Mopars at the Motorplex 2008

This was a non-points race that a few friends asked us to attend. It was a once day event Saturday May 10th, that had all classes of drag racing at Texas Motorplex in Ennis, Texas (the Dallas area NHRA track. Those into drag racing will recall this is the track that John Force had his bad wreck at last year, screwing up his leg (ground down to the bone) and a few fingers. The track is notorious for having a very narrow groove -- that will wreck the faster cars getting out of the groove. Below for reference -- is a video of Force's wreck at Ennis last year.

The day actually started Thursday with my scramble to get Dallas' car ready. An hour before I'd finished it -- I got word (via Dez) that he wasn't going to go. So "Plan B" was to load up the single car trailer with my car, parts, and tools from the stacker trailer-- and pull it with my pickup truck to Dallas on Friday night. Early Friday it was now "Plan C" -- which had Dallas deciding to go after all -- but my having to load up  everything myself and us leaving at 4AM. That's a pretty rough job anymore for me because of my age and conditioning.

So very early Saturday morning, I'm driving to Ennis, TX and Dallas is taking a nap -- as it was going to be him driving back. We arrive at about 9:30 and unloaded.

My son Justin, his mother Cindy, stepfather Bill, and Bill's brother meet us at the track. Justin is not at all interested in drag racing -- and this is actually his first time to the track to ever see Dallas and I race. Our visit was enjoyable -- but short. It was pretty damn hot (especially if you're wearing a fire suit all day -- which I do because it takes me too long to get in and out when they call my class to the lanes) and I think only Bill was really interested in the racing action -- so they left before Eliminations. We all did have a nice, albeit short, visit just the same.

My first qualifying pass was a pretty good one, doing a 9.52 @ 145MPH on a 9.50 second Index. For those that don't understand that (many have told me this is all Greek to them) -- here's how my class of drag racing works:

At a race, you have Time Trials, Qualifying, and Eliminations.

• A Time Trial is the first one or sometimes two passes of the event, which don't count for anything other than you dialing in your car for the weather and track conditions, and to decide on the Index you will declare for Qualifying and Eliminations.

• Qualifying arranges who will race who. All of the cars must first declare the Index that they'll run on their windows. On my car's windows (in big letters/numbers) you will see the number 7601, which is my car number; and B/FX, which is my declared Index. Indexes go from 9.0 seconds to 13.0 seconds in 1/2 second increments -- except the fastest classes. IE:

  • AA/FX = 9.0 (this is a brand new class for this year as we are getting faster and faster)

  • A/FX = 9.25 (I've not personally seen anyone run this yet)

  • B/FX = 9.5 (this is the Index I current run in -- as I get a handle on the faster speeds)

  • C/FX = 9.75 (I ran this Index in 2006 & 2007)

  • A/NSS = 10.0 (I ran this Index in 2005)

  • B/NSS = 10.5

  • C/NSS = 11.0 (I ran this Index with the black car in 2004)

  • D/NSS =11.5

  • E/NSS = 12.0

  • F/NSS = 12.5

  • G/NSS =13.0

  In qualifying, you have to get as close to the Index's time you declare -- without going quicker. The best qualifier runs the worst qualifier in Eliminations, the 2nd best runs the 2nd worst....

• Eliminations -- is the actual race. If you win against who you go against -- you go on to the next round. If you lose -- you are Eliminated and put the car on the trailer. In Eliminations, your total time down the track is called a Package -- and a second is sliced into (and won and lost by) thousandths of seconds. Component One of the package is the reaction time or RT. A good drag racer in NSS will react (the time from the light on the tree turns green to the car moving to break the light beams at the front wheels) in less than .030 seconds. That's 30/1000 of a second. Now if he reacts too quick -- by even 1/1000 of a second -- he loses the race is over, if he's too slow (usually over .060 second) he may lose. The second half of the package is the ET (Elapsed Time) - which is the actual time taken from the tires breaking the beam at the starting line -- to breaking the beams at the finish line. You have to get as close to your Index time as possible -- BUT without getting there too quick. Getting there quicker than your Index by even 1/1000 a second -- you do what is called Breaking Out -- and you lose. The sum of a non-red light RT and a non-breakout ET is your package. The driver with the best package for his declared index wins the round -- and goes to the next round, to race other winners of their rounds -- until there is an ultimate winner. Some Sunday night at about 7PM Central -- turn on ESPN2 and you will see NHRA races and see how much of this works. It really is pretty interesting and exciting shaving seconds into thousandths of seconds. In NSS, because there are so many Indexes, and so few cars per index (I was the fastest car and the only car running in any of the FX classes this last weekend) they have to race other Indexes. If a 9.5 second car is matched up against a 11.0 second car (most NSS cars are 11-second C/NSS) -- then the 11-second car's side of the "tree" (the stack of lights telling the racer when to go) count down first and he leaves 1.5 seconds before the 9.50 car. This has the faster car have to chase the slower car down -- and they should both hit the finish line at about the same time. Slower cars have the advantage of consistency. It is just plain easier for a slower car to hit the same time every time. The faster cars are much harder to control (wheel stands, tire spin, stretching the limit of a car and tires way past it's designed intention, etc) and much harder to win. Those driving the faster cars do it more for the excitement and risk than the advantage. Fast cars do have one advantage -- since the slower cars leaves first -- the slow car has the first chance to red light. If the faster car has a reputation of cutting good lights (the RT part of the package) -- it is possible for the slower car to push it too far and maybe red light before the faster car's tree of lights starts to count down. I've won a few races (from the other guy red-lighting) before my race even started. Red lights are very common because a great light (RT) is often the difference between winning and losing.

