My 1973 Vega from 1986 It ran mid 9's at 140Mph |
Sunday, February 26, 2012
I guess we'll have to get them in Vegas
Firebird day 2 & 3 with video of the Mustang
It"s Saturday night so I'm a day behind . I'm going to try and catch up in tonight's blog . Friday is first round of eliminations for race one this weekend and after a good day qualifying Thursday , Friday didn't go so well . Dave had his first round in the morning and left the starting line a little early and got the big red light by 8 thousands of second . But that's the kind of racing we do . Most of the time it's hundreds or thousands of a second that decide if you win or put it in the trailer . My first round came at about noon and having run 7.44 twice in qualifying the day before in vary similar weather conditions I felt we couldn't go faster than 7.43 so that's what I dialed in at ( "Dial-In
Car "A" has been timed at 17.78, 17.74 and 17.76
seconds for the quarter-mile, and the driver feels that a "dial-in" (or guessed
time during a race) of 17.75 is appropriate. Meanwhile, the driver of car "B"
has recorded elapsed times of 15.27, 15.22 and 15.26 on the same track and he
has opted for a "dial-in" of 15.25. Accordingly, car "A" will get a 2.5 second
headstart over car "B" when the "Christmas Tree" counts down to each car's
starting green lights. ) So I leave the starting line with a .015 reaction time to my opponents .035 light which gives me a .20 advantage ,( huge in the racing we do ) get to the top end , don't see the other car so I lean on the brakes to keep from going under my 7.43 dial in . I think I won , then I get the bad news . I ran 7.403 and my dial in was
7.430 so that's .027 under my dail in so I lose because I broke out (When a driver go quicker than his/her predetermined "dial-in" it is a
"break-out" In the case of both vehicles making their runs under
their dial-ins, the win goes to the driver who breaks out the least.) So not such a good start to my come but that's racing . Sometimes you do everything right and still lose . That's why they call it Drag Racing . Sometimes it's racing and sometimes its a Drag . Now we're done with race one and it's Saturday and on with race two . We both get two qualifying today and eliminations start Sunday morning . Now Dave's dragster has still been all over the place in 60 feet and yesterday before Q2 we added 30 pounds to the weight box in the front of the car in an effort to keep the front from popping up on a good tracks because you want the car to move forward not upward . Upward is wasted motion and if it goes up on one run and drives straight out on the next it will change the 60ft times . We also installed a MSD 2 step to control the starting line rpm . The problem here is we only get a few runs to figure it out . It's 10am as we head up for Q1 and we take our best guess . Not so good 8.979 we're way to slow . We only have one more pass to get this thing figured out . We head back to prep my car for Q1 . IT's just past noon everything is ready so we head on up . We should run pretty close to yesterdays time the weather is unchanged the the track conditions are still good . I do my burn out back up and stage the car , Sweet .004 on the reaction timer and a 7.438 on the score board not bad for an old guy . Now time to get work on Dave's only as usual NHRA has screwed us again and instead of Q for Dave's car it's round one , not good . We have a run in our log book from yesterday that the weather is pretty much the same as it is now and we ran 8.899 so we're going to use that setting and hope we're close . Well that went like crap 8.989 way to slow and a not so great .065 light and we're fist round runner up two days in a row. That sucks .With the new setup in the car we're going need a few laps to figure this thing out . Not getting that second run today really messed us up . I decided to skip Q2 since I don't think we can learn anything . It's hotter out and we're going to slow down so sense in beating on my car . So I'm out guys . Thanks again Kenny Speed
Thursday, February 23, 2012
A good day at the track
Now That's A Burnout |
Sweet Lanuch |
Wednesday, February 22, 2012
I guess that's why they call it test day
It was a test day alright . Mostly of what was my patience . Originally I wasn't going to test today but I'm sure glade I did. Not much went right with my car today To start with we lost the bolts for the wheelie bars and spent thirty minutes looking before we found them . Then it was time to half way tear the car apart so we could get though tech inspection , and he barely looked at it .It's one of those you don't tear it apart before go to tech,and they make you do it when you get there and that's a pain in the ass . Or there's what we did . When we get back to the pits from tech Dave's car ready so we make a run and we're way to fast 8.82 on a 8.90 index . I'll let Jason take responsibility for that since he made the call on the Throttle Stop . The good new is as long as the car goes A to B with no problems it"s never a waste because we have that information to use . Mean while on my car the front end doesn't want to fit properly since the doors were worked on so we have to fix that and then we have to all the new safety equipment to adjusted so it fits me once I'm in the car. After taking the seat in and out several times and me crawling in and out several times we got everything to fit . It's now almost 3pm . We head up to the lanes and with not much of wait its our turn . I fire it up and head to the water box to do my burn out . Every thing goes good untill I stage the car and bring up the rpms . For some reason the starter decides to make me wait for another car to run they other lane against me . Only problem , he's standing where I can't see him so he can't get my attention . I've got my car staged gas pedal on the floor and he's not starting the tree . About the time I let off the gas he starts the tree . So I hammer the throttle and run it on down at 7.60ET 185mph . I run a way off pace 1.36 60ft time ( should be 1.12 or better ) so basically a wasted run . Now for the so good news , we still don't have brakes that work properly . Thank God for the parachute cause I wasn't stopping without it. In fact I ran off the end of the track on that run so back to the pitts to fix them .As we arrive back to our pit we here they're closing the lanes in 10 minutes so we're going to take Dave's car up . I take a look at the numbers and set the stop and Dave heads up and runs 8.874 so at least were getting close and we get a couple of runs tomorrow to get it on the number . We'll be here early tomorrow and try to find some brakes so my car will stop . Thanks for checking in Kenny Speed
