Houston Observations..... (1 Viewer)

[FC Girl]

Anyone know what happened to Lee Callaway? Brandon Lewis is running really well also right now. That 5.20 SHields laid down was awesome.


Justin

Hey Justin, Lee's Transmission exploded when he swapped feet. Car went less than 2 inches. NHRA has already done a complete investigation, they looked at our car along with Jones and 3 others. He had medal shavings from his toes to the top of his helmet. It could have Been way worse if the reverser handle would have spun around.

Just so everyone knows about our test session (LOL) our transmission wasn't getting proper air flow, so it wouldn't shift, that's why the first 2 laps, I lifted. The third, I was frustrated, pedaled the crap out of it trying to get something and it finally shifted AFTER I Lifted. Go figure.........
In the increments, first lap we were 4th fastest at 330 (which was a 5.65 lap) and 6th fastest on the 2nd lap (which was a 5.66 lap) at the same point, but when the shift doesn't hit for 1.2 seconds after you actually shift, it zings the motor pretty good.

the most impressive part of the whole weekend was: Saturday morning when we warmed the car up, we had oil out of #7 cylinder. We leaked it and it was 85% leakage, so in 17 minutes (they had already called dragster to the lanes and I was first in F/C) they took off the bottom end, took off the head, replaced two rods and pistons, put it all back together, and I strapped in at the pit, we got up there with 3 pairs of dragsters still left to run. Many, Many Kudos to the guys. It would have been a great segment for ESPN 2 sportsman Mechanic Scramble.

Well, next race in a couple of weeks, hopefully we won't have the SUCK button on our foreheads.

Kelly, Joe-- it was GREAT seeing you there, I wish things would have been a little smoother so I could have hung out, but that's the way it goes sometimes.

Take care everyone, we're tearing the car apart over the next few days, so I won't be back for a while, but I'll check in later in the week.

(Oh, on the 3rd pass, I guess the view from the tower is not the same as in the car, but I was in the groove the whole time. Never got close to the wall, the first pass, the car shook hard and I stayed in it and it bounced a bit moving about 2 feet out of the groove towards the center, but that was as wacky as it got)

Take care all.

Nancy

 

[Joker]

Hey Justin, Lee's Transmission exploded when he swapped feet. Car went less than 2 inches. NHRA has already done a complete investigation, they looked at our car along with Jones and 3 others. He had medal shavings from his toes to the top of his helmet. It could have Been way worse if the reverser handle would have spun around.

Just so everyone knows about our test session (LOL) our transmission wasn't getting proper air flow, so it wouldn't shift, that's why the first 2 laps, I lifted. The third, I was frustrated, pedaled the crap out of it trying to get something and it finally shifted AFTER I Lifted. Go figure.........
In the increments, first lap we were 4th fastest at 330 (which was a 5.65 lap) and 6th fastest on the 2nd lap (which was a 5.66 lap) at the same point, but when the shift doesn't hit for 1.2 seconds after you actually shift, it zings the motor pretty good.

the most impressive part of the whole weekend was: Saturday morning when we warmed the car up, we had oil out of #7 cylinder. We leaked it and it was 85% leakage, so in 17 minutes (they had already called dragster to the lanes and I was first in F/C) they took off the bottom end, took off the head, replaced two rods and pistons, put it all back together, and I strapped in at the pit, we got up there with 3 pairs of dragsters still left to run. Many, Many Kudos to the guys. It would have been a great segment for ESPN 2 sportsman Mechanic Scramble.

Well, next race in a couple of weeks, hopefully we won't have the SUCK button on our foreheads.

Kelly, Joe-- it was GREAT seeing you there, I wish things would have been a little smoother so I could have hung out, but that's the way it goes sometimes.

Take care everyone, we're tearing the car apart over the next few days, so I won't be back for a while, but I'll check in later in the week.

(Oh, on the 3rd pass, I guess the view from the tower is not the same as in the car, but I was in the groove the whole time. Never got close to the wall, the first pass, the car shook hard and I stayed in it and it bounced a bit moving about 2 feet out of the groove towards the center, but that was as wacky as it got)

Take care all.

Nancy

Thanks Nancy. I was wondering what happened b/c you could tell that something was majorily wrong. And I saw all 3 of your passes Nancy. Car looked like it was running strong till the 1/8th and then started having issues. I am sure you will get them figured out.

