SamIyam
11-05-2003, 02:40 AM
Well, it was quite a weekend... fun, drama, excitement, sorrow... and of course, the agony of defeat... but wait! There's more! There were awards to win... read on.
It rained off and on Friday night on our way down... like a watch dog, I had been checking with the weather.com site all day... and luckily, the patterns were exactly what they said they'd be... which meant, no rain on Saturday...
But when saturday morning came, we were greeted with FOG! Yuch, at the track there were mud puddles upon mud puddles... and the fog. Now me, I don't mind the fog... but racing in it is a whole nuther story!
Soooo, Shag and Kenny greeted us at the track and told us that they had secured a prim-o pit space for us near the finish line and the swap meet... a big thanks goes out to Shag for helping us out with towing duties, a great BBQ and advice on a drag racer's first wheelie (stay tuned)...
Once we got settled into our pit space, we unloaded the car and Shag towed us to tech... tech went really well and we were cleared to run... well, almost.
You see, once we were in the staging lanes, we were greeted by Run-Card-Roger... as in "YOU NEED A RUN CARD TO RUN!!"
What the heck is a "run card"??
Well, it's this little card that you have to take your tech sheet over and get... they use it to keep track of how many runs you make... and make sure you do not make too many runs in your time slot... anyway, off to wait in another line!
Once we had our run card, I got suited up and strapped in the car... it wasn't long before I was sitting in the bleech box ready to make my first run... and then...
and then a CHERRY '32 three window that runs 10's... and has an chromed out independent rear end... blew one of his half shafts to smitherines!
So there I sat, for about ten minutes, while the cleaned his mess up...
But I didn't just sit there quietly, mind you... well, I was quiet, but the announcer, who goes by HotRodBob here on the HAMB (Bob Beck) did his best stand up routine... with me as the set up AND the punch line... fun stuff!
Well, after they got the coupe cleaned up, I was ready to go... so I burned off the tires pretty good... set the pre stage bulb... the guy next to set his... and then I flip my visor down and it INSTANTLY fogs up!! I mean, I can't see shit!... So I flip it up.... let it clear up a tad, flip it down with my breath held... and then set the stage bulb...
Shortly there after, the amber lights click down and I let go of the trans brake... YeeeeeeeeeeeHaaaaaaaaaawww!! the BFD yanks the front wheels a foot and a half off the ground!
It then lets it down nice and easy and the car begins to get out of shape...
I had run my best 60ft time ever... thanks to the track prep that morning in preparation of 5 second fuelers on 12" tires... but the next 300 feet of the run was a dramatic dance of on the throttle, off the throttle... that didn't get any better, so I just coasted through the lights...
Once Shag came up and hooked us up to tow us back, I got the "racers first wheelie" talk from Shag... which went something like "let the first one scare you... but keep it planted all the way through your second one... and you'll be fine"... So he says.
The second run only produced a 4" wheelie and the 60ft time was respectable... but I got out to the 1/8 mile and the car began to drift to the guard rail and I soon found out that it was kinda slippery out there due to the dew... so I back peddled, it went to the center line, I drove it back to the guard rail and then to the center line and then to the guard rail and then finally back to the groove... once in the grooveI got back into it and still ran a 10.61... but decided that I'd better not get "lazy" and let it get over to the shoulder again... I also found out that we were a little fat on our tune up as evedence of the thing running hard in the cool air...
Anywayzzz... that was it for Saturday... two runs... the rest of the day was spent watching the fuel cars run and checking out the pits... oh, and lunch that Shag's girlfriend prepared (Carne Asada!!)
Sunday morning we arrived at the track and prepared for our first run... Mentally I was wanting to slow my reaction time as my last RT was a .491 on a .500 tree... which is .009 too quick...
So I'm sitting there suiting up in the staging lanes when Ken Gentry comes up... Now Ken is one of the BBMFIC's in Division 7 who doles out the Chassis Certifications for the NHRA... he decides what will run... and what will get re-built. Ken is also the guy who will certify the Pro cars for the VRA... the VRA being the sanctioning body that is in charge of the tech and race organization of Goodguys' Nostalgia circuit... anyway, Ken is "the man"...
So Ken comes up, looks me straight in the eye and says "I'm going to have to send you home".
Instantly my heart sank... I thought "what, did he catch me drinking that beer in the pits yesterday afternoon??? Did I do something wrong??? WTF???"
But just as my jaw hit the staging lane asphalt... out of Ken's mouth came "with an award!"
He then showed me the "VRA tech award" and explained to us that he and the guys of the VRA though that it was cool that we built a car that passed tech with flying colors, exceeding the safety requirements for the times we were running... and yet it looked "Nostalgic"... he also said that if we had the injectors on it... we probably would have won the "Most Nostalgic" award...
Anyway, I was giddy with excitement... mostly for the guys who showed up on a regular basis every Wed. night to build the car... namely Tim Sage and Terry Pherson (38Chevy454)... and Ron Carpenter who built the body and helped us with other odds and ends to get it finished in the last month of "the thrash"... anyway, hats off to the boys!
On to eliminations!!
The burnout went well, I pre-staged and then staged and then proceeded to take myself out of eliminations by picking another cherry... SHOOT! a .468 light...
Incidentally, my brother said that I was rolling too far into the beams... so the fix will be more practice. Luckily I've done it enough to be consistant... but this weekend I was consistantly to fast!
So, I bought all the guys one of those pics they sell of you launching the car... it showed the wheels up off the ground ... but isn't in a format that I can post...
Also! That beer drinkin' Boob lovin' skull, Mr. Bones, went along for a ride... strapped to the grille shell... and he went 123mph... so, hopefully someone got a shot of that! Quite frankly, I was a bit busy and only had time to strap him on... and wasn't in any position to take pics of his ass... so, hopefully they will show up here soon!
