I had a great weekend, hectic as hell, but great!
Saturday Dad and I went to the track, to test his car (1972 Plymouth Duster with 850 horsepower). So the whole point in going was to try and get the car to hookup (get traction), plus see if we can finally get her to go straight. Well, I went under the car and adjusted the shocks to see what would happen. Dad went up for a run and the car went straight, and spun just a little, but still picked up a .10 of a second. Now for a drag car .10 of a second is a big deal, someone once told me that if you lose 100 pounds off the car you will gain .10 of a second, that amount is huge progress. While he was making his run I was standing right behind him and noticed a few things about the way the car is launching, and decided that she needs an alignment and some more shock adjustment. I went back to the pit and made the front shocks softer, because that was what I did the time before and it worked. I decided that I was going to keep going until it got worse and then go back to where it was best.
So onto the second run for Dad and the precious Plymouth. Once again I was standing behind him and he spun worse than the run before, but he didn't get a burnout (before the run the time where you smoke your tires to clean off the rubber and get down to the "new" rubber.) As the car is going down the track I see smoke pouring from the right rear, I thought to myself "Get off it Dad you are going to cut that tire up." But he didn't and then I noticed that it wasn't coming from the right rear, but from the front of the car. Then the car is engulfed with smoke and I hear Dad finally shut down. I felt my heart drop into my stomach and just felt ill. I know that breaking eninges and other various parts is all a part of the sport, but when your engine roughly costs $15,000, you definitely get sick to your stomach. So back to the story. I start heading towards the top end of the track to retrieve my father and the now wounded Duster, but when I get there I see that Dad has started her back up and is driving her. Huh? I saw the amount of smoke coming from the car, heard the shut off, but now it is okay? Even the track crew shut down the track and checked it for debris. Well, then I saw Dad, and knew what had happened. The fire extinguisher went off, filled the car with white crap, Dad couldn't breathe nor see and had to shut down. The big cloud everyone saw was when he opened the door. By far one of the best drag racing mishaps ever.
As for Sunday, I "volunteered" at the track, I worked 6am to 7pm. It was hectic and fun all at the same time. I was fortunate enough to stand about 8 ft fromt eh jet dragster as he took off. I have seen cars run 330mph in the 1/4mile, and have seen at least 30 jet cars in my life, but nothing compares to what I was privileged to do on Sunday. It was unbelievable, I can't even put it into words, so I am not even going to try to. I later asked them if they were running 100%, because it didn't seem like it, they said that they weren't. I can only imagine what it would feel like if they were.
Ahhhhh drag racing.
Saturday Dad and I went to the track, to test his car (1972 Plymouth Duster with 850 horsepower). So the whole point in going was to try and get the car to hookup (get traction), plus see if we can finally get her to go straight. Well, I went under the car and adjusted the shocks to see what would happen. Dad went up for a run and the car went straight, and spun just a little, but still picked up a .10 of a second. Now for a drag car .10 of a second is a big deal, someone once told me that if you lose 100 pounds off the car you will gain .10 of a second, that amount is huge progress. While he was making his run I was standing right behind him and noticed a few things about the way the car is launching, and decided that she needs an alignment and some more shock adjustment. I went back to the pit and made the front shocks softer, because that was what I did the time before and it worked. I decided that I was going to keep going until it got worse and then go back to where it was best.
So onto the second run for Dad and the precious Plymouth. Once again I was standing behind him and he spun worse than the run before, but he didn't get a burnout (before the run the time where you smoke your tires to clean off the rubber and get down to the "new" rubber.) As the car is going down the track I see smoke pouring from the right rear, I thought to myself "Get off it Dad you are going to cut that tire up." But he didn't and then I noticed that it wasn't coming from the right rear, but from the front of the car. Then the car is engulfed with smoke and I hear Dad finally shut down. I felt my heart drop into my stomach and just felt ill. I know that breaking eninges and other various parts is all a part of the sport, but when your engine roughly costs $15,000, you definitely get sick to your stomach. So back to the story. I start heading towards the top end of the track to retrieve my father and the now wounded Duster, but when I get there I see that Dad has started her back up and is driving her. Huh? I saw the amount of smoke coming from the car, heard the shut off, but now it is okay? Even the track crew shut down the track and checked it for debris. Well, then I saw Dad, and knew what had happened. The fire extinguisher went off, filled the car with white crap, Dad couldn't breathe nor see and had to shut down. The big cloud everyone saw was when he opened the door. By far one of the best drag racing mishaps ever.
As for Sunday, I "volunteered" at the track, I worked 6am to 7pm. It was hectic and fun all at the same time. I was fortunate enough to stand about 8 ft fromt eh jet dragster as he took off. I have seen cars run 330mph in the 1/4mile, and have seen at least 30 jet cars in my life, but nothing compares to what I was privileged to do on Sunday. It was unbelievable, I can't even put it into words, so I am not even going to try to. I later asked them if they were running 100%, because it didn't seem like it, they said that they weren't. I can only imagine what it would feel like if they were.
Ahhhhh drag racing.
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In other news, an update would be nice.