We always kept in touch and shared our progress in racing and the thirst for going faster. Tod developed into Funny car then into A-Fuel Funny car (which was a hard path to take) in his Back in Black Funny Car. In the background his son Alex was following in his footsteps in running the second Black in Black Alky Funny Car. It was quite a lot to take on for sure, but with a tight operation and focus they had both progressed well in their own fields.

Moving forward, I have been an avid fan of Funny Car Chaos for a number of years, a class where you can rock up and race with little barriers or red tape but with safety still the number one priority. The competition has gone from strength to strength with this event starting the 2024 Funny Car Chaos series with the biggest field ever since the promotion started. Was it going to be epic? Absolutely!

The Funny Car Chaos organisation is headed up by Chris Graves and he has seen it grow into such an animal, with Texas Motorplex fielding 50 Funny Cars and 30 Nitro cars including a mix of Fuel altered, Funny Cars and front engine dragsters.

I had been talking to Tod about my wish to come to the event. In turn he had offered me a crew position on the team. I had hummed as money was tight - I normally spend it faster than I can earn it (you might die tomorrow!). Tod continued asking, and I said to Lynn that maybe we should watch the purse, as we have a lot of UK racing costs coming up real soon. However, I came home the next day and Lynn had booked the flights and told me it was far too good an opportunity to miss, and I would regret not going. Was she right? She so was!!

I was right onto Tod and his reply was “fantastic, tickets sorted, food sorted, drink sorted and bring your old clothes as I would certainly need them".

We had a great day in the Stockyards near Dallas Fort Worth and headed to the track the next day. On the event's opening day, Wednesday, we rolled in and all you could see was rigs rolling in, in every conceivable combination, we wondered around in awe of everything and everybody, no time to waste, the camp was set up and both cars were located on their race jacks.

Alex had been testing, so his car was more or less ready to go, so he wasn’t going out until Friday, which eased the pressure slightly, Tod on the other hand had been working flat out over the last 4 months transforming his A-Fuel car to a full Nitro car, no mean feet, with the help and guidance from long-time friend Scott Palmer (Scott Palmer Racing) who is still recovering well after a bad crash but moving forward at pace to be back racing real soon.

Tod's engine hadn’t even been fired as the last parts only came the day before to finalise the combination. After numerous checks, the car was fired on Alky to get all the timing and twin magneto set up to be at the correct place. Then to the absolute delight of Tod it was finally fired up on Nitro. Boy, this stuff sure does wake up an engine, makes you scared of it and what power it can give you, however respect is the main criteria when committing to the planet of Nitro.

Thursday saw Tod make two hits, baby steps and making sure the data is all correct with nothing untoward. Friday was qualification day with Funny Cars running at 2pm and 6pm, with Nitro Cars running at 4pm and 8pm, in reality these sessions run right into midnight, absolutely fantastic if you want to see Nitro exhaust flames.

Alex also started his campaign, and it is not just about going fast, you must be smart and try and place yourself into one of the four fields A, B, C and D to ensure you have a competitive chance to win!

Tod was still only testing as it was early days but still manged to be in the Nitro Car show for eliminations on Saturday.

All this time, myself and Lynn never poured a glass of juice, made a breakfast, dinner or tea, or poured a beer. The crew were out of this world, those that cooked, those that mixed Nitro, those that spanner, all a well-oiled machine. I was allowed to do what I could and help where I can, privileged to say the least, I was buzzing, I think the adrenaline was a key player in keeping going, I have to say I can’t remember the last time I worked this hard. Friday we tore the engine down completely, we started at 8am and finished the next morning at 4am, however I was allowed a long lie until 8.30 the same morning lol.

I did find it strange how late they start to race and with no noise restrictions how long they can race into the night.

I did however manage some time to wonder in awe of all the cars, teams and managed to bump into a few familiar faces like, John Hale, Camp Stanley, Mark, and Andrew Flavell to mention a few!

The kilt was in hand as you would expect, it’s not easy keeping it behaved when Funny Cars are burning out past you with open headers or lying on the ground setting the wheelie bars up on both cars, but I managed to stay respectful and a huge thanks to all for a shout out by the presenters to Lynn and myself, that was a lovely touch.

I have to say that EVERY single person I met at this event were the nicest people possible, taking time to find out who we were and what we were about, to be honest we are all the same only separated by five thousand miles!

What I also quickly realised was the commitment behind the scenes by every team, the vast equipment needed to run these cars and the commitment by the crew who are the backbone to the success of all the teams racing,

We stayed at the track and sucked up all the atmosphere from the Wednesday until we departed on the Sunday, I had a smile on my face the whole time. Lynn,  thanks for making sure I went, it was something I will never forget.

It's Saturday and race day is upon us. Both Alex and Tod managed the third qualifier and both headed into the first round of eliminations. In round one, Alex blew out a burst panel on the blower. Later we could see it was caused by a bent valve and it curtailed his ability to go through the next round, much to the annoyance of Alex. Tod was ready to run, with a revised tune, but a wild ride caused by a ten cent “O” ring failure put fluid under his tyre and, thankfully he was all ok but certainly scaring the sh$$ out of his mum and wife Pamela, thankfully no major damage but the body is now in need of some TLC.

Lynn and myself have to thank everyone in the Back in Black Funny Car Team for everything they did for us, true friends, it makes the difference, it made our vacation very special and something we will never forget, I would also like to thank every person we met and the kindness shown for a wee couple from Scotland.

I you read this save up some pennies and book the flight, I can tell you one thing, you will not be disappointed!

See you all at the track REAL soon.