This year we attended 11 Nostalgia events and one local Quick 8 race. Eight of the nostalgia events were NPCA/Goodguys events. We won 1 event, took 2^nd in 3 events, broke in 2 events, lost 1^st round in 2 events and got rained out in 2 events. The final points tally is not out yet, but I believe we will be tied for 4^th place. Not as good as last year, but not terribly bad either.

We started out the year with our “new to us” 44’ Gooseneck trailer with living quarters. OH MAN is that nice. I don’t know what I like the best – The shower, the refrigerator/freezer, the air conditioner or the heater. They all work great and they all make life at the track and traveling to the track a whole lot easier.

The first event of the year we blew up that new 572ci Keith Black Alum block. That is in the process of being repaired. When repairs are complete we will decide whether we will keep it for a spare or sell it. Next year we will be running with the 477ci Arias with Dart 380 Pro II Heads that Steve picked up after the Oct. race in Muncie. Once that engine goes in, we will have the Merlin block to sell or keep for a spare. So you see that things are once again changing.

Change is also the name of the game for the NPCA and Goodguys. For the 2010 season they had teamed up and ran the 3 Goodguys events together. Goodguys has pulled out of the June Indy event, and the August Norwalk event (Blue Suede Cruise), and it is rumored that they will also pull out of the October Bowling Green event. At this time Dave “Sugar Bear” Lyons, the owner of the NPCA is negotiating with the various track owners for 2011 events. I really believe that there will be several events next year. If you read my update for the October Goodguys Bowling Green event, you know that I commented on how the NPCA and nostalgia racing has grown. There are fans out there that want to see this type of drag racing, and there are racers out there that want to do this type of drag racing and there are track owners that want to host this type of drag racing. We just need to get these groups together – sounds simple doesn’t it?

At the end of the 2009 season, we knew that we would be changing over to the 572ci Keith Black Alum engine and we had made the decision to go to the “March Meet” in Bakersfield CA in March of 2011. Then we destroyed that KB engine and went back to our Merlin engine, which is still in the car. Now we have the Arias engine waiting to go in. Our dilemma is this. Do we change the engine over to the Arias during the winter months and travel ALL THE WAY to California with an untested engine with zero tune up data, or do we leave the Merlin engine in until after the “March Meet” and then come home and have only 4 weeks to change the engine and be ready for April Test ‘n Tune? Or do we change over to the Arias engine and postpone the “March Meet” until 2012? That way we can have one full season to get our tune up perfected on the Arias engine. Decisions, decisions, decisions!!! My decision is easy – I’m leaving this totally up to Steve. Whatever HE decides is okay with me. Once he makes the decision I will be updating the “Tech Talk” section of this web site with the information – so stay tuned.

We did our planned drive/fly to Indy, picked up some groceries and the trailer, and headed south to Bowling Green. The weather was absolutely perfect – temps in the 70’s and crystal clear skies. All weekend we enjoyed the same weather conditions, which provided excellent air for racing.

Our first qualifying run was Friday at 2:00. With the air as good as it was Steve put a pretty big pulley on the blower. The car ran 7.189 and 185.82 mph. The second run was at 4:30. Steve went back to a smaller pulley to see if he could pick it up a little. We ran 6.991 and 192.17 mph. Just a little too fast!

Unfortunately on both of those runs, our data recorder did not work, so we didn’t have a good idea of how “fat” or “lean” the car was on those two runs. I called RPM and told them what happened. They walked me through some diagnostics and solved the problem.

Saturday we had our 3^rd qualifying run at 12:15. Steve went back to the larger pulley and changed the main jet. We ran 7.120 and 188.78, which ended up being our best time. Our 4^th and final qualifying run was at 3:45. Steve went back to the smaller pulley, but ran it with the #2 Hi-speed closed. We ran 7.173 and 185.23 mph. We just could not get the car to react the way we wanted. All season when the air was terrible – those several races with heat indexes at 105 and 107 degrees – we were able to get the car to run 7.01 to 7.03 all day long. Now we have the great air you would think running the number would be easy.

