Nitro Madness Conquers Great Bend

Great Bend Kansas Nostalgia Race

Nitro Madness went to Great Bend, Ks. It is the home of the 1st US Nationals in 1955. We were pretty excited to go to track with that kind of history. The track was perfect! It had great starting line traction, sticky all the way down, smooth surface along with a TON of shutdown space. I almost needed either a snack, or a pillow, while I waited on my guys to get down there to pick me up after the run.

We drove all day in sunshine, pulled into Great Bend with clouds out to the West. The team decided to hit the motel and check in, as we wouldn’t be back there until late at nite. I needed a few things from Walmart, so I told the guys to meet in 15 minutes in the motel lobby. Meanwhile, the clouds are coming closer to us and the wind is picking up. It can’t be a storm, because we are there to race, not watch it rain. Well I was partially right, it wasn’t a thunderstorm. In the 2 minutes it takes to get across the street to Walmart, the sky is looking really nasty! We hurry to the doors, and a guy is standing there saying, “Come on in if you want to. You will have to move to the center of the store. We are having a Code Black”! I was then told a “Code Black” means a tornado is coming. Everyone in the store goes to the center, and covers up with blankets, pillows, rugs, whatever to keep protected if the roof gets ripped off! Man, never a dull moment with Old Rapid. So we move to the middle of the store, with me complaining I won’t be able to “see it” from there. Laura, my wife, wasn’t exactly in the comprising mood I guess. I got the “Look”. I was ready to stare down a tornado, however I have been married long enough to know, I wanted no part of Laura’s bad side! LOL. It wasn’t another 5 minutes and I heard the Locomotive sound of that baby going over the building. We stayed there about 30-40 minutes until we got the all-clear signal. The electrical power was out, so now I couldn’t get what we came for anyway. When we went outside, the big Walmart sign is down, the cart returns are laying all over the cars in the parking lot. Damages anywhere you look up and down the street. The way it came out later is, the tornado went right over the town tearing off roofs and blowing trees down. It was “not exactly” the way to start our racing weekend.

Now for the racing part. We went out to the track Saturday morning. The track surface was dry and they were working on the timing system. The tornado went right up the track I guess. Luckily, nothing was to torn up there. The Nostalgia tower was blown over, but a wrecker soon had that back up also.

The first qualifying run was 2:00pm. I checked the air, 4700 feet corrected. The actual altitude of the track is 1968 feet. We normally run in 3000 feet of corrected air here in the Midwest in the summer. I glance at the engine, it is gasping for breath just sitting there! LOL. Since we are in open top fuel, we had to run Alky at this race. The rules say one power adder, so either Injected Nitro, or Blown Alky. Nobody on my team wanted to go without the blower, so it was Alky in the tank for us.

I find the biggest main pill I have and throw it in the fuel system for this qualifying session. The amount of fuel I take out of the fuel system would run a small block for two rounds! Because it is a race and not a match race I do a short burnout, and stage the car. I launch and wait for the engine to climb to every shift point. I know by the way it wasn’t revving, it wasn’t a good run for us. I had an .04 light, and took the stripe first. It ran a 7.13 @191 MPH which was good enough for the #2 qualifier after the first session. #1 was a 7.10 run by the Rude Rat altered who ran right beside me.

So, now what? I don’t have a bigger main pill to lean it out further, so I jumped on the pump loop to take some fuel away. The air is now at 5001 feet. The temp is 87 degrees and 65% humidity. I don’t want to hurt our new Hemi, so we went up there just slightly leaner than the round before. It was actually pretty similar in total fuel volume. We tried the right lane this time. The car launched, I had another .04 lite, slightly better numbers all the way thru, and we went to #1 qualifier at a 7.08 @ 193.05 MPH. We stayed low for the session.

1st round we put 1-degree of timing in it and dropped the air a tad in the slicks and hoped for the best. I left with not such a good light, but the car picked up and went 7.04 @ 192 MPH. We are into the 2nd round.

2nd round, I had to race my buddy Tom in the Rude Rat altered. With a medium to short burnout, the car was surging a little at idle making it hard to stage. It normally just rolls right into the beams, but I didn’t want to go deep, so it was just tickling the beam, making my light flash on and off a couple of times before I got it on in. I later told Tom what the deal was with the staging light flickering, letting him it wasn’t on purpose. He said, “He didn’t even notice.” That made me feel better as I didn’t want him to think I was jacking with him. I managed an .08 light, short shift the car a little trying to make it grunt and burn some more fuel, and it runs a 6.93 @ 195 MPH. I have made it to the final!

I am running nice group of guys with a Front engine dragster out of Dallas, TX. They are the Cooker’s. Not the ones from Indy area who also run a FED on nitro. I was talking to them before the round. I said something like, “I know you Texas guys, how much did you hop it up for the finals?” He wouldn’t say exactly, but did say he topped off the tank with Nitro, and didn’t need the Hydrometer! Great, he has a full load in there! So I slip back over to my purple heap and pull some fuel out of the Hi-speed this time.

The final round, 10:30 PM, slight breeze, I know this is my chance to make history for our team. I did a long smoky burnout, right beside the FED I was racing against. I hurry my back up process so I don’t hang him out. My visor is fogging up. I had been given a tip to wipe it with dish soap right before I raced. I did do that earlier in the day and it worked great on all the other runs. I just didn’t follow thru with the, “wipe it every run,” part of the advice. I rub it with my glove and move up to the tree. I rolled into the pre-stage beam and lift my visor. That gives me a weird look at the tree, as the visor won’t move completely up out of the way. I snap it down and decide on any flash of yellow I will leave. We are both staged, he gets out on me with an .06 to my .09 light, I get to the 330 slightly quicker, but can still feel him right with me. By the 1/8 mile I am pulling away. The shift lights are coming quicker, and I can feel the engine starting to pull this time. I won the race with a 6.91 @ 197MPH! Nitro Madness wins the event!

I have to thank all of the guys and girls on the team! I could not have done it with out them. Scott Gaulter, crew chief/car owner. Peggy Gaulter {Mrs. Coolest}, Laura Baker {Mrs. Rapid}, Larry Bailey {Pappy}, Randy Clough {RC}, Mike Baker {Mad Mike}.

I hope you enjoyed the latest version of “What I did last weekend”.

Rapid