The week started with a friend and his wife coming down from Washington on Wednesday to help get the car ready. There were a few details that needed to get done before we would be ready. So Terry worked on the car all day Thursday and on the trailer all day Friday. The big issue for us is that we found that one of the intake manifolds had cracked off at the base and that our 48 volt battery charger, used for the starter batteries, had stopped working. So Thursday we worked on getting the manifold repaired and back on the car. Then on Friday we scrambled and borrowed a charger. By Friday night we had the car in the trailer and ready to roll on Saturday. 
Saturday morning we got to the shop and hooked up and were on the road by 8am. Trip went well and we got to the strip by 11 am. While pulling through the gate, Larry and Will were giving me a hard time and telling me they had the scissors ready for a haircut if we could run the number. We found our spot and got the car out of the trailer and the crew starting prepping the car. We got done pretty fast and the oil was on the heater so the call was made to start it up. We checked the timing as we had backed it off from early runs on the car. Timing was good at 61. Then the switch to Nitro. No problems there. We put it in gear and rolled the tires. That is when she really cackles. I think at that point anybody who didn’t know we were there now knew. Gene did his thing to make sure the idle temps were good and that the rpms didn’t drop to much when it was in gear and the brake was held. So it was looking like we were good to go.
The call came to get in the lanes so we let the car down and towed it up. We got to run pretty fast so didn’t hang in the staging lanes long. Car fired right up and I pulled it forward to do the burn out. During the burn out the car shook pretty bad. As I was reversing I was told by the staff to shut it off. WTF. We can’t restart without blowing it down, so I knew if I shut it off we wouldn’t be running that race. As I shut it down and they were pushing me back I saw a puddle of oil in front of me. Damn it, what the hell? Well I guess the shake loosened up an oil line and it was spraying oil. So back to the pits we go. We looked it over and saw that it was an easy fix. The crew cleaned up the mess and blew it down. We were ready to go again. As we were letting it down Greg (staff) came over to me and gave me the don’t do that again speech. I showed him what had happened and he let me go with a warning. I always feel like I am in time out when I get those speeches.
So back to the line we go again. This time no leaks. Burn out was good and staging the car went ok. Let me tell you, holding this thing back is a chore. Light came down and off we went. Felt good but not record setting. Time was 7.35. Not good, not bad. Back to the pits. Maintenance was done and the car was put to bed for tomorrow.
Sunday Sunday Sunday, that’s right it’s race day. We had one more round of qualifying we could do, so we decided to bump the timing up two degrees. We got up there and no problems. I let the shift light glow a little this time thinking it would help to stay in low gear a little longer. Wrong. Car ran a 7.39. Ok, it is what it is, back to the pits. The crew did a great job turning the car around. Gene and I discussed what to do to hop it up. Greg came around again to tell us we were number one quailifer so we had a bye in the first round. Then the discussion of what to do came up. We could just break the beams and pull back, or we could run it out. We thought this could be a good test run, so Gene and I agreed to add more fuel. It will either drop holes or haul ass. So we added another 20lbs to the already 200lbs of fuel pressure. It’s a free run right? So up we go. We were the first car down the track for elimantions. Car launched hard. Ok here we go. Shift light on, bang high gear. Oh yeah, she is pulling. I knew it was a good run when I hit the chute and it hit hard. I was on the brakes hard. I felt good. Crew came down to pick me up with big smiles. 7.26 at 179. Not our best but damn close. So back to the pits. Now for the final.
The crew of the roadster we would be running against came up to me and asked how much time I needed. I said at least an hour. So we both went to the staff and asked if we could have the time. They said no problem come up when your ready. So after an hour and half we were ready and put the car down. In the pits, Gene and I discussed what to do. I wanted to leave it alone and Gene being Gene wanted more. I won and we left it alone. Ok so here we are. My dial was 7.26. The other lane was a 9.20 something. So I had a 2 sec wait. Lisa had coached me to just run my race and pretend he wasn’t there. We pulled out and were given the sign to start. I was kinda of taken back that my oppenet was still in the lanes. Oh well, it does take us awhile to get this thing started and on nitro. We switched to nitro pretty fast as the motor still had heat in it. I was given the sign to pull forward for the burn out. Through the water I went and my crew gave the sign to hit it. Burn out went well. Ok now the fun part getting this thing backed up. Back up went well and I stopped. My opponent STILL hadn’t even done a burn out yet. Ok now what? As most of you know, I can’t wait long or my temps go up FAST. There was nothing else I could do but wait on him, so I kicked it in neutral and did just that.
After I watched him back up, I stuck it in low gear and took my time inching forward. I could feel I was in the zone. This is my race. I lit the first bulb and waited for him to light his first bulb. It took a while, but his bulb came on. Inch it in and there’s my second bulb. At this point all I saw was my tree. Nothing else. I was in it to win it. Next thing I know a staff is in the way of my tree telling me to shut it off. Really? NO. NO. NO. I shut it off and lost the race. Apparently the oil pump seal went bad and started leaking. F---, f----, f----. Oh well, that’s racing.
All and all we had some major ups and some major downs. My crew gave me a good race car and if it wasn’t for them I would not be able to do what I do. A huge thanks to them as they do all the work at the track.