DRAG RACERS ARE DUMB!

I have been drag racing competitively for some 20 odd years.  And I do mean odd.  I have won some rounds, won some races, and even won a track championship.  So you could say we have enjoyed a certain level of success over the years.  However, after the last race weekend, I have concluded that the only one constant, the only irrefutable fact, the one thing that really bonds us all together is this: Drag racers are dumb!
I mean, beyond the obvious.  Of course some people think it is dumb to spend incalculable amounts of money building, and rebuilding, and rebuilding the same car over and over.  Some people might think it's dumb to spend 4 hours packing, 3 hours hauling the car and trailer (each way), 12 hours of baking on the asphalt in temperatures over 100, just to spend a total of say 60 seconds actually racing over the course of a weekend.  I get that. But I am talking beyond that obvious observation. 

Case in point.  Last race weekend we hauled the stuff out early Saturday morning to take advantage of the Saturday Test and Tune day at Famoso Raceway.  It's a great opportunity to try new stuff, or make adjustments, or as was the case for me, just get some more seat time in preparation for Sunday's Summit Series race.  So we made a jet change on the carburetor, and made the first pass, which was largely uneventful, and yielded a 10.50 ET which was pretty much dead on for the conditions.  I came back to the pits to let the car cool down before making another pass.  Dave "the Wrench" Lee walked over and raised the hood to aid in the airflow.  Pretty standard practice.  Some time later, I went over and lowered the hood, just because it was kind of windy and there was some dust blowing and I didn't want any foreign bodies to drop into the open carb.  So I lowered it and mentioned to the wrench that I closed the hood...

So we sat around and yucked it up while Autohaus Dan fiddled with the bitchin' camaro which he had just brought out to the track for the first time.  But I digress...Anyway after sufficient cooling, yucking, and whatever, I loaded up to make my second T&T pass.  Well about 100 feet out, maybe more, just about the time I pulled second gear, I was suddenly blinded by...What the? And just as quickly the windshield cleared as I saw the fiberglass hood rip off at the hinges and launch airborne at least 20 feet in the air.  Yep, someone forgot to put the hoodpins in!  Drag racers are dumb!  Back in the pits with chunks of fiberglass hanging onto the outstretched hinges, I saw the wrench walking through the pits having retrieved the remainder of the hood from the track.  I never laughed so hard in my life.  Man, drag racers are dumb!

 

Anyway, outside of that, we had a great time!  I was sporting a new 22 ft flagpole on the RV, Dan brought the camaro out for a shakedown run, and we went a couple rounds on Sunday before I red lit by .001 in the 2nd round.

The camaro was looking good, but due to a less than perfect ignition system, Dan couldn't get it to run beyond 4500 RPM, so he made a couple attempts that ended in a sputtering, popping and generally frustrating aborted effort.  But rest assured, he'll be out at next T&T with updated parts and the eye of the tiger look.  Can't wait to see what the "street" car can run!

Oh yeah, did I mention that the air conditioner shroud on the motor home self destructed on the way over?  We rolled in with the shroud flappin' in the breeze on the roof and the wrench went up and ripped it the rest of the way off. (making a list of new parts to order).  Oh, and did I mention we had a flat on the right rear slick after the losing run on Sunday?  Man, drag racers are dumb!  And broke!

SLO Racer. Out.