Racing Is All In The Family

Whether you're at a little drag strip in the middle of nowhere or at one of the today's multi-million dollar racing facilities, the one thing you will notice is drag racing is a family sport. Long gone are the days when "gear heads" and "grease monkeys" souped up their muscle cars to settle the score with a cross town rival. Today's racers are men, women and children and most race teams consist of one or more families brought together by their love of racing.

"A weekend at the race track for us is just like a weekend at Big Bear or Palm Springs for other families, except every hour or so we get to drive a car at 150 miles per hour."

Mike Blodgett Jr.

Mike and Mary Blodgett

Back in the late 1960's (the "good ol' days" as he calls them), Mike Blodgett Sr. spent a lot of his time and energy on his Pontiac GTO (link to gallery photo of Dad w/GTO). He raced at tracks such as Lion's Dragstrip, Orange County and Irwindale Raceways. If there was a race, he was there and there were hundreds of trophies around the house to document his success.

Mike, a South Torrance High Graduate, met his future wife, Mary (a West Torrance Graduate) while they both worked at a local grocery store. Together they raised two boys, Mike Jr. and Matt. Mike unselfishly set aside his passion for racing in 1972, at about the same time Lion’s Dragstrip closed, to focus on being a Dad. The boys grew up in a time prior to the creation of the National Hot Rod Association’s Junior Drag Racing League so the family vacations were a bit more traditional as the family spent time camping, boating and motorcycle riding.

The boys were always involved in youth sports and Mary often volunteered as the "Team Mom." Mary dedicated hundreds of hours to the PTA and held several positions at Tordondo Little League. Mary has always enjoyed bowling, and later developed an interest in golf that she still enjoys today as a member of The Sea Aire Women’s Golf Club.

Mike had a very successful career with Mothers Cookies as a sales person that lasted over 34 years and ended in November of 2005. Today, Mike and Mary enjoy a balance of relaxing leisure time and thrilling drag racing excitement. Only two months into his retirement, Mike scored his first “Hole In One” at Sea Aire Golf Course in Torrance on February 1, 2006.

Mike and Beth Blodgett

Mike and Beth were married in 1995 and reside in Long Beach. Mike graduated with honors from San Diego State University in 1989 and went to work for his current employer, The State Compensation Insurance Fund. Mike dedicates a lot of time to charitable projects through his involvement in Rotary International and was able to showcase his leadership skills as the Club President of The Rotary Club of Gardena in 2002-2003. Mike is currently a member of the Rotary Club of Carson-Gardena-Dominguez, a club that was formed in 2005 when two successful small clubs merged to create one of the most dynamic Rotary Clubs in California.

Beth enjoyed a career as a pediatric nurse prior to dedicating herself to becoming a full time Mom. On February 4, 2000, Mike and Beth were blessed with the birth of their Daughter; Sydney Ann. Sydney came into this world at 7 pounds, 8 ounces and 20 1/2 inches long. She is a wonderful and talented little girl that enjoys ballet, gymnastics, and trips to Grandma’s house.

Beth has been challenged with the devastating effects of lupus, an autoimmune system disease. Her condition and her fighting attitude led the family to create the Lupus RACE FOR LIFE. Beth is a retired drag racer, but can still lay claim to being the "fastest" of the Blodgetts as she drove her Chevrolet powered dragster (link to Beth’s dragster photo) to a 8.60 second quarter-mile at 160 miles per hour.

Matt and Suzanne Blodgett

After graduating from West Torrance High School, Matt attended Universal Technical Institute in Phoenix, Arizona for his formal mechanical training. His resume includes many high-performance businesses such as Hughes Performance Transmissions, Isky Racing Cams and Schiada Custom Boats. In 1998, Matt put his talents to good use and opened Performance Auto & Marine in Signal Hill, California. Matt specializes in high performance boat repair and maintenance but has several customers racing in NHRA competition. Plain and simple, Matt can fix anything, which explains why he serves as the Crew Chief on our race team.

Matt was responsible to getting the family back into drag racing. In 1986, Matt and his father took a trip to the drag strip to “test out” his first car, a 1966 Chevrolet El Camino. The Father and Son team jumped in with both feet and went on to win several events and series championships in the American Nostalgia Drag Racing Association. Suzanne became an official "Blodgett" on March 12, 2005. Suzanne hails from Naples and has spent most of her life traveling around the world; creating her easy-going people person, personality. This would account for her successful transition into managing a Fortune 500 customer service facility. In their spare time Matt and Suzanne love to live life to its fullest, sharing good times with friends and family. They currently reside in Signal Hill, California.

