him a place in the A-main.

#90 - Jason Beaulieu is a top contender in the NPP Late Model series, they race across Alberta and into Washington, however he also competes in a handful of modified races each year. The best way I can describe his heat was that he was on a mission. He started near the back, and he worked his way to the front...he drove a heck of a race and became the third Canadian to qualify for the A-main that day.

#59 - John Barber...I've mentioned it before but I'm a huge fan of John Barber...his quality of racing first caught my attention, and then over the last few years his attitude both on and off the track has gained him my respect...he is a Champion in every sense of the word! He started his heat mid-pack but had some snakey idiots ahead of him and while he was avoiding getting caught in THEIR messes he was shuffled back. It was the one time over the whole weekend I remember wanting to smack some drivers! HOWEVER he managed to pick his way back to 6th by passing on the outside of corner 4...his car was working AWESOME there...it was a cool line and not one many other cars/drivers could handle...very neat to watch! Its hard to tell but his is the purple/blue car in the center of this picture.

Finally, #9 - Roger Bonneville finished 2nd in his heat becoming the 4th Canadian to qualify for the A-mains. This is a record for us! Until that day the only Canadian to ever qualify for an A-main at the Duel was Steve Arpin...I was VERY excited for our guys!

We started off with a bang, and while Arpin finished 2nd in his main, the remaining Canadians fell short. #90 was off to a great start, slowly picking cars off, and then something seemed 'off' and a few laps later he was off the pace. Found out later he had a tire go down, unfortunately on his way off the track he was literally run over...in my opinion it was the worst wreck of the entire weekend. I was super disappointed for him and to make matters worse his car was essentially totalled.

Again...hard to see in this picture...but the inside 3rd car from the front is the #44A...and about the 7th car from the end is the #90...you can just see the maple leaf on his nose. Kathy, Terry & Katie enjoying the show!

This is almost the entire pits from the spectator stands...trust me...its way more impressive in real life!

You can see the Strip from the track...pretty cool huh!

So another great day of racing...and a history making one for the Canadians! Did I mention we were at the track from 5pm until midnight...and that the desert gets REALLY cold!

Las Vegas - Day 4

This morning while everyone else went to Las Vegas Motor Speedway to purchase their tickets for the 2009 Duel in the Desert...I slept in lol. When I finally dragged myself out of bed we met for buffet and then it was 'Shopping Day'.

We headed to the Forum Shops at Caesar's Palace...that is quite the mall let me tell you! So this might fall under the 'too much information' category, but I have lucky racing underwear. They are red to match BCR's logo, I've had them for years...I wear them EVERY time I go to the track and I don't really understand why, but I get sassed about my racing undies quite a bit. Problem was I only had ONE pair and I'd been starting to worry about the day they wore out...plus there was THREE days of racing at the Duel! I needed more racing undies so we hit Victoria's Secret and I bought myself two more pairs...then the dilemma was how do you make sure they are 'lucky'! Let me tell you...this was stressful!

Anyways, we finished our shopping and then it was time to head to the track, now the Duel in the Desert is a big deal. The winner of the event took home $7,777 this year...which is a big purse for a modified event. This year there were 264 cars registered on the first day, to put this in perspective we had 40ish cars registered for our Wolff Pack this summer and that is HUGE!

This year we had 8 Canadian drivers at the Duel and I am PROUD to personally know 7 of them:
#9 - Roger Bonneville
#27 - Terry Vicente
#27EH - Lawrence O'Connor
#59 - John Barber
#69 - Jason Lacelle
#90 - Jason Beaulieu
#91 - Perry Huszarik

I was able to take a few pictures before it got too dark...man was I ever wishing for a better lens! LOTS of my pics ended up fuzzy/blurry...its frustrating!

Katie & Kathy showing off their Canadian pride!

These are the trophies...they are bigger than ME! Good thing most of these guys have car haulers, I'm not sure how you'd get one home otherwise lol! Please note how once again I'm trying to throw my leg around something...but those ARE some pretty sexy boots aren't they!

So essentially the Duel runs 20 heats, from which the top 2 cars transfer to the 2 A-mains. The remaining cars race in 10 B-mains, and the top 2 cars from the B-mains also transfer to the A-mains. So pretty much you want to finish top 2 to move on!

When you have 264 cars and run that many races its REALLY hard to keep the track tacky and the first night the track started off glazed before the heats even started. Roger Bonneville was in the 3rd heatand his word when asked what the track was like was "slippery". The heats were challenging for a lot of drivers, but you clearly see by the B-mains that there had been some fine tuning done and the cars were set up better. Unfortunately none of the Canadians made it to the A-mains the first night, but regardless the caliber of racing was absolutely amazing to watch...I get goose bumps just thinking about it!

