RAPID
Nitro Member
KCIR TESTING OCT 2006
Nitro Madness went down to Kansas City to KCIR this past Saturday for a few test runs. We had some things to try along with wanting to get the “Special Fuel” license required by the NHRA. The weather was perfect for this time of year. It was Sunny and not a cloud in the sky. It ended up getting into the mid 80’s with only 28% humidity.
Adam Leigh and his crew came out with the Final Call Altered to work on the tune-up for Abilene, Texas later this month. We were able to pit together so it made for a lot of fun hanging out together. If you get a chance to see these guys, do it. They are great people and have a good time running their car.
The “OFFICIAL” reason to go was to try some different things and tire pressures to help our car get thru the transition where we have been struggling as of late. The car feels pretty strong and “IF” it would stay stuck to the track I am sure it would post a very good number. Like any team who is lucky enough to run the same combo for a while, we have a few different tune-ups for various conditions. Some you just stumble onto, some you truly develop and a few that seem to work about anywhere. They have various names, “Match Race”, “In the show”, “Baseline”, “Don’t tell the car owner”, “Driver Test”, and my personal favorite, “What happens if we try this”!
We discussed our game plan and decided to put our baseline in it with the “Draglist Nationals” fuel curve in it. This we felt was a good place to start and the track looked like it was going to be pretty good. The corrected air was down to 1867-feet, with low humidity it should be fun.
We needed to make 1-moderate pass and 2-full runs to up grade to the new fuel license. They had to be singles also. So the decision was made to see if it would go to the 1000-ft cone then lift and drop the chutes to satisfy the moderate run requirement and get it out of the way.
The track personnel were fantastic to work with. We discussed with them what we needed to accomplish, and they made it go like clockwork. They assigned a lane for Adam and I to make the runs in. The told us to come up, and they would get us the necessary track time. There was also a gorgeous Pro-Mod Vette there making some test runs. Scott and I watched the lanes and tried to only go run when they weren’t packed with the regular program so we didn’t interrupt it too much. As a result, there weren’t any delays to run when we towed up. The starting line crew allowed us the time required to make sure everything was perfect for our run.
We are aware of the truly minimal chances you get to swing for the fence during the course of a season. Some tracks are only 1/8-mile. Sometimes the weather is just too hot. Sometimes you are faced with an abbreviated qualifying due to rain. Sometimes you are trying to accomplish something else all together, rather than a blistering all out run. Whatever the circumstances, to make a team record run at an 1/8 mile track, and then to make one at a ¼-mile track during a season requires a bunch of things to go correctly.
With the fuel system changes we have made in the car this year, we learned that it was very low on fuel at the big end. So with that in mind I made a shorter burnout, to about the 330-ft mark. The groove looked to be pretty wide however it appeared that slightly to the inside of the left lane was the sweet spot to go for. Everything was set I staged and blasted off. What a ride, the car pulled the front wheels, and was really trucking. I was in high gear and looking at the 1000-foot cone, right before I got to it, I lifted and dropped the chutes. Then coasted on down to the last return road and waited for the guys. It was nice to have the extra time down there. I got out, checked the blower belt tension, inspected the slicks, we took the engine temp after the run. Just a few extra things we normally don’t have time to check right after the run.
Nobody said anything about the time, so I figured it either wasn’t as good as I thought or they didn’t see what it was. As we were towing back it dawned on me, Laura is the one who tells me what I ran. Since she didn’t come racing today, nobody else thought to let me know. We stopped at the time slip booth and it was better that I would have ever believed! The car ran 4.07 to the 1/8th at 176 mph. Those were new team records! It coasted thru the ¼ mile clocks at 6.67. What would it have run had I not had to lift for the moderate licensing run? I can tell you it took all my will power to let off the throttle and drop the chutes early when it felt so good to that point.
Back in the pits, we elected to hop it up for the next run. Scott put some timing in it, I made a fuel sys change, RC, Kelly {no nickname yet}, and Pappy serviced the car. We had visions of really rotating the earth on this next run.
