Reggie Jackson

Jackson & Jackson Racing - 2006

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December 5, 2006 - Reggie participated in the Board of Directors meeting to determine how the team will distribute the toys collected during the race, and to determine how the money will be spent to benefit the children. Reggie Jackson stated at the Board of Directors meeting, "A coat or shoes is better than a toy if that 's what the kid needs."

November 27, 2006 - President Willie Beathley presented the Jr. Dragster Metal of Participation to Justin Jackson at his home. Justin finished in the top five cars.

November 19, 2006

A good cause (Toy Drive) tied to a perfect day for racing.

Bracket Master Junior Dragster.

We started a cold morning at State Capital Raceway with a driver that was up and ready to go early. We took the Jr. Dragster out of the trailer and started our race day preparations, which included warming the engine up. The methanol that the car runs on keeps the engine cooler so we needed to get the engine up to operating temperature. The engine idle speed was erratic so we decided to do some additional tuning on the carburetor and enlisted the tuning help of one of our fellow racers.

We were at the track extra early because we knew we had invited guest coming from two different youth organizations. The first to arrive was about 12 Youth (both male and female) from an alternative school in Baton Rouge escorted by Mr. Robert Garner and a number of other volunteers. The Second group to arrive was a group of about 7 young men from the 100 Black Men Mentoring Program escorted by Mr. Fred Sibley, Chairman of The 100 Mentoring Program, and Mr. Ed Collins of The 100. We went over the basics of Drag Racing and the design of cars including the timing system used by track personnel to record the cars speed and time while going down the track. There were lots of good questions which included how were the cars fabricated? What size was the engine? Why some of the cars were shaped different and what about the difference in tire sizes from the front to the back of the cars?

The Junior Dragster turnout was nothing short of great. We started racing about 10:00 am and our team had grown by about 19 members. Several of our invited guests went to the starting line with us and helped with the cars between round maintenance. While others watched and had numerous questions after each set of Juniors Dragsters made passes.

The pairings in the first round was determined by the driver’s reaction time during time trails. Justin is 9 years old so we raced in the younger age group. Justin had a bye run in the first round based on his reaction time during his first of two time trails. He won the second round of racing. Maybe this John Force concept of a large crew was paying off. We broke out in the third round and our racing day for the Junior Dragster was over.

WE enjoyed having our guest and I think the crowd at State Capital Raceway was the largest yet to watch Junior Dragster Racing. What a morning of racing!

October 29, 2006 - We raced the Duster in the U.S. Muscle Car Race at No problem Raceway on October 29, 2006. My pit crew for the day was Ronnie Sr. We both had traveled to Houston the weekend before, which was rained out on Saturday and needed to get some racing in. The car was tuned, gased up and ready to go so all we had to do was wait another week to go racing. The day was perfect with clear skies and lots of sunshine. I made an early time trial and came back to check some of the things I had changed during my last tune up. A new set of plugs and some good air had the car running 10.50’s off the trailer. I got in a second time trail later that day and was ready to race. I ran in the footbrake class which appeared to have the largest car count. In the first round I ran 0.001 off of my dial in but lost due to opponent’s better reaction time in the lights. We stayed around and watched the fast door slammers and dragster eliminations. There were a few door slammers running in the six second range. In addition, the track was giving away a 2006 Bright Red Mustang. In the end we didn’t win the first round or the car and we headed home.

October 21-22, 2006 - Mopar Lone Star Shootout Photos - Houston Raceway Park

Reggie's Update

Lone Star Shootout October 21, 2006

We attended the Lone Star Shootout at Houston Raceway Park on October 21, 2006. In the past this race has been a Mopar Only Race, but this year it was Mopar only on Saturday and an open race on Sunday. I planned on racing on Sat. and watching on Sunday so I would get my younger crew members (Justin and Ronnie Jr.) home on time to go to school on Monday morning.

The race and format has been changing for the past few years due to a change in ownership. We decided to drive up on Friday evening to be ready for an early Saturday morning start and maybe get a few passes in on Friday night. On our way over, there were a couple of accidents on the interstate that added almost three hours to our drive time so we parked the trailer at the track and headed to the hotel for the night. Once we settled in for the night the desk clerk phoned and stated that we needed to leave the hotel. The smell of natural gas was in the air and they didn’t want to take any chances. We stayed outside for about and hour before we were cleared to go back in around 2:00 a.m. However, Justin and Ronnie talked to the firemen and there was a lot of fire equipment parked outside of the hotel.

The next morning we got up to go racing, but the skies did not look good. Once we got to the track it was not long before it started to rain. The turnout for the race was modest probably due to the weather forecast. The turnout or racers from southern Louisiana was very good. Most of us pitted in the same area so we spent the morning sitting under each others tents and talking racing. There was a very good turnout of racers from the Northeast and West coast with some very fast cars.