 

[BF]

First and foremost, thanks to God for not letting us get stopped by rain for one minute which is unfathomable really. It was raining at 7:45 yesterday the track and we were racing at 9 with no interruptions all weekend. Now to the rest: Very quick race, the finals were over at 4:05. Its normally 5:30 or so. And the new addition really helped the traffic, I left the track at 4:20 and was home by 5. The track sucked this weekend something bad. Seth, are you listening???

TF: Congrats to AB, youve really impressed alot of people with the way you handle that car and only took 4 races to win. Is Dicko back with Dixon cause he's running great this year, congrats to LD and Donnie. Hot Rod didnt have a very good weekend to say the least. Urs and Boom Boom Dupuy need to figure out how to keep the oil in that thing, $13k in oil down fines I do believe. Foley has his car running decent, and Mitch King actually made a few decent hits for himself. Doug Kalitta made several good runs this weekend. It was nice seeing Tony Shoe actually get beat in an actual race and not b/c of them screwing up or smoking the tires. Cory Mac ran well and Alan Bradshaw is impressing too watch. They have really found something over there, now if they will just apply it to raceday.

FC: I was disappointed b/c Ash lost but she had a very good car but so did Del and I didnt mind seeing him win. She just needs to work on those lights. Its too bad Ash and Gilby had to run first round b/c they were the only cars to get down the track 3 out of 4 runs in qualifying and they put on probably the best side by side show in round 1. John didnt look bad this weekend racing wise, still has a considerable limp. Rahn has Cruz running great also. Hight and Prock didnt have a good weekend for sure as they never made to half track I dont believe without smoking the tires. It was nice to see TJ make the field and win a round. Mel's car looks fine until half track and then it looks like a bomb going off everywhere. Its all over the lane and either heading to the wall or the c/l. It was a tough 1st round for DSR as Scelzi, Beckman, Toliver, and Capps all lost. Dont worry Kel, when Ace gets it figured out he will be right back at the top.

PS: WJ and KJ are making some major power right now. 209 from WJ yesterday. Krisher and V Gaines ran well this weekend also. Sorry to see Jeggie go red. When's the last time GA's not been considered the favorite? Until yesterday but Congrats on your win. Yates and Humphreys cars are beautiful. Billy Glidden and Shannon were very nice and thanks for the hat Shannon. Too bad yall had problems this weekend. Was really looking forward to seeing BG in the show. A shoutout to Larry Morgan for leasing his best motors even at hte cost of him not qualifying yet this year. And a thanks also to Max, Bill, Jane and the whole VegasFuel team for hosting us again. It was a blast and in only talking to Max for a little while I learned alot especially about the whole diecast industry (Barry, your the man.) It was also nice to see a Nickens car make the field at Houston, congrats Matt. Sorry to see the Swindolls crash there new car but they will be back. Glad Lamar was ok.

PSB: Always nice to see Matt win. I talked to Angie for a little bit on Friday, and I would love to see her win a race. Matt was the class of the field this weekend. Matt G. ran ok, not like at Gville though. Hines was off and on this weekend and really Angelle didnt make any noise but I will say the stands were actually loaded with her new Rush stuff.

Sportsman classes: Great to see Unk win. Shawn Langdon is the man, and that car is fine. Cant believe Scotty Richardson went -.001 red in the final of Super Stock. I know its hard to believe Jimmy Lewis won SG but he did. Lots of great sportsman action this weekend. Randy Eakin ran really well in TAD and Payne ofcourse always runs well in TAFC. I cant wait to see Spencer Massey in a fuel car to see what his lights will be, the kid is unbelievable. Anyone know what happened to Lee Callaway? Brandon Lewis is running really well also right now. That 5.20 SHields laid down was awesome.

Sorry for the long post but just thought I would write some stuff down from the weekend. I had a really great 3 days at the races and ofcourse hung out with Kelly, Greg Rice, Mark Krogen, Joe, and meet a few more that I have never met before. Other than the track being a wreck, the weather held out and I had a great time. Cant wait till the next one. See anyone who's going in San Antoio this weekend.

