I’m hoping this fall I can garner some high 1.30 sixty’s and run tens at H/CM weight. If you recall I did manage a 6.99 ET in the eighth mile last fall at Earlville but suffered the headwind in the quarter and ran 11.15. That was at “I” weight. Hope for the best! As for racing this season so far I have had some highlights and some real turds. At the IHRA Div.5 race on Saturday I lost 2nd round to my good friend Jim Kramer and his killer 67
Mustang D/SA. Kinda sucks racing a friend that only lives 20 minutes from me second round but that’s how it goes. Sunday went a little better as I managed to get to the semi finals and lost to the eventual winner. I hate losing in the semis because of the huge difference in payout between the semis and even just runner-up. Nothing like a $1000 round of racing!
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After that I did a little bracket racing at CFR and tried a few minor things such as jetting changes, ignition timing, and launch rpm. The jetting yielded no improvement, timing was the same. The launch rpm however showed me once again just how much Muscrate likes to rpm. If I try anything below 3000 rpm I might as well get out and push! The sixty foots instantly slow up to mid 1.50’s and the wheelies are pathetic. On the opposite end I did manage a launch at 3600 rpm without pushing through the lights one time and it was awesome! I got a 1.416 on an average weather day and pulled big air under the ballonies. I really wish I could use a transmission brake!
After that day we have been slammed with heat and humidity every time I have raced. The big numbers are going to have to wait for fall. The biggest disappointment this season has been not being able to attend the IHRA Div.5 race in Cordova, Ill. The details don’t matter but family comes first, have I ever mentioned how much I hate being an adult sometimes? I digress. A couple more bracket races followed with nothing good coming from them and then I attended the “Night of Fire” at CFR. It’s basically the only race all year that gets promoted by CFR and usually draws a crowd of a few thousand spectators. The triple engine jet semi is the big draw and the bracket cars are the “filler.”
The new ride height of Muscrate due to the new Competition Engineering suspension. Looking good. |
It was absolutely miserable hot and humid but I went anyway. The program actually ran pretty good and other than the normal “cluster” of trying to avoid the seemingly mindless drone spectators that walk right down the middle of the pit roads and don’t seem too happy about moving out of the way all went well. We had a HUGE turnout of “No Box” cars, I would say somewhere between 80 and 100 cars, and I managed to get down to the last 5 cars before being dealt a death blow by my opponent. The night ended about 10:30 and I collected my measly $ 175.00 and headed home for the air conditioning.
The last time out at the brackets I lost 1st round two days in a row. I don’t think I’ve lost 1st round as many times in my career as I have this season. Most of them haven’t been because I did something horribly stupid either. I’ve lost every race by less than 3 hundredths! I’ve lost two races by 1 thousandths! I know how this works and hopefully things will start to go my way before the season is over.
