TAN Driver Blog-Karen Stalba-TAD

I am getting pretty excited to start the 2012 season. The guys have been working hard to get the car ready and I've been gathering up all the parts for them. We were at the Division 1 Banquet a few weekends ago to get our hardware, and it was a pretty great view from the podium! After many years trying, to go out and win the division with my dad as crew chief is something pretty special. Most of us race with our families, so I know many people have felt the way I do. I have great people beside me. My husband Tommy is going to start his season off in Orlando for the points race, then he is racing Gainesville, so the week in between, we are going where all Champions go -- DISNEY WORLD! Tommy's parents are going with us and it should be a great time...first time taking the kids on an airplane...just me and my mother-in-law. I'll be loaded up with my iPad and Emily's Mobigo to keep the kids busy on the place, and a little Angry Birds on my cell phone should keep them occupied for a bit!

In the off season, we keep pretty busy. With all of Tommy's race cars, he always has something going on, and we've had some house issues, and the business is always pretty busy. Our son, Paul, is playing Ice Hockey two days a week and it is so stinking cute to see those little 5 and 6 year olds skating around. He loves it. He starts kindergarten next year...feels like just yesterday that I was taking a year off of racing to have him.

I need to get back to the track so I can start walking again to get rid of the extra pounds I gained over the winter! Only good thing about extra weight is that my firesuit pants won't fall down so easily! There is always a ton of cooking and eating going on in my house...all I've done since we stopped racing is cook. Thanksgiving-Christmas-New Year's-Poker Game...yes, we had a basement full of 40 guys playing cards in front of a wall of Wallys and we had a feast of food. I love to cook, so I don't mind much and it is always a good time. Even Stat Guy Lewis Bloom made it out for the evening. I make Sweet Potato Ravioli that Tommy goes nuts over...I had to find something to do with the cases of sweet potatoes that the local farm friends bring us! Tommy says I need to sell them to help fund the race car. If I tried that, I don't think I'd ever make it out of the kitchen to actually race! Well, off to sleep...gotta snooze while the kids do so that I can get over this bad cold I have. Until next time!

Karen Stalba is the driver of the AA Auto Salvage/Stalba Motorsports A/Fuel Dragster. Find Stalba Motorsports on Facebook, follow Karen on Twitter at @KarenStalba and check out http://www.karenstalba.com/





TAN Driver Blog-Karen Stalba-TAD

Hello everyone, it's Karen Stalba. Thank you for taking time from your daily life to catch up on mine. It's late-December and freezing here in New Jersey. The holidays are always busy and with Christmas coming, family members keep asking what I want. I have a terrific family and come January 14th, we will have that great Division 1 Top Alcohol Dragster Championship Trophy, so that should about do it! The box of Arias Pistons that arrived at the shop the other day were a good start though! I did however see a commercial for the Crafstman Universal Toolkit. I sure could use that here in the house. My kitchen counter usually looks like a mini Auto Body Shop, fixing cars and diecasts for our son. I'm pretty handy, but I always have to walk way out to the shop or trailer to find tools.

Some of us on the Stalba Team were in Orlando for the PRI show a couple of weekends ago and had a great time. The show was pretty casual; not overly crowded, which worked out great because it gave us a chance to talk to our suppliers and meet some face to face for the first time.

Just as good as the show was, so was the nightlife for the one night we were able to get out. Tommy and I had a couple of kid-free days (first away together in several years without the munchkins!) so it was crazy to be out and not have to worry about rushing home. We visited a fun place called Howl at the Moon, which featured a great band and a great crowd. Stalba Motorsports was well-represented in the crowd and on the mirrors behind the band....thanks to several friends who put up some dollars to give us some praise in shoe polish! Thanks also to Lucas Oil Products for coming on board again for the 2012 season. We hope to make them proud.

The new Regional Schedule for the Top Alcohol categories has raised a lot of questions, and we are still waiting to hear all the details as they become available, but it should be an interesting year. I know that everyone has their opinions on how to fix things, but for now, we will see how this works out. I am pretty happy they let us have 4 regions. I hope for the growth of the category that car counts do in fact improve and the tracks can promote us and provide a quality show for their attendees. Maybe we can find ways to help our tracks provide a quality show and increase awareness.