Back to the story, my 9.52 on a 9.50 Index in the first Qualifying Round (there are two Qualifying rounds and you use your best) had me 20/1000 of a second from perfect -- and it held up through the second round of Qualifying -- to make me the Top Qualifier.

 

My 1st Qualifying Pass

 

Dallas' car broke in the first Qualifier. He has a new and more powerful motor -- and it was too much for the transmission's Torque Converter -- and blew it. Another one is currently being specially built for his motor -- and will be here late next week.

 

Because there were an odd number of NSS cars -- I as the Top Qualifier got a Bye in the first round. A Bye means that you have a pass all by yourself (no car in the other lane) and an automatic win if you make that pass. You get Byes from qualifying well, luck of the draw in later rounds, or the racer you were to face can't get his car to the line.

 

In the second round I was against a car that couldn't hit his time. Clay had red lit against him -- and that's the only reason I was even facing him. Since he was 2/10 off (too slow) where he needed to be -- the strategy was to not worry about a great light (and take the chance of red lighting) and to run him down (he gets to leave 1 second before I leave as he's a B/NSS car) and slow down to just put a fender on him -- so I won't break out for being too quick (how I lost in my final round at Bowling Green the week before). I cut a .090 tree -- which was about what I was wishing for, and caught him at the 1200' mark (a 1/4 mile is 1320') -- but I screwed up and slowed a little to much and he crossed the line an inch or two in front of me, instead on me him. I won some money for being the Top Qualifier and I am suppose to get a check sent to me for being in the Quarter Finals -- but my day was over.

 

But my night was not over! It would not be a race without an incident for the trip home.

 

We left the track at 7PM and stopped for $750 worth of diesel (thank you oil companies for the gouging and Democrats for not allowing new drilling and refineries!). About 100 miles into the trip we pulled over to check the cars in the trailer -- as the trailer is giving us fits and is going to need to be modified. Again, Dallas' car had broke loose from the e-track and moved all of the way over against the Driver's side wall -- with the left slick completely off the lift -- causing damage to the left rear fender. The same had happened to the right side of the car on the last trip! So we spent a couple of hours climbing up there with a jack to get the slick jacked up and out of the crack between the lift and the wall -- and move the car back center. Words cant explain our excitement in doing that after a hard day of racing -- or how agile a 300# man with Vertigo (from bad inner ear infections years ago) is climbing around up there!

 

We are back on the road, stressed, tired, and angry -- when Dallas runs over a piece of Styrofoam about 3"X3"X20" in his lane -- because by the time he saw it he couldn't change lanes. That piece of Styrofoam broke the height control valve to the left side trailer's air bags -- and the trailer dropped down onto the tire -- gouging it and acting as if there had been a blow out. We get off the highway and into a church parking lot  to look it over. An hour later it was obvious that we couldn't fix -- and obvious that in 6 hours that church parking lot wasn't going to be happy with an 84' rig in its lot -- so I drove the rig slowly (35-40mph) a couple of exits up to a Walmart/Sams lot. We were going to drop the trailer and go home to get our trucks and both trailers to get the cars to safety while we figured out how to get a trailer fixed -- but we were shown the "No Trailer Drop" sign by the security guard in a golf cart and told that the trailer would be carted off when we left -- and I knew the destruction of doing so wasn't of any their concern.

 

I got a couple of numbers of those who come out and fix stranded tractor trailers from another tractor-trailer driver -- but both numbers got me to "out of service" recordings. It is now well after midnight, I'm beat -- and I figure the chance of anyone coming out early Sunday morning and being able to fix was slim to none. So I drove the last 100 miles on the freeway at 40 MPH, getting more than a few 1-finger salutes -- while stopping to check the tires often. I did make it home -- and now trying to figure out how to get the trailer fixed. I've called the dealer, and even though this isn't their fault, they appear to be trying to get me the parts required to fix. I guess I need to plan on these little bad luck trips home -- because I've certainly been getting a rash of them lately.

 

That's my story -- and I'm sticking to it.

 

Any NSS Racers Going to New Jersey?

Click here to answer

I asked about 20 of the NSS drivers at Bowling Green if they were going to New Jersey -- and was shocked when only one of them told me yes. It seems like the ranking of reasons were:

1. Too Far

2. Track Sux

3. You have to Pit behind your trailer

4. Theft is a major problem -- and you have to lock down your pit when you leave for the lanes

5. Near impossible to maneuver a big rig close to the track and in the pits.

Additionally, none of the Texas Outsiders that I have asked (six or seven) have indicated that they will be there either. Most all of them intend to race in St. Louis the week before instead.