Take care,
Sam.
It rained off and on Friday night on our way down... like a watch dog, I had been checking with the weather.com site all day... and luckily, the patterns were exactly what they said they'd be... which meant, no rain on Saturday...
But when saturday morning came, we were greeted with FOG! Yuch, at the track there were mud puddles upon mud puddles... and the fog. Now me, I don't mind the fog... but racing in it is a whole nuther story!
Soooo, Shag and Kenny greeted us at the track and told us that they had secured a prim-o pit space for us near the finish line and the swap meet... a big thanks goes out to Shag for helping us out with towing duties, a great BBQ and advice on a drag racer's first wheelie (stay tuned)...
Once we got settled into our pit space, we unloaded the car and Shag towed us to tech... tech went really well and we were cleared to run... well, almost.
You see, once we were in the staging lanes, we were greeted by Run-Card-Roger... as in "YOU NEED A RUN CARD TO RUN!!"
What the heck is a "run card"??
Well, it's this little card that you have to take your tech sheet over and get... they use it to keep track of how many runs you make... and make sure you do not make too many runs in your time slot... anyway, off to wait in another line!
Once we had our run card, I got suited up and strapped in the car... it wasn't long before I was sitting in the bleech box ready to make my first run... and then...
and then a CHERRY '32 three window that runs 10's... and has an chromed out independent rear end... blew one of his half shafts to smitherines!
So there I sat, for about ten minutes, while the cleaned his mess up...
But I didn't just sit there quietly, mind you... well, I was quiet, but the announcer, who goes by HotRodBob here on the HAMB (Bob Beck) did his best stand up routine... with me as the set up AND the punch line... fun stuff!
Well, after they got the coupe cleaned up, I was ready to go... so I burned off the tires pretty good... set the pre stage bulb... the guy next to set his... and then I flip my visor down and it INSTANTLY fogs up!! I mean, I can't see shit!... So I flip it up.... let it clear up a tad, flip it down with my breath held... and then set the stage bulb...
Shortly there after, the amber lights click down and I let go of the trans brake... YeeeeeeeeeeeHaaaaaaaaaawww!! the BFD yanks the front wheels a foot and a half off the ground!
It then lets it down nice and easy and the car begins to get out of shape...
I had run my best 60ft time ever... thanks to the track prep that morning in preparation of 5 second fuelers on 12" tires... but the next 300 feet of the run was a dramatic dance of on the throttle, off the throttle... that didn't get any better, so I just coasted through the lights...
Once Shag came up and hooked us up to tow us back, I got the "racers first wheelie" talk from Shag... which went something like "let the first one scare you... but keep it planted all the way through your second one... and you'll be fine"... So he says.
The second run only produced a 4" wheelie and the 60ft time was respectable... but I got out to the 1/8 mile and the car began to drift to the guard rail and I soon found out that it was kinda slippery out there due to the dew... so I back peddled, it went to the center line, I drove it back to the guard rail and then to the center line and then to the guard rail and then finally back to the groove... once in the grooveI got back into it and still ran a 10.61... but decided that I'd better not get "lazy" and let it get over to the shoulder again... I also found out that we were a little fat on our tune up as evedence of the thing running hard in the cool air...
Anywayzzz... that was it for Saturday... two runs... the rest of the day was spent watching the fuel cars run and checking out the pits... oh, and lunch that Shag's girlfriend prepared (Carne Asada!!)
Sunday morning we arrived at the track and prepared for our first run... Mentally I was wanting to slow my reaction time as my last RT was a .491 on a .500 tree... which is .009 too quick...
So I'm sitting there suiting up in the staging lanes when Ken Gentry comes up... Now Ken is one of the BBMFIC's in Division 7 who doles out the Chassis Certifications for the NHRA... he decides what will run... and what will get re-built. Ken is also the guy who will certify the Pro cars for the VRA... the VRA being the sanctioning body that is in charge of the tech and race organization of Goodguys' Nostalgia circuit... anyway, Ken is "the man"...
So Ken comes up, looks me straight in the eye and says "I'm going to have to send you home".
Instantly my heart sank... I thought "what, did he catch me drinking that beer in the pits yesterday afternoon??? Did I do something wrong??? WTF???"
But just as my jaw hit the staging lane asphalt... out of Ken's mouth came "with an award!"
He then showed me the "VRA tech award" and explained to us that he and the guys of the VRA though that it was cool that we built a car that passed tech with flying colors, exceeding the safety requirements for the times we were running... and yet it looked "Nostalgic"... he also said that if we had the injectors on it... we probably would have won the "Most Nostalgic" award...
Anyway, I was giddy with excitement... mostly for the guys who showed up on a regular basis every Wed. night to build the car... namely Tim Sage and Terry Pherson (38Chevy454)... and Ron Carpenter who built the body and helped us with other odds and ends to get it finished in the last month of "the thrash"... anyway, hats off to the boys!
On to eliminations!!
The burnout went well, I pre-staged and then staged and then proceeded to take myself out of eliminations by picking another cherry... SHOOT! a .468 light...
Incidentally, my brother said that I was rolling too far into the beams... so the fix will be more practice. Luckily I've done it enough to be consistant... but this weekend I was consistantly to fast!
So, I bought all the guys one of those pics they sell of you launching the car... it showed the wheels up off the ground ... but isn't in a format that I can post...
Also! That beer drinkin' Boob lovin' skull, Mr. Bones, went along for a ride... strapped to the grille shell... and he went 123mph... so, hopefully someone got a shot of that! Quite frankly, I was a bit busy and only had time to strap him on... and wasn't in any position to take pics of his ass... so, hopefully they will show up here soon!
Take care,
Sam.