Talk about having fun and going rounds! The Central Coast Autohaus Flying Pig Racing team had a huge presence at Bakersfeild's Auto Club Famoso Raceway on the weekend of April 30 - May 1. We were celebrating my birhtday at the track, and we had quite the crew with us. In addition to Dave "the wrench" Lee and Autohaus Dan, we had Sean, Betche and Lucas from the "friday nite live" crowd, as well as "Autohaus Jamie", and the drivers wife!
Sean, one of the best chefs on Marianela Lane, brought along a boatload of Fillet Mignon, not to mention a concoction he called an "appetizer" that consisted of a sirloin roast butterflied and stuffed with all kinds of good stuff, like garlic and basil, and marinated til it was melt in you mouth tender. He threw the thing on the BBQ for a while and we started on the adult beverages. The next couple hours were spent feasting on the best race track food ever. This is going in the cookbook. But that's another story.
On the track, we had the best day in, well, a hecka long time. We made it to our first final round in a very long while, (longer than I care to remember) and although we came up a little short, it was a great day of racing and a nice jump in the points. In fact it moved us up to #4 in the Summit Pro points for the year. And the car ran really consistantly. That's just so important. Thanks to Dan and Dave, we have gotten much, much better at keeping the car in a really narrow performance window. That means that we're not changing the set up of the car at all, and all we have to do is follow the weather changes carefully and we can get a lot closer on predicting what the car will run. We made 8 passes (2 time runs and 6 rounds of eliminations) and 6 of the 8 were within 15/thousands of a second. That is consistency!! That combined with a series of pretty competitive reaction times by the driver, and we strung together 5 round wins before facing Mark Kirby in the Grape Ape for the final. Mark and I had very similar reaction times and we should have been in for a close race, but my hot rod got a little squirelly at half track and I had to pedal a little. As a result the best we could post was a 10.62 on a 10.45 dial in. Just way too far off the number to get a win. But, as they say, a good time was had by all! And I can't think of a better way to celebrate a birthday! What a blast!
May 1st brought us to Summit Race #4, and coming off yesterday's final round appearance we had big plans for another stellar day. But that was not to be. I went out in the first round, when my opponent absolutely chopped down the tree. I mean a PERFECT .000 reaction time. Another way of reading that is 1/1000 of a second from a red light (foul)! It doesn't happen too often in competition but every once in a while someone will rip off a perfect reaction time, and it just happened I was in the other lane. I ran a 10.53 on my 10.50 dial which is not too bad, but my .086 light left me with over 8/100 of a second to make up. That just doesn't happen. So we rolled out of there on Sunday having made a significant jump in points, and having proven we can race with anyone in this series. Looking forward to climbing further up the points ladder June 11/12!
SLOracer. Out.
Monday, June 6, 2011
Wednesday, April 13, 2011
ANRA Season Opener a Success!
On April 10th and 11th the Central Coast Autohaus Flying Pig Racing team travelled to Bakersfield's Auto Club Famoso Raceway for the ANRA season opener. The travel team this week included Dave "the wrench" Lee, Autohaus Dan, Ken "the nuke" Wilson and yours truly. I couldn't do it without this crew! The "wrench" is my all around primary crew guy. He handles the tire pressure adjustments in the lanes, manages the fuel, helps with the log book, not to mention the cooking! Autohaus Dan provides the mechanical genius and wrenching duties not only at the track, but back home in the Central Coast Autohaus shop. And Ken "the nuke" brings his electrical expertise as well as photography skills to the track! Oh yeah, Ken can also whip up a tasty linguica and egg breakfast! I can't say enough about how much work goes into getting to the track and making sure that everything goes according to plan. These guys just make it happen race after race.
On the track, we had a couple of pretty good time runs on Saturday, posting a 10.390 (quickest ever) on the first pass of the day! We followed that up with a 10.46 on the second pass. I spun the tires a bit on that one and slowed by .06 second in the first 330 feet. The rest of the run was fine. So we felt pretty confident going into eliminations on Sunday.
Sunday was a blast! There were 54 cars in my class. That's a BUNCH! If you do the math, it takes 6 round wins to win the whole deal. We went 4 rounds. In other words, only 4 cars went further. The guy, Pete Chilbes III, who beat us in round 4 went on to win the event. So after ANRA race number 1, we sit tied for 5th in season points. Below is a link to a bunch of video taken Saturday and Sunday by "the nuke". You can also find it on my YouTube channel http://www.youtube.com/user/flyingpigracing100?feature=mhum
SLOracer. Out.