I have never in my life been to that track so all I know is what I'm told -- and none of it was good. I know out of political correctness most NSS racers will say these things to each other privately -- but seldom will publicly -- so I won't get into who said what, except to say not one person said anything good. I missed 3 or 4 racers -- so it will be like they're on the firing squad with the blank -- and make impossible guessing.

That said, it would be appreciated if you would click the above link and indicate if you will be there or not -- you don't have to go into if there reason for not is a family wedding or the track sux. It will help others (like me) decide if they will go or not. I know there is a suppose to be a fairly large group of NSS cars in the North East. Do they make up the big part of the NSS cars that do show?

All of the other events appear to have good things said about them, and I look forward to going to all of them -- but right now I guess I'm leaning on not hitting this one unless I see a few regulars indicate that they'll be there. I sure wish that the closest NMCA race wasn't in Memphis -- 700 mile north of me. There sure are a lot of NSS racers down this way to have to travel so far for very race. Someday I hope HRP, Ennis, or SAR can get a race out of the NMCA.

NMCA Race - Bowling Green, KY

May 1-3, 2008

Report by: Dave 'Old Hippie' Schultz

Old Hippie in Big Red Ram

Dallas in el Demonio Rojo

This report is for a number of sites -- so you'll have to pardon the genericness it may have for this particular site. NMCA is aka Pro to some, and Fastest Street Car to others. They have a points race series of 8 races, that you count your points from seven of the races -- and throw one out (or don't show). This race in Bowling Green is the second in the series. (click any image to see a larger version)

I'll fast forward ahead to tell you that for the third NMCA race in a row -- the person I ultimately loss to wins the event. This race, the lucky dog to draw me in the second round was Skip Koester. As you can see from our race, I screwed up and put more than a fender on ole Skip, making me 0.075 seconds too fast.

(I got the Dreaded Yellow Slip -- I'm car 7601)

I'm sure his next three rounds made it tougher on him than I had, as I know he wouldn't want every race to be as easy as this one was. Congratulations Skip. It was a tough weekend to get a handle on what your car would do with the weird weather, the late qualifying vs. early eliminations, and track conditions. You had to be on top of your game to have won that event.

So backing up and giving my perspective of the race, Dallas and I left Thursday at about 9am for the 800 mile trip. We found a rest area in KY at about midnight, and got a little sleep. The track's gates were to open at noon, so we thought we'd get there at 9:30AM and be first in line. About 100 other racers had the same idea and were quicker on the trigger -- so we were about 2 miles (seriously!) back in line. 90 minutes after they opened the gates we were shown to our pits during a torrential rain storm. No racing for Friday, but there was enough of a break to get the cars teched in.

(My only Time Trial had me going too fast)

Saturday had us sweeping water out of out pits and toward the drainage ditch for the first couple of hours, and then unloading the cars for "the wait". We got a TNT at about 11:30 AM -- and my car was too fast (above) for the class I'd penciled in on the tech card (B/FX). Then we waited and waited again for qualifying. We finally got the call at 5:30PM. When it was my turn -- I spun the tires horribly, and got out of the groove when my third gear shift broke the tires loose. I had virtually no control, was all over my lane, and just couldn't get the car back in the groove. I normally would have gotten out of it and given up -- but it looked like this was going to be our only Qualifying pass -- and I tried like hell to get the car down the track close to my class -- while keeping it off the wall. I did a pitiful 10.317 at 132MPH on my 9.50 class. My 60' sucked and I couldn't tell if the track was greasy or if my slicks were gone -- which I was banking on. (Replacing the slicks as this is being typed!)

They did give us another Qualifying pass at about 9PM. The car went straight -- and I felt I was going to break out -- so I scrubbed some speed off. However, my 60' was again horrible (more than 1/10 off) -- so I scrubbed off way too much time trying not to break out. I did a 9.856@ 126mph -- which got me 15th out of 23.

(My first Round against Camp had him -.011)

Sunday, the call for the first round came early. They called NMC at 8:55 and Dallas was running out of the coach while still dressing. Ours came at about 9:15AM. I was matched up with a C/FX Chevy, run by a pretty nice guy by the name of Camp. As I was passing the tree I saw his red bulb on -- so I decided I'd go for broke. I spun my wheels after every shift and was pretty loose -- but I'd won before my light had counted down, and a win is a win.

