What better place than John Force Racing to host our 2018 Holiday Party !  Gary Belvedere

proposed the venue to us over a year ago and while it was a long shot, we knew it was

something we had to do.   Gary negotiated a great deal for us securing the date and we were

on our way

At one time this was their primary shop, but it is now just their headquarters and museum.

The John Force Racing Team has 20 Championships

John Force has 149 Wallys,  16 Championships (10 of them in a row ! )

10,000 horsepower funnycar

It is a huge facility and we rented the entire place.   We used his big showroom as our banquet hall.

Melissa Belvedere and Diane Tribolet did a spectacular job decorating the room

Some of John's personal cars

Also on display were all his retired Funnycar bodies

Gary donated 15 rods and pistons from actual motors that ran in races.   These are essentially

run 1 time down the strip and the motor is rebuilt.

Gary and Melissa put in a ton of hours planning, preparing and executing everything

you could think of to make this the best party ever.

A rare picture opportunity for before all the guests showed up

Canyon Catering's staff was the best.  They were busy prepping everything hours before the

doors to JFR opened up.

Our two Chefs for the evening.  These two guys cooked all the food for 115 people on site

And the food was incredible !!!!

Our bartender kept everyone happy !

The band forgot the Piano, so Kaci couldn't play with them  : )

A few of the cars down in the garage

The guests started showing up and were they in for a treat

Marquee greeting the members

Paul and Lori

Philippe and Gail

Mike and Yoko

Patsy and Anthony

Matthew and Amy

Ron, Patsy, Eddie, Gladys and Anthony

Tony and Sherrie

Akemi, Mike, Ben, Lisa, and Yoko

The appetizers were all delicious

Checking out the movie theater

One of Ashley Force's retired cars

We had the New Thirty come to play and entertain us.  These guys are really great.

Beth and Steve

Tom and Fugi

So great to have 2 time NHRA World Funny Car Champion Robert Hight stop in and welcome us to their home.

Robert currently holds the record for setting the fastest NHRA speed at 339.87 MPH and the first

to run a 3.7 second pass in a funny car.   Pretty amazing !

Robert and Andy

Raj, Robert and Bryan

Bryan, Robert and Debra

Gary and Robert

Diann, Mike Jr, Sara and Mike

Laura and Robert

Anthony getting his ornament signed by Robert.  Great idea !!!

Sara, Mike, Mary and Big Daddy

To get the help and support that we got this year was overwhelming.   I cannot even count

how many emails, text, PM's and phone calls I got throughout the year and it was definitely

one of the greatest joys for me to get to work with so many great people all year long.

There are only 52 weekends in a year and yet we managed to host 26 events in 2018

Special awards were made to recognize each member that put on an event as a way for

us to say thanks for all their time and efforts.

From left to right-  Bryan - Paramount Studios   Raj - Shriners Medical   Eddie -  K1 Speed  Andy - EOD Warrior

Scott - Tech day and Mullin  Matthew - Roadster Show  Angel - Angeles Crest  Dan - SPT Open house

Randy and Diane - Dukes Run   Ben - Track events   Anthony-brochures   

Member of the Year -

We clearly had a bunch of great candidates that stepped up and helped the Club.

In a group like this, rising above the cream of the crop is not easy, especially when you

have so many great people that are part of this family.  The person we chose for Member of the Year

was a guy the went beyond just helping and supporting the Club.   

We watched him support everyone around him.   He is never gonna be the one to try and be first in line,

but he will be the first one to look over his shoulder and give up his place to help another. 

He doesn’t do the things he does for accolades, ego, or attention, he does them because he is

confident in his belief, his faith and who he is as a person.  He just quietly sets the example

of what a truly honorable and respectable person should resemble.  

And while the morals of people around us have shifted to being all about themselves. 

Only concerned with what is right for them and having no regard or consequences for the effect

that it has on those around them, it is so refreshing  to witness the things this guy has done year after year.

He had some health issues that he also had to deal with this past year and it was a very scary time for him,

his family and friends.   In spite of all that he still maintained an incredible outlook on life and continued to

be the great person that I am so very blessed to call a friend and that our Club should be so honored to have as a member.

Our Club Officer’s unanimously agreed that this year’s Member of the Year is  Eddie Reinsma