@Harv low 13s is nothing to sneeze at for a street driver. Sure the drag week cars, the supercars and such keep pushing wilder and wilder times, but that's a very small segment of the vehicles out on the road.
Whether you have the ability to participate or would rather be a spectator at a couple stops like I've done, it is a blast. You can read about those adventures here: Hotrod Roadtrippin’ 2021, Part 1: Drag Week – Terry's Garage Drag Week 2022 – Terry's Garage This year was too far for me but if/when it runs a closer schedule again I want to be there. So yeah, if you can swing it in any way, shape or form, do it.
I should be happy - this thing is sedate enough for the kids to learn to drive in, tows a trailer, does the weekly shopping, and still goes ok at the track. Drag racing is like a drug though… you always seem to need a little more each time I thought about nitrous, but have a problem. The car is a daily driver, so has to meet all the local road registration rules. In Australia, nitrous is illegal on a road car. ALL components must be removed - bottle, lines, solenoids and nozzles. That’s a lot of mucking around to install and remove each time I race. I could run a “sneaky” system and hide the components, but the current iPhone/FaceBook culture in Australia means it would be hard to keep a secret for long. cheers, Harv
A sneaky Pete!! Like a Few NHRA Pro Stock teams where doing in early 90s I feel If I was to go to Down Under Having a H-R I would be in Trouble a lot . You H-Rodder's out of states have it much stricter, Good to hear You all push on / Determination to have one
Made it through another day. Picked up a little mph, little slower et. Losing the et in the sixty foot. I just need to figure out launch this thing. Photo from second check point.
A little O/T, but the front guard and grille remind me very much of an Aussie HR Holden (1966). Cheers, Harv
Hoping to see you guys at the Massey Air Museum checkpoint this afternoon. I'll probably bring the 55, but may end up in my 81 Z28.
Do not know if yr car AC equipped one of the tricks that I did back in like 1982 with a big old New Yorker it would spin real bad leaving the starting line, to cure the problem ,when I turn the Prestage bulb on flip the AC On it would drag the engine down , then about the 60 foot flip the AC off. Just a thought
Finished out the week and got my T-shirt. 13.241 at 107.94 today . Definitely a 12 second car,driver just needs to get better.Needed higher rpm for launch,bogged bad off the line and killed the sixty foot time. I'll admit it's kinda hard to say the hell with it and just let it eat when I know I have to drive a thousand miles home. Lots of fun and I'll do it again. Made it 120 miles toward home today, three days to do the other 950 to make it back to work Tuesday. A couple of Photos. Checkpoint at Eastwood and one somebody else posted online of us on the road.
So total miles for the week almost 3000. Gotta say the car held up better than the driver, but by next year I'll be ready to go again. I was disappointed with my times for the week, but then I looked at last year. I was a full second and 15mph faster than last year, so I guess I should be happy, but you always want more. Last year I didn't use a trailer and loaded everything in the car, this year I pulled a trailer. Trailer wins, no contest. So much nicer not having to unload and load everything every day. We could go from street to track in 15 minutes without breaking a sweat. I can also say that a SureTrac differential from Dr Diff is in my future. Currently running a Powertrax Lock Rite and was seriously considering replacing it. I ran into a major thunderstorm coming home in Pennsylvania and the car was undriveable even at 35mph. I ended up parking on the shoulder until it passed. If you think you want to do an event, just do it, you won't regret it!
Thanks for the recap - and I can't believe how you guys as participants handle a week like that! Even if you don't have any breakage or problems it's gotta be a grind. Hell, it's even tough on the sissy spectators like me!! I tried explaining the concept of Drag Week and trailers to some buddies who mainly do car shows and coffee runs, not much into racing. I had to double-down on the fact that the cars PULL the trailers, NOT haul their cars on them between races! I showed 'em pics and they still couldn't grasp it all I don't think. The last time we were with it one of the stops maybe just a bit on the wild side - was in Elizabeth IL between Byron and Cordova. Some of the guys leaving the photo checkpoint started doing "trailer burnouts" down main street. Just good ol' boys blowing off a little steam I guess. All fun and games until somebody called the authorities. So an unmarked county sheriff's deputy pulled in. Parked. Watched! Just keeping an eye on things. Then another officer pulled in with lights on and things cooled down fast. Fun while it lasted. So bottom line, yeah, if any of you guys are still on the fence about the experience....
burnouts at check points has turned into a problem...the folks putting on the event made a lot of announcements to stop it. And it seems to have worked. Is it a grind? I guess, if you aren't used to putting in 18 hour days playing with cars. I am, so it's not a big deal to me.
Last year I did it solo and the navigation was the hardest part. This year my nephew Rich rode along as navigator and that helped a lot. This year would have been a major bitch to do alone.
yeah, it's tough navigating on your own. One technique is to have some friends, or make some new ones, and follow along with them. I brought my wife this time, and we figured it out...all except one that we decided the instructions were wrong, they just did not match reality. I've got used to using android auto, so I put a screen in Cheep so it's easier to see google maps. And she has her own phone to look up other things we need to figure out, along the way. When my son went with me a couple years ago, he was using two phones (his personal phone and his work phone) to navigate. In years past, Dan would use a paper map to navigate, that was the best!
You're right, "grind" probably isn't the right word. More like the feeling when the effort does take a toll but you know you've accomplished something not everyone can do. I'm content to spectate. But I really appreciate you folks who put on the show! And yeah, I heard the same about the trailer burnouts. It was one of those things that could go south pretty quickly. Anyway, I'm glad I've had the chance to follow along on a couple of the events and will definitely get back again if/when I get the chance. Meantime, thanks to you guys who keep the rest of us in the loop!
The Jalopy Journal