So that brings me to the next round with Skip. I had qualified better than him, but let him have lane choice. I would have picked the left anyway -- as all but one pass to date had been in it. I figured he must have broken out twice to qualify worse than me (as I was pretty bad), and I knew that he and Nederland had a double breakout in their first round. We sat in the staging lanes for near an hour -- I later found out so they could prep the track for us. I might have been able to use that little bit of information! So Skip and I finally line up and he leaves a second before me (he is in the 10.50 B/NSS while I'm in the 9.50 B/FX class) with a .060 light. My light counts down and I leave with a .059 light -- can't get a closer start than that. I figured that the track and my tires are so gone, plus driving the car for all she was worth last time only gave me a 9.58 -- I figure I'll just put a fender on him and there's no way I can break out. Well Skip (later told me that he) couldn't see me and was figuring he was breaking out -- so he got on the binders (explaining his 10.61) just as I was blowing by him. I got on my binders a little (I was going too fast to hit them hard -- and thought there was no way I could break out) -- but not 0.075 enough -- and I broke out.

Click here for all of the photos I took

Doug Duell and 00 Joe

Jeff catching a nap

I think there were more Fairlanes than Mopars

It wouldn't be a complete trip -- if something didn't happen on the way back. We pull out of the track at about 3:30PM Sunday and get to Damon Kuhn's favorite beanery (The Flying J in West Memphis, AR) at about 9:30PM. Damon is always telling me "Dave, it doesn't get better than Steak and Eggs at the Flying J" -- so we pull in for $500 top off of diesel and a couple of plates of Steak and Eggs. When we leave, Dallas is driving so I can catch a couple of hours sleep. We figured he'd drive to Texarkana, I'd drive to Lufkin, he'd finish the last 125 miles -- and be home Monday morning at 7AM. Well at about 11:30PM I wake up to Dallas pulling over between West Memphis and Little Rock. I asked what the deal is and he says the trailer lights aren't on and he's going to check. He comes back to say the plug had been dragging for a while and was busted to shit. I go an look -- and sure enough there wasn't enough left for burial rights. So I figure I need to drive (not sure how the law feels about a minor driving a 84' rig in or out of state -- and didn't want to find out) and look for a truck stop with a 24 hour mechanic. We get to just north of the 440 loop around Little Rock and there are a Freightliner dealer and a Petro truck stop both advertising 24 hour mechanics. First the Freightliner -- where I'm told that the parts guy went home and to try the Petro. At the Petro -- I'm told I'm next. At 1:30AM I'm told to pull the rig into the bay. 2 minutes later (which I guess I could have been told two hours earlier) I am told they don't have the parts -- and I'd have to wait for the morning mechanic. So we backed in to the only space left in their picked over lot (you have to grab a spot by 9PM or you're hosed) and get a couple of hours sleep. 6AM I'm talking to the morning mechanic who is working on a Kenworth -- and told I'm next. 8:30AM he's finally ready for me. I pull in and he makes it real apparent that he really wants nothing to do with this. Anyway, he says he's got to go get wire and a RV end from the parts store, and heads out.

He's back in 30 minutes, and after helping someone start their truck is on the job again -- well sort of. He has 2' of six-strand wire instead of the seven-strand he needed. (If he'd only listened to me when I suggested him taking a chunk with him instead of looking at me like I'm some kind of idiot) So anyway he decides he has enough of my old wire to splice me back into business with the RV end -- that he did get right. Keep in mind that there are 7 wires -- only requiring 7 butt connectors. About 15 butt connectors later from a combination of not having clean twisted ends and using dykes as crimpers and not one wire is securely attached. Dallas goes into the truck stop to buy a crimping tool for him to use -- and an hour later I have this huge rat's nest with bare wire peeking out of both sides of the butt connectors. During the smoke test -- I have no reverse lights and no trailer brakes. So I say to this guy -- where can I find someone that knows what they're doing close enough for me to drive to before the coach and trailer catches fire? He tells me Liberty trailer down the road. Great -- I should have been there at 8Am. So I pay him for the parts -- and give him a $20 tip for his time and head to Liberty. Sure they can do that -- but I'll have to wait because their break is just starting. After the break, plus some -- they have me back into a bay (where I tapped a overhead florescent light and had it explode over a not so happy mechanic. They assigned an old man on it. He did a good job, but kept forgetting where he was putting stuff so it took twice as long as it should have (2 hours). This was made worse by the fact noon happened 5 minutes before the job was finished -- so I had to wait for him to come back from lunch for the 5 minutes to finish. Man I miss the days I was a Union man myself! So 14 hours late and $200 lighter -- we were on our way home, arriving at 10PM Monday night.

But wait -- its not over yet. This morning I open the trailer to get my car out and I see Dallas' car up against the wall with the right slick off the lift -- wedged between the lift and wall. We pull over and check the cars every 100 miles, just so this won't happen. So I call him at work (20 miles away) and tell him -- and he says for me to not touch it. Gotta love the respect for your abilities your kids have! 10 minutes later as I'm rolling my car off -- his dually crew cab screeches to a stop. I figure he had to do a 100 to be here that quick. He changes out of his suit and I find my yard man to help him get a floor jack under the rear end and move the car back onto the ramp. The below photo had them almost finished before I found the camera.

It turns out one of the e-tracks broke. We'll have to do something about a better arrangement. I didn't trust it from the beginning -- but the dealer says they'd sold billons without any trouble. Yeah Right! A little paint and the car will be alright. Click any photo to see a larger version.

