Howdy, Kiddies, The weekend was an absolute blast, and will be remembered, as always for one of butch's ANRA meets. The weather turned for the better, was decent Saturday, and was downright pleasant for Sunday's eliminations. There were plenty of folks in attendance, including many good friends, the track was great, the car ran great, and I managed to luck through in spite of a rather sporadic showing in my R/T's. When the dust settled, I came home with The "Open Wheel" class trophy and our own "HAMBie" from our HA/GR racing. Saturday's Quals started off with Jeana and I pairing up for HAMBie. Joe'd let himself out of the running in order to get used to his new slicks in preperation for NWVing at Eagle in October, so it was just us two. Due to the strip being particularly sticky for everyone, both of us were a bit paranoid of the evil red eye, and posted lame .369 & .383 R/T's. The rest of the run was better, with a 13.234@104.01 finally getting her on the big end. Second Qual saw me beside a sweet yellow T-altered that I'd eventually wind up against in final round. I ran 13.315@103.59, whilst watching him fade into the distance. Another rotten R/T left me at the tail end of the 16 car field, paired with Jeana (with her .017 ) for tomorrow's Elims, and worried I'd lost my lights skills. For Sunday's first Elim the air was cool, and the strip was still biting ...... and folks were going red & breaking out pretty regular, making everyone paranoid. It wasn't a good omen, and Jeana developed starting ills at the head of the lanes, such that the lineman finally made her forfeit and me take a single. The cool air must've cured my R/T malaise though, as I cut an .062 to run 12.940@104.69. Second Elim lined me up with a gorgeous grey three window deuce that I like, but I over rolled the stage lights a bit, and had to wait for the green. He however, blew a trans-brake fuse, and his car deep staged for him, a cardinal sin in Open Wheel, giving me another win. Fortunate for me, as my .579 "wait for the green" R/T would've been suicidal. The car turned in a 13.202@103.84 in spite of me. Third Elim, against a cool little five-window, I broke out by .099 with a 13.051 on my 13.15 dial, and ran 104.91. He only broke out by .003, but red lit as well. As the first sin's the worst sin, I got the win. Fourth, and final, Elim, and the little yellow altered again. I dialed 13.00 this time, and he showed up beside me in the lanes with 12.10 posted. He was low balling that, and could run faster (as you saw in the Quals), so was looking to wheel race my slower car on the top end. I watched as he re-posted to 12.50 while we waited out the lanes. Our .162 & .146 R/T's saw us off, and with my extra .500 I held him off through first (even with a little skating) & second. He went on by when I grabbed third, and I stayed in it 'til close to the end, letting up just at the first beam. It worked, he stayed in it just too long, breaking out, and at 13.025 (@97.05) I didn't. Would've been another tall 12, and a break-out if I hadn't backed off. I'll post the winner's circle shot soon as I find it. Kay also shot vids from the side, they're on the YouTube site, in the same album as the linked ones.
Well that was a great win and you said it would be hard to run with those bracket guys. Looks like you played the head game better than the roadster. Got to make you feel real good after all the passes you have make and you earned it to boot, way to get it done. Not a lot of HA/GR have marched through a field of purpose built open wheel bracket cars and came out the winner. Now the target is on you, next ANRA race in Oct should be interesting.
Beautifully done Dick. I bet you can't wipe the smile off your face. The car seems to be running sweet.
"Winner's Circle shot"...Dang, you're going to be hard to get along with now. HA!! Well done friend. Wish we had been there to see it.
Sure nice to get the play by play action on your ANRA victory. Spanners and you provide some racing thrills for the rest of us. I have yet to try some real racing. That sounds like a whole 'nuther learning experience. And you've got it figured out. Congratulations!
Yeah, he's trying to get used to'em so he can play with the NWV boys at Eagle in October. Definitely a different drive than the street hides.
Not trying to mess with your report on the race, but do you know who is coming down for the Eagle Field Race in Oct from the NWVD group?
Sounded like you spanked the slant 6 a bit harder on the last couple runs. Congrats. Always enjoy the vids
Thank you, Gentlemen. Here's that Kathryn Rau shot I mentioned. And a nose shot of hers, while drying & warming the hides a bit, that I really like. ps. No harder than normal, Tom.
The head-on shot shows how pancaked the car is. Looks nasty. Dumb me, I just figured out there's videos of your ANRA performance.
