| January 1964, Clem, Mary Helen and Bernie Iven were moving to Houston from California where Clem saw a sign advertising Drag Boat races. Having a love for boats Clem and a friend decided to check out the races. It didn’t take long to track down a couple of Aqua Craft hulls and an engine from Astronauts Gus Grissom and Gordon Cooper. By 1966, they were ready to conquer the racing scene, with the boat on a trailer and a station wagon loaded with equipment. Clem drove the boat to many wins until 1982 when he turned all the skills of competitive driving over to the oldest of three sons, Bernie. Approximately this same year, sons, Thomas and Bobby became interested in Car Racing, racing at the Houston International Park, in League City, on the Gulf Freeway. Much closer event to their house. Along the years, Clem was one of the founding fathers of SDBA (Southern Drag Boat Association), an Officer on the Board for the Houston Boat Racing Association, and Mary Helen serving as Secretary, raising three sons, along with full time jobs, they were helping promote boat racing. In Houston they would take a day to set up the course, work races, Clem would hop in the boat to make his run, go back to see the race schedule was going smoothly. The day after the races, equipment and course were dismantled, put in storage until the next race. In January 1999 Clem was inducted into the SDBA Hall of Fame. Today, you will see the Moondust Racing Team with an enclosed trailer loaded with Boat or cars, computer, equipment and 500 CI engines being towed by a Diesel Four- Door Dully pickup truck and a crew still willing and ready. On weekends when there is not a boat race, you will see the Iven family at Houston Raceway Park, Angleton Raceway or Sealy observing Bobby, Thomas or Brittany racing in the Bracket Racing Series. Thomas and Bobby both have been very competitive in their No Electronics Foot Brake class, finishing in the top ten from a class of forty-five to sixty-five cars. At the end of each race season, they have earned their spot at the Summit Nationals in Ennis, Texas. 2005 season came to a close, with Thomas finishing second out of a class of 162 cars, from several other race tracks throughout Texas. Brittany also earned a spot at the IHRA team finals in San Antonio with team Angleton Raceway. This was her first year racing and she went. Brittany started racing at the age of 10 and is the daughter of Thomas and his wife Shannon. She is doing great. Truly in the blood she is a natural. Clem continues to work at the NASA Johnson Space Center as a Project Manager in the Astronaut Training Division. Bernie and Thomas are employed by Oceaneering Space Operations and Bobby is with Jacobs Sverdrup Engineering, all under contracts to NASA. Stay tuned as we continue to bring current information and new pictures as we pursue the goal and dream of the drag racing game and mostly to enjoy the sport that we truly call The Iven Family Adventure…. The Iven’s |
| It's all about family, they say it starts with roots and branches out into a tree, well ours is full and will continue to grow. |