HORSEPOWER & HEELS

Well, today was Testing: Take 2 for Ben's Limited Street ride, only this time they chose Alabama International Dragway in Steele instead of traveling down to Phenix City. Steele, AL is only about a 45 minute trip from Grant, so instead of getting up at 3am, we left at noon for the strip.

Chop and I followed Ben (in his new Corvette--YUCK!) and we met Mike, Wendell, and George at the track. Though I have heard a lot about Steele, this was my first trip to the track, and I was really impressed. Its one of the few 1/4 mile tracks in this region, and the racing surface is top-notch. Kudos to track owner (and Pro Mod Driver) Jason Collins for an awesome facility.

Billy & Johnny Pilcher came up from south AL to help tune the new 632cid Pilcher Automotive bullett. (The Pilchers are some of the best in the business with horsepower, as evident by their current points lead in ADRL Pro Nitrous and their recent 3 second pass at the Rockingham ADRL DragStock IV event.)

The first pass was an all-motor pass to get a baseline and give Ben a chance to get re-adjusted to the seat again. The second was supposed to be an easy pass too (maybe just one system?), but the front end shot up in the air, and Ben peddled it several times, trying to get it back down. The third pass, they tried again, this time trying to bring it in a little later, but it stood straight up on the bumper and rode it hard well past the 330'. The Pilcher clan can definitely make some power!!

Although they didn't get a full pass, the crowd loved the wheelstands, and Mike & the crew will work on trying to get the little 10 inch tires to manage all the power for next time. Johnny and Billy were there all day with Mike & the crew, and had a pretty long drive back home. I know Mike, Ben, George, & Wendell were very happy to have them there to get the new bullett dialed in, and I'm certain once they reign in all that power, they'll be flying in Limited Street.

PS: I took some videos of the wild wheelstands, and as soon as I can figure out how to upload them, I'll post them up!

Posted by Erica Ortiz at 10:09 PM | Permalink | Comments

Wally Parks 1913-2007

The founder of the NHRA and the person who made drag racing what it is today, has passed away. Wally Parks, founded the NHRA in 1951 and served as the governing president for over 2 decades. His passion for side-by-side racing and his ambition to bring it to a safer, more controlled environment is what led to the formation of the largest motorsports sanctioning body in the world.

Parks still served on the NHRA Board of Directors, and maintained the The Wally Parks NHRA Motorsports Museum presented by Automobile Club of Southern California at Fairplex in Pomona, Calif.

"Today is a sad day in the world of NHRA and the sport of drag racing. Words simply can't describe the immeasurable impact Wally has had on the sport he created and the millions of people's lives he touched along the way. The name Wally Parks is synonymous with drag racing, and his vision and direction will guide NHRA for years to come. Everyone in drag racing, and the industries formed to service the sport, will forever be indebted to Wally, his vision, his focus and his desire to create, build and grow NHRA." --Tom Compton, president of NHRA.

Rest in peace, Wally.

Photo: NHRA.com

Posted by Erica Ortiz at 10:42 AM | Permalink | Comments

Well, in my usual sleep-is-overrated self torture fashion, I decided to accompany my friend Ben Rice down to my old stompin' grounds, Phenix City Dragstrip to help him test his freshly rebuilt Limited Street Mustang. The trip is about a 4+ hour drive, so in order to be there for the test session, it meant Ben was at my door bright and early at 3:45am this morning. I jumped in his truck and rode to his car owner's house in Huntsville to load up in the truck and trailer. We pulled out of Huntsville around 4:30am.

After a brief stop in Birmingham for some early morning Cracker Barrel, we continued on our way to Phenix City. Though the track is in Alabama and technically in the Central time zone, its close proximity to Columbus, GA means that the track operates on eastern time, and we lost an hour. We ended up arriving right around 11 am local time.

But what we were NOT too happy to see was a locked gate and no trailers in the pits. Apparently, the race had been cancelled, and somehow none of us realized this important bit of information. We were not the only ones, because there were 4 other trailers waiting at the gate, so I didn't feel as bad. A quick call to track manager, Butterbean, confirmed what I dreaded to hear.... our trip was for absolutely NOTHING.

Not that bonding with Ben, Mike, George, and W wasn't fun, but I could have done without the 3 am wake up and the 8+ hour commute. My back is killing me...

