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Season End Update

Today marks the official end of my drag racing season this year. The season end is always bittersweet - it is great to get a break from racing (ie. save instead of spend money) and start planning for next season. However, there is some sadness knowing you won't see some familiar race faces for another 8 or 9 months until the track opens again. Although I'll write a few articles over the winter here is a quick "hits" and "misses" list for racing this past summer.

Hits: Personal best ET/mph of 13.79 @ 97.7mph, discovering my car is a legal "Pure Stock" IHRA car running 4 to 5 tenths under the index, starting to figure out how the wind affects my car, and limping my transmission through another season.

Misses: Making the same mistake 4 times this season by dialling too soft, listening to bad advice, losing focus at the lights, and not racing enough!

Happiness is Low ET's

Phew, I finally made it! I'm happy to report Project Stocker finally broke the 13 second time barrier last weekend. Best ET of weekend was a 13.98 @ 97.2 mph. All other runs were between 13.99 and 14.02 with the exception of an odd run where the car slowed to 14.08. These new lower ET's were accomplished with the use of a short belt to bypass the power steering and a new exhaust system (mufflers still hooked up). Otherwise the car is untouched from last year. Despite a few transmission troubles earlier in the year I'm optimistic with some good air and a few more tricks that a 13.80 may just be in reach this season. Also, I know now from my mph that I'm only 20 horsepower away from making my goal of hitting the N/SA index. However, before I'll be able to do that the car drastically needs to improve the 60 foot times as they are stuck around 1.90 to 1.95. In reality, they need to be 1.70 to 1.75. More gear, more converter, and an improved suspension should take care of that problem.

FYI: The title of this blog post is a quote my dad had posted inside his 1969 Dodge Car Swinger 340. Anyhow, If you don't know the story about his car read about it here.

New Season Approaching

With the passing on winter and an early spring it is easy to turn attention to racing. In the mail today I received the new SIR promotional package with posters and schedules. It is great to see the track reaching out to Division 6 racers with their $5000 big buck jackpot scheduled for August 7th. I plan to register for the race although I need to figure out some strategy for how a slow foot-braker can compete with a delay box car. It will be exciting to see what cars and drivers decide to tow to Saskatchewan for the race.

Over the last few months I've been talking with several efi mustang class racers and have regained a lot more hope that a street car may be able to get under the class index. It just means some more work and creativity to be competitive. So, I've made a few changes to keep moving forward. The power steering has been bypassed, a properly designed exhaust system is currently being shipped, rear suspension has been stiffened, AOD valve body has been tweaked for firmer 2-3 shift, and I'm working on locating a set of skinny front wheels and tires. All these simply changes combined with an aggressive tune should drop the ET to 13.80's. Although this is near a half a second off the index it is a huge leap from the 15.80's the car initially ran in 2003 (especially when you consider that the car still only makes the same 22o horsepower). More updates and pics to come soon.

Happy New Year?

Project Stocker has taken a major setback as of mid December due to an NHRA decision to revisit the class indexes. For the 2010 year all stock eliminator and super stock classes have their class index reduced by 3 tenths. This means that the N/SA index went from 13.30 to 13.00. Even when adjusted for altitude at my local track the index would be 13.25 which is what I believe will be the maximum et potential my current combination can handle. Mix in some poor weather and I will just never get under the index.

For a well established class racer who has been at this game for a while and has a strong running car the index change mostly is an irritation. However, for the low buck crowd or those racers trying to get started in class racing the index decision is like having a door slammed in your face. The internet and work benches everywhere are stuffed with theories about why the indexes changed. Some accuse the NHRA or selling out to corporate interests while others argue the fault is with racers themselves for sandbagging quick cars. Regardless, the decision to reduce the indexes has a big impact on racers as it means they will need to spend a lot more money to be competitive. The scary part (IMHO) is that it starts to create a kind of country-club mentality in what is supposed to be a sportsman oriented class. The roots of local drag tracks everywhere can be traced back to the the "racing of the family sedan". The early stock and super stock cars helped form the backbone of bracket racing everywhere and have remained a staple of NHRA drag racing for 50 years. In fact, it is last class of racing in which a hard working and creative racer has an honest chance of building and racing at a National Event without breaking the bank. In the "big picture" of racing it just doesn't seem to make a lot of sense. Also, given the reality that car counts in stock and super stock are dropping in many divisions, how will lowering the indexes further help encourage more potential racers and index chasers to come out and race? Instead, many people might start asking themselves the question I'm wrestling with...why bother?

Season End Updates

My drag racing season ended two months ago but I've been too busy at work and in life to get around to a post until today. The final race of the year for me was the SIR Alcohol Funny Car feature on August 22nd. This is a big race for Saskatchewan's only quarter mile facility and features IBAA cars and nearly 200 sportsman racers. Nearly record crowds and great weather made it a memorable event.

I made relatively few changes from the race two weeks earlier in August so performance was similar with et's around 14.30 all day and night. However, during the quarter finals I left too quick and ran flat out with the car picking up 4 hundredths. I've never had much success night racing so I was very pleased having made a few rounds. I definitely need a lot more practice night racing though.

I end the season this year with a nagging sense of frustration. I naively embarked on my stocker project believing I could find 'tenths' with some proven and simple bolt-on items. Upon reflection I realize that I should be searching for 'hundredths' and that the route to get this car under the index will be a lot longer and more costly than I first imagined. However, now with a solid drivetrain I can begin to experiment and tune in hopes of finding some et. I'm busy considering and saving for some winter project options. Areas to address will certainly include rear suspension, exhaust upgrades, tuning add-ons, skinnies, and the removal of a few items. One last thing - I'm starting to buy lotto tickets because those new Cobra Jet's look fantastic!

I Love This Motor

"I love this motor" was a parting comment to a good friend during eliminations on the weekend. The racing weather on Sunday was consistent and so was the motor. Regardless of the water temperature and mild winds the car was running within 3 hundredths on each pass. That kind of consistency and a lot of luck combined for a win in the Sportsman category. What followed were run-offs between classes to determine the "King of the Track" who would receive a special Wally. I was fortunate enough to squeak out a couple of more wins and take home the very special trophy. Truthfully, I'm still in a state of shock that I actually won it...

As for the car performance this weekend it was very consistent running between 14.22 and 14.25 @ 95mph all day. Somewhat disappointing was the lack of et drop from the National Open. Despite a corrected altitude of nearly 2000ft less than Medicine Hat the car didn't pick up any mph or drop et. As in the last race the car seems to pull very hard in 1st and 2nd gear but seems to "level-off" around 4000 rpm in 3rd gear. The 302 EFI motor is designed for torque so it is not surprising that it runs of out steam early in the powerband. I need to find out what bottleneck is keeping the power back. The next investment will be some good quality headers and an adjustable fuel regulator. A custom cam with some more cylinder filling duration is also on the wish list. Oh yeah, any advice on finding more horsepower is appreciated!

I'm fortunate to have a few sponsors who support my racing each year. Their support is a big help to making racing more affordable. I am very grateful for their continued support!

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