It's been too long! 2011 here we come!

So it has been wayyyyyyyyyy too long, but let's just say I've been consumed.

What's happened the last year or so? Well we could sit and talk about gas prices or the weird weather, but it's been a lot more than that for me.

The death of my 35 year old best friend, wife, lover, mother to my children... after a 3 year battle with cancer.

The economy and it's affect on my business...

And a lot of other things!

Just being very real - it's been such a whirlwind of chaos and emotion that it's hard to put it down on to *paper* for you. But being a bit of a bottom line kind of guy, it has changed me for the better. I CHOOSE to continue living and not just pulling the covers over my head and going back to sleep, as much as I want to do that.

God wants us to be real - and I am. I really am going to keep Jacque's legacy alive and declare the works of the Lord! God is still God no matter my situation or circumstance.

Peace.

DRIVEN1 at WFX - Finally!

What a fantastic last few days! We drove all night to make it to the KOA Kampground just outside of Charlotte, NC. We arrived at about 1:30am and got to sleep just after 2 and then up again at 6:30 to drive in and get the GTO on the showfloor of the WFX show.

The day was spent getting the car up on the showfloor and setting up all of our "stuff" for the show. The booth space has been a total blessing from the standpoint of we got a premium spot on the showfloor at no charge! This is a huge deal and the perfect place to let people know about what DRIVEN1 is doing and start the search for partners to help get the mission underway.

Sorry for the short post, but having only gotten a few hours sleep - I'm due to head in now so Im fully charged for tomorrow.

Driving to WFX and the Goodguys Show!

A fun day today...

We left Minneapolis loaded in the RV and trailer headed east. Drove thru to Chicago today to meet with a few friends and then onto Wakarusa, Indiana for a night.

A rainy day and overall challenging driving due to having a 70' long RV and trailer to get out to Charlotte, NC. (ok so I can already hear the grumbling about the DRIVEN1 GTO not being DRIVEN to the show... let me explain!)

So here goes - why is the GTO not DRIVING to the show? Wow...! let me share a little bit about the last 6-9 months of time.

The Power Tour 2o09 was a short version this year - as my beautiful bride of 10 years was diagnosed with cancer and has had to go in for surgery and treatment. That is the very short answer to one that deserves a very loooooooong one.

To put it simply - life has challenges and every day you wake up, you have the opportunity to choose how you will respond to the day's challenge. If you read in Matthew 6:34, it reads - Therefore do not worry about tomorrow, for tomorrow will worry about itself. Each day has enough trouble of its own.

I can attest to that - I'm not worried about tomorrow. There is a large misconception about this verse - and I'll put it this way - I don't WORRY about tomorrow, but I do PLAN for it. If I worry, it will paralyze me. If I plan and something goes wrong, which happens from time to time, then I only deal with today's trouble today. Yesterday is over and done. It's a page in the history book, or Facebook for us modern types.

Just today miracles have happened. Lives are being changed and there much to be thankful for.

So let's jump back to the GTO -

Right now it's missing 1 rear shock, the rear axle leaks and is noisy, and there are new holes and dents in the floorpan. The battery was even dead flat last night when I went to pull it out of the garage into the trailer.

So the point here? I thought DRIVEN1 was about transformation! I thought that GTO was all new and perfect and that it would never have a problem again being that's it's reborn!

{{insert laughter}}

Life is really about what Matthew 6:34 talks about again... I can be a born-again Christian, and still have challenges and struggles in life. Just like the DRIVEN1 GTO. Now ask me - what do I plan to do about it and why did all the "bad" things happen? They are all opportunities as I see it.

So one major problem we had was the vibration when driving the car at speeds above 75-80mph. When I took it down the 1/4 mile dragstrip - it would have a pretty impressive vibration once I passed 95mph. The whole car would pulsate with a rythmic vibration. I came to find out that the driveshaft was one of the major culprits. I took the car into have the shaft balanced and check everything over. When the shop was out test driving the car at about 75mph, the driveshaft snapped in half - with a loud BANG and it took out the exhaust system, put holes in the floor and dented the fuel tank.



The driveshaft failure was a week after I had a transmission failure leaving the hospital after visiting my wife... I was going north on 169 and I simply lost all gears other than Park and Neutral. I was able to coast up to an exit ramp and while I was under the dash checking the electrical wiring on the car to see if it was a hardware or electrical failure a fellow hot-rodder pulled up and offered to help. He was a member of the local Chevelle club. We got the car pushed across the street into a safe spot in the school parking lot and I got AAA to send a flatbed towtruck. After the trans was fixed (due to a pump shattering...) they were test driving it and the driveshaft exploded...

Think if that driveshaft had given out with my family in the car or if I were going 100mph+ on a dragstrip? God was watching out for me and the failure happened in the hands of a competent shop. TSI of Brooklyn Park - and a big thanks to Chris for helping me out as much as he has in getting the car up and running!!

Another problem that TSI found and fixed was the steering rack mounting bracket was failing -all the welds in the bracket were coming apart. They took it off and specially reinforced the entire bracket.

So to keep this post from turning into a book, let's just close tonight by saying that the car still needs a few things in order to be worthy of putting 2500 miles on it. We are taking the car as-is to show at two shows this week. The first one is the WFX show which is a church specific A/V, design and worship tradeshow. DRIVEN1 was given a 20x20' booth on the show floor to show the car and talk about the ministry vision and goals we have set. DRIVEN1 is a ministry that reaches out to the youth and young at heart with the love of God. Broken or not - God loves you and wants to fix you up.