Sunday was a blast! There were 54 cars in my class. That's a BUNCH! If you do the math, it takes 6 round wins to win the whole deal. We went 4 rounds. In other words, only 4 cars went further. The guy, Pete Chilbes III, who beat us in round 4 went on to win the event. So after ANRA race number 1, we sit tied for 5th in season points. Below is a link to a bunch of video taken Saturday and Sunday by "the nuke". You can also find it on my YouTube channel http://www.youtube.com/user/flyingpigracing100?feature=mhum
SLOracer. Out.
Tuesday, April 5, 2011
1st Summit race a bust for Flying Pig, 2nd yields 3 quickest ETs ever!
Well, April 2nd and 3rd marked the start of the Summit Racing season at Famoso Raceway and Flying Pig Racing was stymied! Wow! All I can say is WOW! We were so pumped going in. The best prepared in years. The car is looking great. The mechanicals are perfect. The driver has been beating up the practice tree...
But as is often the case in drag racing, some little thing that you just didn't anticipate sneaks up and bites you in the butt. This time it was 2 psi of air pressure. Yep. That's it- 2 psi.
Here's the deal. Before the race we installed a new set of rear slicks. Up til now we had been running a Hoosier slick. We found the optimal tire pressure for the Hoosiers to be about 10.5 psi. Then... this year I found a M&H slick on the market that has about 4/10 of an inch more contact patch. That's just what you want- more rubber on the track...better traction...quicker ETs. Yahoo. We mounted the M&Hs and hit the track.
On the first pass on Saturday morning, the car launched really hard. Felt great. But then it started going right, and THEN started shaking like a wet dog! By half track I had gone right, left, then right again, and shook so hard I could hardly hold the steering wheel. So, I wisely aborted the run. Went back to the pits and reported to "the twins" and the "wrench", who went over the car with a magnifying glass and made a slight adjustment to the toe in on the front wheels, and proclaimed the Pig mechanically fit.
Back out for the second time run, and the same sashay and shake down the track led to the second aborted run of the day. Back in the pits again, we decided we were missing something, and it likely had to do with the new tires. So off we went to find the guy we lean on alot- Ric Fauset- engine builder extraordinaire and all around racing guru fromFauset Racing . As soon as I mentioned the new M&H slicks, he pointed out that the M&H tires always seem to require more air pressure than the Hoosiers. Bingo! We ran the pressures up to 12.5 psi. Unfortunately, it was now time for the start of eliminations, and we had NO IDEA what the car would do. So we dialed a conservative 10.90 and figured IF the car was on a good pass, I would just have to hit the brakes and slow it down so as not to break out.
We were paired with perennial contender and National Champ Mark Simonian in the first round. I approached it just like any other round and nailed the tree with a .010 light, against his respectable .028. What happened next was crazy. The car launched perfectly, and ran flawlessly! No shake, no drifting around. Just as straight as a string! So at about half track Simonian was nowhere near me and I realized I had better slow this thing down. So I hit the brakes... and started to celebrate the fact that the problem was solved! About that time Simonian flew past me. I jumped back on the gas, but too little and too late! What a way to lose! At least we were able to walk away feeling good that the car was back on track.
Sunday, April 3rd.
Started the day knowing the car would run well. The weather was perfect and we were comfortable with the air pressure. Actually we bumped the pressure up a quarter to 12.75 psi. The first time run was a blast. The car ran the quickest 60" time ever- a 1.475, and the quickest ET ever 10.399! Man that was cool.
We followed that up on the second pass with another 10.399! And then eliminations started. 1st round loser! We dialed a 10.41 because the conditions had gotten a little worse, and we had lost the slight tailwind we had earlier. I felt like I had a decent light but it turned out I was WAY late. I kept it hammered right on out the back door but never caught the other car. In the end I ran a 10.407, 3/1000s too quick, but it didn't matter, I was never gonna beat the other guy with the poor light. So, we left with the 3 quickest passes the Flying Pig Has ever made. And that ain't bad.
Oh, and we learned another drag racing lesson. Don't make major changes (tire brand) unless you have time to test them BEFORE race day. So having learned that lesson, we had a discussion back in the pits about the upcoming ANRA race, and decided rather than running D-Gas and "learning at the track" we are going to stick to what we know, and run in the Hot Rod class, which is just like Summit ET racing. So now it's just 3 days til I'm back at the track! Me and Ken "the nuke" are going to head out on Friday to get pitted and tech'd, and then "the twins" and "the wrench" will join us on Saturday.
