RAPID
Nitro Member
- Joined
- Jul 8, 2006
- Messages
- 1,136
- Age
- 65
- Location
- Waukee, Iowa
2011 MARTIN MICHIGAN
CROPDUSTER NTF
Last week I was talking to Frank Ousley and he asked me to come ride along for a test session on the top fuel car at Martin Mi. He was going to make some test runs to prepare for the CHHR in October. It is pretty hard for a Nitro addict to say no to going to a well prepped track with a good hot rod. So, Friday morning early I jumped in their toter-home and we headed out. It was Frank, Deb, and I. We were going to meet the rest of the team at the track. Driving in the rain on the way there, brought back memories of last years rain out when I went over with Doc and the guys. Since Deb wouldn't let Frank and I stop and swap racing lies over lunch, the rain went away and it became a perfect weather day. She said it was because she prepared all the food already, I think she just didn't want to stop playing on the computer in the back.
Well having a funnycar driver along on your top fuel team is probably only good for a new guy to pick on for the weekend. I had no real “Flathead” hemi experience, and the chassis length is something like 4-funnycars hooked together. Woe to the poor boy who forgot something in the tool box, while on the other side of the car as it takes nearly a month to walk around it. It turns out, not any real surprise, the guys took great care of me and made me feel right at home. I was able to help out and took care of the right side of the engine. Frank, Bob Richardson along with Jimmy Young were right there to answer any questions, or “how do you guys want this done” type questions. Frank and Deb kept saying, hey we didn't know we were going to get you working on the car. Now after thinking it over, do you suppose that was a polite way to say, leave the thing alone will ya?
When it was ready to fire it up, I got a big surprise. Jimmy called me over and said jump in. It was unexpected, but a nice classy move by him to let me in his office. The instructions were short and easy. If we point to something, you use it. If you are already using it, stop using it. Those things are nice and loud with the short headers on them. It was fun to sit in there while the beast came to life. One thing that was kind of funny. When I got in the guys turned the steering wheel to make room to get my legs around it. So when I was in place I went to straighten the steering and looked for the front tires to verify. Hey who stole the front tires? I kept looking further out, and further out, finally I saw them in what must be the next county. I had to laugh, at what a creature of habits we are. I just naturally looked for the front wheels in the normal location I see them in the funnycar.
The goal was to get the car to run better short times. We went up and looked at the track it was perfect. The air was coming in nicely, around 1900-ft corrected with decent water grains. We rolled it up to the line and Jimmy worked his magic. I have to say, I think Jimmy is very good behind the wheel, and a hell of a good worker back in the pits. The car made a nice launch, put a couple of holes out, then picked them back up. It was a step in the right direction. This was a planned weekend of short squirts as all we were interested in was working on the starting line to the 1/8th mile cone.
I walked back to the pit area which was right behind the starting line. Funny how when one drives the race car, then is towed back it seems like it all goes quickly. When one is waiting for the car to come back seems like it takes forever for the car to arrive back in the pits. We serviced the car, made a few changes and went back up. I thought is sounded pretty stout in the burnout and was I liked the way it was pounding behind the line. It has cooled off a bit more, the water grains were still down and the track still had a lot of teeth. Jimmy stepped on it, the car left hard and made it just short of the the 60-foot clocks. I looked at Frank and grinned. If the thing can smoke the tires on this track it is making some serious power.
We decided to call it a night, serviced the car and put it away. Deb cooked a great dinner and it was time to check out some of the other cars and visit with friends. The standing joke of the weekend was Frank told me to come test the funnycar, but my mistake was not looking in the trailer before we left to see if it was in there.
Saturday we woke up early to light drizzle which cleared out by late morning. All the funnycar guys were getting there and it was proving up to be a heck of a show for the fans. 6-Nitro cars and a ton of alky cars. They also had Peanut and Jack there for the big show funny cars. Lagana family was there with their dragster.
We pulled the engine apart, serviced the clutch, and pulled it to the line. They have a nice starting line routine going. They make sure someone is watching all sides of the car as it leaves. I was on the right side watching the pipes and the rear tires. The car left hard and made a nice straight run shutting it off just before the 1000-ft clocks. I am no dragster launch expert, but I felt it was a real nice pass. It coasted across the line clean and dry at a 5.7---something. Holy crap, coasting for over 300-feet and it runs this fast, I was impressed.
