It wasn't Alan's wheelhouse when they ran that car last year? Alan won a championship with a canopy car.Who thinks that the Kalitta camp should ax the canopy dragster? they had the issue in Maple Grove, pulled the back up car out and have been crushing house since then. I think this is Alan's wheel house, Look out!
One of the cars has a Canopy - One is open. They ran exactly the same numbers. Just like in an airplane doing your weights and balances will determine the balance of the car. They are different chassis so you can’t tune them exactly the same. Fuel delivery - timing - clutch setup & clutch application for the given conditions (weather & track) are more likely the determining factors than they’re being a Canopy or not. The Canopy is required to have a “Trip Fence / Air Dam” that is supposed to make them Aerodynamically the same.Q2 - Kalitta/Force - 3.67's a pair, 335's a pair. What a race. Kalitta 'won' thanks to his lightning quick .028 RT.
Loss of weight?I would bet everything that the loss of that extra weight has helped the performance
100 percent correct in my opinion. Some racers like being enclosed - less noise and wind, I suppose - others prefer the old school wind-in-your-face. I remember all the hell Don Schumacher went through to get canopies certified and after agreeing to the little air dam to negate any performance gain, it happened. I still maintain Kalitta's recent mid-3.60 performances were in large part due to the stellar conditions during the Maple Grove race and in Charlotte qualifying - and his team's ability to take advantage of them. Not the canopy. It'll be sunny and 15 degrees warmer today; I wouldn't look for any 3.65s. Maybe some high 60s in E1; I haven't been watching.One of the cars has a Canopy - One is open. They ran exactly the same numbers. Just like in an airplane doing your weights and balances will determine the balance of the car. They are different chassis so you can’t tune them exactly the same. Fuel delivery - timing - clutch setup & clutch application for the given conditions (weather & track) are more likely the determining factors than they’re being a Canopy or not. The Canopy is required to have a “Trip Fence / Air Dam” that is supposed to make them Aerodynamically the same.
He's 3 rounds ahead already in points...a nice start with only 4 races left. Every top fuel fan including a bunch of racers have gotta be pulling for Doug. We may actually see Doug do something extraordinary for him, like do a fist pump and high-five somebody, if he pulls it off. Myself, I'll probably require a Kleenex.At this point, why mess with a good thing. I would keep running the backup car. I really hope Doug can keep up this momentum that entire team is on. I could not imagine anyone being upset if he finally pulled off a championship.
Lots of work to do yet…. But yes it would be very special to see Doug and that group claim a championship in DRAG racing (as we know Doug already has one in USAC Sprint Car)… and also interesting to note that their current Machine Shop Manager also worked on DK’s 22k car in ‘94….. so they’ve wanted this for a long time. Keep workin team!At this point, why mess with a good thing. I would keep running the backup car. I really hope Doug can keep up this momentum that entire team is on. I could not imagine anyone being upset if he finally pulled off a championship.
that's a cool bit of kalitta trivia ....... i'm really happy to see doug, AJ, and team experiencing their recent success.........current Machine Shop Manager also worked on DK’s 22k car in ‘94........