Well that's my report.

10 NSS Cars Featured in Mopar Enthusiast Magazine

Dave 'the Old Hippie' Schultz

April 28, 2008

Last year I'd asked Greg Rager, the publisher of Mopar Enthusiast, to cover the NSS racing at the NMCA race in Memphis. He sent Tom Shaw -- who I brought around and introduced to the Mopar NSS drivers, (They only wanted to cover the Mopar angle of NSS racing), and we scheduled a shoot of 8 of us.

Well there is a 4-page spread in the June/July issue of the magazine, featuring ten of our cars. Click the Mopar Enthusiast link to find where to get your copy locally -- if you don't already subscribe. Pretty good feature.

 

Bowling Green Race Report

CHRYSLER CLASSIC
Beech Bend Raceway
March 28-29 2008

Doug Duell

This Weekend, it was off to Bowling Green, KY to race at the 1st Chrysler Classic event of the year. The morning started out with an Earthquake in Southern Indiana right before I left. It lasted 20 seconds or so and at a 5.2, it really shook my house; exciting way to start the morning! After a quick home inspection, I left at 5 a.m. from Evansville, lucky me... Bowling Green is only 80 miles from my house so I arrived early and got a great pit spot. The weather was great and the Drag'n Wag'n went 9.75 at 137mph. The Barracuda went 10.23 at 130mph. Friday night, I entered the Wag'n in the No Box Bracket Race. By the third round, I was down to only 7 cars... then the rains came, so we split the money. Saturday came and so did more rain. I got 3 runs in the Cuda, but only one in the Wag'n, and because of more rain, the class Run Offs were cancelled. Sunday, the weather was perfect. We got two time runs in Max Wedge & two in the Cuda. I got my Butt handed to me in the 1st round driving the Cuda, I spun the tires bad and ran a 10th off my Dial-In. I ran against defending Points Champion Fred Rader in the Wag'n. Fred got me on the tree, I ran 9.8 on my 9.75 index, not a good way to start the season. But good news... "00" Joe Ewing met Mr. Rader in the finals and took the win. Joe won this event last year and came back to win it again, Congrats to Joe! Even though I lost in the first Rounds, I have to tell you, I had a great time with my Racing Buddies! The Chrysler Classic Crew did a great job, despite the weather. I'll be back to Beech Bend in two weeks for NMCA... I'll do better.

 

Hey Diamondback Engines

Thanks for the new NSS-800 carburetors, do you sell racing pants?

John Grinwald, Asphalt Elephant

John's first event after putting on a new pair of

Diamondback Engines NSS800 Carburetors had surprising results.

Spring Special From

Diamondback Engines

Diamondback Engines will build a pair of new Edelbrock AFB type 800CFM carburetors custom to your automatic or 4-speed  Nostalgia Super Stock car for $999 a pair and $35 shipping. Turn around time is about 10 days.

Mopars At The Strip

Nostalgia Super Stock Eliminator

(at The Strip, Las Vegas, Nevada)

March 29-31, 2008

 Saturday’s Results

Time Trial

Doug Duell (Newburgh, IN), 1964 Plymouth, -.012, 10.027@134.24; Wally Krueger (Appleton, WI), 1964 Plymouth Belvedere, -.087, 10.463@129.35; Joe Wilkiewicz (Waukesha, WI), 1963 Plymouth Belvedere, .097, 11.543@114.56; Rich Berlisk (Hartland, WI), 1963 Plymouth Belvedere, -.003, 10.457@129.60; Glenn Willett (Evanston, WY), 1964 Plymouth Savoy, .039, 10.414@127.97; Tom Boehm (Council Bluffs, IA), 1965 Dodge Coronet, 9.574@142.55; Joe Ewing (Evansville, IN), 1963 Dodge Polara, .115, 10.927@121.51; Mark Chancey (Vacaville, CA), 1963 Plymouth Fury, 054, 11.654@115.90; John Grinwald (Watertown, WI), 1962 Dodge Dart, .017, 10.203@108.41; Don Shurtz (Albuquerque, NM), 1963 Plymouth), -.106, 10.851@124.37; Bo Adams (Chandler, AZ), 1964 Plymouth Belvedere, .086, 10.853@125.24; R.J. Munoa (Temcula, CA), 1962 Dodge Dart, .027, 11.184@120.47

Qualifier

1. Krueger (B, 10.50), -.032, 10.505@129.57, +.005; 2. Willett (B, 10.50), .127, 10.506@127.64, +.006; 3. Duell (A, 10.00), .053, 10.034@135.02, +.034; 4. Wilkiewicz (D, 11.50), .054, 11.589@114.65, +.089; 5. Chancey (D, 11.50), .082, 11.626@116.33, +.126; 6. Boehm (B/FX, 9.50), .008, 9.631@142.61, +.163; 7. Berlisk (B, 10.50), .100, 10.693@126.64, +.169; 8. Munoa (C, 11.00), -.007, 11.347@119.08, +.347; 9. Adams (C, 11.00), .091, 11.441@120.54, +.441; 10. John Irving (Boulder City, NV, 1969 Plymouth Valiant, G, 13.00), .104, 12.994@104.05, -.006; 11. Grinwald (A/FX, 9.25), .023, 9.182@147.25, -.068; 12. Ewing (C, 11.00), .047, 10.906@122.00, -.094; 13. Shurtz (C, 11.00), -.059, 10.831@124.33, -.169

