Test and Tune Yakima May 14, 2010

 

In preparation for the second PRA S/C race in Sacramento in two weeks, we decided some testing with the car was in order.  We went to the local track for some practice in the T&T lane.  It was an evening testing so it should give us similar conditions for Saturday night qualifying in Sacramento.  Trying a more conservative tune than we were used to because we wanted to see how much the car would slow down.  First pass car doesn’t launch at all and goes directly toward the wall.  Getting out of it netted a pass of 11.6.  Next pass the same tune was in the car, and with a better launch the car went 11.1.  Cool now we can get the car to slow down even in great air.  The last pass an aggressive tune went into the car which would be what we would run in the heat.  This pass resulted in an ET of a 10.79.  Overall it was a great testing session.  We learned a valuable lesson on track temperature, got a rough tune on the car, and some practice at the tree. 

 

Sacramento May 29-30

 

After our leisurely trip down, we got in about midnight to have a few drinks with the guys and hit the bed.  Next morning, after waiting for what seemed forever to get let into the track, we made it in at about 1 PM.  We setup the pit area for the weekend and prepared to make a test pass.  Test pass was dead on the index running a 10.906.  Now for the first qualifying pass, same exact pass as the test except a tad too fast at a 10.880 must have misjudged the cooling air.  For the second qualifying pass I decided to play it a little too safe and ran an 11.06.  Oh well at least it’s not a pass too fast for the index and we can relax and enjoy the evening. 

 

In the morning, running the car the same way as the passes the night before the car went 10.98 which would better our final qualifying position to 5th.  This made our first round match up with Dave Bendig.  First round came up, I cut a good light a .051 to Dave’s .061.  When it came to the top of the track I just didn’t take enough thinking I was already on a good pass and the win light came on for Dave.  We ended up running right at 11.0 which was pretty dang close to the index but not close enough.  Very disappointing first round loss for us but hey I guess that’s just racing. 

 

On out trip home we got about four hours out of Sacramento and we started having motor home problems.  After calling mechanic after mechanic we couldn’t get anyone to look at it.  We limped the vehicle almost home when it pretty much quit all together.  We called a mechanic who could come look at it but not until the morning, so we spend the night alongside the road.  Turns out we got some bad diesel somewhere and the fuel filters were plugged after 4000 miles.  A quick filter change and we were on the road again.

What a long weekend, leave on Friday morning get back on Tuesday afternoon.  And to make it worse racing did not go that well.  I guess we will just have to make it up in Woodburn next weekend. 

After having a couple sets of sparkplugs foul on us this season what seemed prematurely I determined that the new air box was leaning out two of the cylinders.  So I decided to make up a decklid for the next race to try and combat the extra air that was being funneled into the box.  The piece was from the original crashed race car and was modified to suit.  It turned out ok and if it works well this weekend it will get some finish work and become a permanent part of the car. 

Woodburn NIDRA June 5th

It seemed like we never left the racetrack on our way down to Oregon for the Woodburn bug run.  We got there Friday evening with no more motor home problems.  Saturday morning comes and we get ready to make a pass.  Air is great and everything is ready.  First pass the car spins very hard resulting in an 11.1.  Make an adjustment to tire pressure and go up for another pass.  Car reacts much better and an 10.86 pops up on the board.  Same program for the next pass and an 10.87 comes up on the scoreboard.  Much better!!!  We ended up getting four rounds of qualifying and taking another shot, we switch lanes to get familiar with the worse lane and the car gets very loose at the top and the pass was aborted.  We qualified pretty well out of the 23 cars that were in the show with a .041 reaction time.  First round was up against Big John Morris.  I was the slower car dialing at a 10.85 so I left first.  The tree drops and I drop the clutch cutting a great .006 light however some mystery thing happened to the car and it just sat there like a giant bog.  After it cleaned up I ran it through but it was too late.  It didn’t appear that the track was too stick as it sure wasn’t earlier in the day and we made no changes to the hooking aspect of the car.

