PD HEAT TEAM STORY

I became a Peace Officer for the State of Texas in 1987 and initially I began my career with the Galveston Fire Marshall's Office as an Arson Investigator. In December of 1991, I transferred from the Galveston Fire Marshall's Office to the Galveston Police Department .

I am happily married and I have one son who has blessed my wife and I with a beautiful granddaughter.

The P.D. Heat race team was founded in October 2001. I decided to join Beat the Heat after having a conversation with Lt. Tommy Hansen of the Galveston County Sheriff's Department. This conversation occurred, of all places, on a homicide scene. It was then that the goals of the program were brought to my attention. Our conversation was a result of my stepson Andy taking me to the Houston Raceway Park where we attended a Fun Ford Weekend race. While watching the races Andy made a comment about how neat it would be to have a race car and to actually be participating in the races instead of just watching. It was then that memories of my early racing experiences came back to me.

During high school, I spent a lot of time hanging out with my cousin, Danny Dill. He was almost one year older than me and was one grade higher. Of course at that time it really didn't make that much difference to either of us. We learned that a new drag strip had been opened in a nearby town through one of my classmates whose older brother had built a drag car out of a Z28 Camaro. We both thought it would really be cool to be able to go and watch. Danny asked his dad if he would take us and on the first opportunity, we all loaded up in his dad's work truck and off we went to Edinburgh International Speedway in Edinburgh, Texas. Once there we were absolutely hooked. Races were held every Sunday at that track and we both were asking to return there to watch the races every chance we got. It wasn't long before we were talking about how cool it would be to have our own car. Most likely out of despair and simply becoming tired of hearing from the both of us on a constant basis about drag racing, an offer was made.

Mr. John Dill, not being the only apple on the tree, came up with a carefully designed plan to keep both myself and Danny out of trouble. That plan consisted of him offering to buy a car for us to race. Of course it just wasn't that simple. As with everything else, this offer came with conditions. But who cared about conditions, we were two kids coming up through high school who had a lot more spunk than we did brains. It didn't take but just the same amount of time as the blink of an eye to agree, and we didn't even hear the part about the conditions. But like I said, who cared!

Once Mr. Dill got us calmed down to the point where we could hear someone speak, the "conditions" were firmly outlined in reality. These conditions, for a high school kid, were asking a lot. The very first words out of his mouth were simple. We must keep up our grades through school. At the very hint of a bad grade, the car would be sold and our racing would come to an end. We both thought "this is a cake walk". What is there to keeping our grades up? It wasn't like either of us was getting bad grades anyway. But! There was more, much more. We listened to each of the conditions we must maintain in order to keep the car being laid down as law to us. If either of us got into "ANY", and he clearly emphasized the word "ANY", kind of trouble either at school or not, the car would be sold. If we did any type of street racing, the car would be sold. If either of us were caught driving the car on the street, the car would be sold. If we won any money with the car, that money had to be returned to the car. We weren't allowed to pocket any of it. It seemed like hours later that the "conditions" were finally completed. Throughout high school, both Danny and I worked on the car religiously. Instead of going out and doing what most high school kids were doing, we were getting ready for the next race. We kept our noses clean; we got to keep the car!

Sitting there watching the races with Andy, who at the time was about 10 years older than I was when that offer was made to me, (along with the "conditions") those memories were as clear as if it was just yesterday that they were made. It got me to thinking! If it worked for me, why wouldn't it work now? So, I made "the offer", much like it was made to me. And of course, the conditions were included. Just as I did, Andy agreed without hearing a single word about conditions. He thought "Who Cares, We're getting a race car. After a few more discussions about racing and the "conditions" that were included, reality set in. And as me, he lived up to those conditions.

It was shortly after that when I learned about Beat the Heat from Lt. Tommy Hansen. During that homicide investigation when I was on the scene Lt. Hansen came by to basically see what was going on. I took the opportunity to take a break and talk with him about the program. It didn't take long for me to submit my application for membership. It seemed that the conditions that I had come up with, as taught to me by Mr. Dill, fell right in lines with the goals of Beat the Heat. As a result, the P.D. Heat Race Team was born.

Our team chose to build a "BEAT THE HEAT" car with a 1980 Malibu Station Wagon. The power plant for this particular car is a Chevy big block engine. We first began with a 427 cubic inch motor that propelled the car down the quarter mile at an average of 11.0 seconds at 122 miles per hour. We were fortunate to have another motor donated to us by Gary Hogan of Blazer Inspection in Texas City, Texas. This motor was a 488 cubic inch race motor that got the car down the track at 10.3 seconds with a speed of 128 miles per hour.

Although I've had a few describe our car as a "Drag Sled", we believe it is quite unique dressed out as a City of Galveston Police Car. With the "conditions" being met, I'm still racing the car. Andy has now grown up and has started a family of his own and doesn't quite have the time to devote to the team as he did before, he still gets some time in with the car.

Many thanks go out to those who have helped in keeping this car running. During the beginning the team consisted of myself, Andy, and my best friend, Clyde Blackstock, who was designated as the crew chief. Clyde eventually took a job as a long haul trucker and had to drop off the team. It was then that I learned about one of my co-workers who used to be involved in drag racing. Officer Ervin Isbell came on board in the role of crew chief. I was fortunate to meet a man by the name of Joey Cram. Joey was an avid racer and had built several race cars. Officer Isbell retired from the department and Joey took the reigns as crew chief. Through his knowledge and generosity, the P.D. Heat race team continues to exist today. I can honestly say that he and I are probably closer than most brothers and most of time we probably act like brothers. I know for a fact that he, along with Andy, Clyde, and Ervin, have no clue as to how much I appreciate them.