Sunday’s Results

Round One

Irving, .029, 12.991@104.69 def. Wilkiewicz, -.008, 11.468@115.64; Berlisk, .031, 10.423@129.70 def. Shurtz, .020, 10.901@116.35; Chancey, .097, 11.535@118.24 def. Grinwald, -.016, 8.960@151.08; Boehm, .115, 9.642@143.80 def. Ewing, .029, 10.981@119.85; Duell, .043, 9.973@137.18 def. Adams, .059, 10.845@118.68; Willett, .085, 10.451@129.65 single; Krueger, .107, 10.471@130.97 bye

Round Two

Chancey, 004, 11.585@116.15 def. Krueger, -.002, 10.479@126.73; Duell, .069, 10.079@129.43 def. Berlisk, .047, 10.614@128.16; Boehm, .103, 9.654@142.16 def. Irving, .072, 12.945@101.32; Willett, .293, 10.510@127.96 bye

Semifinals

Willett, .194, 10.558@128.77 def. Boehm, .066, 9.692@142.96; Duell, .131, 10.023@135.20 def. Chancey, -.181, 16.416@65.42

Final

Duell, .098, 10.036@134.18 def. Willett, -.068, 10.494@127.25

Duell wins first at Vegas

By Bob Wilkiewicz

LAS VEGAS, Nevada – Finally persuaded by friend and event promoter Phil Painter to attend for the first time, Doug Duell of Newburgh, Indiana rolled his ‘Drag’n Wag’n 1964 Plymouth to the Nostalgia Super Stock Eliminator championship of the Mopars At The Strip extravaganza on March 31.

Duell, the No. 3 qualifier and who also has one of the best round winning percentages in NSS, used a combination of tuning and driving skills to claim the victory over a 13-car field. He secured the $1,500 first place prize after Glenn Willett of Evanston, Wyoming red lighted (-.068) in the final.

“Phil has been talking to me about coming out for a while,” said Duell, who led a group of seven competitors from the Midwest making the long haul for an early-season test. “This is a great event and winning just tops it off.”

In the cool (65F) and toward the finish line very windy conditions (20-40MPH), Duell ran on both sides of his NSS/A 10.00 index. He went down to 9.973 in a first round win over the 1964 Plymouth Belvedere of Bo Adams from Chandler Arizona and up to 10.079 while getting past Rich Berlisk of Hartland, Wisconsin in the ‘Asphalt Angel’ 1963 Plymouth Belvedere during the second round.

Willett, driving a 1964 Plymouth Savoy named the ‘Hustlin’ Hillbilly’, used his No. 2 qualifying position to advantage during eliminations.

With a first round no-show single and a qualifying ladder bye in the second round, he was able to tune for a semifinal win over Tom Boehm of Council Bluffs, Iowa in the ‘Blue Byou’ 1965 Dodge Coronet A-990 clone, 10.558 to 9.692.

In the other semifinal, Duell prevailed with a 10.023 after Mark Chancey of Vacaville, California red lighted (-.181) in his 1963 Plymouth Fury.

No. 1 qualifier Wally Krueger of Appleton, Wisconsin earned the top spot in his 1964 Plymouth Belvedere with a 10.505@129.57 pass on Saturday, just .005 over the NSS/B 10.50 index.

However, Krueger was disappointed by an even smaller number in Sunday eliminations. After advancing with a first round bye, Krueger went .002 red to lose in the second round.

Meanwhile, John Grinwald of Watertown, Wisconsin was busy becoming a favorite with both fans and photographers in the ‘Asphalt Elephant’ 1962 Dodge Dart.

On Friday, he ran a relatively routine 9.13 in the first time trial but then missed the second time trial and a make-up session due to a burned up starter. Now late in the afternoon, Grinwald was ready to run again and went to staging but was told to return to the pits.

However, after three appeals, he was allowed to get his second run and proceeded to do a spectacular wheelstand, carrying the front wheels over six feet in the air for at least 300 feet downtrack.

Then during Saturday’s first time trial, Grinwald did an even more spectacular ‘stand, putting the Elephant on its rear bumper from the starting line to past the 330 foot mark.

“When I grabbed second gear, it started to go up even more,” said Grinwald, who recorded a 10.20 on the pass. “At that point, I became a little concerned and felt I had to get out of it.” He posted a wheels-down 9.18 in the second session after removing a battery from the trunk.

In the first round of Sunday eliminations, Grinwald recorded both low elapsed time and top speed of the event for NSS, 8.960@151.05 on a .016 red light run.