And, I get home to hear about John Force's horrific crash.... my heart breaks for the JFR team, and I wish him a speedy recovery! That team has been through so much, I just hope that he gets well very soon!

Labels: On the Road

Posted by Erica Ortiz at 6:15 PM | Permalink | Comments

My girl, Maria, sent me this pic of her rockin' the new Horsepower & Heels decal on her car!

YAY! We love it!

Posted by Erica Ortiz at 10:51 AM | Permalink | Comments

[blogged by: DEBBIE]
When my son was in 4th grade he came in from riding his bike one Saturday afternoon and asked me what a MILF was. It took me a few minutes to jog my memory as to where I had heard that before and when it finally popped into my head, OH! That's American Pie, the movie... I was mortified. I quickly blurted out. I have no idea turned, and ran into the laundry room to hide my embarrasment behind the dryer door until I could regain my composure. After all, what the hell was I supposed to say.

So now the kid is in High School and his school mates in the lunch room asked him if his Mom is a Jaguar Cheerleader, yesterday. Is it cool to be the "hot" Mom or not? At this point I am thinking, not.

Seems that my high schooler's friends have started to make him feel uncomfortable. Which, makes me uncomfortable. He's going through enough adjustment being a ninth grader this year. He doesn't need anything else to make him feel like he doesn't fit in. It's hard enough coming here from Miami and being half latin. Don't get me wrong, I love where I reside. I call it my very own Mayberry. But, you know being from Miami and moving to suburban Jacksonville isn't always easy when it comes to fitting in.

So, now we are both screwed. The soccer Moms will have nothing to do with me (which I don't mind) because I don't fit the mold here. Thank God. But, my high schooler's friends mothers don't want me around their kids because I am not 25 pounds overweight and dress like I shopped the sales rack at Talbots. I don't let my hair turn grey 4 inches from my roots before I run to the nearest CVS, and I wear make up when I go out somewhere nice. I care about my appearance and I feel I work at "staying attractive" for my husband. So, I guess the other Moms don't want me around their kids or husbands, for that matter because the husbands are dumb enough to make comments like. Wow, she's really nice. (We all know what that means) Or, She seems so down to earth. Or, the death sentence statement. She always looks so nice or even better "so put together". DONE.... I am done!, totally screwed. To top it all off, I drive a lowered car not a mini van or an Expedition. So, I have been ostracized from the "Soccer Mom" scene.

Seriously, I am a member of the PTO and when I sign up for volunteer work or purchases for the school, noone, I mean NO ONE ever calls me. I've even called them and they kindly say in their sweet as pie, southern drawl. Oh, no honey it's quite all right. Mary Sue already baked those 200 cup cakes by herself. Whatever! I guess I should start answering okay fine, but your son Bobby says he likes my cup cakes better. )ha- ha - ha - lol!) I know that was just wrong... Funny, but wrong.

My poor son. I guess this will be another life lesson that helps build character. I am sure one day he will look back and be proud.

-DEBBIE

Posted by Debbie at 11:24 AM | Permalink | Comments

One of my biggest depressing moments when I moved to Huntsville was the sad realization that one of my favorite restaurants was NOWHERE close to where I lived. Its hard enough having to learn where everything is in a new city, what local establishments are cool, etc. But when your favorite chain locale isn't in the area, its heartbreaking.

Especially considering that Huntsville is a larger market than Columbus, GA. I mean, really??? There are more people living here, and its only 4 hours away, so its not a regional thing, because this IS the same region. PANERA BREAD was seriously missing the boat here.

So much so, that the week I moved up and discovered I was PANERALESS, I wrote corporate Paneraians an email pleading for them to open a new store in Huntsville. I sent demographics, explained that Huntsville NEEDED a Panera, and showed the larger size versus their very successful Columbus market store. I mean really.... in the 2 years I lived in Columbus, my patronage would have funded the store alone. They couldn't afford NOT to open a new store.

But recently, my grey skies became bright! A "Coming Soon" sign... PANERA was opening in Huntsville! YAY! Now, I'm sure they had been planning it long before I sent them my very demanding email plea, but I'm going to let myself believe my fantasy that my letter moved them so much, they opened a Panera in less than 5 months, just for me!

So today I am proud to report that I had a WONDERFUL lunch.... and what exactly does a drag racer eat during her work day, you ask?

