Today I went up to Green Cove Springs Dragway to try it out...they opened about a month ago and are IHRA sanctioned...they have a ways to go but I had fun...it is in a suburb of Jacksonville...

My weekend began with a test n tune last night at Orlando Speedworld...I have been trying to cure a sputter and back fire with the new motor...we replaced the fuel regulator, plug wires, put in new plugs and changed the oil...this was the first oil change at 41 passes...no metal on the drain plug or in the filter...woot!...

So last night was our first cool weather...68* and 76% humidity...nice...I went 7.03 @ 97mph first pass in the 1/8...I tried to leg it out to the 1/4 mile pole but could not make it...I had set my tach light to come on at 7000 so I would lift when it lit up...I made it to right at 900'....too much gear and not enough tire....sigh...I lifted and coasted to a 11.12 @ 119 mph...oh well...more on this later...

Then I tried raising my shift point from 6400 to 6600 which would hopefully get me down track a bit more...I lifted at the 1/8 mile knowing this was not the answer...I actually went a hun slower at 7.04 and 95.6 mph...sadly my 60' was 3 hun faster and my 330' was a 4.49...had I left my shift point alone I think that was a 6 second pass...

I was trying to accomplish two things last night...first, see if the car ran, which it did, and second, find a way to run the 1/4 mile since the annual Night of Fire event is coming up at Speedworld...I found out I will need to set my light at 6800 rpm and lift where ever that is...probly go 11.40 or so...not sure if I want to do this or not...I do not want to twist my big block to 7500...it will take it but will shorten it's life substantially...

So I get home at 1:30AM very tired...hit the sack and am back up at 6:30 to back my rig into the garage and charge the race car battery and do the tires...off to Green cove at 8:30AM...still very tired...they are having their first ever event to get their toe in the water...a 7.50 index race, free entry with test n tune payment...going off a .500 pro tree...then they say they cannot get the .500 to work so it will be a .400 tree...

I promptly set my two step at 3000 rpm...then I disconnect the secondaries and lower my shift point to 5800 rpm...first pass I go 7.54...not too bad but my light is awful at .107...I raise my shift point to 6000 and the car slows down to 7.63...my light was even worse at .134...this trans brake deal takes some getting used to...

I go back to the 5800 shift point and my junk goes 7.55...OK...but...light was .221...sheesh...I decide to try and foot brake...I leave at 3200 rpm off the foot and have a sterling .236...good grief...then they call first round...I just can't wait for this....sigh...I catch a friend from Orlando...he has a nice S-10 that is a deadly 7.50 index piece...

We leave both green but something is amiss...why is he two car lengths ahead at the start?...oh yeah, because he had a stinky .107 tree off the brake and I had a sparkling .221 off the foot...I actually ran a 7.56 to his 7.60 but I think he lifted...

After that I reconnected the secondaries, shift point back to 6400 rpm and made one more pass...she went 7.06...all in all a good day but I won't be racing the 7.50 again and boy, do I need work on the brake...

Then Chief Dan Blackcloud showed up...I was exhausted but had a 1:40 ride home...I left the track and completely missed the turn for I-95...ended up who knows where and followed my nose and car compass to 95...only lost an hour on that deal...

So I finally get off 95 and take my usual shortcut to I-4...suddenly traffic comes to a halt...I finally shut the engine off and sit for 46 minutes...the "shortcut" goes right by Daytona Municipal stadium and it turns out there is a huge football game between Bethune-Cookman college and South Carolina State...cop said 100,000 showed up and I believe it...

I finally get to Deltona and traffic stops again...WTF?...tonight is the annual Halloween bash the city throws...I finally get to a side street and take my rig all over the place to get home...

Are we having fun yet?...I am going to lay down, see y'all....

 

.400 Pro Tree on a 7.50 Index? That's brutal! At least you didn't have to worry about red lighting. Were you deepstaging?

 

No, I did not go in deep...should have but I was really tired and mostly there for the fun...the 400 tree sure comes quick....lol...my turd can't leave quick enough for that stuff...

I am still tired so I am going to unhook my rig and watch football today...

 

Blueberry would be fine on a .400 pro going deep and leaving off the t-brake.

Dan, I feel your pain with the transbrake. I'm still more confortable footbreaking. Sounds funny but true. Have you moved your feet and forgot to let go of the button yet? Seat time.

 

You guys going to immokalee for the big race this weekend?

 

I haven't been racing for some time. With a lack of seat time I would be making a donation.

 

The Immokalee event is for top bulbers...fact is I lost my spot on the tree anyway...the glide made a huge difference...now I am fooling with the brake and am really screwed up...I need seat time and a lot of it...