We are tentative for the Gainesville regional, but there is a lot to be done between now and then. With some end-of-year fuel shut-off problems we found, we would really like to do some testing before we travel so far. I noticed in testing at Atco that the fuel shut-off was off after my test run, and I didn't do it myself. To be sure, on the next pass, I glanced at it a couple times (not easy to look down going over 200 mph), but I watched it try to work it's way shut. So without the remote shutdown safety devices that are normally present divisional and national events, I noticed the problem. If that has been happening all year, then we found a major source of holes in our aluminum parts that go up and down! Thanks to the PRI show, we met up with Watterman pumps and bought a fuel shutoff with a detent. That should solve the problem!

My dad and Erick have been spending a lot of time in the shop getting things ready. I couldn't do this without them. Erick is meticulous and keeps everything looking beautiful. The timing was perfect for him to be getting out of Funny Car racing to join up with us.

Next stop for us is the Division 1 Banquet in Hershey, PA. We haven't been to the banquet since Tommy last won the Division in Super Comp, one of his six Division 1 Championships. I hope someday I'll be able to catch him in that category. I always say I am going to get some doll hair and dress up my two Wallys with long, dark hair so that I can quickly point out those Wallys on the wall of fame that are actually mine! The banquet is always a fun time to catch up with everyone. I'm still working on my speech, and with Bob Frey in attendance, I have a huge standard to try and meet!

Here's wishing everyone a Merry Christmas and Happy New Year. In the meantime, you can check out my website, http://www.karenstalba.com/, or follow me on Twitter, @KarenStalba, or find us on Facebook at Stalba Motorsports.


Karen Stalba is the driver of the Division 1-based Stalba Motorsports/Lucas Oil Products Top Alcohol Dragster. You can follow her on Twitter at @KarenStalba.

TAN Reader's Choice Awards-TAD Divisional Champion

The Reader's Choice for Crew Chief of the Year is Jerry Maddern, tuner of the Chris Demke-driven Peen-Rite Top Alcohol Dragster.

This is the third week in the Top Alcohol News Reader's Choice Awards. To vote, place your vote on our Facebook wall or tweet it to us on Twitter. If you are not on these social networks, send your vote to us in an email. Another way to vote is the poll on the right side of this website. This week's category is....

2011 Top Alcohol Dragster Divisional Champion of the Year
This award recognizes the reader's choice for the Divisional champion of the year in the Top Alcohol Dragster class. The nominees are below:

Division 1-Karen Stalba
Driving a former Morgan Lucas car, Karen Stalba secured the Division 1 championship with a win at the Epping race, along with back-to-back runner-up finishes at Atco and zMax Dragway. Stalba's only first round loss came at her first race of the season. 33 point lead over #2 Mike Kosky

Division 2-Duane Shields
Also the 2011 National champion, Duane Shields experienced one of his best seasons yet. His first win of the season came at his second race, at Cecil. Other highlights include 3 more wins and a runner-up finish. Shields' performance was not as consistent, with 3 first round losses. 190 point lead over #2 Rich McPhillips

Division 3-Bill Reichert
5-time National champion Bill Reichert secured another Division 3 championship, thanks to 4 wins and a pair of runner-up finishes. Like Stalba, Reichert fell short in round one once. Though he didn't take the National title again, he impressed in D3. 148 point lead over #2 Marty Thacker

Division 4-Mike Manners
Known for his sleek, Spitzer-built "The Shredder" A/Fueler, Mike Manners had a successful season in Division 4 competition. He secured the title with a pair of runner-up finishes, sandwiched in between a set of wins. Manners also won the IHRA Pro Fuel Dragster championship. 64 point lead over #2 James Thompson Jr.

Division 5-Randy Meyer
National Championship tuner Randy Meyer resumed his winning ways in 2011. Acting as team owner, crew chief and driver, Meyer multitasked his way to the championship. Starting off the season with a runner-up finish at Cecil, he went on to win the Great Bend and Cordova races. 32 point lead over #2 Richard Putz

Division 6-Joey Severance
One of the two Blown Alcohol drivers to win a divisional championship this year, Joey Severance used his supercharged bullet to reach the finals of every divisional that he entered. He lost in only two of those final round appearances, out of seven finals. This propelled Joey to a potential National championship, but Duane Shields ultimately took that honor. 105 point lead over #2 Ray Martin

Division 7-Jim Whiteley
The other Blown Alcohol pilot to win a division title, Jim Whiteley began his 2011 campaign for the championship with a runner-up finish at Chandler, Arizona. His performance picked up later in the season, where he won three races along with another runner-up. Whiteley's YNot Racing team will also continue to field an Alcohol Funny Car in 2012 with Annie Whiteley behind the wheel. 42 point lead over #2 Chris Demke

Duane Shields Wins the NHRA Top Alcohol Dragster Championship

Courtesy of Rich Bailey

Pomona CA - After fourteen years of trying, Duane Shields' bid to win the NHRA Top Alcohol Dragster World Championship was accomplished in dramatic fashion at the NHRA Automobile Club of Southern California NHRA Finals. "After fourteen years of trying it feels pretty awesome but it still hasn't sunk in." the newly crowned Champion said.