Tuesday, February 21, 2012
Time to go racing
Well , It's my turn . Wednesday is open test day before this weeks NHRA Division 7 and Regional race at Firebird Int Raceway . The Division 7 race is Thur-Fri and the Regional Sat-Sun . Dave will be racing Super Comp and I'll be in Top Sportsman . Bryan was unable to repair his motor in time . If you want to see some good racing at a reasonable price this weekend is a great time to come out and watch . You can find information at http://www.firebirdraceway.com/ . So hopefully this is where the blog comes in handy . Everyone always wants to know when and where I'm racing so they can come and watch . Here's your chance . Tickets are $30 a day Gates open at 8am all four days. See Ya At The Races Kenny Speed
Sunday, February 19, 2012
Good morning to all . Last night I spent some time on the computer looking at video and talking to Darryl from Darryl Smith Race Cars and
Dee Myers called Don from Don Ness Race Cars so we could get some ideas of what is causing the inconsistent 60ft times in Dave's dragster . We all came up with a possible cause and solution . I won't bore with all the details but basically we're going to drop the air pressure in the rear slicks another 1/2 pound and see what happens . So I head to the track with first round of competition looming and not sure where we're at with the race car . We warm the car up and do our usual pre-race routine . About 10Am we get the call first round Super Comp to the lanes . I decide to sit back and wait so we can run near the end of the pack . What I'm waiting for is to try and allow the air temp and humidity to get close to where it was yesterday when we ran . The only problem with that is I wasn't the only one with that idea . All the heavy hitters from K&N and Lucas oil products were also waiting . To give you some back round , since last year at Vegas we have taken out three K & N cars and two Lucas Cars . Who do we draw first round ? Last years division seven ( our division by the way ) champ in one of the K & N cars . They line up and Dave goes .000 on the reaction time ( perfect light ) and with a big head start is able to hit the brakes to keep from breaking out . (Should a driver go quicker than his/her predetermined "dial-in" it is a
"break-out ) He takes a 021close win light by .0022 or about 8 inches , almost to much brake pedal . A look at the ET slip 1.202 in 60 ft so that's new before it was either 1.18 or 1.24 . changing the air pressure changed the 60 ft times now lets see it stays consistent . Now it's hurry up and wait cause we don't run until the end of the day , Or not as Jason and I get back to the trailer I notice the front tires on the dragster are turned in different directions , I guess just as Dave was slowing down from making the run the front steering inner tie rod ripped out the steering rack . Thank God it didn't happen going down the track it could have been nasty . Now we have a real problem . We have maybe three hours to find parts and get this thing fixed . First thing is to get the front wing and body panels off the car so we can get to the broken part . It's only been about thirty minuets and we have broken parts in hand and head up to manufactures midway hoping someone has what we need ,but no such luck . Next stop Tom Yancer Race Cars in Chandler . Dave and I jump in his car and run over to Tom's shop . Lucky thing Tom is working on his car getting it ready for next weekend so he's there . Tom doesn't have a new rack but has a used one . Only problem is our tie rods won't work on his rack so Tom was nice enough to take time away from his car to fabricate some new ones for us .It's now about two thirty when we arrive back at the track . It takes us about forty five minutes to get the parts back on the car and reset the wheel alignment . Just in time for the call for second round . First round is random pairing , so basically everyone pulls into the lanes and you run who ever is along side of you . All rounds after that are done on a ladder where you have pre-determined opponents . Whats the chances, we are lined up with one of the Lucas cars . They line them up and once again Dave has the starting line advantage with a very nice .015 lite and wins on the brakes again .60 foot time slowed a bit to 1.21 so maybe we still have a bit of a problem but we got the win. Now only 20 minutes and we're heading back up for round three and unfortunately Dave leaves a little early and sees the the big red light ad to add insult to injury 60 foot time 1.23 so we stall have that problem to deal with before next weekend .The picture is of my car . It's late and I'm done Good night everyone . Don't forget click on the ads along side or under the blogs . Thanks Kenny Speed
Arizona Nationals
left to right Dave Jason Kenny |
Thursday, February 16, 2012
Arizona Nationals Update
Just figured I would take a minute to hit everyone up with a schedule for this weekend . I'll start with super comp the class Dave is running again this weekend . Friday Q1 should be about 10am and Q2 about 12:15 pm . First round will be Saturday about 10am and second round maybe about 4:15 pm . Just in case anyone wants to came by and say hi we are all the way at the back of the pits . You go under the Goodyear bridge and go around to the left and you can't miss us . Now for the Pro schedule Friday they have two sessions 1:30 and 4pm . Saturday there sessions are 11:30am and 2pm .Sunday eliminations start at 11am and Pre Race Ceremonies at 10am . If you haven't seen Top Fuel or Funny Car there is nothing like the raw power these machines produce . It's the fastest show on earth . See you at the races .Thanks for checking in .