No, I haven't done the foot mistake yet....my problem is getting on the button quick enough...staging at idle is messing with my mind...I am going to leave the brake alone for now since I have that big footfeed event at Piedmont coming up on turkey weekend...

 

Dan, I stop and bring the rpm up to 1700 "footbreaking" before turning on the top bulb. Go in using the break pedal, set shallow, then hit the t-brake button. If I go in off idle and stage the supension loads differently and the car slows down RT by about a tenth. Footbreaking the Firebird is the same way and I have to go in at launch rmp.

 

I'm resting up for citrus nationals coming up next weekend at PBIR.

 

Sounds like you boys have some big races coming up down there. Good luck to y'all.

 

I hadn't thought of that, Kaz...so you set the brake with the rpm's at 1700, huh?...hmmmmm...

Good luck Rickster...1/4 mile is not my thing with my set up...

Thanks Pete...

 

Fuzzy is that strip run by Pete who used to run Countyline? I heard they got another track. You'd know because Pete is always on the mike trying to rile up the crowd. I actually miss that at our local tracks, neither one has an announcer anymore.

If you go again and see Pete or Maree, his wife (long dark hair), tell them "Joey G" says hi.

 

Yes, Pete owns the track....Maree is very nice on the net and in person...Pete does not seem to interested in running brackets...Maree says they will run the IHRA SSS but it will be "affordable" whatever that means?...

Right now they cannot run brackets at all since they have no display boards to show the dial in's...I heard their computer is not up to it either...who knows...

I will tell them, Joe....

 

Pete HATES bracket racing. Ask him, he'll tell you. He is of the opinion (and I can't exactly disagree with him) that bracket racing is lousy from a spectator perspective. Index racing is better for the fans, they like to see the cars leave at the same time. I doubt you'll get Pete to do bracket racing, though maybe he'll listen to you.

At CL the lanes just don't allow access for brackets or index - they struggle to get the lanes opened up for events, but they do now offer brackets, dialing for dollars, no charge, $200 or $300 to the winner and indexes, usually just 6.50. I hope your new track has better lanes as that is a problem at CL.

I tried to get Pete to buy boards at Countyline - they are about $1k and he didn't want to do it. I tried to tell him that spectators love the boards (he wants to pack the stands as the spectators buy food/drink - he's smart about that BTW) but I guess he didn't believe me. Countyline now has boards and it's a lot better for the spectators. Though I personally miss Pete on the mike, chatting up the racers and the crowd.

I'll bet they have a Port-a-tree basic system which will not run boards and is a real pain to do dial in with its chicklet keyboard. You really need the "Gold Box" to run boards, which also uses a computer to do dial ins and indexes. I ran the booth back when we established our Countyline Challenge, I hated that small system but I think Pete hated the computerized one more - if it went down, which it did do once on my watch, Pete was hopping mad while we rebooted it. Pete is smart about another thing as well - fans want to see cars going down the track. When the track is empty the spectators leave. So it was always his goal, and I think it's a very good one PBIR could learn from, to keep the track hot with cars going down at all times.

Maree is very nice indeed, she used to make over my little boys so much when she was at CL. They always remember her and ask about her.

Please do tell Pete and Maree "Joey G" says hi, I consider them both good friends and miss them!

 

Well after I wrote all that, I looked at their FB page and lo and behold, they have dialin for dollars tonight!

 

Very interesting about Pete...thanks Joe...I will definitely mention you to he and Maree...we'll see how things shake out...he is correct about brackets...they are lousy for spectators...the problem with index racing is there are never enough index's...someone will always complain...if you run 6.50, 7.50 and 8.50 the folks who run 6, 7 and 8 start beotchin'...not to mention those who run 9 and slower...

Anyway, they have a ways to go as it is obvious they spend the smallest amount of money they can...stay well, Joe and safe racing...

 

I think that is true!

Looking at their Facebook page, they seem to be doing a lot of brackets so that's good for racers.

And you are dead right about indexes - My car is in between indexes. That said, what people don't realize until they really think about it is, you can race a slower index and play the game like I do if I dial soft, problem is, it's tough to dump at the end if you don't know your opponent's car - you could lose on a double breakout if you take the stripe by too much. Offsetting that is you can tell right away what your opponent's tree was...he or she should be next to you, if you're in front, stay there (by just a little).

I think most folks don't know how indexes work and figure it's too complicated for them and won't even try. The tracks would do themselves a favor by posting up on the website how indexes work.

Fuzzy I always appreciate your write ups. I know it takes you time, but I'm not the only one who enjoys them. Keep them coming!