SLO Racer. Out.
But as is often the case in drag racing, some little thing that you just didn't anticipate sneaks up and bites you in the butt. This time it was 2 psi of air pressure. Yep. That's it- 2 psi.
Here's the deal. Before the race we installed a new set of rear slicks. Up til now we had been running a Hoosier slick. We found the optimal tire pressure for the Hoosiers to be about 10.5 psi. Then... this year I found a M&H slick on the market that has about 4/10 of an inch more contact patch. That's just what you want- more rubber on the track...better traction...quicker ETs. Yahoo. We mounted the M&Hs and hit the track.
On the first pass on Saturday morning, the car launched really hard. Felt great. But then it started going right, and THEN started shaking like a wet dog! By half track I had gone right, left, then right again, and shook so hard I could hardly hold the steering wheel. So, I wisely aborted the run. Went back to the pits and reported to "the twins" and the "wrench", who went over the car with a magnifying glass and made a slight adjustment to the toe in on the front wheels, and proclaimed the Pig mechanically fit.
Back out for the second time run, and the same sashay and shake down the track led to the second aborted run of the day. Back in the pits again, we decided we were missing something, and it likely had to do with the new tires. So off we went to find the guy we lean on alot- Ric Fauset- engine builder extraordinaire and all around racing guru from
We were paired with perennial contender and National Champ Mark Simonian in the first round. I approached it just like any other round and nailed the tree with a .010 light, against his respectable .028. What happened next was crazy. The car launched perfectly, and ran flawlessly! No shake, no drifting around. Just as straight as a string! So at about half track Simonian was nowhere near me and I realized I had better slow this thing down. So I hit the brakes... and started to celebrate the fact that the problem was solved! About that time Simonian flew past me. I jumped back on the gas, but too little and too late! What a way to lose! At least we were able to walk away feeling good that the car was back on track.
Sunday, April 3rd.
Started the day knowing the car would run well. The weather was perfect and we were comfortable with the air pressure. Actually we bumped the pressure up a quarter to 12.75 psi. The first time run was a blast. The car ran the quickest 60" time ever- a 1.475, and the quickest ET ever 10.399! Man that was cool.
We followed that up on the second pass with another 10.399! And then eliminations started. 1st round loser! We dialed a 10.41 because the conditions had gotten a little worse, and we had lost the slight tailwind we had earlier. I felt like I had a decent light but it turned out I was WAY late. I kept it hammered right on out the back door but never caught the other car. In the end I ran a 10.407, 3/1000s too quick, but it didn't matter, I was never gonna beat the other guy with the poor light. So, we left with the 3 quickest passes the Flying Pig Has ever made. And that ain't bad.
Oh, and we learned another drag racing lesson. Don't make major changes (tire brand) unless you have time to test them BEFORE race day. So having learned that lesson, we had a discussion back in the pits about the upcoming ANRA race, and decided rather than running D-Gas and "learning at the track" we are going to stick to what we know, and run in the Hot Rod class, which is just like Summit ET racing. So now it's just 3 days til I'm back at the track! Me and Ken "the nuke" are going to head out on Friday to get pitted and tech'd, and then "the twins" and "the wrench" will join us on Saturday.
SLO Racer. Out.
Monday, March 28, 2011
Flying Pig has never looked better!
As I always say, "ya won't always run good, but ya can always look good"! I was relieved when the thing didn't fall apart after all the dirt was removed. Now I'm thinking we probably will pick up a half of tenth just because it's lighter and slippery-er!
So, we are fully prepared to go to Bakersfield this weekend and kick some butt! Look out Famoso. Here comes the twins, the wrench, the Nuke and the driver!
SloRacer. Out.
Friday, March 18, 2011
Season opener in 2 weeks!
We have got a serious itch around Flying Pig Racing! We are just two short weeks from our opening round of racing in 2011. A lot of the teams are already making their first passes at the March Meet in Bako this weekend, but that's not on the Central Coast Autohaus Flying Pig schedule.
Just to get the juices flowing here's a short video of me running down a Nova last season. If I remember correctly we laid down a 10.42 on that run.