We checked it over, and loaded it up mid-afternoon all in one piece. That left us free to enjoy the evening show without any pressure of making the next round. Doc and Brian arrived fashionably, but unusually late. However as usual Jerry had the cars ready to rumble. I knew from talking to all the different teams that this was the last race of the year for most. With a stellar track this was really going to be something as everybody was hoping to make their best runs of the year.
I will let the other teams fill in how they ran, but it was a great couple rounds of racing. I would like to be a part of it next year when it happens. They had a great crowd from what I could tell. Fantastic racing surface along with nice cool air. I do have to congratulate Anthony Bronge and the team. They are also one of Jerry's kids, and they ran the best run of their career, a 5.71 @ 247-mph. Brian in the Showtime, another team car, went 6.17. All the other cars and teams made very nice runs. Shawn Bowen and team came out to play for the first time. It was good to see them again. They ran a 5.84 I believe.
I got to see my friend Dave Ferrin and visited with him for a while. He was there playing riff-raff photo guy.
Congratulations to Justin Grant, Mike Lewis, and crew. They made two nice clean runs with no damage. It was cool to watch them enjoy themselves racing again.
Kevin Lennon was there testing his funnycar on Saturday as well. Good to see him again.
After the final round we jumped in the truck and headed for home. Frank and I again in the front, Deb sleeping in the back. We drove until around 2-AM. I was pretty wiped out, and Frank was driving. We pulled into a truck stop, fueled up, grabbed some Pepsi for a little wake up. We looked at each other, jumped in the truck and said lets roll down the road a ways further. If we get tired we can just pull over. Next thing we knew it was around 3:30 AM and we were pulling into their driveway.
Since I was awake, I headed on my 3-hour drive on home. I made it about ½ way, then stopped off for a nap. I arrived home early Sunday.
I had a great time hanging out with friends, made some new friends on Frank's team, and got to help run a real fast Nitro car. Life Is Good.
I hope you liked my “What I did Last Weekend” story,
Rapid
2011 Martin with Cropduster NTF :: JIMMYYOUNGRAPIDBOBANDFRANK.jpg picture by TheRapidOne - Photobucket
2011 Martin with Cropduster NTF :: RAPIDWARMINGTHECAR.jpg picture by TheRapidOne - Photobucket
CROPDUSTER NTF
Last week I was talking to Frank Ousley and he asked me to come ride along for a test session on the top fuel car at Martin Mi. He was going to make some test runs to prepare for the CHHR in October. It is pretty hard for a Nitro addict to say no to going to a well prepped track with a good hot rod. So, Friday morning early I jumped in their toter-home and we headed out. It was Frank, Deb, and I. We were going to meet the rest of the team at the track. Driving in the rain on the way there, brought back memories of last years rain out when I went over with Doc and the guys. Since Deb wouldn't let Frank and I stop and swap racing lies over lunch, the rain went away and it became a perfect weather day. She said it was because she prepared all the food already, I think she just didn't want to stop playing on the computer in the back.
Well having a funnycar driver along on your top fuel team is probably only good for a new guy to pick on for the weekend. I had no real “Flathead” hemi experience, and the chassis length is something like 4-funnycars hooked together. Woe to the poor boy who forgot something in the tool box, while on the other side of the car as it takes nearly a month to walk around it. It turns out, not any real surprise, the guys took great care of me and made me feel right at home. I was able to help out and took care of the right side of the engine. Frank, Bob Richardson along with Jimmy Young were right there to answer any questions, or “how do you guys want this done” type questions. Frank and Deb kept saying, hey we didn't know we were going to get you working on the car. Now after thinking it over, do you suppose that was a polite way to say, leave the thing alone will ya?
When it was ready to fire it up, I got a big surprise. Jimmy called me over and said jump in. It was unexpected, but a nice classy move by him to let me in his office. The instructions were short and easy. If we point to something, you use it. If you are already using it, stop using it. Those things are nice and loud with the short headers on them. It was fun to sit in there while the beast came to life. One thing that was kind of funny. When I got in the guys turned the steering wheel to make room to get my legs around it. So when I was in place I went to straighten the steering and looked for the front tires to verify. Hey who stole the front tires? I kept looking further out, and further out, finally I saw them in what must be the next county. I had to laugh, at what a creature of habits we are. I just naturally looked for the front wheels in the normal location I see them in the funnycar.