As Huntsvillians are all studying the new menu to them, I think the girl behind the counter was quite shocked when I blurted out in one breath:

"I'll have a You-Pick-2 broccoli cheese soup and greek salad, hold the
tomato, extra feta with a french baguette, a small drink, and a chocolate chip cookie, FOR HERE."

Oh PANERA, how I've missed you!

(I swear, they should be my corporate sponsor. Really... they can't find a better spokesperson...HINT, HINT!)

Posted by Erica Ortiz at 2:34 PM | Permalink | Comments

I used to balk at all those Hollywood B-list stars who complained about how exhausting their promotional schedules were, and laughed at reported "collapses" and "breakdowns". I mean really.... how hard is it to sit and have your hair/nails/makeup done for you, be dressed in exclusive garments by Hollywood fashion designers and answer some questions for a camera while smiling? It sounded like quite the life.... until I got a small scale dose of what goes into those magazine cover shoots and the 5 minute TV interviews.

This week, I had the pleasure of being interviewed for the Hispanic Today television show. The show is produced by the US Hispanic Chamber of Commerce (USHCC). Since my car is still a work-in-progress, and since my partner in crime is in FL, we decided that it would be best to shoot the episode at Dennis' shop, Excessive Engineering in Orlando, FL.

Being the multi-tasker that I am, I decided to capitalize on the fact that Debbie and I would both be there, and scheduled a photo shoot to get some shots for an upcoming feature in Auto A Fondo magazine and a few other magazine spreads that we are working on. So, I arranged for local Orlando photographer, Herbie Martin to come out and do some shots with us. And for all of this, we'd have Excessive's Eddie filming the whole thing for a behind the scenes for our PNN show. Talk about knocking out some birds with one stone!

But, being that I still have no vacation time at my new job, I had to cram all of this excitment in to less than 24 hour window. So I booked a flight from Atlanta -> Orlando: leaving at 6:30am and returning at 9:45pm. Simple enough? Wrong.

I live about 2 hours and 45 minutes from the Atlanta airport, which incidentally, also is an hour ahead in time difference on EST. In order to check-in on time for my 6am flight, I had to leave my house at midnight. I tried to grab a few hours of shut-eye after work, but it didn't work out so well. So, I make it to the airport, depart at 6am as scheduled, and land in Orlando at 8am, where Dennis came to pick me up. Meanwhile, Debbie was driving down from Jacksonville, and also had not slept (her from anticipation). Looked like we were in for a long day.

At the shop, Debbie proceeds with my makeup. I HATE makeup. Moreso that cakey, gooey, scary looking photo makeup than normal makeup, but still. And given that its Orlando Hot... like 100 degree, hot and sticky humid Hot, its doing more MELTING than staying on my face. The shop isn't A/C'd, and once the TV crew got there, the fans were shut off for the video/sound aspect. I think I lost about 5 lbs of water weight.

All said, everything went very well. I never imagined that a 5 minute segment would take the better part of 5 hours to record. We wrapped around 6pm, and I had about an hour left over before Robert and Shake dropped me off at the airport. My plane departed at 9:45pm back to Atlanta, and arrived at 11pm.

Tired, I was aching to get back on the road and climb into bed. It had now been almost 48 hours that I had been awake. I finally find my car in the daily parking area at ATL, and hop in to head home. But much to my absolute HORROR, there is a welcoming army awaiting me.... yep, ANTS. TONS of them.

Now, you're probably thinking... "dummy probably left food in her car." But that's just it... there was NOTHING in there for them to be attracted to. Apparently, the trees lining the parking lot are infested, and since I parked under one, they decided to jump ship. I made it about 20 itchy, scratchy, painful miles before I finally had to find somewhere, someway to get my unwelcomed friends out of my ride. They were actually all over the exterior, and crawling in through the door jams. So, I found a high pressure wash, and at midnight proceeded to blast those suckers off my car, out of the wheel wells, and out of every nook and cranny. Then, I sprayed the interior with bug spray, and finally continued home.

Problem is, when you're that sleep deprived, even the simpliest of trips can become far to complex. There are 3 turns I have to make on my trip home, and somehow I passed and got lost on each one. I was so frazzled by the last turn, I was in tears.... trying to stay awake. I didn't pull into my driveway until 3:30am. And rolled into bed after showering off the funk from the past 24 hours at 4am. So of course, the alarm at 6am came entirely too soon.