Anyway, we had the car over at Central Coast Autohaus and Tire for a week or so and completed all of the off season maintenance. Dan pulled the rear-end and re-sealed it. The gears looked fine. Dave "the wrench" Lee re-plumbed the fuel lines from the pump to the carb. He also installed the new 5pt harness, while Dan mounted a new pair of slicks. Of course we also did the requisite oil change, fuel filter replacement, and new spark plugs. And last but not least, Barry (the twin) laid down a fresh coat of red on that rear quarter that's been sporting the primer since a former wrench (to remain anonymous) nailed the throttle while attempting to drive the pig onto the lift, got her sideways and smacked the post. I kid you not! In any case, Barry nailed the paint job. Now the rest of the car looks dingy! Guess what me and "the wrench" are doing next weekend! Wax on, wax off...
Just to get the juices flowing here's a short video of me running down a Nova last season. If I remember correctly we laid down a 10.42 on that run.
Anyway, we had the car over at Central Coast Autohaus and Tire for a week or so and completed all of the off season maintenance. Dan pulled the rear-end and re-sealed it. The gears looked fine. Dave "the wrench" Lee re-plumbed the fuel lines from the pump to the carb. He also installed the new 5pt harness, while Dan mounted a new pair of slicks. Of course we also did the requisite oil change, fuel filter replacement, and new spark plugs. And last but not least, Barry (the twin) laid down a fresh coat of red on that rear quarter that's been sporting the primer since a former wrench (to remain anonymous) nailed the throttle while attempting to drive the pig onto the lift, got her sideways and smacked the post. I kid you not! In any case, Barry nailed the paint job. Now the rest of the car looks dingy! Guess what me and "the wrench" are doing next weekend! Wax on, wax off...
So, with that done, Dave turned to re-wiring the trailer lights while Dan re-packed the trailer bearings. The last thing for now will be 4 new tires on the trailer which Dan will throw on before we head out on the 2nd of April.
Once again, Central Coast Autohaus, with the help of Dave "the wrench" Lee, and Barry "the Twin", have made it possible for Flying Pig Racing to run great and look good doing it! April 2-3 will be the first Summit Pro race of the season. We are going to use it as an opportunity to dial in for the ANRA season opener the following week. That's when we start running the 10.60 index D-Gas class. So we'll be slowing the car down a little. (More on the throttle stop development later.)
Thanks to Dan, Barry and Dave! Pigs are gonna fly!
SLO Racer. Out.
Wednesday, January 19, 2011
FLYING PIG RACING 2011 Schedule
All events at Famoso Raceway
April
2-3 Summit Races 1 & 2 (No open testing during this event) - Gates 8am
8-10 ANRA w/Jr. Drags - TBA
30- May 1 Summit 3 & 4 (No open testing during this event) - Gates 8am
June
3-5 ANRA w/ Jr. Drags - Gates TBA
11-12 Summit 5 & 6 (No open testing during this event) - Gates 8am
August
26-28 ANRA w/ Jr. Drags - Gates TBA
September
24-25 Summit 7&8 (No open testing during this event) - Gates 8am
October
7-9 ANRA w/ Jr. Drags - Gates TBA
April
2-3 Summit Races 1 & 2 (No open testing during this event) - Gates 8am
8-10 ANRA w/Jr. Drags - TBA
30- May 1 Summit 3 & 4 (No open testing during this event) - Gates 8am
June
3-5 ANRA w/ Jr. Drags - Gates TBA
11-12 Summit 5 & 6 (No open testing during this event) - Gates 8am
August
26-28 ANRA w/ Jr. Drags - Gates TBA
September
24-25 Summit 7&8 (No open testing during this event) - Gates 8am
October
7-9 ANRA w/ Jr. Drags - Gates TBA
Monday, January 10, 2011
2011 Race Prep
Well, yesterday I met Dave "the wrench" Lee and Autohaus Dan over at the storage yard to make a list of stuff that we need to buy/do to get ready for the 2011 race season. Most of the stuff is pretty minor, like buying new slicks, a new supply of spark plugs, oil filters, fuel filters and the like. Some of the items were a little more involved. Like sending the driver restraints off for re-webbing, and having new trailer tie downs made. We're also gonna pull the the trailer wheels off, re-pack the bearings and look at replacing the springs. Then there was the puddle under the rear dif! Well looks like we'll be pulling the pumpkin and at least replacing seals. All in all, it's a pretty light list.