SUPER STREET TT-2 11:00 AM TOP FUE
Kenny Speed The Smallest Minority on earth is the individual.Those who deny individual rights cannot claim to be defenders of minorities. -Ayn Rand
Pre-Race CeremoniesPre-Race Ceremonies
Pre-Race Ceremonies
SUPER STREET TT-2 11:00 AM TOP FUE
Wednesday, February 15, 2012
NHRA"S qualifying sheet shows Dave in the number one spot |
Sunday, February 12, 2012
First Round results with a cool on car video
Sunday Morning ,what can I say it's 7am and pouring rain , not a good way to start the last day of the Winter Nationals .No runs Saturday now rain on Sunday .We should be in the 4th round of competition and we haven't even started .After they dried the track they send the first pair of fuel cars down track about 11:30 only 30 minuets late . The revised , revised schedule says we run after the second round of the Pros so I guess we'll go watch for a while . The racing was great , Courtney Force got her first win over Bob Tasca .and John also collected his first round win of the season . The only real upsets were Clay Millican over Khakid alBalooshi and Todd Lescenko over Robert Hight , NHRA has decided to revise the already twice revised schedule .Looks like now we're right after 3rd round of the pros . We head up to watch 3rd round and some more great racing was on tap , Wining and going into the finals will be, in Pro Stock Greg Anderson vs Jeg Coughlin Jr. . Funny Car will see team cars Mike Neff and John Force square off and in Top Fuel Spencer Massey and team mate Tony Schumacher . It's now 4:34 pm and it's time for Super Comp first round . The temperature a brisk 58 and the humidity 66 with a slight head wind . Jason and I compare notes and set the timer for the throttle stop for what we hope will get the dragster to run 8.90 . After a long two days of waiting around Dave does his burn out ,stages the car , and there off . Dave goes 8.902 good for the win and number one qualifier . The winning margin of victory a scant .0027 thousands of a second . Now the not so good news . By time they run the finals its to late for us to run again . Looks like we're playing hooky from work Monday to finish up .For the record Anderson , Massey and Force are winners in the Pro classes . It's late and I'm spent . Kenny Speed PS This is a really cool video we shot on Friday Night during Q3
Saturday, February 11, 2012
New in car HD video from Pomona
Friday, February 10, 2012
Day one in Pomona
Jason adding a new decal to the draster |
Wednesday, February 1, 2012
ZO6 Corvette / Top Fuel Dragster Comparison With one week to go
I thought maybe between races and testing I'd try explaining Drag Racing and the different classes for those of you who like the sport and would like to know more about it . Of course we have to start out with what they call the King of the sport , Top Fuel Dragster. These are 300 inch long rockets with wheels . Without wings for down force they would fly away . Drivers pull about 6g's the same as the space shuttle launch .They produce 7000 plus horsepower while weighing in at only 2250 lbs . That adds up to 3.1 horsepower per pound . To give you something to compare that with a 2012 Z06 Corvette makes 505 horsepower and weighs in at 3132 pounds or a measly .16 horsepower per pound . The dragster goes 0 to 300 mph in 3.7 seconds . The Corvette 0 to 60 in 3.7 seconds .1/4 elapsed time for the dragster 4.4 seconds at 330 mph . The Corvette 11.5 seconds at 127 mph . And then the only thing the Corvette is better at , fuel mileage . The corvette averages 21 miles per gallon . The dragster , check his out , 60 gallons to the mile . That's right it takes up to 15 gallons of Nitromethane to make one 1/4 mile run . That means , at a cost of about $16.00 a gallon it cost $240.00 for enough fuel to make one run. I'll leave you with one more T/F fact . Counting all expenses , crew , engine parts , tires , fuel etc it cost and average of $5000.00 per run. Next time I'll check out Funny Cars .As far as our team we're just a little over a week away from the opening race at Pomona . We have one car entered and that's Dave's super comp dragster .Wish us luck . I'll keep you in touch . Thanks for checking in . Kenny Speed
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