The goal was to get the car to run better short times. We went up and looked at the track it was perfect. The air was coming in nicely, around 1900-ft corrected with decent water grains. We rolled it up to the line and Jimmy worked his magic. I have to say, I think Jimmy is very good behind the wheel, and a hell of a good worker back in the pits. The car made a nice launch, put a couple of holes out, then picked them back up. It was a step in the right direction. This was a planned weekend of short squirts as all we were interested in was working on the starting line to the 1/8th mile cone.
I walked back to the pit area which was right behind the starting line. Funny how when one drives the race car, then is towed back it seems like it all goes quickly. When one is waiting for the car to come back seems like it takes forever for the car to arrive back in the pits. We serviced the car, made a few changes and went back up. I thought is sounded pretty stout in the burnout and was I liked the way it was pounding behind the line. It has cooled off a bit more, the water grains were still down and the track still had a lot of teeth. Jimmy stepped on it, the car left hard and made it just short of the the 60-foot clocks. I looked at Frank and grinned. If the thing can smoke the tires on this track it is making some serious power.
We decided to call it a night, serviced the car and put it away. Deb cooked a great dinner and it was time to check out some of the other cars and visit with friends. The standing joke of the weekend was Frank told me to come test the funnycar, but my mistake was not looking in the trailer before we left to see if it was in there.
Saturday we woke up early to light drizzle which cleared out by late morning. All the funnycar guys were getting there and it was proving up to be a heck of a show for the fans. 6-Nitro cars and a ton of alky cars. They also had Peanut and Jack there for the big show funny cars. Lagana family was there with their dragster.
We pulled the engine apart, serviced the clutch, and pulled it to the line. They have a nice starting line routine going. They make sure someone is watching all sides of the car as it leaves. I was on the right side watching the pipes and the rear tires. The car left hard and made a nice straight run shutting it off just before the 1000-ft clocks. I am no dragster launch expert, but I felt it was a real nice pass. It coasted across the line clean and dry at a 5.7---something. Holy crap, coasting for over 300-feet and it runs this fast, I was impressed.
We checked it over, and loaded it up mid-afternoon all in one piece. That left us free to enjoy the evening show without any pressure of making the next round. Doc and Brian arrived fashionably, but unusually late. However as usual Jerry had the cars ready to rumble. I knew from talking to all the different teams that this was the last race of the year for most. With a stellar track this was really going to be something as everybody was hoping to make their best runs of the year.
I will let the other teams fill in how they ran, but it was a great couple rounds of racing. I would like to be a part of it next year when it happens. They had a great crowd from what I could tell. Fantastic racing surface along with nice cool air. I do have to congratulate Anthony Bronge and the team. They are also one of Jerry's kids, and they ran the best run of their career, a 5.71 @ 247-mph. Brian in the Showtime, another team car, went 6.17. All the other cars and teams made very nice runs. Shawn Bowen and team came out to play for the first time. It was good to see them again. They ran a 5.84 I believe.
I got to see my friend Dave Ferrin and visited with him for a while. He was there playing riff-raff photo guy.
Congratulations to Justin Grant, Mike Lewis, and crew. They made two nice clean runs with no damage. It was cool to watch them enjoy themselves racing again.
Kevin Lennon was there testing his funnycar on Saturday as well. Good to see him again.
After the final round we jumped in the truck and headed for home. Frank and I again in the front, Deb sleeping in the back. We drove until around 2-AM. I was pretty wiped out, and Frank was driving. We pulled into a truck stop, fueled up, grabbed some Pepsi for a little wake up. We looked at each other, jumped in the truck and said lets roll down the road a ways further. If we get tired we can just pull over. Next thing we knew it was around 3:30 AM and we were pulling into their driveway.
Since I was awake, I headed on my 3-hour drive on home. I made it about ½ way, then stopped off for a nap. I arrived home early Sunday.
I had a great time hanging out with friends, made some new friends on Frank's team, and got to help run a real fast Nitro car. Life Is Good.
I hope you liked my “What I did Last Weekend” story,
Rapid
2011 Martin with Cropduster NTF :: JIMMYYOUNGRAPIDBOBANDFRANK.jpg picture by TheRapidOne - Photobucket
2011 Martin with Cropduster NTF :: RAPIDWARMINGTHECAR.jpg picture by TheRapidOne - Photobucket
