Where to stay on race day...

I was asked the question, "Do you have a list of places to stay in Gig Harbor?". The answer was "no, I didn't". But I then took a few minutes and compiled a short list of local Hotels and Bed & Breakfasts in the local area and uploaded it to the Burris Drags web site.

So if you need a place to stay nearby during the event, check out this page for a few ideas.

Hello Racers-

Bill Laird here; Year after year, Scott and Kim have hosted this event with generosity and have never asked a dime in return. I don't think it's a secret that there is a lot of time, money, and effort that they have put into this wonderful event. I thought it might be a nice idea to start a little 'cash kitty' for this years' event.

Donations are OPTIONAL and certainly NOT expected- I'm taking it upon myself to help them offset the costs of the event. It is a great family tradition that Scott and Kim have worked hard to uphold.

I'm sure ANY contributions will be greatly appreciated!

Cheers!
Bill

(Just so you know, the button below will take you to a PayPal site that will allow you to donate if you so desire. The correct email address associated with the Burris Drags donations is trailmoto@gmail.com)

3 month warning

If you gaze to the upper right hand side of your computer screen you might notice a timer that is counting down the time. If so, you also might notice that it says that the races are just around the corner! We're sitting at just over 3 months to go and it really is time to start heading out to the hobby store and picking up a kit to put together for this year's event. It's not hard to do, just do it! Please email me if you have any questions!

Put a big circle around August 16th, 2008!

After the "thousands of votes" have been tallied, we have a winner in the preferred date election! August 16th will be the date of this year's Burris Drags! Please mark your calendar and start thinking about your car's design. There are a few changes this year so be sure to check out www.burrisdrags.com to see all the new stuff.

Please email or call if you have any questions.

The "Unlimited" Class gets a little less limited.

A couple evenings ago I sat down on a cold bench near the door at McMenamin's brew pub in Mill Creek with my brother and Mike Brown. It was at the last Burris Drags in August where I had seen Mike last so it was nice to be able to talk to him again. While we were eating our dinners and I was enjoying my "Rubinator" we eventually started talking about the new unlimited class for the Burris Drags.





One of the ideas that was tossed around was to actually make the unlimited class more unlimited, (or less limited if you prefer). My initial thought was to keep it as I had it but as the conversation continued and I thought more about it, I had decided internally that it needed to be done. The reason I didn't want to change it at first was that I was interested in keeping the rules as they were from last year to allow some of us to directly compete against the Taylor's super fast cars from the last 2 years. But then I came to the conclusion that in order to really see some great ideas and creativity, the unlimited class needs to be more wide open and less restricted.





So I have made an executive decision and have modified the rules of the unimited class. You now have up to 16oz (1lb) of weight to work with! This should allow for all sorts of ideas to crop up. You don't have to use 4 wheels (or any wheels for that matter) but remember that there is a "straddle strip" down the length of each lane and the timing sensors are located in that strip so if your car doesn't go down the middle it might not register a time. The wheel diameter limit has been increased to 2.5".





I hope that this might generate more ideas and get more people to participate in the unlimited class.





If anyone has any comments or ideas they want to share, please do.

5 Months to go... or so...

Last night I received an email from Jim & Denise Taylor, our defending champions from the last two years. Jim & Denise are two of the handful of people, including my brother's family, my Uncle, and my dad, who have other things scheduled during the weekend of July 19th. As the last post on the blog addresses, I am willing to change the date to fit the needs of the majority of the potential attendees, but I am needing everyone to vote as soon as they know what date works best for you.

Also in their email were a few "jabs" at me for changing the rules about the wheels. Anyone who has met the Taylors knows, they're a very competitive couple and can be pretty intense. They have been very successful the last two years and have basically destroyed the competition.

In order to "level the playing field" a little, I needed to restrict the "big budget teams" with a few rule changes. This will give even the "average Joe" a better shot at winning a few rounds of racing and hopefully make it more fun for everyone. Some people don't like restrictions and I understand that but my intent is for this to be fun as well as competitive.

Years ago when my Uncle EZ had the "Burris Lake Regatta & Pig Cook" where we raced handmade boats across his pond, Tony Marrapodi & I always tried to stretch the limits of the rules in order to win (which we never did by the way). Each year my Uncle would modify the rules in order to "reel us in" a bit and honestly, I felt that it was more fun when the competitors were more closely matched. It was more fun to see a close race than someone just run away with the trophy.

I really think that this year's Burris Drags will be much closer in competition and more fun for everyone. We'll have a seperate "kid's class" where the kids can have a fun race, the Unlimited Class for the serious competitors and the regular ol' Burris Drags Champion Class where the winner takes home the traveling trophy. As always there's plenty of food and drinks and people to talk to.

The summer is just around the corner so start thinking about your fastest car designs. I'm excited about the new Unlimited Class and I think this year will be the best yet.

Email me or post a comment here on the blog if you have questions.


Scott

Race Day... when will it be?

I have lately become aware of a few scheduling conflicts with a few people and I have decided to let you be a part in the decision making process in determining the actual event date. I have included a poll on the right sidebar of this blog that lists 3 dates. (NOTE: You can vote for more than one date... For example; if only one date is a problem but the other two are fine, you can vote for BOTH of the acceptable dates.)

PLEASE select a date as soon as you can in order to help determine when the party will be.

I hate to be "wishy washy" about the date but the current scheduled date is not going to work for quite a few people who generally attend the party every year and I'd like to be flexible enough to allow for as many people to come as possible. Therefore I really need you to choose a date that works best for you. I will make a final decision by May 1st and that should give all the airline folks enough time to bid for the time off, etc...

If you have any questions or suggestions please feel free to email me or just call.