Gospel Motorsports

Blast From the Past

By Adam Pyle

Racing with the Southern Slingshots, team Gospel Motorsports was at the historic Bristol Dragway September 6-7, 2008 for the 1st annual “Blast From The Past at Thunder Valley.” The beautiful Bristol facilities are impressive to say the least. The size and scale of a 1/2mile-circle track that seats 165,000 must be seen to believe. The equally grand dragway sits between two mountain ridges just to the South.

Jennie and I were accompanied to Bristol by our good friends Brad and Tina Smalley and daughter Shawnee. We spent much of the day Friday in the truck enjoying each other’s company and making gas stations along our path very happy.

After celebrating Shawnee’s 16th birthday Friday evening, we arrived at the track Saturday morning ready to race. The remnants of hurricane Hanna gave us a lesson in patience by supplying us with on and off showers through the early afternoon. This was a blessing in disguise in that the waiting provided us the opportunity to talk to race fans of all ages and pass out lots of free Gospel Motorsports information.

Our experiences have proven to us over and over that there is no such thing as “coincidence” in life, there is only “divine appointments.” The weather delay turned out to be full of divine appointments. We met Dennis Ivory, a Christian brother from the Bristol area that gave us a spiritual “shot in the arm” with words of encouragement for our evangelistic efforts. Another example was meeting Scott and Lesa Trent. They are the RFC chaplains at Bristol Dragway. I have never had an opportunity to pray with a chaplain in the staging lanes. I always say a prayer before a run that the outcome will somehow bring glory to God, but having a big guy lean down, grasp my hand, and pray together was awesome!

We raced the lightning fast J/F car owned and driven by Pat Malloy all three of our rounds. Its fortunate for us that Pat lit the red bulb because he had our E/T covered by a ton! Brad’s previous racing experience helped us discover a problem with the magneto that allowed the timing to slide back 15 degrees from where it should be. Our final race happened at 11:30pm. We were confident that our now correct timing would result in a good close race. At the hit of the throttle, our car jumped out in front, and was hanging right with Pat’s car until at about 1000’ my vision was impeded by helmet visor fog from the cool night air resulting in an early shut-off.

Even though the team did it’s best to pack everything back in the trailer in a timely manner, it was past 1:30am when we arrived back at the hotel. Church service began in 7 short hours. We just weren’t sure if we could make it back to the track in time for church. My eyes opened refreshed and rested at 7am…What!? Adam Pyle is NOT a “morning person” Why can't I go back to sleep? A minute or two later, I received a text message from Brad. He too was also unable to sleep anymore. Coincidence?

Brad and I decided we would let the ladies rest up at the hotel for the 9 hr ride home while we went to the track, attended chapel service, and hooked up the trailer. When we arrived at the track, it was quiet and peaceful. On our walk to the stands for services, we found another member of the Southern Slingshots, Jim Lyle, was also awakened unusually early. After some small talk, we invited Jim to chapel service. He hesitated, briefly, but then agreed. Following a great message from Scott, it became clear why we all were there. We had a divine appointment! Jim shared with us that he had not been to church in 25 years. He felt that this meeting was the whole reason for his trip to Bristol. It is difficult for me to put into words what exactly we were experiencing in those moments, but I truly believe “something” happened. The Lord began a work that morning. According to Philippians 1:6 He will finish what He starts! I pray that you will join with us in asking the Lord for discernment to recognize future “divine appointments” and take full advantage of them.

Great Fun & Celebration at 2nd Annual Father's Day Car Show at Shepherd of the Hills Church!

June 15, 2008 was the date for a new and different experience in Bechtelsville, PA. Shepherd of the Hills Church was host to over 6000 horsepower pounding across its lawn to celebrate Father's Day. The cars covered the decades from the 30's all the way through the 80's, and included street cars and race cars.

The day started with a few clouds but soon cleared as the event grounds started to fill in. Volunteer Denise Borchelt did a great job handling the registration duties. After the 10:15 service, church goers and passers by stopped in for refreshments of hot dogs from the expert chefs, Neil Schueck and Brad Smith. They could then top off with Dunkin Donuts or home baked goodies from the refreshment committee at Shepherd of the Hills. Karen Schueck, Kevin and Steph Houck, and Tricia Moser kept the sodas and water flowing so everyone stayed hydrated as the day warmed up.