We had nine cars in our class at this event, so there would be four rounds of eliminations. We ended up the #8 qualifier. Because the #1 qualifier got the Bye run, we were matched up against the #2 qualifier, which was Don Slout. We were called up for first round of eliminations at 10:30. This was the earliest time of day that we had run, and the air was really good, so Steve went back to the larger pulley, changed the main jet and opened the Hi-speed. We ran a 7.178 and 186.56 mph to his 7.063 and 189.73 mph for a first round loss. So we got an early start on our 12 hour trip home. Don Slout ended up winning the event.

Between July 23^rd and August 22^nd we had races for 5 weekends in a row. After that we were ready for a break. We then had 5 weekends off – except for a local quick 16 race that we squeezed in (we lost first round). So after our long break we were ready to get back at it. As always, I checked the forecast before we headed to Muncie. It was great – 73 and sunny on Friday, and 70 and sunny on Saturday. We left our house after dinner on Thursday, stopped for the night just across the border into Ohio, and finished up the trip on Friday. We arrived at the track about 2:45. It was, as promised 73 and sunny.

Friday was for test and tune only then qualifying and eliminations were scheduled for Saturday. At 6:00 pm we went up for a test run. I got Steve all strapped in and he was about to start the car, when he realized that the launch control was not working. At the same time I remembered that I did not top off the fuel tank after we warmed up the car. That’s what happens when you have five weeks off and get out of your routine! We probably had enough fuel, but because it can cause very bad things to happen if we run out (the car goes lean, which can burn up pistons etc) so I don’t like to push it. We decided to go back to the pit area and fix both problems. Forty five minutes later we were back in the lanes ready to make a run.

Steve did a nice burnout, and I walked out onto the track to line him up for the run. The track was prepped so good, that I almost stepped out of my sneakers. It was very sticky. The car went 4.516 and 155.97 mph. (This was an eight mile event, so our index was 4.50.) 16 thousands of a second from perfect – not bad. There were 3 Pro Comp I cars there on Friday, and we had the best time. We were looking forward to Saturday.

Saturday morning we woke up to very gray skies. By 8:00 am it was raining, and continued to rain until 3:00 pm. This track does not have much in the line of track drying equipment, so at 1:30 pm they decided to call the event.

A couple of our fellow NPCA racers had birthdays that weekend, so we used that as an excuse to get together and eat, drink and be merry, even if the weather sucked! This is the second year in a row that we drove all the way to Albany, IN for a party.

This is our closest NPCA event, only 5 and ½ hours away from home. Because of that, our daughter Val, and her two girls Maris and McKenna were able to come with us. We left here on Wednesday evening and stopped for the night at a truck stop in Kingsville, OH. The girls got to experience sleeping in the trailer at a truck stop, next to a refrigerator truck! On Thursday we pulled into the track at 11:00 am. We got a great spot in the pits-one with an electric hookup! It was great. We didn’t run the generator once all weekend.

Friday we had two qualifying runs. The weather was great, temps in the high 80’s with humidity in the 50% range, so the air was so-so. Our first run was at 1:00 pm. We ran a 7.11 and 192 mph. The second run was at 2:32 pm. We ran a 7.045 and 193.13. That put us in the #3 qualifying spot.

Saturday we were scheduled to have two qualifying runs, but unfortunately, the second run was canceled due to rain. The first run on Saturday we ran a slower 7.13 and 190.10 mph. So our 7.045 held up as the #3 qualifying run.

(Video from Granddaughter's Blackberry)

The qualifying runs for our class (7.00) were very close. The first five qualifiers were: 7.01, 7.03, 7.04.5, 704.8, and 7.05. Is this a tough class or what?

Sunday we were called up to the lanes for our first run at 10:00 am. I was getting Steve strapped into the car when a black cloud blew in and it started to rain. We went back to our pit area and waited. In about 45 minutes we were called back up. Again I started to get Steve ready to run, and a black cloud blew in. Again it started to rain, and again we headed back to our pit area. Now it is almost 12:30 pm and we get called to the lanes again. Once again, I have Steve strapped in and a black cloud appears, but this time it blows over-we get to run.