At the launch, I jerked the front up and right then BAM!!! What the,,,who let George Foreman sit on my roll cage and why is he pounding my helmet like a punching bag? Another thing, who was the wise guy who lined me up on these rail road tracks? The car went into major tire shake like we have never felt. I surrendered right away and lifted, but it took a bit for it to calm down. I idled down the track marveling at how smooth it had become compared to what it was like a second ago. It would be safe to say, we had it hopped up, and it didn’t like it even a little bit.
After discussing things and inspecting all the damages from the tire shake, we took the timing back out, but left the fuel tune-up in it. The air had gone to 2700-feet corrected air. We added some air pressure in the rear tires to allow them to spin a bit, hoping to make it thru the shake zone. We knew we probably added much air, but it needed something and that was our choice.
It left pretty good, spinning them with a minor shake a little further down track and then it was pretty loose from too much tire spin down track. It was moving around pretty good I managed to stay with it, but it was moving around a lot, I had to pedal it about 3-times to make it to the end. The car did another one of its “slide thru the finish line sideways” deals. Exciting for the people watching, but not very helpful in making a record run. It ran a 6.60 @ 196 mph.
We removed 1-pound of air and left the rest alone. It made a decent run with minor spin thru the 1st half of the track. It went 4.16 to the 1/8th at 176 mph again. Then it was spinning a little less so I was on the throttle until just about 1200 foot and it blew the burst panel and threw the supercharger belt off. It coasted thru the time cones at 6.55 @ 192 mph. It just plain ran out of fuel and went lean.
Well, that was our last time out for this year I believe. So it ends without a new ¼ mile team record, but we did set a new 1/8 mile record ET and MPH and managed to make the necessary runs for the Special Fuel license. We found out some things on the rear tire pressure and now have all winter to check everything over and be ready to run next spring.
I hope you have enjoyed my “What I did Last Weekend” stories from this season.
Rapid
Nitro Madness went down to Kansas City to KCIR this past Saturday for a few test runs. We had some things to try along with wanting to get the “Special Fuel” license required by the NHRA. The weather was perfect for this time of year. It was Sunny and not a cloud in the sky. It ended up getting into the mid 80’s with only 28% humidity.
Adam Leigh and his crew came out with the Final Call Altered to work on the tune-up for Abilene, Texas later this month. We were able to pit together so it made for a lot of fun hanging out together. If you get a chance to see these guys, do it. They are great people and have a good time running their car.
The “OFFICIAL” reason to go was to try some different things and tire pressures to help our car get thru the transition where we have been struggling as of late. The car feels pretty strong and “IF” it would stay stuck to the track I am sure it would post a very good number. Like any team who is lucky enough to run the same combo for a while, we have a few different tune-ups for various conditions. Some you just stumble onto, some you truly develop and a few that seem to work about anywhere. They have various names, “Match Race”, “In the show”, “Baseline”, “Don’t tell the car owner”, “Driver Test”, and my personal favorite, “What happens if we try this”!
We discussed our game plan and decided to put our baseline in it with the “Draglist Nationals” fuel curve in it. This we felt was a good place to start and the track looked like it was going to be pretty good. The corrected air was down to 1867-feet, with low humidity it should be fun.
We needed to make 1-moderate pass and 2-full runs to up grade to the new fuel license. They had to be singles also. So the decision was made to see if it would go to the 1000-ft cone then lift and drop the chutes to satisfy the moderate run requirement and get it out of the way.
The track personnel were fantastic to work with. We discussed with them what we needed to accomplish, and they made it go like clockwork. They assigned a lane for Adam and I to make the runs in. The told us to come up, and they would get us the necessary track time. There was also a gorgeous Pro-Mod Vette there making some test runs. Scott and I watched the lanes and tried to only go run when they weren’t packed with the regular program so we didn’t interrupt it too much. As a result, there weren’t any delays to run when we towed up. The starting line crew allowed us the time required to make sure everything was perfect for our run.
