KIDD, WURTZ AND ZAK PEDRAZA CLAIM IMPRESSIVE RUNNER-UP FINISHES AT DIVISION 6 SUMMIT E.T. FINALS

After returning from a whirlwind tour to Kent, Washington, all of us in the New Crew and our staff want to say thanks to everyone who made the trip on behalf of Team Firebird to the Division 6 Summit E.T. Finals, All together, 58 racers competed on the Firebird team during the course of the four-day event. In addition, quite an assortment of friends and family made the long distance trip to the Evergreen state.

Special thanks goes out to team captains Tami Shaffer and Nanette Cox for all their extra efforts both before and throughout the event itself. Both Tami and Nanette volunteered their time and did a great job keeping everything together from the moment the gates opened on Wednesday through Monday’s curfew delayed finish in the Sled/Bike division.

Speaking of Sled/Bike, congratulations to Zak Pedraza who came within just .007 of a second (margin of victory) of winning the Division 6 title. In an amazingly close race against Jeff Havens (running for Team Renegade) shortly after 10 am on Labor Day Monday, Zak hit a .059 against a .061 reaction by Havens. Zak ran impressively at 9.881 on a 9.89 dial in to just get clipped by a 7.968 on a 7.97 dial in as both rides broke out in the final race of the weekend.

There were many other fun things that took place during the course of the weekend. From the Gambler races on Friday to the Poker Tournament to the Scavenger Hunt, there were certainly plenty of activities for everyone to participate. And not to be overshadowed - special thanks to Dennis Radford who got roped in as “team chef” during the Saturday night Barbeque, which included plenty of help from Mike, Dennis, Karen & Debbie, too. Radford was credited with cooking better than a hundred hamburgers, cheeseburgers and hot dogs on roughly ten “loaner” grills. As most will attest – he did a bang up job, several of which noted would rival any of the cooks on that t.v. show called “Diners, Dives `n Drive-Ins”. Overheard following the Saturday night feed, Dennis was the first to admit he wouldn’t be striking out any time soon to hunt down any opportunities in the cooking field.

On behalf of John New, Mike Shaw, Dennis & Karen Law, Misty Kramer, Scott & Debbie New (heading up the Firebird effort) – thanks once again for being a part of all the fun at the “Battle in Seattle”.