Steve stages the car and gets ready for the run. The other car, a front engine dragster, went red, so Steve took his time and left. In the meantime, the FED did a HUGE wheel stand! Steve saw the whole thing. Then he went on to win the round. When I got down to the end of the track I saw the damage that the wheel stand did to the car. The wheelie bar was bent-big time. The side panels were bent. And the driver of the car said that his neck was sore.

The next round we are up against the #4 qualifier. We were the #3 qualifier at a 7.045. The #4 qualifier ran a 7.048. So we will be running a car that qualified 3 one thousands of a seconds slower than us. That is “3 one thousands” of a second slower. You can’t even blink that fast.

We ran a 7.078 – the other car ran a 7.148. We went faster, but our reaction time was .236 – the other guy had a .059. He got us on a Hole Shot. We were done.

My birthday was this weekend, and was announced every run we made. All weekend long people were coming up to me and wishing me “Happy Birthday”. It was also celebrated Saturday night with one of the famous “NPCA” Pot Luck Dinners.

We had our Daughter and Granddaughters with us. We were at one the best tracks ever. We had a great NPCA celebration dinner. The car ran great, and didn’t break anything, and we went a couple rounds.

After the Bunker Hill, IN event we left the truck, trailer and race car in Indy and flew home. On Friday the 13^th we flew back to Indy (you can see that we are not superstitious). We arrived early afternoon, stopped for some groceries, picked up the trailer and headed to Cleves, OH. We were at the track by 5:30. It was hot and humid with a heat index of 107 degrees. The track held open time trials, but we decided to sit in the shade and relax.

This track is the “home” track for many of our fellow NPCA members. We had heard a lot about the track and we were looking forward to racing there. Unfortunately it was not going to happen. We were ready for the first round. It was going to be 15 or 20 minutes before they called our class when a huge black cloud blew in. It started to thunder, lightning and rain. It went from 98 degrees to 72 degrees in about 15 minutes. The track did not have much in drying equipment, so they called the event.

Last year we had rain at every event. Some were just rain delays, others were total rain outs. This year we were fighting high temps and humidity, but not rain, until this event. This one we had it all. High temp’s, high humidity, and a total rain out.

We left home after dinner on Thursday 8/5, drove to Kingsville Ohio and stopped for the night. We had plenty of time so we had breakfast at the local dinner and headed toward Indiana. Before we left, Steve noticed that the outside driver side rear tire of the truck was soft. He filled it up, and we left. When we stopped for fuel, the tire was soft again. The next fuel stop had a tire/towing garage across the street. We decided to pull in and get the tire checked. It turned out to be the valve stem. We got that replaced and were on our way. Even with the tire repair stop, we got to the track by 4:00 pm on Friday. We parked in a perfect spot – close to the staging lanes and under a huge shade tree. We didn’t even have to put up our pop-up for shade. The weather was perfect – mid 80’s and sunny. We decided not to make any test runs on Friday, so we didn’t have to run until mid afternoon on Saturday. We could just set up our pit area and relax. Well, I could. One of the racers in the PC-2 class was having some problems, so Steve was helping them out, until it was obvious that nothing could be done. They had some major problems, the kind that only time and money can fix. We have been there, we feel their pain.

This track was re-surfaced on July 4^th. What a job they did. It was flat and smooth. We were told by one of the old time fans of the track that it was the oldest tract east of the Mississippi.

We had our first qualifying run at 4:30 on Saturday. We ran 4.58 and 153 mph. This is an eight mile track, so our index is 4.50. The second qualifying run was at 5:50. We ran 4.57 and 154 mph. The third qualifying run was at 7:00, and we ran a 4.55 and 154 mph. All of these runs were faster than the other PC1 Car on the track, so we were the #1 Qualifier.

There were only two PC1 cars there, so we only had one round of eliminations. We won with a 4.56 and 152 mph. The other car had major problems getting down the track.

Between runs so many of the local fans came up to us and told us how much they loved seeing the car, and enjoyed the race between us and the other PC1 car.

        
photos courtesy Scott Fritsch

Because the fans enjoyed seeing our car run, we decided to run an “exhibition run”. Steve has always wanted to see what the car would do if he raised the wheelie bar up. Well, I didn’t want to go there. But here was his chance. We raised the wheelie bar about two inches. Two inches – how bad could that be?