Justin

I had a great time as well. I also want to thank the max Naylor/VegasFuel team for hosting us. "Leftovers" and cold drinks at the end of the day really hit the spot. On Saturday, I happened to look down and spotted the "real" Joe just a couple of rows in front of me on the spectator side. I got a pic of him looking back at me right after I yelled his name out. I couldn't believe he was sitting there by himself. It was great seeing you guys again and meeting some I haven't met before. Hopefully, I'll see most of you in Dallas.
Just a few other observations. Doing it right....the Pedregon brothers. Updated items on their souvenir trailer including a 2007 Championship hat pin for Tony's efforts last year. Many other champs never have have pins made or if they do aren't available until late in the year. Tony Schumacher has how many titles now? The only champ pin of his I have seen is from 1999 with Exide as a sponsor. The Nitro-Mall...time for clearance. Looking at Brandon Bernstein t-shirts, all had last years graphics. Rumor has it that TJ now drives the Monster car too. I think I saw only one t-shirt to that effect. Only the Bud trailer had the updated Bud graphics. Diecast sales are a joke at NHRA tracks. Nothing new for 2008 yet, 2007 cars weren't delivered until after last season was over with for the most part. I can't imagine why anybody would spend $120 for a 1/24 scale car that can bought in several other places for less than half of that. I was also surprized to see the Force trailer wasn't selling the 2007 Ashley Force 1/24 FC. For those of you who don't know, they want $179.99+shipping for that car. I think I'll pass for now.
Just one other thing, for those of us out there who can't stand up for every run due to physical problems, would it be possible for HRP to post signs on the platforms leading up to the stands that say "NO STANDING" on the platform. It's amazing how many inconsiderate people there are.
That's probably the most I've said on here.

 

[BF]

Forgot something, I wanted give a shout out to Doug Herbert. We were pulling for you. It's not often that anybody wins wire to wire against Schumacher.

 

[Sully]

Nancy,

It was me who thought your car was close to the wall on the third run - our vantage point from way over on the right-bottom floor of the tower made it look that way and they didn't rerun it on the video monitor so I could be get a second angle. I kept hoping you guys/gals would get the gremlins solved and get a decent lap for your efforts - as you said, the early numbers looked good, but you had to pull the plug early. When you pedaled and then lifted on the final run, I thought dropped cylinders drove you over toward the wall.

Better luck next time - Vegas? Wish I could be there, but I'll be at the Indy Divisional that weekend.

 

[BF]

Ok, so I forgot one other item that I should have mentioned first. Thanks, to the crewman from Robert Hight's pit that loaned me a wrench when my wife's wheelchair had a problem Friday. A bolt had loosened and caused one of the foot rests to fall off. I guess it was good place for something like that to happen....plenty of tools around.

 

[Toejam]

Hey Justin, Lee's Transmission exploded when he swapped feet. Car went less than 2 inches. NHRA has already done a complete investigation, they looked at our car along with Jones and 3 others. He had medal shavings from his toes to the top of his helmet. It could have Been way worse if the reverser handle would have spun around.

Just so everyone knows about our test session (LOL) our transmission wasn't getting proper air flow, so it wouldn't shift, that's why the first 2 laps, I lifted. The third, I was frustrated, pedaled the crap out of it trying to get something and it finally shifted AFTER I Lifted. Go figure.........
In the increments, first lap we were 4th fastest at 330 (which was a 5.65 lap) and 6th fastest on the 2nd lap (which was a 5.66 lap) at the same point, but when the shift doesn't hit for 1.2 seconds after you actually shift, it zings the motor pretty good.

the most impressive part of the whole weekend was: Saturday morning when we warmed the car up, we had oil out of #7 cylinder. We leaked it and it was 85% leakage, so in 17 minutes (they had already called dragster to the lanes and I was first in F/C) they took off the bottom end, took off the head, replaced two rods and pistons, put it all back together, and I strapped in at the pit, we got up there with 3 pairs of dragsters still left to run. Many, Many Kudos to the guys. It would have been a great segment for ESPN 2 sportsman Mechanic Scramble.

Well, next race in a couple of weeks, hopefully we won't have the SUCK button on our foreheads.

Kelly, Joe-- it was GREAT seeing you there, I wish things would have been a little smoother so I could have hung out, but that's the way it goes sometimes.

Take care everyone, we're tearing the car apart over the next few days, so I won't be back for a while, but I'll check in later in the week.

(Oh, on the 3rd pass, I guess the view from the tower is not the same as in the car, but I was in the groove the whole time. Never got close to the wall, the first pass, the car shook hard and I stayed in it and it bounced a bit moving about 2 feet out of the groove towards the center, but that was as wacky as it got)

Take care all.

Nancy

Ok Nancy, once you do start running 5.60's you won't forget us will you?

 

[Kelly]

Ok, so I forgot one other item that I should have mentioned first. Thanks, to the crewman from Robert Hight's pit that loaned me a wrench when my wife's wheelchair had a problem Friday. A bolt had loosened and caused one of the foot rests to fall off. I guess it was good place for something like that to happen....plenty of tools around.

That is so awesome....and I'm glad you shared the experience!