Final Phoenix Update, December 4th, 2008

Thanks to a lot of help from their friends Little Johns Motorsports finished 2nd in the Nation in their class. Big Muddy and their crew are having a party to celebrate the teams great finish on Wednesday, December 10th with music by Rail starting at 7:30 PM. Little John and the team, and maybe the boat if the weather allows, will be there to say THANKS to everyone that helped and cheered them on. This being a Wednesday night Ladies rail drinks are only $1.00! Congrats to the team.

Darryll

Message from Little Johns friend and webmaster:

The Benefit for Little Johns Motorsports at Big Muddy on Wednesday, November 12th, 2008 was a HUGE success! The place was PACKED! Many thanks to the owners and staff of Big Muddy for setting it all up, Con Trios member Bill Kelley for all the coverage he gave it on his website, www.RiverBills.com and the Sharks Band for the great entertainment. Donations from all of Little John's friends was overwhelming. The Con Trios Yacht Club had an excellent showing! Donations from all of them and the "Pass the Hat" we had at the board meeting will help send the team to Phoenix and hopefully bring us home a WINNER! Good Luck to Ashly and the team. Little John said he will provide me with a full report on the Benefit and Phoenix trip when they return. The World Finals in Phoenix at Firebird International Raceway is November 20th thru the 23rd.

Follow up email from Little John:

Darryll:
What you have written is GREAT The only thing I would add, is the most heartfelt, sincere thank you I can muster up. Due to the graciousness of our friends, we have made a change in our plans. I was planning to leave by myself for the trip, with bare bone necessities to get by. We will now work late into the night getting the second rig ready. BUT, we are leaving for Phoenix with BOTH RIGS, all of our team and equipment. I have to get back to work and get out of here. I will check in with you daily, and send pictures if I can.
Thank You So Much
The Family And Team Of Little Johns Motorsports

Sunday 11/16/2008 update:

Got a call from Little John about 7:30 PM Sunday evening. They are making good time. Stopped in Texas last night. Both rigs are running great. They were about 3 hours from Phoenix at the time.

Monday 11/17/2008 update:

As usual he is helping people out. Here is what he sent me Monday night. "Moved the buses into pit area with IHBA officials tonight We are going to help with repair on some equipment tomorrow Should be able to get some great pictures of the inside of Firebird Raceway. AMAZING They need some welding and boat repair done. LJ"

Wednesday 11/19/2008 update:

The pits are empty until noon Wed. I will send a picture tomorrow at this same time with about 150 boats here

From empty to this in about two hours No one is allowed in the raceway, except race staff (which we were) until noon Wed. It is crazy but very well organized. Our pit has electric, water, and sewer hook up. LIFE IS GOOD

Update 11/20/2008

Darryll:
Sorry, no pictures today. CRAZY BUSY

Today was testing
A perfect run in our class is 10.000
Our first pass was 10.060
second was 10.090
third was 10.110
little much on the last one 9.920

A perfect start time clock is .0000 (reaction time)
first pass was .120
second .064
third .020

The boat is fine and things are as good as they can be.
We have to be at the water at 7.00 in the morning.
Ashly will make a half track pass to prove herself.
If approved, she will attempt to break 180 MPH later in the day.
Please keep us in your thoughts and prayers.

Little John

Friday, November 21st, 2008 update

Ashly made her first "half track" pass to qualify for a 180 mph boat.
This means a 7 second or so full track time. After shutting the boat down at half track and coasting the rest of the way she still ran a 6.92 time for the full track. She will do her full track pass later.

Saturday, November 22nd, 2008

12:20 PM: Ashly and Kwitchabitchin broke out on their first qualifying attempts by being too quick. On their final try they wound up qualifying 3rd. Her full track pass to qualify in a 180 MPH boat will probably be later today. She is driving Dawn Singleton's boat "Rapid Fire". Check back later today, LJ is going to send some pictures when they get time.

Pictures of Ashly in the cockpit of "Rapid Fire"

click on the thumbnails to see the full size picture

Sunday, November 23rd, 2008

Well, we have good news and bad news.
Ashly Ruf is one of two licensed female PRO drivers in the WORLD.
She did not break 180 MPH, but did go over 150 MPH.
The pass was GREAT very smooth and steady.
The speed and ET of 7.52 was way more than needed to get her license.

The bad news is that Ashly ran a 10.003 in her first pass after qualifying third in the whole field BUT RED LIT BY .001 and we were done.

Almost all night was spent helping another racer rebuild their engine for today.
We will be running in the second chance race today, but it will not count in our points.
We are still pouting, but being second in the nation is something we need to be proud of.
THANKS TO ALL OF YOU AT HOME.

The attached picture is of someone that was not as fortunate.
It is what is left of a boat that lost control at over 200 MPH.
The driver survived due to his equipment, and the fast response of the rescue team.

I will let you know how we do today.
Tomorrow we leave from here for Fort Sill Oklahoma for Terrie's son Josh's graduation from Army Boot Camp.
We will have Thanksgiving there and be home for the weekend.

I think that every one that reads this should call the crew at Big Muddy and tell them that Dan should plan a victory party.
That way we can personally thank everybody for all they have done to help us.
Little John

Click here to see what was left of the boat.

Click here for the story and video on Sports Radio WDFN

Hi Guys

It is 8.00 Tuesday morning and we are in Ft. Sill Oklahoma.
We left Phoenix at 8.00 AM Monday morning.
900 miles, in one day ,with a two year old on board, and everything is running great.
We stopped and cooked breakfast in Salt River Canyon yesterday morning.
We have some great pictures that Darryl will post when we get back.
The shot that I have enclosed, is about half the way down.
You drop 6000 feet in about six miles.
At 70 Ft. long, and weighing 34,000 Lb. I assure you that you set up pretty straight
in the seat.

Click here for the picture.

Today is family day on the Army Base.
Tomorrow we will attend the graduation of Terrie's son Josh from Boot Camp.
The plan is a turkey, stuffing, and the works in this Walmart parking on Thursday.
Should be home by the weekend, depending on how much time we can spend with Josh.
We dont know if he has time off or will be shipped out right away.

We miss, and look forward to seeing everybody.

Little John

Update November 30th, 2008

The lady in the picture with Ashly is the other Licensed PRO. driver As we have found out, She and Ashly, are the only two PRO licensed females in the world enjoy the pictures
Little John

click on the thumbnails below to see the full size picture

Click here to see see a slideshow of other pictures taken at Phoenix.