We went up for the run. The burnout was nasty, but under control. Steve staged the car. The last thing I said to him was “be careful”. It was ugly. The car went every way but straight. We did five runs on this track. Everyone was perfectly straight. We moved the wheelie bar 2 inches, and it made the car a monster!

Oh well, Steve put on a show for the fans, and hopefully they enjoyed it. And hopefully Steve has got that out of his system. But I have to tell you, he was grinning “ear to ear”. Yeah, I know, it’s a guy thing.

This is not an NPCA event, but it is only 60 miles from home so many of our friends and family members are able to come see us race. We have attended this event for years, and usually do very well. It is a three day event, but only the last day has the Pro Tree, Heads up, no index no dial in racing, which is what we want to do.

We got to the track at gates open time of 8 am, set up our pit area and were ready for the first round of qualifying at 10:30 am. The weather was great - sunny with temps in the mid 80’s and not extremely humid.

We went up for the first qualifier. When Steve pulled up to the water box, I motioned to the track official that we needed more water – our car does not have a “line lock” so we don’t sit in the water box and spin the tires. We drive through the water, coat the tires with water then do a long, thru the lights, burnout. Our slicks are almost 3 foot tall, so they need to roll nine feet to coat the entire tire surface. For reasons that I just can’t understand so many of these track guys just don’t seem to get this. Come on Man – you're drag racing guys! When I motioned that I wanted more water, the track guy turned around and walked away. Steve drove thru the water, coating about half of the slick. When he did the burnout, the slick would spin on the wet part and grab on the dry part causing the car to shake side to side. This caused the parachute to pop out. We have been running this car since 2003 and this is the first time this has ever happened. Luckily we have the radios. I told him what happened, and “do not back up.” If he had backed up over the parachute it probably would have torn up the lines or the chute. So we saved the chute, but lost the qualifying run. On the way back to our pit area, we stopped to talk to the track official. We explained what happen and why. He said that he would put down more water from now on.

We went up for the second qualifier. I can’t believe it, but the chute popped out on the burnout AGAIN! This time they gave us more water, but the car still shook side to side. The track guy told me that if we can get back around, pack the chute really fast, they will give us one more attempt to qualify. It just about killed Steve and I, but we got it done. We did the burnout, and luckily, that damn chute stayed in. We ran a 4.67 and 141.08 mph, which put us the #3 qualifier.

This was a Quick 16 race, but there were only ten cars. As the #3 qualifier we were up against the #8 qualifier.

Round one was an easy win. Not only did we have the faster car, but when the other guy hit the throttle, he went straight toward the wall, and had to get out of it. We ran a 4.62 to his 5.94.

The second round we were up against a much faster car, but again it was an easy win, because the other car went red. So now we are on to the semi final round.

This is a HUGE one. We are up against the #1 qualifier – the fastest car in the class the Grainy Pro Mod Corvette. Steve tweaks the tune up and we go up for the round. This was a classic drag race. Steve had the better reaction time. We ran a 4.513 to his 4.518. This track has a really bad shut down, so you have to get out of the throttle, and have the chute out AT the finish line – not after the finish line. Well because Grainy was behind us, and because he really wanted to win, he stayed in it a little bit long. He ended up going off the end of the track, into the gravel. He did a little damage to the front of the Pro Mod, but not too bad.

What a Drag Race!! The fans went crazy. I went crazy! All our family and friends went crazy! We ordered the video CD of this event. I hope we can post this round on the web site.

We went up for the final round, against the #2 qualifier. Again, this should be another great race. We are in the staging lanes, ready to start the car. There are four lanes on the side of the track we are pitted on. We have started in lane 2 or 3 all day. This time we are in lane 1, which happens to be the same lane that we started in last year – first round of eliminations – where we could not start, because the starter drive spit out onto the track. Well guess what. Here we are, ready to start for the final round, and the starter drive spit out onto the track. Do You Believe It? I told Steve that I will NEVER pull the car into that spot again as long as I live. There must be some kind of vortex that sucks out starter drives in that spot.