The GTO needs some love and fixing, but we are not going to wait until it's perfect to get out in front of people. If I were to wait until I was perfect to do anything, nothing would ever get done! I need to move forward and press on with the vision and goals set before me. All the while giving God the glory for everything.

Be blessed and keep following for the rest of the story! This is going to be an ACTION filled week!

Time...

What is it about time? It seems as though it passes every day relentlessly. It does not care if you are busy, bored or stuck in traffic. How much time has passed since my last blog posting?

Too much time!

So what has happened in the last year you ask? a LOT!

Driven1 has not been a priority for me personally the last 9 months due to other issues that have come up. It was a personal dissapointment for me in that I saw that "nothing was getting done..."

Well how wrong I was! Even though I was not "doing" anything, there was still things happening in the background to open up new doors. I recently got interviewed with The Muscle Car Place -

http://www.themusclecarplace.com/the-musclecar-place-podcast-episode-13-featuring-stefan-svard-of-driven-1

And if that was not enough, I got a call from the people that publish Worship Facilities Magazine, and got a "missions moment" interview and a spot in the front of the magazine.

After that Worship Facilities interview, they asked if I wanted a spot on the expo show floor next week. So long story short, Driven1 will have a 20'x20' booth at the WFX Show in Charlotte, NC.

The same weekend as the WFX Show there is the Goodguys Nationals at the Lowe's Motor Speedway!

So to put it right to the point, I have not been responsible nor can I take the credit for all the good things happening with Driven1 right now.

There is a LOT more to tell, so stay tuned!

Stefan

Springtime - Planning for this summer's events!

Hello to you all!

This proves to be another EXCITING summer of events for the DRIVEN1 crew and cars!

We are now a 501(c)3 non-profit organization that is reaching out to the youth of America... thru the high horsepower means.

The Hot Rod Power Tour again this year, Sonshine Music Festival, and many other shows.

Our first drive of the GTO this year was to the Cars & Coffee in Chanhassen. I took my two young sons and my 3.5 year old Eli says - DADDY, DO A BURNOUT!

Gotta love that kid! He's a boy after daddy's own heart.

So to get right to the point - DRIVEN1 is looking for helpers - both in facilitating this year's events but also financial to keep the mission going. Please contact us on our e-mail on the DRIVEN1 website or at info@driven-1.com

Thanks and we'll see you out on the open road!

SS

Hot Rod Power Tour 09?

I got word that it's on!

The tour starts in Madison, WI this year and makes its way thru Detroit and then on to Tennesee!

2009 HOT ROD POWER TOUR(TM) ROUTE
Saturday, June 6
Madison, WI
Alliant Energy Center

Sunday, June 7
Racine, WI
Downtown Lakefront

Monday, June 8
South Bend, IN
TBA

Tuesday, June 9
Warren, MI (Detroit)
General Motors Technical Center

Wednesday, June 10
Dayton, OH
University of Dayton Arena

Thursday, June 11
Somerset, KY
TBA

Friday, June 12
Bristol, TN
Bristol Motor Speedway

So - Please keep posted for the plans for this year's tour!

We will have some fresh things to show - there will be changes to the GTO, another car is in the works and more fun stuff.

I also want to show you the photo of last year's LONG HAUL gang - see if you can squint enough to find Sean and myself in the photo. I know where I was sitting, so that was easy...

Cheers!!

What's new? a tale of two Brian's...

It has been a great summer! So many stories to tell and the ones already posted are just the beginning...

So in the last few weeks we have met several people who have seen the GTO and been inquisitive about it. Two nights in a row I drove into Fleet Farm to buy fuel for the GTO and both nights I met a guy (two different people) named Brian.

The first night I was in the passenger seat as my wife was driving the car - heading home from church and we stopped in to top off the tank with a little 92 octane fuel. When I pull into fill 'er up I raise up the rear air suspension fully and lower the front some in order that I don't get splashed or the fuel nozzle ejects out of the filler neck when the tank is full.

This guy in a suburban pulls into the station and with his window rolled down hangs his head out the window and asks what year the car is and if it's for sale. He wasn't sure if it was a 66 or 67, and I told him it's a 66. As for the whole for sale bit, I didn't have a good answer for him other than not really. If he were to offer some 6-figure price for it I would certianly consider selling...

At this point he was out of his 'burban and we had the hood open talking about what has been done to the car. As he is leaning into the hood I ask him a question...

"if you were to die tonight, do you know if you'd go to heaven?"

he slowly looks up at me with a crooked smile and answers "yea!" and proceeded to tell me that it was the FIRST time anyone has ever asked him that question.

As we continue to talk he shares that he goes to Emmanuel Christian Center in Spring Lake Park, MN - which is where my wife went as a teenager... hmm, small world!

The next evening I was alone at Fleet Farm topping off again with some of that sweet go juice and there's a guy in a early 2000's saturn sedan filling up and we strike up a conversation - this time about gas. (not the kind you get from eating beans either...)

I ask him the same question - "if you were to die tonight..."

The answer - YES

Ends up his name is Brian also and his church group has done "gas buy down's" which means their church makes an agreement with a local gas station and for a few hours a day they offer 25 cents off a gallon of fuel and they do the full service thing. Fill ups, check the oil, clean the windows, etc. and in the process tell the captive audience about the love of God. Pretty cool idea!

Anyhow - to meet two guys two nights in a row both named Brian and both of them knowing their eternal destiny - talk about wow!

God is good - all the time - no matter my situation, He never changes and His word is always true!