We are aware of the truly minimal chances you get to swing for the fence during the course of a season. Some tracks are only 1/8-mile. Sometimes the weather is just too hot. Sometimes you are faced with an abbreviated qualifying due to rain. Sometimes you are trying to accomplish something else all together, rather than a blistering all out run. Whatever the circumstances, to make a team record run at an 1/8 mile track, and then to make one at a ¼-mile track during a season requires a bunch of things to go correctly.
With the fuel system changes we have made in the car this year, we learned that it was very low on fuel at the big end. So with that in mind I made a shorter burnout, to about the 330-ft mark. The groove looked to be pretty wide however it appeared that slightly to the inside of the left lane was the sweet spot to go for. Everything was set I staged and blasted off. What a ride, the car pulled the front wheels, and was really trucking. I was in high gear and looking at the 1000-foot cone, right before I got to it, I lifted and dropped the chutes. Then coasted on down to the last return road and waited for the guys. It was nice to have the extra time down there. I got out, checked the blower belt tension, inspected the slicks, we took the engine temp after the run. Just a few extra things we normally don’t have time to check right after the run.
Nobody said anything about the time, so I figured it either wasn’t as good as I thought or they didn’t see what it was. As we were towing back it dawned on me, Laura is the one who tells me what I ran. Since she didn’t come racing today, nobody else thought to let me know. We stopped at the time slip booth and it was better that I would have ever believed! The car ran 4.07 to the 1/8th at 176 mph. Those were new team records! It coasted thru the ¼ mile clocks at 6.67. What would it have run had I not had to lift for the moderate licensing run? I can tell you it took all my will power to let off the throttle and drop the chutes early when it felt so good to that point.
Back in the pits, we elected to hop it up for the next run. Scott put some timing in it, I made a fuel sys change, RC, Kelly {no nickname yet}, and Pappy serviced the car. We had visions of really rotating the earth on this next run.
At the launch, I jerked the front up and right then BAM!!! What the,,,who let George Foreman sit on my roll cage and why is he pounding my helmet like a punching bag? Another thing, who was the wise guy who lined me up on these rail road tracks? The car went into major tire shake like we have never felt. I surrendered right away and lifted, but it took a bit for it to calm down. I idled down the track marveling at how smooth it had become compared to what it was like a second ago. It would be safe to say, we had it hopped up, and it didn’t like it even a little bit.
After discussing things and inspecting all the damages from the tire shake, we took the timing back out, but left the fuel tune-up in it. The air had gone to 2700-feet corrected air. We added some air pressure in the rear tires to allow them to spin a bit, hoping to make it thru the shake zone. We knew we probably added much air, but it needed something and that was our choice.
It left pretty good, spinning them with a minor shake a little further down track and then it was pretty loose from too much tire spin down track. It was moving around pretty good I managed to stay with it, but it was moving around a lot, I had to pedal it about 3-times to make it to the end. The car did another one of its “slide thru the finish line sideways” deals. Exciting for the people watching, but not very helpful in making a record run. It ran a 6.60 @ 196 mph.
We removed 1-pound of air and left the rest alone. It made a decent run with minor spin thru the 1st half of the track. It went 4.16 to the 1/8th at 176 mph again. Then it was spinning a little less so I was on the throttle until just about 1200 foot and it blew the burst panel and threw the supercharger belt off. It coasted thru the time cones at 6.55 @ 192 mph. It just plain ran out of fuel and went lean.
Well, that was our last time out for this year I believe. So it ends without a new ¼ mile team record, but we did set a new 1/8 mile record ET and MPH and managed to make the necessary runs for the Special Fuel license. We found out some things on the rear tire pressure and now have all winter to check everything over and be ready to run next spring.
I hope you have enjoyed my “What I did Last Weekend” stories from this season.
Rapid