After the Old School Nationals in Indy, we left the truck, trailer and race car in Indy and flew home. On Friday the 23^rd, we flew back to Indy early in the morning, picked up some groceries and the rig, and headed southwest to Lyons, IN. We arrived at the track before the scheduled “gates open” time, but the nice people at Lyons Raceway Park let us in. This track is in a very country setting, so they don’t have a curfew. The track is eighth mile, straight, flat, and for the most part pretty smooth. The weather was brutal, sunny with temps in the high 90’s with a heat index of 105 give or take a degree.

Friday evening the track was open for test and tune. It was so hot that we decided not to make any test runs, but just sit in the shade and sip on cool drinks.

Saturday we had 3 qualifying runs starting at 4:00, and then eliminations in the evening. The corrected altitude was about 4000 feet, and the water grains was way up there, so the air quality was really, really BAD. Our qualifying runs were a 4.63 @ 151 mph, a 4.54 @ 152 mph and a 4.506 @ 155 mph. Our index for the eighth mile is 4.50. So that 4.506 was 6 thousands of a second from perfect. And that made us the #1 qualifier. Once again, Steve has a super tune up and the car is running great.

Unfortunately, we are only one of three Pro Comp I cars at this event. Because we are the #1 qualifier, we get a bye run first round . The second round, we were the fastest car, but once again, we gave it away. We went RED – Again.

I believe this is the fourth race that we were #1 qualifier, then failed to win the race.

This was a one day race, and it’s a long haul to Indy for a one day event. But there is another event in Lyons, IN, which is about two hours southwest of Indy July 23 – 24. So this is one of those leave the truck, trailer and race car in Indy, fly home for ten days, fly back and head to the next race.

When we left the house on Friday afternoon it was getting cloudy, and looked like rain was on the way. We hadn’t been on the road for ten minutes when that rain started, and in another ten minutes it was pouring! It rained all the way through NY, PA and into OH – sometimes so hard we had to slow way down. But despite the rain, and the construction, we made it to Columbus before stopping for the night. The next day we were in Indy before noon. It was a beautiful day, sunny and temps in the mid 80’s. We had the time, so we stopped at Rooman’s Chassis Shop. It’s always cool to see what Keith has going on there. Then we went over to Freedom Engine Shop to see Al, and all kinds of big money race engines. Man is it ever scary to let Steve in there! After all that we went to the track, parked the rig and set up our pit area. Then, because we didn’t have anything better to do, a whole bunch of us racers went to Union Jacks for Pizza and a few drinks. As always we have a great time with this NPCA group.

Sunday was down to business – We had two qualifying runs, then into eliminations. Again, it was a beautiful day, sunny and the temps creeping up to the high 80’s.

Our first run was at 10:00 am. We ran a 7.128 and 188.15 mph. Most of the other cars went under 7.00, which is no, no. So we were #1. The second run was @ 11:30 – a little hotter and more humid. Steve adjusted the tune up, and we ran a very nice 7.034 and 191.87 mph. With that run we held onto the #1 qualifying spot.

At 1:30 we went up for the first round of eliminations. We were up against the #8 qualifier, who never did make any runs that day, but was able to qualify as there was not a full field of cars, so we had no idea what we were up against. Steve had gone red on both his qualifying runs. That does not matter during qualifying, but it costs you the race during eliminations, so he wanted to make sure he didn’t turn on that red bulb this run. He needed to wait just a little. Well he waited too long. His light wasn’t that bad, but the car slowed down to 7.121 and 190.22 mph. The other car only ran 7.27, but he had the better reaction time, for a .07 margin of victory.

After the Goodguys event at Indy, we left the truck, trailer and race car in Indianapolis and flew home. On Thursday the 17^th we flew back to Indy, picked up the rig (after a quick stop at the grocery store to restock) and headed to Bowling Green. We got to the track in time to set up our pit area and get the car through tech.

The weather was hot and sunny except for a brief rain Saturday morning. The temps ranged from 89 to 98 with high humidity, so the heat index was 102 to 105 – IT WAS HOT!! Friday and Saturday we had a nice steady breeze, so it was bearable – but Sunday was brutal.