Las Vegas - Day 3

This morning we made a trip to the airport to pick up James & Kathy's friends. Rhonda was pretty excited to be on holidays, and once we returned to the casino her and Kathy settled down to play some slots! We were supposed to go to the Indian National Finals Rodeo...lets just say we never made it lol! Instead James played a little more 'photographer'...we even managed to get a picture with him! I'm pretty sure he taught me how to do this whole, throw your leg around someone/something dealy...its embarassing how many pictures I have doing the same thing! A while ago a buddy teased me about how 'wholesome' I am...I was pretty indignant...after all, brown bread is wholesome! I am not wholesome! So this came up while we were in Vegas, and it sorta became a running joke...we giggled like crazy when we drove by this sign...
That night we had tickets to see Foreigner play in Primm. I was suprised at how many songs I knew, we made fun of his skin-tight red pants quite a bit.

On the way back to Vegas we stopped at another casino, we ended up being practically the only people there. We played a little Roulette, the gals train-danced through the slots...we were having a blast...and the casino employee's watched us like hawks. I think they shoulda joined in the fun lol...

Las Vegas - Day 2

Up and at 'em...road trip day! We piled into the van and headed across Vegas. We ended up at this high end casino/resort for breakfast. It was still too early for most of the stores to be open, but we toured around a little anyway.

Back on the road...next stop...Hoover Dam! The are in the process of building a new suspension bridge for traffic...cool! James asked the parking attendant if she was from around there...HAHAHAH...so funny! We parked and got signed up for the 'Dam Tour', until it starts we do some sight seeing.
The Dam tour is pretty neat, we got these wicked yellow plastic hard hats to wear, and our tour guide was pretty interesting....Katie thinks he's a 'Gump', but he did know a lot of facts about the Dam (no duh!). As you can imagine there were plenty of 'Dam' jokes to be made and had. After the tour we did a little more sight seeing and headed off again.

Supposedly if you put your fingers on this guys feet you will have good luck!
We jump back in the lil van to continue our road trip...destination unknown (for me!)...we 'might' of stopped and got ourselves a few road pops, I was THIRSTY and me and Katie got 'happy' in the back seat....some of my BEST memories of the whole trip are 'hanging' in the back seat of the van with Katie.

We ended up on Route 66...it was awesome, this super windy road through the back country...itwasthisnarrow...and it was on the side of the mountain. James drove like a crazy man, it was funny...we hit some 'woo' stretches...ya know the kind that make your tummy go 'woo' because they are so up and down...that was fun too... Along Route 66 we came across the town of Oatman...famous for its asses! Literally! I really wanted to ride one, but I was worried it would buck me off and I wasn't prepared have a sore...well...ass...for a few days lol. James when all photographer 0n us, hat turned backwards and everything...Katie has a few fun pics on her camera too I will have to share

Our last stop was a casino...don't even remember where lol...for supper and then we headed back to Vegas for a little R&R, it was a fun, busy day!

Las Vegas - Day 1

I was away for a week long vacation to Las Vegas! I finally had a chance to download my pics, so hopefully now I can illustrate my adventure! When I was in high school me and some girlfriends went on a weekend get-a-way, someone came up with the idea to write a travel log...which now that I think of it I haven't seen SINCE...hmmm...I bet you there's some funny stuff in it...

Anyways, since then I've always tried to keep a travel log on my holidays...now that I scrapbook I've added them to my albums, although sometimes its been an 'edited' version lol. Its a great way to remember my vacations, they are super funny, and I've often been glad to have a record of a story I was sure I'd never forget.

Travel Log - Las Vegas 2009

Day 1

My plane didn't fly out of Great Falls until almost 9pm. I had LOTS of time, so I got waxed and polished, bought travel insurance, ate lunch with an old friend, packed Neena's stuff, left my VISA info at the vet (she was acting a lil funny...not sure if it was b/c I'm was leaving, or if she was feeling icky), cancelled my water delivery for the week, finished my laundry, AND I even managed to do some boot shopping. By early afternoon I still had to pack, drop Neena off, fill up my car with gas, call VISA, plus I wanted to hit one more store for boots before I ventured across the border.

I finally left around 3pm, the drive to Great Falls went quick and I made it by about 6pm and headed to the Big R! Ever since my boots were stolen in January I've wanted another pair but have never found another that I loved enough to buy. I did...was so excited! I think they are hawt! They 'might' pop up in a couple pictures over the trip...

Headed to the airport where I met up with Garry & Gladys and a few other people from Saskatchewan.

The flight was pretty uneventful, arrived in Las Vegas, a new airport for me! And of course James & Kathy & Katie were waiting for me! Was good to see them!

We grabbed my things and headed to the van...which I have come to realize is really a race car in disguise. It never goes slow, the tires are prone to squealing and it doesn't seem to matter who's driving!

I was taken on my first tour of the Strip...holy! Its amazing, all the lights, all the man-made creations and that's just what I've seen from the car! I'm itching to take a bunch of pics!

We made it to the hotel (Las Vegas Club) just a few minutes before 11pm so James took me to Freemont Street to watch the light show. Its pretty cool. The whole street 'stops' for a few minutes while everybody watches the show. It was a 'KISS' show, pretty neat! Fun tunes!

Katie and I ended up doing some shopping and after playing a little slots and trying to get a drink from a skimpy dressed booth attendant who was hogging all the attention of the cute police officers, we headed to bed!

May be lame, but I was tired, I've been sick, and the next day was to be a big one!