A good day at the track

Now That's A Burnout  

Well today made up for yesterdays debacle . I'm worn out so tonight's blog won't be long . We made two qualifying  runs with both cars today . First Dave's car , pass number one goes 8.954 a little to slow after another poor 60ft time . Q2 8.899 almost perfect and the 60ft time back to where it should be . zzzzzzzzzzzzzzz  Told ya I was tired , fell asleep while writing . We did come up with a idea of whats going on and maybe how to fix . We added 25lbs to the weight box in the front of his car . I'll let you know tomorrow if that helps and why it helped . Next , my car Q1 a little after noon ,right lane , 025 reaction time ( pretty darn good ) after a year long layoff  . Car goes right down Broadway 7.445  at 185.24 mph . Q2  goes off about 4:30 about an hour behind schedule  . I decided to try the left lane to see if I could see the tree over the hood scoop . Good news I can see just fine . What did I see ? I saw I got drilled on the tree (loss of concentration ) but we did run 7.446 again so that's real good . Two pair after my run we had a crash ( drivers ok ) but the crash along with the fact that they are already running late  cancelled Q3 for the both of us. Eliminations start at 8am with Dave's car going up at about 8:45 and my first round at about 11am . I'm done Good night all . Once again thanks for the great photos from my buddy Dee Myers . Kenny Speed

Sweet Lanuch

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 

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

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  

It's Friday morning at Firebird International Raceway  time for Q1 ( first round of qualifying ). Now the good news is we do have some data from just a few weeks ago when we tested here . That will make a lot easier to get close on the first qualifying pass unlike Pomona where we started from scratch . Jason and I look at the current weather conditions , compare it to our practice runs ,do a little calculating and head up for Q1. First pass of the, weekend not bad 8.872 . Remember we're looking to run 8.90 so we're only 3 hundredths to fast . We get one more qualifying run this afternoon ,then it's first round Saturday morning . I was lucky enough a few years ago to get introduced to Don Schumacher a few years ago and even played golf with him in Denver .For those of you who may not know the name ,Don is the owner of three top fuel dragsters and four funny cars . Now the good thing about that is they have a hospitality area were they feed all of the guest from the companies that sponsor them . I can text Don and he will give me hospitality area passes . So free lunch for Dave , Jason and I in the fuel pits . Nice . A pork chop ,rice and beans , salad and a brownie for lunch hits the spot . Time to get back and set the car up for Q2 . Now the temperature has gone up so we need to take some time out of the timer so we can make up for warmer temperature which slows the car down  . We head up for Q2 . Dave makes his run and the car slowed way down 8.972. A quick look at the Et slip  ( A paper slip thar gives you reaction time, 60', 330', 660', 1,000', 1,320' elapsed time, 1/8 mile and 1/4 mile  m.p.h. Your time slip also gives you the same information about your competitor as well as records which racer was the winner during eliminations ) and I see the 60ft time for the car fell way off thus the reason for the off pace 8.972 . This is a problem that happened at Pomona a few times , and now here .  We need to figure it out before tomorrow . We have some video that I've been taking of the tires since we started having this problem so I'm heading home to look it over and see what I can come up with . Here's a picture my good friend and photographer Dee Myers took of Dave , Jason  and  I . Don't forget to click on and check out some of the ads on the side of the blogs it helps pay the bills . Thanks for following    Kenny Speed

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 .

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

NHRA"S qualifying sheet shows Dave in the number one spot   

Good morning from rain soaked Pomona . It's early monday Morning and the wet weather continues . NHRA has us scheduled to run 4th class out at 10am. Looks highly unlikely to me but we'll have to wait and see. It's 10am ,they just called us up for round two and as soon as they run the first pair of stock it starts to rain . Back to the trailer we go . Fast forward to 2pm and the call goes out for super comp to the lanes . The weather is looking pretty good , maybe we can get this done . This is second round so from here on out lane choice is decided by the flip of a coin. . Lane choice is said to be unimportant unless , you don't have it. As crew chief I almost always have a lane I prefer . This weekend it's the right lane . There are different reasons to like one lane over the other . The main reason is how consistent the car has been off the starting line during the runs you made so far . At this particular race we had a problem with tire spin in the left lane just a few feet after launch on one of our qualifying passes. Now on NHRA's behalf I'll say at national events , track condition is not usually a problem except when the weather has been  either to hot , to cold , or to wet . This weekend we had the cold and the wet thing going so track conditions were constantly changing and were definitely not optimal . You may also pick one lane over the other if your driver can see better in one of the lanes . Where that comes into play would be at the top end when your looking for the other car so you can lift off the throttle before the finish line , if you have him covered. Now I know your saying to yourself why would you lift during a race . Here's the reason and I'll try my best to explain it. Since the lanes are timed with there own timers it's possible to run 8.90 seconds a lose . Since the timers don't start till the car moves both cars could run 8.90 and the one who leaves the line first or has the better reaction time would cross the finish line first . Now back to the reason why you would lift before the finish line . If you leave the line first you would have the advantage at the other end so you would lift to keep from breaking out ( breaking out , going faster than they allowed time for your class )in this case 8.90 seconds . Drives in door cars prefer the right lane for two reasons ,first it's easier to see the Christmas tree because in the left lane you have to look around the huge hood scoop that most of the cars have , Also it's easier when your looking for the other car at the top end you can look right out your window instead of trying to see through the roll bars and out the passenger side window .Ok now that I cleared that up ( ha ha ) back to second round . The other driver flips the coin I call heads and we get the right lane . They do there burnouts ,line them up and away they go . Dave gives up a little on the starting line but makes up by running 8.919 to other guys 8.934 . With the other drivers reaction time figured in Dave sneaks around him by a scant .0027 seconds or about 6 inches at the stripe. Back to the trailer for a quick refuel and battery charge and about 30 minutes we're back in the lanes for round three . Another coin toss and again I call heads and again we head to the right lane ,so good so far  Burnouts complete they line up and just that fast we're done as Dave  (trying to improve on his reaction time from last round ) leaves to early and gets the big red light. Overall a good weekend . We learned a lot , qualified number one and went a few rounds . Not great , not bad . Next blog should be Friday that's our next qualifying day for race number two. Thanks for playing Kenny Speed