No racing

    Paul and the Cuda Beast team had hoped to return to the track these past two weekends, but were unable for a couple of reasons, the most serious being health problems for Paul's mother that have required her to be hospitalized. That occurred last week, between the Southern Shootout race at Montgomery and this past weekend's PDRA event in Richmond.
    Before the Montgomery race, Paul said the car was all set to go with a refurbished motor, and the only remaining task was to get the overhauled transmission back into his Dodge dually. The transmission has proved tough to get fixed, and Paul said he tried to borrow another truck to make the Montgomery race, to no avail. Then came his mother's hospitalization.
   Between  that and the long health struggle for Keith Dockery, the team's computer guru and Paul's brother-in-law, this year has been emotionally draining for everyone in the Gibbs family. They can certainly use all the prayers and good wishes you can send their way.
   Paul did mention the possibility of a race in Bradenton, Florida, but that's way off in December.  

It's race day!

     Paul and the Beast will be at Montgomery this weekend for the promodifieds.us Southern Shootout finale. That point series has already been decided, but it should be a terrific race nonetheless, as Montgomery and the Southern Outlaw Tour always put on a great show. It's a screw-blower series, but Paul is eager to try out the Beast's new tuneup at a track where he has run well before.
     Thursday, the Beast was all ready to be loaded up. Paul was in the process of putting the refurbed transmission back into his truck. That will mean he'll miss tonight's qualifying, but will have two shots and a test run or two Saturday. Since he was really busy, I didn't get into plans about next weekend's PDRA race. One at a time.
     Crew member/computer guru Keith Dockery is still having a tough go with medical issues, so keep him in your thoughts and prayers.
     As this is a promodifieds.us - affiliated race, the fantastic Brian C will be trackside to provide his peerless reporting and photography all day Saturday. Check the message board at promodifieds.us frequently. It's almost as good as being there.
    OK, everybody -- be fast and be safe. 

Into the homestretch

       As you might have guessed by now, Paul and the Beast did not make it to last month's Open Outlaw race at Huntsville. The engine was still out of the car then, but should be back in and ready to go for a possible visit to Montgomery this coming weekend.  It's the final race of the promodifieds.us Southern Shootout series, which has already been decided by Dwayne Watkins' dominating performances this year. But it should be a strong field, and Paul is eager to try the Beast's new tuneup against the screw-blower cars.
     In this downtime from racing, Paul has also worked on his hauler and the transmission in his truck. Paul said he's also interested in the season closer for the PDRA, which would be in Virginia. Paul ran pretty well there last year in the tough pro boost class. The PDRA would mean back-to-back racing weekends for the team, so we'll see.
     Paul said crew member and computer guru Keith Dockery should be going back home this month, finally after months of medical issues.
    We'll have an update on the end-of-season races as Montgomery approches.