The drama unfolded in Pomona as only one competitor, Joey Severance, could pass Duane at the final race of the year to win the championship but he would have to win the race in order to do it. Duane could not claim any more points so all he could do is to draw Severance sometime in eliminations and take him out of competition but the two never met up during eliminations.

Severance struggled in qualifying but made the show and beat John Finke in round one as Finke jumped gun and left early. Duane would now have to wait until the final day of the 2011 season to be crowned the Champion. Also in round one, Duane faced Michael Manners driving the "Shredder" entry from Texas. Duane won the round with a 5.42 at 267 MPH over Manners' 6.19 at 253 MPH. "Going to the wire is great for the cameras, the media and the fans but it's terrible for the racers" Duane remarked.

In round two all eyes were on Severance to see if he would stay alive for another round. Severance would make his best run of the weekend but lost the race to Mark Taliaferro. At that moment the Shortline Express team had won their first World Championship. After a very brief celebration at the starting line it was back to business as Duane then faced Aaron Tatum. Tatum then red lit giving the win to Duane who recorded a 5.43 at 264 MPH to advance to the semifinal round.

Duane would end his Championship season in the semifinals by losing an incredibly close race to Ray Martin as both competitors ran identical 5.46 ET's. Martin managed to secure the win with a better reaction time. "We never really got a handle on the tune up this weekend. Testing in Vegas hurt us but we will get everything sorted out in the offseason and come back to Pomona to defend our title and make another run at the Championship" Shields promised.

With Duane out of competition he had some time to reflect on the winning the Championship. "I have realized how hard it is to win the Championship as everything has to go right and we're the last team win it under the old points system. I am disappointed that my biggest supporters including my dad, Lee Shields, and Laurie Nason are no longer with us to enjoy this moment but they are watching from above".

Duane Shields would like to thank his sponsors including: Brad Anderson Enterprise, Hussey Copper, Johnny Walker RV, Meadows Construction, Molinari Clutches, Moore Performance, NGK Spark Plugs, PBM/Erson Cams and Race Fuel Energy Drinks. He also wants to thank his crew including: Bill Jones, Dana and Sheryl Hopewell, Ralph Freeman and Chris Zedaker.

Shields Uses Vegas Race for Testing

Courtesy of Rich Bailey

Las Vegas - With no more points to claim and new knowledge to be gained, the Shortline Express team used the final divisional event of the 2011 season as a chance to do some testing at their home track in Las Vegas. "We never get the chance to test thoughout the year so we decided to try some different ideas on every pass since we couldn't claim points at this race anyway," Duane explained.

Even in test mode the Shortline Express team qualified for the tough eight car field. Over fifteen cars tried to qualify and some of the best teams in the class didn't make the show. Duane qualified seventh with a 5.40 at 257 MPH. "It was a real challenge. I'm just glad we qualified because this was not an easy field to get into" he said.

Ironically, in round one Duane faced the only man who can stop him from winning the Championship in Pomona: Joey Severance. If Severance can win the race in Pomona he will pass Duane in the points chase and win the Championship. Both racers are out of divisional events they can claim so this weekend's festivities are a warm up for the big showdown for the Championship at the Auto Club Finals in less than a week.

At the light, Shields was out of the gate first with an 0.062 to Severance's close 0.064. Once off the starting line, Shields began to suffer some brutal shake 100 feet out. He peddled it but was unable to recover. He then peddled it a second time but to no avail as Severance's lead was insurmountable so Duane wisely abandoned the run. "Obviously I would have liked to have won. The air was great and the conditions were favorable to both cars" Shields said.

Duane then revealed his plans for Pomona. "We'll be ready for Pomona. We are going back to the tune up that got us to where we are now in the points. Our plan is to win the race so we will win the Championship. But we'll have to see how it all plays out. It's going to be an exciting week and a lot of fun" Shields said.

As always, the Shortline Express team would like to thank Hussey Copper and NGK Spark Plugs.

