from the NHRA Division II finals in South Georgia...I towed up there on Wed. afternoon...arrived about 9PM and unloaded, ready for the first gamblers race in the morning...there were three of us and we all have S-10's...one goes 6.20's, I go 6.30's and the other 6.50's...went to the hotel to rest up...got back to the track on Thursday morning to a surprise...turns out we were pitted in electric spaces they rent out...oops, who knew...sigh....we had to pack back up and move all of our stuff...what a start!...so I finally get called up for my time shot at 11AM...I go 6.38 with an average .035 tree...OK, it's a start...I had to join the NHRA that morning to be able to run...my membership is supposed to run 6.40 or slower...ruh roh...I blamed it on the good air...

They call us up for first round of the 5 grander at 12:45PM...I put 6.38 on mine and ran a camaro dialed 6.12...I fell out of my truck and went -.033 red...yikes!...I did run dead on 5, FWIW...I buy back in and wait...at 3PM they call us up for round 2...I run a friend in his 68 camaro ...he dials 6.99 and I go with 6.39...luckily he was 8 red...I was .013 green....but...I spun and ran 5 numbers high...not good...the track was sketchy all weekend as it turned out...on to round next...

In the third round, at 4:15PM, I line up with a nice Dart dialed 6.48...I put 6.40 on my board...got lucky again and went 4 red but he was 10 red first...sneaked through another one...this pass I ran into the main problem with my truck, coolant temps...it runs hot...I left at 190* and ran way off my dial going 6.48, 8 numbers high...qwap!...I go up for round 4 at 5PM...I found a way to cool things down a bit quicker...when I got back to the pit I immediately put my truck on the charger with the fan and water pump running...buried the needle at dead cold and then let it just charge for the next round...this worked pretty good...not knowing what to dial I took a WAG and put 6.46 on mine...my opponent was at 6.93...I kicked it .005 red and he was .053, naturally...fooey!...I got 50 bucks for making it to round four and being a dumbazz...that was it for me so off to dinner and the hotel...

Back to the track on Friday morning for the second 5 grand gamblers race...let's just say it was uneventful and I continued to fight the tree and the truck...I went out in round two with a -.014 red eye...the truck did run a 6.41 so the cooling deal was better...

I had planned to head home at that point since there was no openings on the Bradenton team...I was all loaded up and 5 minutes from leaving when the team captain came by and said someone had blown up their motor so did I want to race in the finals...I agreed and unloaded for the mornings events...I had already checked out of the hotel so I crashed in my buddies trailer that night...

Saturday morning and the weather was the same as before...only perfect...DA around +2400 which is very low for us down here...sunny and clear...I got called up for first round, no time shots, at 11AM...once again I leave -.010 red for the loss...of course, he was .132 on the tree...dirty ratafratz....I buy back in and try to figure out something for round two...we decide to lower my rpm launch chip to 3300 from 3500...they call me up and I get an older pick up dialed 7.14...I dial up to 6.42 given the lower chip...well, it worked for my tree...I had a 31 light, not red thank goodness...sadly the truck hated it and ran 8 numbers high, a 6.50...I did spin a bit as well...this is where it got funky...

I was certain I lost given I was so far off my dial...I was pizzed for sure and decided to just put my truck on the trailer when I got back to my pit...I forgot I had not hooked my trailer up yet so when I drove onto it the front went straight up in the air...it came back down on the back of my Denali and caved it in...$3500 mistake on my part...oh yeah...turns out I won that round when he broke out by 5 thou...insult to injury for sure...

I hated the way my truck ran so I went back to the 3500 launch chip for round three...I made darn sure I wasn't red with a .100 light, lol...he was .023 so that put the fork in me...I tried to push him out but he was too smart...I ran it out for chits and giggles and went my fastest time, a 6.37 with a 1.38 short...they said I carried the wheels for about 50 feet...I hung around for a bit to watch my buddies...on my way home I found out one of them made the final in Pro and just missed a trip to the world's in Vegas...he was 30, dead 0 but his opponent was 6, take 5 for the win...close race they said...

All in all I accomplished my goal of competition seat time making 11 passes...I will have to fight the cooling issues until the end of the year...we will pull the motor then, sell it, and build a new one that is not filled with 2 " of hard stuff...oh yeah we will change the radiator at that time as well since I now have a tiny VW deal, not worth a flip...next up is a two day event at bradenton the first weekend in November...I had 6 green lights and 5 red this event....no bueno on that dealeo, folks...

 

Thanks for the write up Dan! More seat time. More seat time. More seat time…. You’ll get back to cracking heads in no time!