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In the late 20’s, out in the great sand dunes of Colorado, my grandfather, R.B., spent his weekends and some evenings tearing it up and “teachin’ them boys some things” with his WILLYS Coupe first, and then a big speed up-grade (to 37 MPH) with his star coupe.
In 1936 my father was born, E.S. (Gene). He quickly inherited the genetic need for speed. He started out building hot rods in Southern California with some now very famous drag racers. Then he moved on to crew chief of a western grand national stock car team. An usual change of venue followed with a move to Alaska, where he built and raced flathead coupes on the local dirt tracks. My father stepped away from racing to become a missionary, working with the Alaskan Eskimo population, however, he never lost his need for speed and moved his interests to snowmobiles. After a move to Whitehorse, Yukon Territory, Canada in 1969, Gene continued his interest in snowmobiles and began racing his skidoo in a novice class. After a successful season, was chosen by Bombardier/Skidoo to be their factory sponsored racer. Having a few wins and very successful couple of seasons, he stepped out of racing to spend more time in his ministry. Also, while in Whitehorse, during the summers, he began to crew for a local dirt track racer, running in a few mechanics races as a driver and placing very well.
In 1965 I was born and also quickly inherited the family need for speed, proving that with driving my dad’s skidoo solo at 3 years old. Spending time in the pits at the snowmobile races and stock car races, my interest in all things motorsport led me to start riding and then racing dirt bikes at the age of eight. Having two older brothers that raced their friends all over the gravel roads of Yukon brought me to the realization that I was a very competitive person. As I continued to hone riding skills, another move to Southern British Columbia offered the opportunity to ride on the streets and race on road courses, moving my way up to the heavy-weight - at the time- the Kawasaki KZ-1,000-elsr; still one of my favorite rides of all time.
I moved to Puyallup, Washington in 1988 and almost instantly hooked up with a local speedway short track team. The team owner, Mike “Fast” Lane, taught me much about engine building, chassis and suspension dynamics and setup, roll cage design and manufacture, and competition.  Leaving the team after ten years and 15 car builds, several top tens in points, a rookie-of-the-year award, a crew chief of the year award, and putting Mike, his wife, daughter and niece all on the podium also, was very difficult, however, exciting, as I was moving to a regional traveling go-kart team as the crew chief and 50 % owner.
The first year with Karting we won nine of 16 races at our home track, (we were traveling and missed a few). We secured an overall second in the local points and rookie-of-the-year. We also had several wins at tracks in Region 5 and took the Gold Cup overall Championship for Region 5. We also placed very well (top 6) in three enduro time races on long road courses. We developed/used experimental parts and set-ups that no one else was using at the time with great success.
After two great seasons, we decided to move back into stock car racing as the traveling was keeping me from my new daughter. Building a new car in a brand new class was very challenging, but very rewarding, as we had several top tens and finished in the top ten in points the first year out. Celebrating the arrival of triplet daughters, I retired from racing.
Over the years of raising the family I have continued to do a few street bike builds, some chassis set-ups, some V-8 engine builds and most recently have started to build ATV/UTV engines and do some chassis conversions and set-ups on ATVs and UTVs. I have also taught one of my triplet daughters to appreciate riding ATVs (she is oddly competitive). I have done product testing for an ATV/UTV performance product manufacturing company. Presently, I have been testing and reviewing products and doing select engine builds.
I am not afraid to share my brutally honest opinions on products, suppliers and all things related to the industry. I support many venues and manufacturers, but always have a soft spot for my Kawasaki. If you want the truth about a product, either one you are thinking of purchasing or one you are building/supplying, just ask me to check it out. I will let you know what I honestly think.




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