Nitro Madness Labor day Race

Night of Thunder at
Eddyville Raceway Park

Saturday September 3rd Eddyville was rocking with the sound of thunder from; A-Fuel cars, {NHRA Top Alky Dragsters} Jet cars, Wheel-standers, AA/FA Altereds, Pro-Stocks, Pro Mods, along with a full field of bracket cars.

We arrived early afternoon to get set up. Four of our crewmembers, Pappy, RC, Birney and Lance were coming separately this trip. They were driving to the track with their families. Neither group had arrived by the time we got there with the truck and trailer. They missed out on the joy of setting up, and we missed out on having them help. Let me tell you, when you are used to having a big group do the job, it seems so simple and fast. When you have the driver and car owner do it with a couple of new young crewmembers, it becomes something else entirely. Finally the mission was accomplished. Most of you who race will know what happened next. When it all was set up, and the car was fueled and cleaned, the rest of the crew showed up of course. I think maybe it was a grand plan by the guys so we would appreciate them more.

Sean and his crew arrived about an hour later. It is always nice to see those guys. Sean is a good racer, has a fast car, and he really knows how to work the crowd. They are one of our favorites to match race. As soon as we get both cars serviced, it is like one big team. We either are at his trailer, or they are hanging out at ours.

We are going to run at 6:00 and around 9:00PM. One thing that is special about racing at Eddyville is the way the track treats the racers and the fans. Whenever they put on a show you can count on it being 1st class all the way. At 5:30 all of the feature drivers met on the starting line to judge the wheelie contest. During that contest, one of the announcers was introducing us, and doing a short interview. He helped get the “trash talking” going stronger between all us drivers. I heard him tell Sean {Metal Mafia} that he might just as well of stayed home rather than to try to beat the Nitro Madness car on its home track! Sean fired back with he brought along a little extra help this time. He put some “Spank in the Tank” {Nitro}. Pappy, {my crewguy} and I were working on our car and glanced over when Sean was filling his tank. The fuel had that nice yellow cast to it. Pappy looked at me and said, “Is Sean putting more juice than usual in his car”? It sure looked that way to me. When he fired his car up, all questions were answered; he had a pretty good load in it.

During the pre-race activities, Randy Meyer was shooting tee shirts to the crowd with a slingshot. Well it was supposed to be to the crowd. Randy is a big guy. He was launching the tee-shirts from the starting line “WAY” out into the pits! We also threw out a bunch of autographed Frisbees. I am pretty sure if they have an “Olympic” Frisbee throwing team, none of us drivers are going to take any of the spots on the team. We all pretty much sucked at throwing them. They all made it into the crowd, but nowhere near where any of us were trying to aim them.

They ran the Pro-Stocks and the Pro-Mods, then Sean and I, the A-Fuel cars, wheel standers, followed by the jets. Our team was in the left lane for the first run. I always ask the other team to make a choice first. Usually, at most tracks both lanes are pretty equal. If the other driver has a preference, we will always let him be in the lane he likes best for the first run. We then alternate lanes for the rest of the runs. The corrected air is around 3100 feet. Our car is set up to run somewhere around a 4.32-4.34 for the 1st round. We took 2-degrees timing out, and fattened up the fuel system. Scott {car owner} and I had inspected the track surface. The sun had been on it all day. The A-fuel cars {NHRA top alky dragsters, not nostalgia A-fuel class cars} had been making a few test shots during the afternoon working out some things. They were just making some short test squirts. However, we saw a couple of them shake around 100 feet. We pumped up the rear tire pressure ½ pound to make sure our car would stick.

When you run at your local track, especially in a big program for them, there is added pressure to do well. Not only do you just plain want to run well, but you also have all of your fans there. Now, add in a ton of family and you begin to get the picture. Since we run throughout the Midwest, most of our fans and family only get to hear how things go at the races. Now they are here to watch you run in person, so you had better run well, or do something exciting!

The show was delayed by a couple of difficulties with cars not respecting the private space of timing equipment on the track. The Pro-Stocks and the Pro-Mods went off without a hitch. Scott, {car owner} stuck his head in the car and said, “Do whatever you want in the burnout. Wes {track mgr} needs a little grin back on his face.” Just a little note to any car owners out there. If you tell your driver that, be prepared to buy some new rear tires! We got the signal to fire up. I rolled forward and lined it up where I wanted to be on the track for the burnout. I put it in high gear, pulled the fuel lever all the way on, and went through the water box. I eased into the throttle so I could keep the rpm down to a somewhat reasonable level. It got up on the tires, and I carried the burnout past the finish line to the 1st return road! Later the team told me the crowd went nuts! I backed up at a pretty good clip so I didn’t hold Sean up too bad. He knows I always do real long burnouts during a match race. I bet it didn’t catch him off guard at all. The starting line was fogged in. Sean had gone past ½ track with his burnout. The wind was blowing otherwise we wouldn’t have been able to find the tree. He Pre-staged, I was right behind him. I staged first, he came in, a flash of yellow and we are off. I had a very slight edge off the line. I can feel his car right beside mine. I don’t see him, but you can feel him right there. Somewhere around 500 feet out my car moves to the right. It got a tad out of the groove, and rattles the tires. I kept my foot in it, and drove it back into the groove and across the line. Chutes, lift, Sean goes by, brakes, and coast to a stop. His single chute slows his car pretty quickly, and we both roll on out in the last return road. I unbuckle, and make sure all is ok with Sean. It must have been a great race to watch. He said he was moving around also.

When the crew got there, they told me it ran 4.24 @ 169. I can’t believe it. We had set it up to run somewhere in the 4.30 range. I was sure the mph would be off, since I had richened it up. It sure wasn’t down by much. The old purple heap was just happy to be at Eddyville I guess.

Back in the pits, the guys got the car serviced. The crowd was lined up. They were getting tee shirts, and having the hero cards signed. It was a mad house for quite a while. I knew we hadn’t hurt anything. I just needed to get to the fuel system, and read the plugs. It was almost 45 minutes before I had the fans all taken care of. Our crew guys put a number of young ones in the car for pictures. I get a few emails a week telling me how the little ones talk about sitting in the car for days after the event. That will put a smile on my face every time.

The last run of the evening. The stands were packed. When the starting line staff gave us the start up signal, the announcer said, “Here are the Fuel Altereds!” The crowd yelling was all I could hear before it fired. Sean and I did side by side ¾ track burnouts! We backed up together also. Sean moved up and turned on the Pre-stage, I put on mine. He moved in and staged, I followed him in. I was pretty sure I was in trouble. My trans-brake button for the Lenco-drive is on the left side of my steering wheel. My glove hung-up on the edge of the button, rather than a good solid push, I was just on the edge of it. With both of us staged, and a pro 4-tenths tree, I had no time to cure it. I knew I would have to be very careful releasing it so I don’t go red or worse yet, slip off the button before the tree comes on. As you would imagine, it was not a great light. The car saved me this time. It went right down the track. I don’t even remember moving the steering wheel. It ran a 4.23 @ 169 mph. The last four runs at this track, 5-weeks apart, have been: 4.27, 4.26, 4.24, and 4.23! The announcer told the crowd, “He was going to pay the entry fee, and put us in the bracket class. He would also cover all bets anybody wanted to make against us”.

We had a fantastic day of racing. Thanks to the Eddyville staff, and everyone who came out for the races.

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

Rapid