 So far it’s been a rough start to the season.  The car will get checked out during this off time and hopefully find the reason for the mystery “bog” from last race.  The decklid seemed to work great, however a little difficult to get used to.  Hopefully after some finessing with the fit of the fasteners it will be more manageable.

After the long drive (which I did not take part in) Dad and Dan made the trek down to Phoenix.  I flew in Friday due to other obligations and we set up camp in the casino parking lot next to the track.  Friday night and Saturday was just spent enjoying the sun.  It was quite a shock to go from leaving in the snow the morning and being in 80 degree weather when we got there. 

Sunday we head to the track, early as usual to get a good spot.  We got everything all setup and ready for the day and checked out the track conditions.  There was a huge concern about the track after all the accidents that the NHRA competitors had two weeks earlier.  The track looked fantastic and we did not see any issues with it.  Make our first pass, and it netted an 11.100 with a great reaction time.  Knowing that I played it a little too safe we came up with a game plan for round two of qualifying.  Round two qualifying comes up and the car bogs hard on the launch and won’t rev past 7000 RPM in the top.  We go back to the pits and change out the wires, cap, rotor, and spark plugs.  It still sounded a little hesitant but definitely better.  So we pull up for round three of qualifying.  As we get there we hear that there has been a good sized wreck.  Knowing that there were a couple spinouts at the top as well as a wreck we had second thoughts about running, but came to the conclusion that the track was still safe.  As I pull into the burnout box to get ready for round three of qualifying the car in front of me rolls and we sat there watching the whole thing.  After seeing this we made the decision that something is wrong with the track.  While it might have seemed ok by inspecting it, there is definitely some underlying problem.  We took both passes in the left lane which was known as the problem lane and the car went straight as an arrow.  But all it takes is one time that something could happen so we decided not to risk it.  We decided that it was better to pack up the car in one piece than pack up the pieces.  Needless to say this was a tough decision to make after traveling so far for the event.  We ended up qualifying 5th but went to the first round and broke the beams and called it a day.  Hopefully they get something figured out with that track so this does not have to happen again.

Thursday night before the test and tune we installed a new shifter box bushing thinking that that was the shifting issues that we were having last year.  The bushing turned out great but the gearbox must have gotten messed up with all of the beatings it took with the failing part last season.  Friday morning dad heads off to Bremerton for a thrash gearbox fix.  Thanks to Dennis we were able to get the box fixed and ready for some more abuse.  So I drive home from Pullman for a late night gearbox install and tying up any lose ends on the car.  Everything went as planned and we were off to Woodburn in the morning (well after a few hours of sleep anyway). 

We made it to Woodburn for a fantastic sunny day.  We waited for a few cars to make it down the track to put down a little rubber as well as waited for the sun to warm the track a little bit.  First pass the car hooks hard and flat flies (for the de-tuned setup).  10.87 at 113ish MPH with an great 60’.  Everything checks out great and we make another pass.  10.83 @ 114ish MPH.  Now we are ready to take on this season!!

Probably the biggest wheelie the car has done on its first pass of the season!! 

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We are ready to take on the 2010 season now!!  Not too many changes were made to our engine combination this year.  We are trying a "smaller" cam combination to try to make them survive longer than last season but i don't think it should slow down the performance at all.

Also we are trying a main bearing coating in hopes to keep the split flanged bearing in a bit better condition.  The bearing I took out after 30 passes was ok but not worthy of being put in and ran another full season.  I think it could have been all of the extra fine cam particles that passed through the oil filter when we started losing the cam. 

Lastly i got busy finishing the fabrication of a "carb box".  After analyzing the design, I figure that there are three advantages to having a box.  In the least it should keep small rocks and pieces of track garbage out of the carburetors.  


   
Above is a shot of the "carb box".  The center section is dzus fastened in to make it easily removable. 

The motor was fired up and the cam was broken in and so far everything looks good!!Just a few more months and testing can begin.  Hopefully i will get more time to spend working on finishing a few things that i would like to get done.