Off to work I went, utterly exhausted. I don't remember getting there actually, and struggled to stay alert all day. I ran straight through a red light and was almost hit not once, but twice... and learned my very important lesson... sleep isn't optional.

Posted by Erica Ortiz at 5:28 PM | Permalink | Comments

Aaaah, social networking sites. They are *EVERYTHING* nowadays. As if I didn't waste enough time online finding out as much trivial information about old friends in my life. And the choices! Let's see.... Myspace, Facebook, Friendster, Twitter, Yahoo Mash, etc. etc. The absolute downfall of productivity. Its an addicition.... and by now, surely the entire PLANET is in my social network. Because 6 degrees of Kevin Bacon can apply to us all thanks to social networking.

Because of its mainstream appeal, I waste the majority of my time on the most cliche and techo-saavy proclaimed UNCOOL Myspace world. Its the place where the most of my non-geeky, didn't attend college friends are found. God bless the day Myspace punk'd out Classmates.com-- because while I miss my homefries from high school, I wasn't paying to find them.

Now, while I realize that its a great PR medium, I am not one of those **ADD ME** whores on myspace who have like 9,465,374,474,801,392,575,663 bajillion friends. I have very stringent requirements of my myspace friends.
I must:
A) Know them personally.
B) Be related to them. or
C) see some sort of racing connection in their profile.

I maintain that I would not mind hanging out with any of the 1,549 people who I call my myspace friends. But, it also means that I am cosmically connected to the 201,321,577 in my extended network. I wonder where ole Kevin comes into that equation?

With all the geeky techno-buffs out there, surely SOMEONE can come up with a one-size-fits-all PROFILE for all of the above, no??? Or maybe I just haven't done my homework enough to find it? Sorta like what TRILLIAN is to the IM world. (geek note: Trillian is a freeware program that allows you to log into and chat on AIM, Yahoo!, MSN, etc. instant messengers all at once. Try it, you'll like it!)

So what social networking site do you frequent most, and why? Leave me a comment and let's hear it!

And do I know YOU from somewhere?
Find me lurking around where ever you frequent most! Join my network-- I'll be your friend!

• Erica's MYSPACE


• Erica's FACEBOOK


• Erica's PNN Network


• Erica's TWITTER

Posted by Erica Ortiz at 7:09 PM | Permalink | Comments

Ashley Force had a guest spot on the Late Show with Jay Leno. What a great thing for drag racing!





I love her comment about having a "Bad day at the office" in Seattle. Thankfully, I have not had any seriously "bad days at the office" to speak of in my own career. In fact, the extent of my guardrail contact was back in 2003, when my upper radiator hose came off at the 1/8th mile mark and doused the rear tires with coolant at 130mph. After wrestling with the steering wheel for what seemed like the longest split second ever, the right rear tire went flat and I tapped the wall in NMRA SS/O Bradenton Spring Break Shootout. I just ended up needing some new headlights and touch up paint. But I'm knocking on wood with that comment!


Its really refreshing to see drag racing becoming a mainstream media attraction. Its not all NASCAR anymore, and its great. The ladies of our sport are really doing such a great job getting the word out to the mainstream public about the great things happening in our sport.

Posted by Erica Ortiz at 11:09 AM | Permalink | Comments

About a week ago, I was interviewed by the local (Guntersville) newspaper, The Advertiser-Gleam. The article came out on the front page of Saturday's paper, a great story written by Cindy West about Horsepower & Heels and everything going on with the team right now.

I haven't lived in Grant for too long (since May), but the people here that I've met have all been fantastic. Most have been racing friends, so I haven't had the opportunity to make many new friends yet. In a town where 99% of the people know everyone by name, its definitely a small, cozy community. So, it was a little interesting when I stopped into the Grant Pharmacy today, and the teller asked if I was "That girl in the paper". When I told her she was correct, she said "Oh good, a bunch of people were in here asking if anyone knew who you were... at least now I can say you were in here."

I kind of laughed.... such a tight community, and I'm sure they were taken back that no one knew who the "new girl" was. I'm kind of the "foreigner" being from FL originally, but they are all nice as can be and I love living here.

