Cobra GT
08-13-2010, 05:11 AM
Dear NOLA Motorsports Park::cool:
First of all I would just like to thank the owners and the forces behind putting this project in motion and making it a reality. I have lived in Metairie Louisiana since 1966 when my dad signed with the New Orleans Saints, the expansion year of the team. Though not a true native from the New Orleans area unfortunately my birth place was Green Bay Wisconsin when he was playing for the Packers. I was born in December during the season but we lived in Baton Rouge in the off season. But since my parents are from the south, my dad from Baton Rouge and my mom from Natchez, Ms and I have lived here forty plus years I consider myself a southern boy. Anyway since I was very young I was very fascinated with race cars, hot rods and any thing that was fast. I can remember making my dad bring me to Laplace Drag Strip and I could tell then that he did not like that very much. We also use to go to the dirt circle track on Almedia Road and unfortunately he wasn’t to cool with that either. When I got a little older he lightened up a bit and supplied the motocross bike and in high school the muscle cars that I tore up regularly, motors, rear ends, transmission, etc. At about age 20 I had to start supporting my life long weakness of racing, and feed my adrenaline craving body by going fast. The first thing I got into was drag racing motorcycles, because I think he would never buy me a street bike. That was a good decision on his part, because I probably would not have gotten into it if he had. Boy when I think back on those days that was a blast, literally a 9 second blast of pure adrenaline. Some racers and hot rodders can relate to this; life takes turns, low and behold children cometh and you know what that unusually means, liquidation sale. So I was out of the racing and hot rodding business and went all domestic, the wife was happy. It was about two years since the Lord blessed me with my first child, a son. I had been hearing about the dirt oval on Hwy. 90 in Avondale. I decided to go and check it out, low and behold my previous weakness had returned. I went to the races Saturday night and Monday afternoon I was cutting up and building a 78 Monte Carlo to race Street Stock. The wife was unhappy. Racing dirt oval is a blast; it’s not exactly like the drags. You are in that car for at least 15 to 20 minutes weather you are under caution or full on green flag, the adrenaline is flowing the whole time. It takes several hours to come down after the night is over. I had a partner that helped with finances a little and wasn’t real into getting his hands dirty but I guess ever little bit helps. After a while He bailed on me and left me holding the bag. It started not to be that much fun anymore, I would work on the car all week till late at night usually. Saturday would come and I was so tired I was like a zombie and it was time to race. I stayed as long as I could till some youngest came into the turn under a yellow flag and T-BONED me wide open. This knuckle head did not have a clue, and he did receive a few choice words and then some. The track management said that racing I said that blank-blank and the some. I think that was that tracks motto “oh well that’s racing”. I was through so I thought, I took it to my chassis man to stretch it back straight and he talked me out of fixing it and said just go race so I took his advice and went on my way. When I pulled the motor out to fix something or another I could not get it back in due to the new chassis reconstruction at the track. The wife was happy. I am really through now so with a good race motor and not a car I said I will just buy a boat. The wife was unhappy. I pulled the race cam and heads off and mellowed the motor out then stabbed it in my new toy. I was going to finally have some fun, and the old saying is “jumping from the skillet to the frying pan”. So I guess slam dancing yellow fin tuna offshore is much fun but it not racing. After a stint of doing the boat thing I had enough of that but I was not going to give up my race motor and pulled it out of the boat. The wife was happy some what and asked me when I was going to grow up. Ironically when I went to sell the boat some guys racing late models were looking to do the same thing I had just did. Needless to say after I told them I had got out of racing, got into boats, got out of boats because it was not doing it for me they did not buy my boat. That’s funny I could see there shop from a main street when I passed by and I never did see a boat in front of there place, but I did see race cars. That was a good while ago I wonder if those guys are still racing. Eventually I did take a beating but sold the boat, the wife was happy again. I think during one of the lay off periods after racing dirt and between the boat I spent a couple thousand dollars on R/C cars and went racing just to try to satisfy that craving to race. This all ended in the early ninety’s and I went dormant till about a year and a half ago,
