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BUDDS CREEK, post- race: Veteran driver and crew chief Mike Smith missed qualifying for the IHRA Torco Racing Fuels President's Cup Nationals at Maryland International Raceway by a mere two-thousandth's of a second on Saturday. The National Tire & Battery Nitro Funny Car made a solid run on Smith's final qualifying attempt but the team just barely missed making the show on Sunday.
Smith entered his second Funny Car race as driver and crew chief determined to show that the National Tire & Battery car's runner up finish in Epping was no fluke.
The qualifying format for Pro Nitro Funny Car at the President's Cup Nationals featured a Friday night session, followed by a two sessions on Saturday. To ensure a good turn out and show for the fans, points are deducted if a team elects to skip a qualifying session.
Since their runner-up finish at Epping the NTB team has worked on the clutch problems that plagued them at the New Hampshire event in August.
"We changed a couple of little things," offered team owner and manger, Paul Richards. "The motor was real low is this particular car so we raised it up a little bit. And we discovered that the problems with the idle were not manifold related, but rather the clutch floaters. We had them ground, but when they get hot they kind of warp (causing the car to sound as if it's loping). We ground them and they appeared straight. But then when they get hot again, they'd snap back. As soon as we developed some heat in the clutch, the clutch pack started to swell up a little bit and the floaters (that were true) starting swelling and warping again.
"So we went to the performance clutch specialists at Boninfante's and showed them our floaters," said Richards. "They said 'we'll put them back in the oven, re-bake them and cut them again'. It brought them back to their original specifications and then they cut them for us and now their all perfect and true. That should definitely help the NTB car step up a little bit."
Smith recorded a 5.542 at 195.53 mph on his first qualifying attempt in the National Tire & Battery Camaro. The car slowed after breaking a blower belt just past half track and Smith finished the Friday's solo session in the No. 6 position.
The weather was perfect for racing on Saturday and everyone was expecting to improve their performance as qualifying progressed. Unfortunately, Smith smoked the tires right off the starting line on his second qualifying attempt, slowing to a 13.089 at 74.83 mph. The Florida native entered the final qualifying session Saturday evening on the outside looking in on the eight-car field, sitting in the No. 9 position.
Smith rolled into the staging beams knowing he had to lay down a solid run to make the show on Sunday and the Paul Richards team did their best to deliver in the clutch. The National Tire & Battery car roared to a 5.117 at 291.89 mph, but the run fell just short of bumping Jack Wyatt's 5.115 from the field.
"Overall the weekend was pretty good," said Smith as he hid his disappointment. "It was a tough field this weekend. At our runner-up in Epping the track came to us, but the track came to everybody else this weekend. The other teams run more often than us and consequently they have a little more depth in their clutch program. We're still working out the problems in our clutch, so we're changing stuff, and when you do that sometimes you have problems.
"We worked really hard today but we just couldn't find two more thousandths. It would have been nice to find two more thousandths of a second but our guys still did a great job. It was a great ninth inning effort to make the show and we tried to hit it over the wall but it got snagged just as it was going over the fence. I'm really proud of our guys. Dave Richards, Paul Cambron, Ryan Scott, Dwayne Beers, Mike Roberts and Paul Richards did a fantastic job. I'm really proud of our guys."
Despite not qualifying, the National Tire and Battery team didn't go home empty handed from Budds Creek. The Paul Richards Racing team won the Best Appearing Professional Crew honors at the President's Cup Nationals, the first time the team has earned the award.
PHOTO by BRIAN WOOD
Mike Smith just misses making the field in Budds Creek
BUDDS CREEK, post- race: Veteran driver and crew chief Mike Smith missed qualifying for the IHRA Torco Racing Fuels President's Cup Nationals at Maryland International Raceway by a mere two-thousandth's of a second on Saturday. The National Tire & Battery Nitro Funny Car made a solid run on Smith's final qualifying attempt but the team just barely missed making the show on Sunday.
Smith entered his second Funny Car race as driver and crew chief determined to show that the National Tire & Battery car's runner up finish in Epping was no fluke.
The qualifying format for Pro Nitro Funny Car at the President's Cup Nationals featured a Friday night session, followed by a two sessions on Saturday. To ensure a good turn out and show for the fans, points are deducted if a team elects to skip a qualifying session.
Since their runner-up finish at Epping the NTB team has worked on the clutch problems that plagued them at the New Hampshire event in August.
"We changed a couple of little things," offered team owner and manger, Paul Richards. "The motor was real low is this particular car so we raised it up a little bit. And we discovered that the problems with the idle were not manifold related, but rather the clutch floaters. We had them ground, but when they get hot they kind of warp (causing the car to sound as if it's loping). We ground them and they appeared straight. But then when they get hot again, they'd snap back. As soon as we developed some heat in the clutch, the clutch pack started to swell up a little bit and the floaters (that were true) starting swelling and warping again.
"So we went to the performance clutch specialists at Boninfante's and showed them our floaters," said Richards. "They said 'we'll put them back in the oven, re-bake them and cut them again'. It brought them back to their original specifications and then they cut them for us and now their all perfect and true. That should definitely help the NTB car step up a little bit."
Smith recorded a 5.542 at 195.53 mph on his first qualifying attempt in the National Tire & Battery Camaro. The car slowed after breaking a blower belt just past half track and Smith finished the Friday's solo session in the No. 6 position.
The weather was perfect for racing on Saturday and everyone was expecting to improve their performance as qualifying progressed. Unfortunately, Smith smoked the tires right off the starting line on his second qualifying attempt, slowing to a 13.089 at 74.83 mph. The Florida native entered the final qualifying session Saturday evening on the outside looking in on the eight-car field, sitting in the No. 9 position.
Smith rolled into the staging beams knowing he had to lay down a solid run to make the show on Sunday and the Paul Richards team did their best to deliver in the clutch. The National Tire & Battery car roared to a 5.117 at 291.89 mph, but the run fell just short of bumping Jack Wyatt's 5.115 from the field.
"Overall the weekend was pretty good," said Smith as he hid his disappointment. "It was a tough field this weekend. At our runner-up in Epping the track came to us, but the track came to everybody else this weekend. The other teams run more often than us and consequently they have a little more depth in their clutch program. We're still working out the problems in our clutch, so we're changing stuff, and when you do that sometimes you have problems.
"We worked really hard today but we just couldn't find two more thousandths. It would have been nice to find two more thousandths of a second but our guys still did a great job. It was a great ninth inning effort to make the show and we tried to hit it over the wall but it got snagged just as it was going over the fence. I'm really proud of our guys. Dave Richards, Paul Cambron, Ryan Scott, Dwayne Beers, Mike Roberts and Paul Richards did a fantastic job. I'm really proud of our guys."
Despite not qualifying, the National Tire and Battery team didn't go home empty handed from Budds Creek. The Paul Richards Racing team won the Best Appearing Professional Crew honors at the President's Cup Nationals, the first time the team has earned the award.
PHOTO by BRIAN WOOD