What Kind of Racing Do We Do?

The type of racing we do is "Quarter Mile Drag Racing." We race at events hosted by the NHRA or National Hot Rod Association. The NHRA has categories of racing ranging from "Stock" to "Top Fuel." Lucas Oil is the title rights sponsor for the nine non-professional or "Sportsman" classes. Currently we are running a two-car team in one of the "Sportsman" classes called “Super Gas”.

Super Gas is a form of drag racing run on a 9.90 second "index." The bottom line in Super Gas racing is the first car to the finish line without doing so in less than the 9.90 second index is the winner. "Index" style racing was introduced many years back to limit the money being spent in racing and to put winning back in the hands of the drivers. Super Gas is definitely a "drivers' class" and is very competitive. More than 100 entries do battle in a single elimination format. Seven or eight rounds of elimination's are needed to declare the event champion. Super Gas cars accelerate to speeds up to 185 miles per hour in a quarter mile. . The "Margin of Victory" when two Super Gas cars race a quarter mile is often less than one-hundredth of a second and occasionally less than one- thousandth of a second.

The cars we race feature a fiberglass shell mounted to a hand built chassis. They were built for drag racing only, run on 114 octane racing gasoline and produce over 700 horsepower. The first car is a 1972 Chevrolet Vega which we call the Kickin' Chicken that Mike Jr. races in Super Gas. In 1997, Mike Blodgett Jr. raced this car past more than 300 racers and won the NHRA Pacific Division Super Gas Championship. The Kickin' Chicken has won more than 100 races including four NHRA National Events; The 1996 Winternationals, The 1998 Autolite Nationals, the 2000 Northwest Nationals, and the 2005 Auto Club NHRA Finals. It can be argued that the Kickin’ Chicken may be the most successful drag race vehicle on the West Coast.

Our second racecar is a 1927 Ford Roadster, which is driven by Mike Sr. in Super Gas. This yet unnamed car is powered by a 500 cubic inch big block Chevrolet engine and weighs in a just over 2000 pounds. Mike Sr. drove this car, capable of running the quarter-mile in 8 seconds at nearly 160 miles per hour, to the 2004 Southern California Pro Gas Championship.

What is Bracket Racing?

The Blodgett Family also participates in "bracket races" held throughout the western states. Bracket racing is a type of drag racing which enables cars of all performance levels to compete against each other on a level playing field because each race is run with a "handicap" starting line system which allows the "slower" car to receive a predetermined "head start" from the "faster" car. For example, a car capable of covering the quarter mile in 13 seconds would give a car capable of covering the quarter mile in 14 seconds a "one second head start." This type of racing rewards consistency and the drivers' starting line reactions.

Bracket racing has made it possible for drag racing to become the fastest growing motor sport in the country in terms of participation. Entry-level racers get their feet wet at local "street legal" bracket races driving any car deemed safe by the officials. More experienced racers (over 80,000 participants at more than 4000 events each year compete at the Summit Racing Series which is the largest motor sports series in the world.

Getting Results Off The Track

The team’s strong community ties developed as a result of their support of The EKO Multi-Purpose Center. EKO Center is a private school located in Compton, California for children facing educational and emotional challenges. The goal of the school is a successful return for these children to the public school system through their “dual enrollment program.” Blodgett Family Racing hosted a series of “Day at the Races Fieldtrips” as a way to reward these deserving students for their hard work in school and to encourage them to stay drug free and successful. Many drag racing legends, including Joe Amato and Kenny Bernstein, made donations to support the program.

In l997 and 1998, The Rotary Club of Gardena joined us to reward 100 “Honor Roll” students from EKO Center with a pizza party as part of the day's activities. For these children, it's a day they will never forget. For Mike Jr., it was the beginning of his Rotary membership as he was soon invited to join “The Best Little Rotary Club in the World.” During 2002-2003, Mike skillfully led the 25-member club through more than 50 community service projects as the Club President.

In 2005, Blodgett Family Racing joined Lupus International in raising public awareness of the chronic autoimmune system disease called lupus through the creation of the Lupus Race For Life. In addition to bringing attention to the dangerous and often misunderstood illness, the team was able to raise over $15,000.00 for Lupus International to continue to fulfill their mission.

“The Race” against this terrible disease continues in 2006 and you can join in. To make a donation to Lupus International or for more information regarding lupus go to: http://www.lupusinternational.com