Alright so life does come full circle for some of us. Remember that child that cameth 20 years ago, he is into hot rods and racing. After Katrina we moves back to the north shore and I got back into the construction business from the persuasion of my wife and my son. So I retooled and was back in the construction business again. I tried to retire and get out of it several time and wound end up back in it just like the hot rodding and the racing stuff. My son went to work with me, save his money and always wanted a Fox Body Mustang. I told him I would help him get something newer because I figured I would probably be turning wrenched on it, so I was trying to minimize my head aches. Not knowing any thing about Ford’s new modular (SOHC & DOHC) motors we bought a 1996 Mustang GT. When I started researching this new OHC motor, the particular 96 model was the lowest horse power rating of all of them. Boy did that let the air out of his sails. Money was flowing and he started ordering parts, headers, cams, intake, throttle body, etc and I said I would build a motor for him. Looking ant that OHC motor was a little intimidating, it sure was no small block Chevy. The wife was happy and so I was I. I was back in the game and she didn’t realize it. Times were good and it wasn’t six month after we bought that Mustang GT I went and bought myself a 97 Mustang Cobra. The wife was real unhappy. I had to buy the Cobra because I was not going to let my son have a car faster than my car. Well things slowed up and by that time there was smoke coming out my wife’s nostrils so one of the cars had to go. I decided to sell the GT and me and son would share the Cobra. I love it my wife can’t do anything about it because it’s our son’s car and don’t you want to help him fix it up. I am not going to say how much I have thrown at it because if she ever reads this she will have a conniption. We are shooting for about 400 RWHP with this round of goodies we are installing now. I have ordered a set of heads and they are in transit at the moment so I guess 500 RWHP will be the next mark. Then I think we will go with forced induction and that ought to do for the street/strip and now road course Cobra. Here’s some irony for you a good friend of mine that move to out side of Birmingham I was just telling him what me and my son are doing with the Cobra. He has met a young fellow about the age as my son that have a small engine repair shop and race karts. You can see where I am going with this, so I am researching kart racing and came across nolamotor.com site. So after finding this site and there is a new track being build 15 minutes from the house ah let me see, I’m in. This post or letter started out as a thank you and turned into a biography of some sort and I guess could be used to try to get the forum going. I was so excited I just started writing. But first of all I want to thank people I don’t even know for building this facility. I just can’t believe it that I was thinking about getting into kart racing and to find out there will be a track available so close to home that is unbelievable. This is really cool people from what little I have read it looks like we are going to have a first class motor sports park in our back yard. I always said if I won the lottery I would build a drag strip, asphalt, dirt or some sorts of Motor sports Park here, we have never had any thing like this here. Thanks again to all are contributing to getting this thing started. I can’t wait, peace. :):):)
First of all I would just like to thank the owners and the forces behind putting this project in motion and making it a reality. I have lived in Metairie Louisiana since 1966 when my dad signed with the New Orleans Saints, the expansion year of the team. Though not a true native from the New Orleans area unfortunately my birth place was Green Bay Wisconsin when he was playing for the Packers. I was born in December during the season but we lived in Baton Rouge in the off season. But since my parents are from the south, my dad from Baton Rouge and my mom from Natchez, Ms and I have lived here forty plus years I consider myself a southern boy. Anyway since I was very young I was very fascinated with race cars, hot rods and any thing that was fast. I can remember making my dad bring me to Laplace Drag Strip and I could tell then that he did not like that very much. We also use to go to the dirt circle track on Almedia Road and unfortunately he wasn’t to cool with that either. When I got a little older he lightened up a bit and supplied the motocross bike and in high school the muscle cars that I tore up regularly, motors, rear ends, transmission, etc. At about age 20 I had to start supporting my life long weakness of racing, and feed my adrenaline craving body by going fast. The first thing I got into was drag racing motorcycles, because I think he would never buy me a street bike. That was a good decision on his part, because I probably would not have gotten into it if he had. Boy when I think back on those days that was a blast, literally a 9 second blast of pure adrenaline. Some racers and hot rodders can relate to this; life takes turns, low and behold children cometh and you know what that unusually means, liquidation sale. So I was out of the racing and hot rodding business and went all domestic, the wife was happy. It was about two years since the Lord blessed me with my first child, a son. I had been hearing about the dirt oval on Hwy. 90 in Avondale. I decided to go and check it out, low and behold my previous weakness had returned. I went to the races Saturday night and Monday afternoon I was cutting up and building a 78 Monte Carlo to race Street Stock. The wife was unhappy. Racing dirt oval is a blast; it’s not exactly like the drags. You are in that car for at least 15 to 20 minutes weather you are under caution or full on green flag, the adrenaline is flowing the whole time. It takes several hours to come down after the night is over. I had a partner that helped with finances a little and wasn’t real into getting his hands dirty but I guess ever little bit helps. After a while He bailed on me and left me holding the bag. It started not to be that much fun anymore, I would work on the car all week till late at night usually. Saturday would come and I was