Shields Holds on to the Points Lead After Las Vegas

Courtesy of Rich Bailey

Las Vegas - Duane Shields might have lost in the first round but he's still content with the results of the 11th annual Big O Tires NHRA Nationals. The Vegas event has narrowed down the Top Alcohol Dragster Championship to just Duane and Joey Severance, all other drivers in contention were mathematically eliminated by the end of the race.

Severance went out in the first round after breaking a rear end. Now, Severance will have to win the race in Pomona in order to win the title. Otherwise, Duane Shields will be crowned the Champion.

Duane qualified eighth with a 5.38 at 261 MPH. "We were happ with the third qualifying pass as the car started coming around." Shields said. His eighth qualifying position put him up against part time Top Fuel driver Scott Palmer who was piloting an A/Fuel Dragster for the weekend.

At the light, Palmer got a slight edge off of the starting line. Duane then suffered some tire shake 100 feet out and had to pedal giving Palmer the lead by two car lengths. The Shortline Express began to catch up to Palmer but ran out of real estate giving Palmer the win by about three feet. Palmer stopped the clock with a 5.47 at 247 MPH to Duane's close 5.52 at 263 MPH.

While Duane would have rather advanced to the final round, he is out of races he can claim but still leaves Las Vegas with the points lead. "Of course I was disappointed by the early loss but I'm keeping everything in prospective. Right now the focus is on the Championship and we still have the lead so it's going to come down to the wire at Pomona." Duane Shields said.

The Shortline Express team would like to thank Hussey Copper and NGK for their support this season.

Big O Tires Nationals-Las Vegas Preview

Previous Winners
2010-Jim Whiteley/Mickey Ferro
2009-Shawn Cowie/Daniel Oliver

Car Counts (As of 10-24-11)
TAD-18
TAFC-16

Drivers to Watch

Joey Severance (TAD)- The most potent blown alcohol dragster in 2011, Joey Severance is a good pick to win both the race and the overall national championship. After winning 5 of the 6 division races that he's attended (runner-up at the other) and a win and two runner-up finishes on the national event tour, Severance still has three national events and two divisions that he can claim, while #1 and #2 in points are out of races to claim. A semifinal finish here would secure the championship for Joey.

Roger Bateman (TAFC)- Team driver for Jim Whiteley's Ynot Racing team, Roger Bateman is on a roll heading in to Vegas. Coming off a runner-up at the Dallas national and a win at the Noble divisional, Bateman has potential to win this race. Though he didn't impress in his appearances at this track earlier in the year, he made up for it through 3 overall divisional wins, 2 runner-up finishes, and a national event runner-up later in the year.

Duane Shields Goes to Final Round in Pursuit of the Championship

Courtesy of Rich Bailey

Reynolds GA - As the season winds down, the points towards the NHRA Lucas Oil Top Alcohol Dragster Championship title becomes ever so important. Contenders can only claim a limited amount of points towards the Championship at both national and divisional events which means strategy comes into play on which races to run.

Duane Shields was down to just one LODRS divisional even to claim points and chose the race at Silver Dollar Raceway in Reynolds, GA. Duane's strategy seemd to work as he made it to the final round but lost the race to the reigning Champion Bill Reichert, who had been eliminated from contention two weeks prior in Maple Grove.

Duane qualified second with a 5.38 and faced Dan Page in round one. Page's 5.35 was close but not enough to get the win over Shields who nipped Page at the finish line with a victorious 5.31 at 273 MPH.

Moving into the semifinals, the Shortline Express team took on Brandon Booher. Unfortunately for Booher, he was unable to fire so Duane got a single and charged to the finish line with a 5.42, but shuttered the tires on the run. "The car shook violently and we lost our data going into the final round because the cables shook loose. We knew we had to massage the car in order to negotiate the track so we took away some of the power. We just didn't know how much" Shields revealed.

In the finals, it was a classic Duane Shields vs. Bill Reichert match up. As the lights came down it was Reichert out first with a .070 to Shields' .082. At the finish line it was Reichert crossing the stripe first with a 5.35 at 265 MPH to Duane's 5.43 at 271 MPH. "The car didn't have enough horsepower to win but it still shuttered the tires a little bit so we were limited to what adjustments we could make and how much power we could take out" Shields said.

All Duane can do now is compete at the last three races and serve as a blocker by taking out the other still mathematically in contention. "The pressure is on them now. I'll go to the last three races and try to control my own destiny. If the Championship is meant to be, it's meant to be. If not it was still a great year. Duane would like to thank NGK Spark Plugs and Hussey Copper for their support.