The rain stopped and the track was finally in shape to race around 3:00 p.m. The track crew had put in a lot of effort into drying the track. We had one time trial and a gamblers race was started. The scheduled race was cancelled and we got the option of an entry pass for Sunday's race with no money returned or a partial refund (Minus entry fee and a charge for one time trial). All in all it was a very expensive time trial. The track closed early so we went out for something to eat and headed to the hotel for the night.

On Sunday morning the temperature had dropped to around 48 degrees and the wind was blowing at around 20 mph. This was a major change from Saturday, but it was not raining. We watched racing until noon, secured the car in the trailer and headed home.

Mopar Lone Star Shootout Photos

Sept. 10, 2006 - The Jackson Family, Reggie, Viola, Justin, Brother Ronnie and Ronnie Jr. took both the Jr. Dragster and the Duster to the Louisiana Drag Classic. Mike Small, who works with Reggie, stopped by to say hello.

Reggie will give a complete update later on the Jr. Dragster and how the Duster ran.

Justin & Ronnie, Jr. Reggie & Mike Small

Reggie's Update (9/11/06):

We attended the 6^th Annual Louisiana Drag Classic at No Problem Raceway Park on September 10, 2006. This was a special race for the team and our racing community. Last years Louisiana Classic was cancelled due to the aftermath of Hurricane Katrina and the devastation that it caused the local community and especially the families of New Orleans and the surrounding communities that come out and support the Bracket Master Racing Team during our travels and sponsored events. Families are still trying to recover from the storm even after a year has passed and there were a lot of cars and faces not in attendance. The race was cancelled last year because the BMRT thought it was more important to help a community in need and race another day.

My home team for the day was my wife, Brother Ronnie, his son Ronnie Jr. and my youngest son Justin. My oldest son attends Southern University and did not make the race due to the weekend activities associated with the Southern University Marching Band. My daughter who is now a Senior in High School was not in attendance and had been fighting a cold for the last few days.

The forecast was the worst that we had seen for a Louisiana Drag Classic in a number of years, but we planned on running the Duster and the teams Junior Dragster. It was raining when we left home for the track, but in Louisiana you go anyway. It rains in one area and a few miles away the sun may be shinning.

It had rained at the track when we got there around 9 a.m. that morning. The track officials were already drying the track out and there would be a race this day. Normally the Junior dragsters run first around 10 a.m. and finish up around 1 p.m. prior to letting the big cars start their time trails. However, due to the rain delay, chance for more rain later in the day and the light turnout for both the Junior Dragsters and Big cars we started the time trails at the same time. I made the decision not to run the Duster and to work with the Junior Dragster only.

My team for the day at the Track consisted of the Bracket Master Youth in addition to adult members of the BMRT. We warmed the Jr. Dragster up prior to the first round and we were ready to race. The Youth members of the team helped tow and push the car up to the line for our first and only time trial. The car ran good and we looked forward to our second time trial. We missed the call for the second time trail, my team was hungry (youth) and were eating. The track officials were more than willing to wait for us, but we still needed to do the required maintenance between rounds. One of the things that the team stresses to the youth is be prepared and not run into things. We would wait for the first round of eliminations and dial in based on the first run and previous runs at No Problem Raceway. Justin left first based on his dial in and his opponent cut a 0.015 light. Justin broke out by 0.008 and his opponent broke out by 0.006. Our racing day was over so we towed the car back to the pits for the required maintenance and watched racing the rest of the day.

Reggie

Jackson & Jackson Racing

August 18, 2006 - I went Friday night Bracket Racing at State Capital Raceway. Almost every evening the rain showers pop up, so you just have to plan on going even if it’s raining when you leave for the track. It had rained at the track earlier that evening, but the track crew had started drying the track as soon as the rain stopped. The racers and the now every Friday night spectators started coming in as if the rain was not going to affect the racing this night. The only change that had to be made, due to the top end of the track not drying out was having the car with racing tires (slicks) run an eight mile instead of the normal quarter mile. On Friday nights at State Capital you can run for Trophy or Money. On this night I would run in the Footbrake class for the trophy.

I had not run the Duster in a about a month but the car performed as usual. I had some old time slips with me, so I compared the Eight mile times on them to the eight mile times I was running tonight. I got a time trail in each lane, because almost all of the racers want to run the right lane only. My car E.T. is different from the left to right lanes, but if I get a run in each lane I can adjust my dial in during elimination according to what lane I am running in.

During the first round I cut a 0.014 light and ran 0.002 of off my dial in. My lights are not nearly this good usually, but I got the win. In the second round I cut a 0.040 light in the other lane, and ran 0.001 off of my dial in. I had won two rounds in a row. During the first round I lined up in the left lane to start eliminations. Prior to the start of the second round almost all of the cars, including me had lined up in the right lane. The track officials tossed a coin for each pair to see who would get lane choice. In the third round, which had only four cars left I was in the left lane again. I cut my worst light of the night and broke out by 0.001. My opponent had a 0.004 reaction time in this round.