Africa hot and Brazil humid....
08-23-2015, 08:22 AM
#1
Race Director
Thread Starter
Africa hot and Brazil humid....
Today was the rain date make up for the last points race of the season...it is now 5:30AM and I just walked in from the event...what a long day to say the least...
My day began at 5AM, yesterday, when I got up to check on my new trickle charger...it had been on since 3PM the day before...the orange light was flashing meaning it aborted the charge...sheesh...I waited for a while and was at Autozone at 7:30AM with my rig...they checked the battery and pronounced it good....oh well....I went home and got ready to go to Palm Beach for the race...
Left at Noon and got to the track at 3:30PM...the weather was....yup...Africa hot and brazil humid...the air is like pea soup...the time shots begin at 5:30PM..my first went 6.94 with a .004 light at 6:50PM and then 6.91 with a .032 tree at 8:32PM...it is gonna be a long night folks...
They finally call first round and I catch a nice Mustang dialed 7.70...I put 6.91 on the window and off we go...it is 10.22PM, btw...he leaves green and I follow the same...I catch him and rip a couple of times leading him through by .02... I had a .022 tree to his .055...on to round next...I almost forgot...they had a glitch with the tree that held us up for 40 minutes...I almost passed out in the car and got real wavy from the heat...thank goodness some kind lady came by handing out cold water which got me through this round...
Now I line up with an old Lincoln dialed 9.22...the guy is a local hitter, I am told...he launches and I eat a burger and fries waiting for mine to drop...at least that is what it seemed like...turns out I just clip him at the stripe taking him through by .009...oh yeah, I pushed him out to a .008 break out...this happened at 12.06AM....sigh...
Next on the list is a well known hitter in the southeast and beyond, Manny Sousa from Bradenton...the guy is a killer...I gave the stripe back to him some years ago and have not forgotten this...he is driving a Mustang dialed 6.54...I have 6.93 painted on and off we go...it is now 1:00AM...the temp is still 89* and the humidity is 91%!....I leave feeling my light was OK...he comes at me hard and I run it out the back door by design...I had an .018 tree to his .043 and I go dead 3 for a 21 pack...see ya Manny...a .043 tree for him is like a .150 for me...
It is now 1:48AM and I make it to 9 cars...I get the current track champ in no box, Super Sonny Freeland...oh well...he races a real nice 72 Camaro dialed 6.15...I put 6.93 on my Camaro and off we go...sadly my night ended here...as I went up on the converter to final stage it went right past the 3200 rpm I had been leaving at all night to 3400 rpm...fooey!...three bulbs are lit so I have to go in...I try to wait but go .002 red...dirty rato frats!!!!!
The same thing happened to me against Michael Beard up in Bristol...anyway, I ran it out and went 6.940 on my 6.93...he went 6.167 on his 6.15...here is the killer...he had a .044 light...geez louise...he knew he dodged a bullet on that one...
So I am now heading to bed as the sun rises...I am exhausted from the heat and the racing...glad to go some rounds and get on the tree last night...next up is the Division II finals in Jackson, S.C. on Sept. 15th through the 20th...five day event...the car ran 6.93/4 all night in that stupid heat so I am very pleased with my pump gas turd...
Oh yeah, the battery held up fine all race long...one quick note, I saw a very familiar car in the staging lanes on my first time shot...it was the old Bat out of Hell car that Marc Fisher used to own...I knew Tracy Lewis had bought it 4 years ago...well, he and Karen brought it out after 4 years of storage last night...good to see them both after all these years...
My day began at 5AM, yesterday, when I got up to check on my new trickle charger...it had been on since 3PM the day before...the orange light was flashing meaning it aborted the charge...sheesh...I waited for a while and was at Autozone at 7:30AM with my rig...they checked the battery and pronounced it good....oh well....I went home and got ready to go to Palm Beach for the race...
Left at Noon and got to the track at 3:30PM...the weather was....yup...Africa hot and brazil humid...the air is like pea soup...the time shots begin at 5:30PM..my first went 6.94 with a .004 light at 6:50PM and then 6.91 with a .032 tree at 8:32PM...it is gonna be a long night folks...
They finally call first round and I catch a nice Mustang dialed 7.70...I put 6.91 on the window and off we go...it is 10.22PM, btw...he leaves green and I follow the same...I catch him and rip a couple of times leading him through by .02... I had a .022 tree to his .055...on to round next...I almost forgot...they had a glitch with the tree that held us up for 40 minutes...I almost passed out in the car and got real wavy from the heat...thank goodness some kind lady came by handing out cold water which got me through this round...
Now I line up with an old Lincoln dialed 9.22...the guy is a local hitter, I am told...he launches and I eat a burger and fries waiting for mine to drop...at least that is what it seemed like...turns out I just clip him at the stripe taking him through by .009...oh yeah, I pushed him out to a .008 break out...this happened at 12.06AM....sigh...
Next on the list is a well known hitter in the southeast and beyond, Manny Sousa from Bradenton...the guy is a killer...I gave the stripe back to him some years ago and have not forgotten this...he is driving a Mustang dialed 6.54...I have 6.93 painted on and off we go...it is now 1:00AM...the temp is still 89* and the humidity is 91%!....I leave feeling my light was OK...he comes at me hard and I run it out the back door by design...I had an .018 tree to his .043 and I go dead 3 for a 21 pack...see ya Manny...a .043 tree for him is like a .150 for me...
It is now 1:48AM and I make it to 9 cars...I get the current track champ in no box, Super Sonny Freeland...oh well...he races a real nice 72 Camaro dialed 6.15...I put 6.93 on my Camaro and off we go...sadly my night ended here...as I went up on the converter to final stage it went right past the 3200 rpm I had been leaving at all night to 3400 rpm...fooey!...three bulbs are lit so I have to go in...I try to wait but go .002 red...dirty rato frats!!!!!
The same thing happened to me against Michael Beard up in Bristol...anyway, I ran it out and went 6.940 on my 6.93...he went 6.167 on his 6.15...here is the killer...he had a .044 light...geez louise...he knew he dodged a bullet on that one...
So I am now heading to bed as the sun rises...I am exhausted from the heat and the racing...glad to go some rounds and get on the tree last night...next up is the Division II finals in Jackson, S.C. on Sept. 15th through the 20th...five day event...the car ran 6.93/4 all night in that stupid heat so I am very pleased with my pump gas turd...
Oh yeah, the battery held up fine all race long...one quick note, I saw a very familiar car in the staging lanes on my first time shot...it was the old Bat out of Hell car that Marc Fisher used to own...I knew Tracy Lewis had bought it 4 years ago...well, he and Karen brought it out after 4 years of storage last night...good to see them both after all these years...
Last edited by Fuzzy Dice; 08-23-2015 at 12:59 PM.
08-27-2015, 08:41 AM
#4
Le Mans Master
Dan, you must be the hardest working racer out there. I feel like crap after a 12 hour race day.....couldn't imagine 24, and you have all that nice heat down there
Nice win over Manny....even i know who he is and I'm in NY.
Nice win over Manny....even i know who he is and I'm in NY.