Virginia Nationals at VMP-June 21-23 (2 Viewers)

[Chili]

Lex Joon's crew guy losing his shoes in Q1 was comical.

View attachment 14636

That fellow mater and top fuel driver Travis Shumake who lost his shoes.

 

[65 Goatboy]

This may be too soon, but when's the last time we saw a FC banger like that, disregarding the aftermath? Seems like 5 plus years ago we saw it every weekend, then not much if at all.

Was thinking the same thing yesterday. But even the best parts can fail when playing with 11,000 hp.

 

[z28]

Was thinking the same thing yesterday. But even the best parts can fail when playing with 11,000 hp.

alot of things had to go wrong for it to turn out that bad. The safety restraints in the cockpit saved him. That first hit in the left wall would have killed him years ago.

 

[M Jones]

Been there done that,LOL. But the Funniest was the late Bob Brooks (Brooks rods) was backing up up Dennis Taylor at Bakersfield. He first lost one shoe, picked it up then lost the other shoe, then lost BOTH socks. You had too been there I was.
Larry Sutton---

Hi Larry, it happened to me, both shoes, then shocks, pretty sure it was pushing Bill back, he got me once with a throttle wack, looked down at him while pushing back and saw that look that you knew you’d had it, crew had to guide back to push Trk, couldn’t see, sure miss that crazy one of a kind custom painter, RIP Wild Bill

 

[none]

@Alan Reinhart
It was nice to meet you this past Friday as you were walking into Clay's pits.

I apologize if I startled you when you walked by and called your name as you passed by. It looked like you gave the look of "who the hell is this and how do you know me" LOL.

Just being a fan and hearing you on NHRA.tv, Fox broadcasts, and here on the 'Mater. It was just nice to finally meet you in person.

Keep up the good work.

I'm glad you yelled at me, always nice to meet new people who have a passion for racing.

Alan

 

[NitroLuver]

I'm glad you yelled at me, always nice to meet new people who have a passion for racing.

Alan

I was standing there finishing up a conversation with Clay about seeing him in shorts (picking on him, he's a good sport). By the time I noticed it was you who had walked by, your back was to me. But yea, due to the background noise and the fans I did end up yelling pretty loud. You had a startled look on your face, and I felt kind of bad. Thanks for understanding.

I'll catch ya next year upon NHRA's return. And yes, as just as a fan, I am a bit passionate and love the environment.

 

[NitroLuver]

Just random thoughts and comments about the weekend.

1) Man, it was freaking hot. A lot of folks don't realize VA can get very hot with stifling humidity. Just came a bit earlier than usual.

2) I did not like the way the pits were laid out this year. Clearly above my pay grade but haulers and such were laid out differently from years past and the pits were really spread out. I'll have to write a letter to management LOL (just kidding)

3) I swear from the finish line to the top end is way longer than the actual racing service. I wonder if they'd ever go back to 1320 for tracks with longer run offs. Bet the tuners would love having to have different setups for that. (sarcasm).

4) Mission Foods display/tent. Be careful walking by, those guys literally almost throw bags of corn chips at you LOL. I swear I walked out of there with like 10 unopened bags from the whole weekend. They were good guys. Because I was there all weekend, I walked around a lot and stopped and chatted for a bit. Good guys. The chips are shaped like motorcycles and funny cars. Pretty cool

5) Speaking of walking around a lot. I'm fortunate as it relates to the heat. Living in the area I guess I'm used to it and it really doesn't bother me that much. Don't get me wrong, rather have had it be 80 degrees and no humidity. But I take a backpack cooler with a bunch of water and food and just walk around all over the place including the sportsman classes. Find some shade by a hauler and take a break. My watch said I took like 32000 steps on Saturday.

6) From all the walking around. Oddly enough I find it a bit relaxing. I just walk up and down the pits countless times and just look around into the various pits. Thier's always something new or interesting it seems if you look for it.

7) Outside of watching on TV and learning the never ending tid bits about drag racing. I've gotten most of my "knowledge or education" if you will, from the pit crews. I do know better when or when not to ask a question if they are preparing for the initial days opening round or in between rounds on elimination day. But they will take a moment to answer a question. Or sometimes they see the look on my face as I'm looking at something and they see the wheels turning in my head. They will come up and ask me if I have a question.

8) I think John Force's unfortunate accident is the first time I've experienced a body destroying engine explosion (Kablooie???) in person. That's something one doesn't experience every day.

Guess that's it. Looking forward to next year already.

 

[James]

We all know nhra stopped letting cars solo when another car is stopped on the track (after the FCC ordeal).

My question is, why don't they have a quad staged at the starting line for such instances?

Chad Green, for example. He had to shut off, get out, etc. Mike Smith had to shut off in the other lane., then re-fire and take the light for the win.

Now if a quad is staged on the starting line, they can scoot down and push Chad off the track (first turnoff) and take roughly the amount of time it takes nitro cars to be ready to pre-stage (and not shut anyone off)

 

[robinjackson]

3) I swear from the finish line to the top end is way longer than the actual racing service. I wonder if they'd ever go back to 1320 for tracks with longer run offs. Bet the tuners would love having to have different setups for that. (sarcasm).

See Clay's recent YouTube on this very subject, esp. Alan's explanation.