"Dad's original plan was to throw a blown hemi in the altered and run in the Supercharged Outlaws as a six-second altered, but since running Top Fuel he says is it hard to go back so he handed the car down to me", says Aidan. "Obviously with this being my first time in a full-size race car I wasn't going to put an engine that big in. I wanted to, but believe it or not dad wouldn't let me. Luckily for us, the previous owner of the house had left an old scrappy 350 small block Chevy in the garage, so we got the dirt stripped off the engine and after getting the chassis back from painting we got the axle, front end, steering etc done and got the engine in.

"We wanted something to buzz on before the snow came, so we called the three tracks within an hour of our house and luckily one was open up to yesterday so the race was on to get the car completed. We called a paint shop to get the body coated with black primer, which was only done on Tuesday, and we still had to complete the engine. We put the headers on, only to find that they rubbed on the body. We tried putting spacers on but it just got ridiculous, so I said why not turn them upside down. Dad just loved the idea and so we did it. We still had to get the motor plates and...the list went on. After receiving the motor plates on Wednesday we found they just didn't fit so we had a mad dash to get them lined up and fitted which was finally done by Thursday morning and most of the engine was completed.

"That evening I put on the race suit and we tested to see if I could fit, then they strapped me in and put the body down to see how I felt. Everything was good, then dad gave me the ten second test to get out the car: four seconds, perfect. Then the moment of truth, we fired up the car, and after of bit of fiddling with the timing and whatnot, she was ready to go. Just before loading the altered and the Junior Dragster on Friday we remembered we hadn't run through the gears, so I jumped back in and we fired it up. First gear nothing, second gear nothing, third and reverse nothing! After trying to find another converter dad came up with another suggestion: "What if when you tightened the converter bolts the converter has come so far forward that the shaft isn't engaging the pump?". So he found some spacers and twenty minutes later I jumped back in the car, the car fired, dad signalled for first gear, I released the brake...and the tyres spun! I just felt the biggest sigh of relief come over me, revved her up to 5000 rpm and shifted through the gears. Perfect, so I shut it off, jumped out, called Ronan out and we all started loading the trailer for the next morning.

"We got into the track just after 10:00 am and pretty much had it to ourselves. We got Ronan in the Junior and warmed it up only to find it kept dying on us. We thought it was just the methanol so we got him on the start line, fired him up and the engine died. Re-fired him, got into pre stage...died. Fired, staged, the lights ran...died. We pushed Ronan back to the pits, I got suited up and strapped in, and pushed to the start line. As soon as that body dropped my heart started racing, got the signal from dad to fire it up, high gear, rolled forward into the water box and hit the throttle. No smoke, although the wheels spun like crazy. First gear, into stage, transbrake on, the lights ran, hit the throttle, on green released the transbrake and the car took off and turned right immediately so I got off the throttle. I was only supposed to run to the eighth for testing so I only got an eighth slip, sixteen seconds to the eighth. The Junio rruns quicker than that.

"Back to the pits and dad was working on the Junior Dragster, he had a huge grin as usual so I knew he was happy. Second time round I wasn't nearly as nervous but that's how it always is, so they lowered the body. The car started fish tailing on me in the burnout so I got off it and that smashed my head against the roll cage. I sat holding the brake for a couple of seconds until I got my senses back and figured out where I was, and with dad laughing up front was guided back. I knew I had to do something better than the first run to impress dad, but I was still only allowed to go to the eighth so I launched her hard, 1.81 to sixty feet, not bad especially spinning the tyres like crazy on a bad track, then shut it off just before the eighth. I ran 13.6 on the quarter and 7.78/90 at the eighth. Dad came up on the back of the truck clapping and cheering saying I did great, so I knew he was pleased.

"We got back to the pits and Ronan was dying to get out, so dad took apart the carb on his car, only to find what looked like a hairball clogging the main fuel line! He put the carb back together, fired it up and she stayed running so Ronan got on his helmet and dived into the car, pushed to the start line as I was getting my suit on, and I watched as he ran the car no problem. 10.66/68, it's not a nine but don't forget it is a bad track, the weather's bad and it's also cold! Ronan drove it back to the start line, pumped like crazy wanting to go again before me, but I had the altered fired and ready. No knocking myself out in the burnout this time, dad said "Do what feels right, this run you can do anything". I launched and shifted straight into second because the tyres keep spinning off the line and I held on for the ride, shifted into third by the eighth and ran her right through the quarter mile 12.31/106.9!

"I was really buzzing at this point because I knew it was fast and I knew dad was going to be over the moon. I got out of the car and went all light headed, maybe from never going that fast or maybe just from adrenaline, but either way I was loving it. Right behind me Ronan ran and got into the nines, 9.902/68, so we were both happy. Neither Ronan or I had the cars working under full throttle because on Ronan's car the cable wasn't fastened properly and on mine the pedal hit the flex plate. With twenty minutes before the track closed we just cut and bent the throttle pedal on my car and tested it out and we got full throttle! Ronan ran first, but he tried something different and it only ran a 10.67/67. I went to fire my car...nothing. It was turning over but wouldn't come to life, at this point I'm strapped in the car getting worried, dad traces the wires and checks the coil and the plug wires, nothing. Then I remembered that when you turned the ignition on the shift light lit up for a second, so dad checked the fuse and it was dead.

"We replaced the fuse and I was ready for my last run. She fired first time, I pulled probably the best burnout of the day with the tiniest bit of smoke. I waited for the lights to run, mashed my foot to the floor and away I went, shifted into second a lot later than I should have and the car started skating but I stayed with it. Into third gear then my visor started fogging like crazy, but I ran it through the back door and shut it off. I knew it was fast and I got that head rush as I climbed out of the car. The tow truck was right behind me as they had tried to keep up with me in the other lane filimng. I asked what the time was but they wouldn't tell me until I got back to the pits. Dad had the grin again and was jumping around, when I got out he put his arm around me and said 11.96/112. I couldn't believe it! He also said it spun the tyres for a good half a second off the line, and with a non-tuned engine, a scrappy motor which was on the floor and a bad day and track that run easily eclipsed my expectations. Now I just cant wait to get it back in the shop and get her running sweet. As we loaded up and climbed into the truck, down came the rain, not bad timing eh?

"We shall keep you updated on what goes on over here during the off season and next season, we hope all of you enjoy the remainder of this season and have a great off-season."

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