We're getting pretty amped up for the season to start. Big change- I am going to run D-Gas at ANRA this year. D-Gas is a heads up 10.60 class. It will be fun and challenging to figure out how to get the flying pig to run the 10.60 index in all different conditions. We're looking forward to it. Also, the D-Gas class runs off of a .400 pro tree, which is a whole new ballgame for this driver! So I will (have) start hitting the practice tree hard in preparation. My first hits on the practice tree were in the .060 range. We'll see what practice will do to improve that!
In addition, we'll continue to run Pro in the Summit Races at Famoso this year. Still waiting for the Famoso schedule to hit the website but we do know the ANRA races are scheduled:
SEASON OPENER: APRIL 8-10
•Auto Club Famoso Raceway - Bakersfield, CA.
•Friday April 8: Parking &Tech
•Saturday April 9: Qualifying
•Sunday April 10: Eliminations
•Jr. Dragsters will compete at this event.
SPRING NATIONALS: JUNE 3-5
•Auto Club Famoso Raceway - Bakersfield, CA.
•Friday June 3: Parking &Tech
•Saturday June 4: Qualifying
•Sunday June 5: Eliminations
Jr. Dragsters will compete at this event.
SUMMER NATIONALS: AUGUST 26-28
•Auto Club Famoso Raceway - Bakersfield, CA.
•Friday August 26: Parking &Tech
•Saturday August 27: Qualifying
•Sunday August 28: Eliminations
•Jr. Dragsters will compete at this event.
SEASON FINALS: OCTOBER 7-9
•Auto Club Famoso Raceway - Bakersfield, CA.
•Friday October 7: Parking &Tech
•Saturday October 8: Qualifying
•Sunday October 9: Eliminations
•Jr. Dragsters will compete at this event.
So we have a couple months to get ready, and for once we are way ahead of schedule. I can thank Dan (Central Coast Autohaus) and Dave "the wrench" Lee for that. It's a pleasure to have these guys going into another season with me. It's been too many years since I had a steady and reliable crew, and it's nearly impossible to win races without that support. It really takes a couple years of working together to get everything to gel, and we are there. So, no excuses this year. We are gonna put a whippin' on the field.
SLO Racer. Out.
We're getting pretty amped up for the season to start. Big change- I am going to run D-Gas at ANRA this year. D-Gas is a heads up 10.60 class. It will be fun and challenging to figure out how to get the flying pig to run the 10.60 index in all different conditions. We're looking forward to it. Also, the D-Gas class runs off of a .400 pro tree, which is a whole new ballgame for this driver! So I will (have) start hitting the practice tree hard in preparation. My first hits on the practice tree were in the .060 range. We'll see what practice will do to improve that!
In addition, we'll continue to run Pro in the Summit Races at Famoso this year. Still waiting for the Famoso schedule to hit the website but we do know the ANRA races are scheduled:
SEASON OPENER: APRIL 8-10
•Auto Club Famoso Raceway - Bakersfield, CA.
•Friday April 8: Parking &Tech
•Saturday April 9: Qualifying
•Sunday April 10: Eliminations
•Jr. Dragsters will compete at this event.
SPRING NATIONALS: JUNE 3-5
•Auto Club Famoso Raceway - Bakersfield, CA.
•Friday June 3: Parking &Tech
•Saturday June 4: Qualifying
•Sunday June 5: Eliminations
Jr. Dragsters will compete at this event.
SUMMER NATIONALS: AUGUST 26-28
•Auto Club Famoso Raceway - Bakersfield, CA.
•Friday August 26: Parking &Tech
•Saturday August 27: Qualifying
•Sunday August 28: Eliminations
•Jr. Dragsters will compete at this event.
SEASON FINALS: OCTOBER 7-9
•Auto Club Famoso Raceway - Bakersfield, CA.
•Friday October 7: Parking &Tech
•Saturday October 8: Qualifying
•Sunday October 9: Eliminations
•Jr. Dragsters will compete at this event.
So we have a couple months to get ready, and for once we are way ahead of schedule. I can thank Dan (Central Coast Autohaus) and Dave "the wrench" Lee for that. It's a pleasure to have these guys going into another season with me. It's been too many years since I had a steady and reliable crew, and it's nearly impossible to win races without that support. It really takes a couple years of working together to get everything to gel, and we are there. So, no excuses this year. We are gonna put a whippin' on the field.
SLO Racer. Out.
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