My dragster was about the same story except that I am the perennial worrier. I think I have seen too many racers at my tracks get deep in the rounds and all of a sudden they are running around hauling generators, battery chargers and jump packs. Not me, I keep them ol’ batteries charging. Well, this time I couldn’t even charge them! I would hook it up and it would just blink “maintenance mode” at me. Finally, Andy talked me into going all day without the charger and I made five runs that day and probably started the engine 30 times
during the day. My voltmeter never dropped below 17 volts all day and the batteries were ready for the next day in less than 30 minutes! I also ran over 170 mph for the first time on a single four barrel. Was it from better voltage to the MSD? Could be.
I was and still am completely satisfied with my switch to the V-Battery 16-volt system. One thing to remember is that neither of our cars run alternators and from now on they never will. Why carry the extra weight? It sure isn’t going to be the battery that lets you down in late rounds. All we have to do is remember to add fuel and get back in line for the next round. If you are running two 12-volt batteries or a 12-volt battery and an alternator the 16-volt might be right up your alley. We saved 36 pounds on Andy’s dragster by eliminating one Optima 12-volt and I saved about 12 pounds on mine but also got to remove a belt from the front crank spindle and 8 feet of 6-gauge wire.
Total cost to convert a car to 16-volt broke down to about $490. This is for the V-Battery and the special V-Battery 16-volt charger. If you are using a good 12-volt battery ($90-110) and a quality race alternator ($175-275) and still have a 12-volt charger ($65-145) there is almost no difference in costs.
I told you I would mention something we noticed on the RPM Performance Products data-recorder that we had never seen before. We were told that the old Moroso Motorsports Park racing surface was a “little bumpy” and to take some care in our first few runs. O.K. and THANKS! A little bumpy? We showed five RPM spikes in the right lane that were 500 RPM each!! The engine would be at 6100, hit a bump and buzz to 6600-6700 and then instantly go back to the 6100 and start climbing like normal. Then it would do it again a couple tenths of a second later, four more times. The left lane was better for Andy’s car but there was a bump much earlier that was 500 RPM. This caused a .02-.03 different dial-in. With the data-recorder we knew exactly why we were varying lane to lane. I am so glad that there will be an all-new race surface for the 2007 event. The Basic system from RPM Performance Products is a great tool for under $600 and it will not only find bumps but also will show you converter slippage, tire spin and how the entire package is working together.
That’s my final report for 2006. I hope we can get some great new products to work with in 2007 for both DRO as well as MoparMax, our new sister magazine.
Have a great Holiday and I hope you get to be with family and friends. Support our troops, they are protecting our freedom and some are paying the maximum price for us!! 
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