Labels: press

Posted by Erica Ortiz at 3:31 PM | Permalink | Comments

This weekend, my travels will be taking me 7 hours north to Highlands, Illinois. Why? To test fit in a Nitrous Pro Mod that I may have a chance to drive some next season.

Late last year, I received an email from a gentleman asking if I'd be interested in driving an Outlaw Pro Mod. Hmmmm, lemmee think about it..umm..YES! Pro Mods are my passion, and of course I'd love any opportunity to drive one, especially a faster one than mine.

The email came from Dennis Price of TEAM Motorsports, Inc. in St. Louis. He has owned/partnered with several very competitive nitrous Pro Mods in the midwest (Donnie Little's 68 Camaro, Aaron Hodges '63 Corvette, John Deflorian's Corvette, Eric Steffey's Camaro, etc.) over the years. Of course, I promptly returned his call.

Upon speaking to Dennis, I learned that he was in the process of building a new car, and was looking for a shoe to compete in ADRL Pro Nitrous and various Quick 8 Pro Mod shootouts in 2007. With all of his previous successes, and the talent and experience of his former drivers, I would definitely have some tall shoes to fill. Having spent so much time around Dan Parker/Bill George's Pro Mod, I learned a lot about Nitrous Pro Mods, so luckily I was not completely lost on the idea. I explained my current experience, my eagerness and willingness to learn and work hard, and my belief that with proper instruction, I could quickly adapt to the differences between a 4.36 second (1/8th mile) turbo pro mod, and the 4.00's that a nitrous pro mod would be running. Initially, he expected the car to near completion in March, so after some discussion, we agreed to touch bases again after the new year.

Of course, the new year came and went, and with everything happening around that time for me personally, I did not have the chance to follow back up with Dennis until recently. Remembering that I had not seen or heard of any new cars in competition, I sent out an email to Dennis to see how the project was coming and if he'd found his shoe.

Much like my own delays, Dennis responded this week that it had taken a little longer to complete than he expected and that they were now nearing completion. He had still not decided on a driver, and asked me to come up and sit in the car and talk further in person if I was still interested.

So, with that, I am off tomorrow to Illinois to meet Dennis and sit in his new car. He described the car to me as having a House of Kolor tangerine paint job with a white gold flake/white pearl strip. It sounds stunning, I am excited to see it.

Cross your fingers for me! More to follow soon!

Posted by Erica Ortiz at 12:28 PM | Permalink | Comments

Now that the stir has been created with Ashley winning the hottest AOL athlete title, everyone seems to be big on polling for the hottest drag racer... even I've managed to make someone's poll.

Great, now I get to see how I stack up against Ashley... ::cringes::

Anyways, to see how little ole me ranks in the poll, feel free to check it out yourself.

(I don't mind sympathy votes....hint. hint.)

http://www.dragracereview.org/

**UPDATE** The polls have closed, and I lost by a landslide to Ashley Force and a super comp racer by the name of Kristi Berry. As expected, but hey... I think I came in 3rd with a surprisingly respectable 1000+ votes. I love my friends! Thanks for making me feel loved!

Posted by Erica Ortiz at 4:43 PM | Permalink | Comments

Peanut Butter Sandwiches for lunch. Peanut Butter sandwiches for dinner. Maybe a little bit of chocolate mid-day to keep me sane.... all just to keep racing.

Its crunch time, folks. That means that the little expenses of finishing the car are starting to add up. I think I'm about to turn into a Peanut from my Peter Pan diet, but I do what it takes to keep going. Unfortunately, I've had some set backs this year that I wasn't expecting... and that really cost me. But I've been working my tail end off night and day to make it up. (anyone need a website done? sponsor proposals? public relations coordinator? I'm open late... and I'm inexpensive!)

Folks ask me all the time how they can help the team out... usually, I just smile and say thanks. Well, now's your chance, folks.

You can now support Horsepower & Heels in several different ways:

• SPONSOR US- We're marketing professionals and will represent your company well!
• TAKE US SHOPPING - We have a WISHLIST of stuff we want/need. Help us out!
• DONATE TO US - You can send us donations that are MUCH appreciated, and get your name on our fan appreciation page!
• SHOP OUR MALL - Buy cool Horsepower & Heels merchandise~ you'll feel good for helping, and look great too!

We're not picky, and we're really grateful! Get us back on the FAST TRACK TODAY!

Posted by Erica Ortiz at 9:15 PM | Permalink | Comments