so tired I was like a zombie and it was time to race. I stayed as long as I could till some youngest came into the turn under a yellow flag and T-BONED me wide open. This knuckle head did not have a clue, and he did receive a few choice words and then some. The track management said that racing I said that blank-blank and the some. I think that was that tracks motto “oh well that’s racing”. I was through so I thought, I took it to my chassis man to stretch it back straight and he talked me out of fixing it and said just go race so I took his advice and went on my way. When I pulled the motor out to fix something or another I could not get it back in due to the new chassis reconstruction at the track. The wife was happy. I am really through now so with a good race motor and not a car I said I will just buy a boat. The wife was unhappy. I pulled the race cam and heads off and mellowed the motor out then stabbed it in my new toy. I was going to finally have some fun, and the old saying is “jumping from the skillet to the frying pan”. So I guess slam dancing yellow fin tuna offshore is much fun but it not racing. After a stint of doing the boat thing I had enough of that but I was not going to give up my race motor and pulled it out of the boat. The wife was happy some what and asked me when I was going to grow up. Ironically when I went to sell the boat some guys racing late models were looking to do the same thing I had just did. Needless to say after I told them I had got out of racing, got into boats, got out of boats because it was not doing it for me they did not buy my boat. That’s funny I could see there shop from a main street when I passed by and I never did see a boat in front of there place, but I did see race cars. That was a good while ago I wonder if those guys are still racing. Eventually I did take a beating but sold the boat, the wife was happy again. I think during one of the lay off periods after racing dirt and between the boat I spent a couple thousand dollars on R/C cars and went racing just to try to satisfy that craving to race. This all ended in the early ninety’s and I went dormant till about a year and a half ago,
Alright so life does come full circle for some of us. Remember that child that cameth 20 years ago, he is into hot rods and racing. After Katrina we moves back to the north shore and I got back into the construction business from the persuasion of my wife and my son. So I retooled and was back in the construction business again. I tried to retire and get out of it several time and wound end up back in it just like the hot rodding and the racing stuff. My son went to work with me, save his money and always wanted a Fox Body Mustang. I told him I would help him get something newer because I figured I would probably be turning wrenched on it, so I was trying to minimize my head aches. Not knowing any thing about Ford’s new modular (SOHC & DOHC) motors we bought a 1996 Mustang GT. When I started researching this new OHC motor, the particular 96 model was the lowest horse power rating of all of them. Boy did that let the air out of his sails. Money was flowing and he started ordering parts, headers, cams, intake, throttle body, etc and I said I would build a motor for him. Looking ant that OHC motor was a little intimidating, it sure was no small block Chevy. The wife was happy and so I was I. I was back in the game and she didn’t realize it. Times were good and it wasn’t six month after we bought that Mustang GT I went and bought myself a 97 Mustang Cobra. The wife was real unhappy. I had to buy the Cobra because I was not going to let my son have a car faster than my car. Well things slowed up and by that time there was smoke coming out my wife’s nostrils so one of the cars had to go. I decided to sell the GT and me and son would share the Cobra. I love it my wife can’t do anything about it because it’s our son’s car and don’t you want to help him fix it up. I am not going to say how much I have thrown at it because if she ever reads this she will have a conniption. We are shooting for about 400 RWHP with this round of goodies we are installing now. I have ordered a set of heads and they are in transit at the moment so I guess 500 RWHP will be the next mark. Then I think we will go with forced induction and that ought to do for the street/strip and now road course Cobra. Here’s some irony for you a good friend of mine that move to out side of Birmingham I was just telling him what me and my son are doing with the Cobra. He has met a young fellow about the age as my son that have a small engine repair shop and race karts. You can see where I am going with this, so I am researching kart racing and came across nolamotor.com site. So after finding this site and there is a new track being build 15 minutes from the house ah let me see, I’m in. This post or letter started out as a thank you and turned into a biography of some sort and I guess could be used to try to get the forum going. I was so excited I just started writing. But first of all I want to thank people I don’t even know for building this facility. I just can’t believe it that I was thinking about getting into kart racing and to find out there will be a track available so close to home that is unbelievable. This is really cool people from what little I have read it looks like we are going to have a first class motor sports park in our back yard. I always said if I won the lottery I would build a drag strip, asphalt, dirt or some sorts of Motor sports Park here, we have never had any thing like this here. Thanks again to all are contributing to getting this thing started. I can’t wait, peace. :):):)