Mildura nostalgias was an event I've always wanted to attend. It's a leisurely 6 1/2 hour tow from our place through farm land and some of the most brain numbing scenery across the Hay plains. This was an area that copped some bad flooding a while back and as rural roads don't rate on politician's radars the road surface was average at best. The crew chief and I set out Friday morning early and after a few piddle stops we made it to Mildura. A very nice area with orchards and road side stalls with local produce and a town that caters for tourists and is a major freight handling centre as well. Ok, enough of the travelog. Now the racing. We dropped the racecar at the track on Friday night and did the credentials and armband stuff but my car had to be scrutineered on Saturday morning. Passed without drama so it was out to do some skidding and fanging in qualifying. We only had 2 qualifying runs and what made it a bit different for me was they use a pro tree to dissuade the use of delay boxes. I've never had a pro tree start before so I got advice from a couple of drivers beforehand. I've done this video of the first run but it shows the other cars in the Hotrod bracket so it's a bit long. This one the crew chief filmed but the quality is iffy.
That 1st one was the first Chicago shootout with me taking the win with a 8.808 on a 8.80 dial. After that things went a bit pear shaped with me running a 8.709 on my 8.80 and then I went against my usual practice and changed my dial to 8.70 and ran a 8.626 so I wasn't in the final. Oh well, running against the pro tree was interesting. I had a few problems as well with breaking fan belts and starter motor playing up but was still a good day's racing.
Yes, there was. The track was pretty cold first thing plus I was a bit savage on takeoff because of the pro-tree. I must admit I was also being a bit of a mug lair for the audience. A few people asked if it was clutch slip, but no, just the nut behind the wheel.
The Jalopy Journal
