Race Report June - November 2008

I ended the previous report with a promise to run the points race and Fallon and the MOPAR Nationals at Denver.  Unfortunately, I was unable to make those races.  Due to the high cost of diesel, commitments at work, and a long list of home improvement projects, I decided to take the Summer off and resume racing in the Fall when the weather cooled and the travel distances to races would be much shorter.  Two Jerry’s Nugget races in September were a good tune up for the first big race of the Fall, the Sports Nationals at Fontana early in October. 

I continued to do well at the Fontana track.  I went three rounds at the points race in May and went four rounds in the October Sports Nationals losing on a red light.  This proved to be my downfall the rest of the season, all my losses were due to early reaction times, red lights.  I had removed the two-step button because my reaction times were inconsistent and occasionally I accidently touched the two-step button on the brake pedal which causes the engine to stop momentarily, not good in short quarter mile race!!  So I went back to foot braking which is also not very consistent but at least it wouldn’t accidentally shut down the engine in the middle of a race.  I experimented with some new racing oil during this race which proved to be very effective.  Using this new (and VERY expensive oil) I was able to cut nearly a tenth off my ET and brought me to within .02 sec of one of the fastest cars in my class, the ’72 Duster of Jim Durham.  This is very satisfying to me personally and is the result of a lot of work (and money!) improving the performance of the car over the past couple of years.  Especially so since there are still some improvements I can add that will make the car even faster (like a ProTrans racing transmission).  This will happen early in 2009, perhaps in time for the first race of the season, the Winter Nationals at Pomona.

The next race following Fontana was the AC Delco Nationals at Las Vegas the end of October.  This was the first national race I ran the Barracuda in Super Stock.  Since Stock Eliminator class was excluded from this race, I had to run in Super Stock or sit out the race.  Although the car was definitely slow compared with the other cars in its class, I did well and went to the third round when my red light put me on the trailer for that race.  The following weekend we went right into the Las Vegas Points race and I went back to Stock Eliminator class.  Again, I did well during a race that was delayed by rain for a day and not concluded until Monday.  Another red light ended my race in the fourth round.  The 2008 season ended the following weekend with the World Finals at Pomona.  Staying in Stock Eliminator class I went to the second round and…you guessed it, another red light ended my season. 

Like most years, 2008 had its ups and downs.  The season started slowly with an early out at the Winter Nationals and I missed the next three races due to illness and changes to the car.  A new motor made the car considerably slower, was very unexpected and disappointing.  However, that turned out to be a very simple fix and I ran the motor in the Fall races and it performed very well. In spite of the red light losses, I ended the season very well avoiding a first round loss in all of the last five races with one second round finish, two third round finishes and two fourth round finishes.

I’m excited about this coming year, the car will be well prepared and should be one of the fastest cars in its class in the Pacific Division.  The current engine is fresh and proven to be fast, I have a complete backup engine ready to run that may be even faster, and an assembled spare shortblock, the engine I ran during the 2007 season which was very fast.  I’ve ordered a ProTrans racing transmission which may arrive in time for the Winter Nationals at Pomona in early February.  I have a fix for using a two-step activated by hydraulic pressure from the brake pedal which has been very consistent with some racers who used it during the past season.  And on my “wish list” are new double adjustable front shocks and a Dana rear end.  These improvements should make the car very fast, maybe faster than “old man Jim Durham”.  We’ll see, I’m looking forward to next year.

I would like to thank Jerry’s Nugget for their support to the Las Vegas drag racing community over the past several years.  Their sponsorship for the ET bracket series allowed local drag racing to grow and become one of the most popular sporting activities for racing enthusiasts in southern Nevada.  They will be sorely missed.