Friday was an easy day – we only had one qualifying run scheduled, in the late afternoon. At the time of the run, the temp was 96 with 44% humidity. The corrected altitude was 3640 feet. Steve changed the pulley to give the car more air. After the burnouts were complete, the car in the other lane stalled, and could not start and backup. When that happens, the driver is supposed to get out of the car, and go over the wall, along with all crew members. But, the driver never got out. The track starter pickup up the control box, so Steve assumed that they were going to tell him to stage the car. The starter never even looked at Steve or I, never gave us a sign of what to do. Finally Steve just staged the car. At that moment, the tow vehicle for the stalled car started to go down the track, toward the stalled race car. The track officials stopped him – now Steve is ready to go. The lights activate, and Steve hits the throttle – problem is, in all the confusion, he didn’t press the tranny brake button. The car left before the tree was fully activated, so we didn’t get a time slip. From the information I got from the data recorder it looked to be about a 7.10 run.

Our second qualifying run was scheduled for Saturday at noon, but because of that rain in the morning things were about an hour behind schedule. Still, at 1:00 it was “only” 88 degrees and the corrected altitude was 3175. Somewhat better conditions than the first run. We ran a 7.19 and 187 mph which put us in the # 1 qualifying spot. 7.19 for #1 – that tells you how bad the air was. The third qualifying run we again didn’t get a time slip. When Steve staged the car, the tranny brake gave a little, so the car rolled back – again we didn’t get a time slip. This was a problem with one of the bands in the tranny – which has now been fixed. What else can go wrong? The good news is none of the other cars moved up, so we are still the #1 qualifier.

This was supposed to be an 8 car field, but there were only 6 cars. As #1 qualifier, we should be up against # 6, but #6 was a no show on Sunday. He must have broke and gone home – so we have a bye run. Steve ran it out to the eighth mile and let it coast – remember we are running with rods at the end of their lifespan. The second round, there is an odd number of cars, so as the #1 qualifier, we get the bye run. Again Steve ran it out to the eighth mile and let it coast. Now we are in the final run. We are up against the #3 qualifier. We have the faster car. Steve has the better reaction time, the better 60ft time and the better eighth mile time, but he falls off at the 1000 ft time. We ended up losing by .0091. We really didn’t understand what happened until we got home and Steve took the blower off. Come to find out there was a 4” gap blown out of the blower gasket. That kind of explains why the car died at the top end of that final run.

This was a really strange event. We had trans brake problems, confusion problems, but still ended up #1 qualifier. Had two bye runs, and still only managed to runner up.

We arrived at the track early Thursday afternoon. It was sunny with temps in the mid 80’s. We spent the evening eating, drinking and chatting with our racing buddies that we had not seen since October 2009. We had good weather (for Indy) only a couple of brief thunder storms – but the high winds during those storms had people scrambling to gather in their awnings and pop-ups. A few didn’t make it on time and the twisted remains of pop-ups were piled up against the trash cans. Luckily ours were not among them.

At this event we are running with our backup engine. The rods in this engine are at the end of their life span, and they have to last for this event and the next event at Bowling Green, KY – so that means they need to go another 12 to 16 runs. We know that we have to baby them, so we are running with a very soft tune up.

On Friday, our first qualifying run, the weather is hot and humid. The corrected altitude is 3643 feet. We ran a 7.147 and 187.52 mph which put us in the # 3 qualifying position. Saturday we ran a 7.148 and 187.08 mph. One of the other cars moved up, so we ended up #4.

On Sunday – 1^st round of eliminations we were up against Dave Dupps. We went a 7.04 against his 7.48 for the win.

We have been going to Indy for FIVE years – some of those years for two events – and we have NEVER WON A ROUND!!! So this win was HUGE!! We finally won a round of eliminations at INDY!

Okay – That is the good news. The bad news is that we lost in the second round. Steve ran a 7.097, the other car ran a 7.094 – but Steve went red – so it was lost at the starting line.

We left for this event a few hours early so we could make a stop in Carlisle PA to get the chassis inspected. That was done by early evening and we drove a couple of hours and stopped for the night. The next morning we headed out, stopped for breakfast, and got to the track at 9:00 am.