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While Rich ‘Cherry Bomb’ Berlisk was having just an average weekend on the race track, qualifying in the middle of the field and going out in the second round of eliminations, he had a great weekend at another sport played in Las Vegas.

On Friday night, he hit a slot machine for a four-figure payout and repeated the score on Saturday night.

“I had a cold and knew I wouldn’t be able to sleep right away so I decided to stay up and play a little,” he said. “It worked out pretty well.”

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Perhaps that good fortune was Berlisk’s reward for his effort in getting a second Friday run for Grinwald, his long-time friend and partner in the car show and racing business.

After two previous official refusals, Berlisk went up to the tower, talked to race director Chris Blair and came back with an OK.

What did Berlisk say?

“I just reminded him that our class was to get two runs today, that John had fixed his problem, and wasn’t getting anything extra,” said Berlisk with a wry grin, “and also that we had driven 1800 miles to attend this event and it would be a shame not to get a chance.”

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Car count by state gave first place to Wisconsin with four while Indiana and California had two each. There was one car each from Iowa, Wyoming, New Mexico, Arizona and Nevada.

Bradenton Racing Report

Dave Schultz

April 1, 2008

Thursday morning at 5AM, my son Dallas and I in the toter/stacker, and Damon (aka "Sugar Butt" to his wife) Kuhn with Slim in his truck/trailer pulled through the gate at our shop and headed to the first NMCA points race in Bradenton, FL.

At 7AM just outside of Beaumont, TX -- Sugar Butt had his first of two blowouts on a trailer tire. His spare was the wrong size and mine a 6-lug -- so we dropped trailer and Dallas and I kept the vultures (and they were circling as this was "on the other side of the tracks") off of it while Damon and Slim located a new tire and ad it mounted.

Back on the road again, we finally stopped about 100 miles east of Pensacola to feed Slim at the World Famous Flying J Buffet line at about 9PM -- his and Damon's favorite beanery. After Slim grazed on the buffet sausage for an hour (and they closed it down at 10PM) -- we were again on the road. At about 1AM we pulled into a motel parking lot south of Tallahassee as Slim was starting to have stomach issues. Damon and Slim got a room and Dallas and I roughed it in the toter. Damon got a good night's sleep while Slim spent his sitting on the commode.

At about 9AM we left for the track -- but didn't get far before Slim got hungry again, so we spent an hour at the Iron Skillet. Back on the road again, we finally arrived at the track at 2PM -- to find that all of the hard pits were gone -- so we were directed to the sand lot, where the toter and stacker promptly got stuck. Two hours later, we're unstuck and unload. We then go to the credentials shack to get the credentials, sign Dallas up as a NMCA member, and get some permanent numbers for his car. It was 5:30 before the cars were teched in and the last of the Time Trials was at 6PM. There were to be no Time Trials on Saturday as Qualifying was to start at 9AM.

Both Dallas and I have new engines and have no idea what they're going to do, so Dallas decides he'll stay with the B/NMC he'd been running for this race, and slow the car down a little. Dallas and I get our cars to the line and Dallas proceeds to run a 11.02 -- so his problem is solved.

I was going to try to run B/FX for this race (9.50 seconds) -- but with all of the starting and stopping going on in line -- my alternator-less car gave it up the last time it needed to start. Damon had to go get the truck and snatch strap and tow me back to the sand dunes. Without any TT (and no vinyl letters anyway) -- I decided to slow the car down and run my usual C/FX.

Saturday comes and Dallas qualifies #2 in NMC -- although it took until Sunday to convince the track that B/NMC is 11.0 and not NSS' 10.50. That caused a lot of excitement Sunday morning when they had to redo the tree, affecting virtually everyone in NMC. Below is the NSS qualifying order.

7034 CFX '63 Belvedere Chry 426 Larry Martin Bradenton FL 9.754 0.004
7043 A/NSS '66 Fairlane Ford 427 William/Bud Cochran Parkersburg WV 10.012 0.012
1 B/NSS '67 Buick GS Buic 400 Jim Netherland Columbia TN 10.521 0.021
7047 B/NSS '66 Fairlane Ford 427 Geary A. Bates Wintersville OH 10.539 0.039
7601 CFX '65 Coronet Mopr 580 Dave Schultz Richmond TX 9.805 0.055
7025 E/NSS '66 Fairlane Ford 390 Douglas Poskevich Deland FL 12.077 0.077
7010 C/NSS '64 Biscayne Chev 409 Gordon Marks Tampa FL 11.078 0.078
7669 C/NSS '64 Thunderbolt Ford 427 Paul Byers Pflugerville TX 11.084 0.084
7561 A/NSS '61 Belvedere Dodg 494 Damon Kuhn Needville TX 10.338 0.338
7600 B/NSS '68 AMX AMC 401 TD Holland Huntington TN 10.994 0.494
7218 D/NSS '67 LeMans Pont 400 Ike Heckler Jr Malaban FL 11.578 1.578
2 B/NSS '64 T-Bolt Ford 530 D.W. Hopkins Tupelo MS 9.449 9.449
7421 C/NSS '66 GTO Pont 421 Mike Davis Monroe GA 31.327 21.327
7599 C/NSS '65 Coronet Dodg 426 Dick Jean Boca Raton FL 10.846 -0.154
 