After everyone managed to get their fill, it was time to experience the first cacklefest in Bechtelsville. A brief explanation of the origins of a cacklefest and prayer of thanks to the Lord for the day was provided by Darryl Moser. The first call was put forward and the car show participants fired their motors first, with Steve Oteri's blown '57 Chevy and others raising the RPMs to the Lord, to be followed by the junior dragsters from the Pray Hard Racing Team. Adam and Jennie Pyle from Gospel Motorsports who traveled from Somerset, PA with their blown and alcohol injected dragster, Snake-Bit, fired up their 900 horsepower to close out the celebration with an exclamation mark. The fuel for the dragster was a special mixture for the day that included 20% nitro, just enough to provide the old time cackle found in early drag cars. The motorvated music was a great celebration in the Lord's honor and to recognize Father's Day.

Then came time for the crowd to get into the act as signups were taken for both the kids and adult tricycle and scooter races. The kids did a great job and each received a Hot Wheels car for their participation in the event. The adults came with a fierce competitive spirit in the scooter races where the racers were paired off to scooter a short distance of about 100' around the starter, then back to the finish line. The turnout was great and resulted in splitting the field into two classes. Up for grabs was a Gospel Motorsports' t-shirt of their choosing. At the end of the event, Joe Dedrick overtook Josh Wilson for the win in the adult class, and Jacob Moore took the win over Trent Wilson in the kids class.

The rest of the afternoon was filled with music and fellowship as a few more show cars rolled in and doubled last year's attendance, reaching just over 20 cars. Of special note was a visit by the father and son team of Chuck and Jeff Moyer. Jeff's car drove to the event, but is also capable of bumper scraping wheel-stands at the drag strip with runs in the 8 second range at over 160mph.

The event also included opportunities for attendees to learn about the Shepherd of the Hills Christian Pre-School and the Mother's of Pre-Schoolers (MOPS) programs at Shepherd of the Hills. The youth group H2O (His To Own) also gave an opportunity for attendees to sign up and donate to their fund raiser, Relay For Life to find the cure for cancer that will be held at the Boyertown High School June 27-28th. All proceeds from the Gospel Motorsports' shirt sales for the event were also donated to the Relay for Life. Many thanks to all of those contributors and volunteers who were part of the event for these valuable causes.

We found many ties to early drag racing in the Shepherd of the Hills' congregation as Jake Arms in addition to having his chopped '81 F100 with a 429 in the show, he also manned the fuel squirt in the injectors to Adam's car. Little did we know Jake used to race Jr. Fuel in the early days of drag racing.

For more photos of the event, click:

2008 Car Show Photos

Gospel Motorsports provided a newsletter for the event that can be downloaded here.

Many thanks to all participants in the event as they made it a great day for all. Whether you were a volunteer, showed your car, participated in the races, or just enjoyed the fellowship, your presence was greatly appreciated and we look forward to our third annual event next Father's Day.

God Bless,

The Gospel Motorsports Team

Join us for a fun day of celebrating Fathers, Fast Cars, and Faith

No Admission or Entry Fees, Free Hot Dogs and Soda

Show Cars, Race Cars, and all Vehicles welcome to show. Fun for family and fathers of all ages. If you're not going racing, what better way to spend a Father's Day than at a car show with food, music, and fellowship. Race cars welcome to show with trailer parking. All cars are invited to participate in the cacklefest where we will simultaneously fire all car's engines at the show and raise our RPMs to the Lord. King David celebrated with unique dance and song as found in 2 Samuel 6:14-15. What better way to celebrate than to use instruments that a father could enjoy, harnessing all that horsepower and sending the music to our ultimate Father God.

You can also sign up to race in the tricycle races and try to generate your own horsepower and challenge our pastors at Shepherd of the Hills. Most of all we look for your presence to make this event a great time of fellowship and worship of our Lord Jesus Christ.

Where?

Shepherd of the Hills Church

527 Hoffmansville Road

Bechtelsville, PA 19505

www.shepherdofthehillschurch.org

Click for MapQuest Location

Event Schedule

9AM Registration (coffee/donuts)

10AM Church Service

12PM Hot Dogs & Soda

1PM (Music, Tricycle Races, Cacklefest)

Click Here for Pictures from Last Year's Event