The forecast was great for Saturday and Sunday, but called for an evening thunderstorm on Friday. Friday was only for tech and test so that was not a big deal.

We unloaded the car, got our pit area set up, and took the car up to tech. While the car was waiting in line for tech, I walked out on the track. What a beautiful facility. The track was flat and looked like it went for miles. I couldn’t wait to get the car out on that track. All went well and we had the car warmed up and the timing set by 3:00. Test runs were allowed until 5:00. We had the time so we decided to go up for a test run.

I got the car started, and Steve did a nice burnout with lots of tire smoke. It sounded great, so I had no clue that something was wrong. But, the car was not backing up. I thought it had stalled, so I started to run down the track, with the primer bottle to get it started again. Then I saw Steve stand up and start to get out of the car – Okay something is wrong. I head back to get the tow vehicle – then I notice all the metal shavings on the track – Not Good. When I get to the car I see a huge puddle of oil. The first thing I ask Steve is “What happened to the diaper? Isn’t it supposed to catch all this oil?”

To make a long story short, the mallory metal that was used to balance the crank shaft was not welded in properly, so under the high revs it came lose – two of them. One went right through the diaper, and allowed all that oil to drain on to the track. The other one spun around in the engine and ate up pistons, rods, block, heads, valves, etc. A lot of damage!

We have our spare engine – the one we ran all last year, so we will put that one in until we decide what to do with the KB block. We will not make the May 21-22 event at Muncie Dragway, but we should be able to make the June 10-13 Goodguys Hot Rod Nationals, at Indy.

We arrive at the track at 9:30 and get set up. It is a really nice day – sunny and temps in the high 60’s.

We need to start the car with the body off to check the transmission fluid level. We also need to look for leaks and check the engine timing. We start the car and I look things over. Sally is in the driver seat and her job is to watch the oil pressure. After about a minute she sees the oil pressure dropping. NOT GOOD! We shut the engine off. The oil pressure should be 130 lbs. It dropped to 40. I check the oil filter first and it is ok. We had the oil pump relief valve stick open before, so we decide to drain the oil, pull the pan and remove the pump to check it. All looks ok, so what is up? I decide to reinstall the pump, pan and oil and remove the supercharger to get the pump drive out so I can install the tool to drive the oil pump without the engine running to see what we find. I borrow an electric drill from Gary Antinora, whose son Tim is helping me remove and reinstall the pan and now the supercharger. The pressure comes right up and I stay at driving the pump. After almost a minute the pressure starts to drop and I can tell the pump is emptying the pan of oil. A lot of oil is going to the heads – more than needed. There is nothing I can do about that now, so we decide to just keep adding oil until we have enough that the oil will drain back from the top of the engine before the pump will empty the pan. It takes 6 more quarts. So now the total is 19 quarts. Tim and I reassemble the top of the engine and we start it. Good oil pressure now!

I check the tranny fluid and the timing. Both are ok. We put the body, wing and parachute on and get ready to make a run. It is now 3:30, so we only have time for 1 run. Hope we remember how to do this!

We start the car and I do the burnout. Sally backs me up by giving me directions over the radio. I stage the car and leave. The car launches ok then goes into tire shake so I pedal it to recover. The car stays hooked up for a good first pass – 7.29 @ 181 MPH. Not bad for the first pass with a new engine that was tuned up soft. Now it’s time to pack up and go home to plan changes to the oiling system.

I call Keith Black Racing Engines (they made the block). They tell me I can try oil passage restrictors in the rear of the block and front in ¼ NP plugs on each side of the cam.

So, I remove the body, seat, drive cover, shifter and driveshaft, unbolt the torque converter from the flywheel and move the transmission back 5 inches to give me room to remove the flywheel and access the plugs. The supercharger needs to come off to access the pump drive so I can test the changes. Then I take the front of the engine apart to access the front plugs. I install all 4 restrictors and do not gain much. The pump empties the pan in 90 seconds now. So I only gained 30 seconds. It needs to NEVER run out. So now I call Bob at TITAN oil pumps and he suggests lowering the relief pressure from 135 to 90 psi. That will also cut down on the volume of oil per minute.