Yeah, I flat out love the way she looks now. A fun ride, and she gets lotsa looks. Just want to trim half a second off'er ETs eventually. Kay & I finally got our act together, with the GoPro on the hoop, and her hand held. So we got both on-board and spectator vids of all six runs. Likely never get it together that well again.
Next time you accidentally overstage try "two counting" each light (e.g. 2-1, 2-1, 2-1) and leaving on the last 1. I have even used a 3-2-1, 3-2-1, 3-2-1 count and left on the last "1 " on a fast reacting car.
Howdy, Gentlemen, Sorry to take so long getting the results up, I'm now in the manic season at the float barn. Saturday's racing lit off with Jeana and I deciding to take a practice lap befor gunning for HAMBie. I lined up with Scott for this one, and did the best against him I've managed yet. The somewhat fish-eyed GoPro lens makes the two lengths I finished behind look considerably worse than it actually was. Next, Jeana and I ran for HAMBie, but I fumbled the camera setting. We had a great launch, but she bobbled second, and I bobbled third. As a bad second gives up more than a bad third in the eighth, I got the win. Third round, Jeana and I went for a re-match, with the result being that after a nice hole shot we switched gear misses. I blew second, and she blew third, and took too long finding it again. This allowed me to squeak by at the line, and produced a real '50's Hot Rod Movie style race. It was an absolute blast, one I'll remeber fondly for a long time. Fourth round, Tom took the seat against Walt's de-slanted six. The engine ran a bit weak, and was starting to blow even more smoke out the breathers than before, so Tom Sunday shifted'er for a bit slower run. The wind picked up shortly after that, and they had to call the day, as visibility through the dust was deteriorating rapidly. Put me in mind of a few days back at "The Sandbox" (Palmdale). Sunday's first saw Jeana and I together for the third of our match, but I heard a nasty sound starting during my burnout back-up (you can even hear it on the video). After a nice start I promptly bungled second, but Jeana wasn't playing this time, and made sure I paid the price. Also, the vents were now smoking even more, and the two times I throttled toward the turn-off the knock got worse and worse. It's pretty clear in the video. Kay's videos from the burn-out side are there in the album as well. She got three of the races, and all the vids we got're labelled by author, day, and run. Enjoy'em. So, had to call it a weekend. I've never oiled a strip, and didn't intend to start at Eagle Field. Sadly, in addition, I haven't another tired block to throw in for ANRA's final, next weekend, so will miss that, and call it a season as well. A bummer, as last meet's win had moved me up to fourth in their standings. Ah well, such are life. It's been a hell of a year, with several records for the 'Brick (I keep updated listings on the opening post, this thread), and more fun than would ever be allowed in a liberal run society.
Nice report from Eagle Field. As usual, the videos are high quality. Sorry the old slant is giving up . I have a good used one, free. Just a problem of logistics, eh?
Glad you enjoy'em, the fun's the thing, eh? I don't know, I suppose I could live with Minnesota, but may have to draw the line at Stillwater. You know, your city limits're more convoluted than our heavily gerrymandered ones out here. That's almost as impressive as that seriously cool lift bridge of yours.
Yup, you can see the old slant going away. A bit more smoke out the breathers with each run and the rattle really showed up and progressed on the last run. It will be interesting to see what was going away. At least you could drive it on the trailer this time. Hopefully it's still good enough for a rebuild.
Bloody good videos and report as usual. Medical authorities warn that smoking is detrimental to the health of your drag racing bank balance.
Will we get to see some progress shots of this years float project? Keep up the good work. Work on your new motor will come after the first of the year, correct.
Here're a few from the barn, I'll shoot some better ones Thursday. Yeah, I'm doing 6 days, 10 hrs, 'til after the parade, so the 'Brick'll sit 'til then.
She looks like a great design with a lot of small detail. Keep us in the loop. As a born & raised So Ca dude I love the Rose Parade Floats and the hours that go into them. Keep up the great work.
Well Dick, any finish pictures of this years float that the crew has been working on? Only a few more weeks and you can get back to the Brick II.
No finished shots yet, parade's still a week and a half away. Here're some fresh ones of the finished pencil sculpture, screening, cocooning, and painting. The front two heads're down in convoy position, and their bodies and Junior're in the rear on roll arounds. Only a bit of foam carving on Junior's feet, and some painting left now. Then we'll deco it all, and assemble the "kit".
The Jalopy Journal