I should also note that on Saturday we met a 65-year-old new NSS racer who pitted with us by the name of Dick Jean -- who we've affectionately named "Jake II". This guy was a Super Stock racer from 1960 to 1968 -- and has some great stories. He hadn't raced since 1968 and just finished a 65 Coronet with a Hemi. It would take a chapter to get into the humor on this -- so remind Damon or I to tell it to you over a couple of beers sometime. This guy is hard-core and very different. Nice guy -- but very different.

Sunday had Dallas and Damon having good runs in their first rounds -- but their competitors having great runs, so they were put on the trailers. I got a Bye when a GTO broke and couldn't make the call. In the quarters, I was the only Mopar left. DW in the Thunderbolt had Nederland in the Buick; I drew Poskevich in a Ford, and a 64 Chevy had a Bye. Nederland took out DW Hopkins, and I took myself out (Stupid light came on a little early) against the Ford (who had a near perfect light/run anyway). In the Semis, the Ford had the Bye and the Buick took out the Chevy. In the finals -- the Buick broke out -- but again the Ford was in the zone with a perfect light/run.

So we loaded up, found a back gate so we wouldn't have to turn around in the sand -- and were heading up the road. One hour later and in the middle of the swamps of Florida -- Damon had his second trailer tire blowout. Again, we dropped the trailer and Dallas and I stood guard while Damon and slim located a new one and a grease gun -- as all of the wheel bearings were a little loose. Two hours later there's a new tire on the trailer, the wheel bearings tightened and greased, and we're back on the road. At about midnight Damon felt like they needed to spend the night in Quincy, Florida (still 800 miles from home) -- but Dallas had to be back to work Tuesday and it takes hours to unload the trailer and stacker -- so we drove all night and arrived home at 11AM Monday.

That's my story and I'm sticking to it!

Also, my new rig is about to head into the graphics shop, and I'll be picking it up in two weeks up in Michigan. Most people leave them white --but I wanted to be a little different. Quotes to paint were in the $40,000 range -- which was out of my league, so I compromised with a custom flame job. The below is a rendition of my coach and trailer -- except with the lower doors on the coach actually being stainless like the trailer. I still have the black toter (ONLY 15,000 Miles) and stacker trailer that someone can steal from me. Let your racing buds know before I trade it in. I'll take the tradein price to avoid the time and diesel to deliver it to Michigan. $170,000 for the rig, or $150,000 for just the toter. I paid $about $260,000 for it less than three years ago.

Click the small photos to see larger versions.

If you wish to have your perspective of this weekend's NSS racing at either Vegas or Bradenton, post it and photos in the racing forums http://www.mopowerstyle.com/forums/forumdisplay.php?f=157 and I'll cut and paste it to www.nss-monster.com.

Clay's Alter'd

Clay's 65 Altered is finished by working through some initial new car teething pains. He'd bought to Houston to get the Alky Injection system set up before heading to Vegas. While here, he had numerous new car set backs and despite all of the thrashing -- time ran out to be able to make it to Vegas. Click here to read about the trials and tribulations.

I can tell you that not only is the most beautiful Altered I've ever seen -- but it is fast.

This is the week that kicks off NSS racing. Many are heading to the NSS rave at Mopars on the Strip in Vegas -- while some of us are heading to the first NMCA race in Florida. Bring a digital camera with you and send an paragraph or two update with a photo on your perspective of the event you attended -- and to dave@oldhippie.com and I'll get posted here.

Big Red Ram

Ready for 2008

After a winter of changes to the car (new engine, new chunks and gears, adjust the ladder bars, wheelie bars, rebuild front end......), On March 1st we rented Houston Raceway Park to day to see what we had.

The first pass wasn't a pass -- just a lumbering 11-second run to see if the car went straight or if anything fell off. I didn't hit anything and nothing appeared to fall off -- so I made three passes progressively harder -- but far from all she has. We just wanted to seat the rings, make sure it goes straight, and then get it back to the shop for a little closer inspection.

Below are the time slips from my easy passes.

Click the Above for a readable size

Here is a video of the 3rd pass -- the middle slip on the above ticket. I was having brake problems and my line lock was worthless.

Here is the 4th and last pass -- the last ticket to the right. I spun the tires bad and the car didn't come up. It looks like it came up a little on the 2nd gear shift on the right bar.

Car and driver (this is the first time I've bee out this year -- and I was a little rusty) need some tweaking -- but I think Damon (who is the crew chief this year) did a damn good job setting it up. We tuned nothing at the track. Just breaking it in. I'll be racing in Florida at the end of the month and we'll be dialing in to hit 9.50s for a little while, then 9.25s when we