five7kid

iTrader: (14)

Friday night was "Club Clash" at Bandimere. It has two classes, "Top Street" for 10.50 to 13.99 cars, and "Hot Rod" for 14.00 & up vehicles. I've been running the '57 in Top Street, and my son the Camaro in Hot Rod, but he's out of town this weekend with his horse team, so I took both of them out and ran them both.

It was a bit weird because they launch different and drive really different, but I managed somehow through time trials and the first couple of rounds. By the 3rd round, it was round-robin in each class, so I was making a run in one car, dropping it at the end of the staging lanes, jumping in the other car, running it, ending up at the back of the line and losing lane choice, etc. But, I messed up in the 5th round in the '57 launching it as if I was in the Camaro, bulbed, and ended up with a quarterfinalist trophy. The best round in the '57 was the 3rd, where I was paired up against a former class season champion, put a .006 light on him to his .010, ran him out the other end for a .026 package win.

I kept going in the Camaro, though, and in the quarterfinals in that class got paired up with last year's Division V Sportsman champion, tree'd him and ran him out the other end to move on to the semi's. Won that, as did a fellow club member, so the two of us were in the finals. Since I didn't register for season points in that class, I congratulated him for his win, deliberately bulbed, and he won a second Hot Rod race in a row and moved into first place in season points.

All I can say is, tonight made me respect Dan Fletcher and others like him who run in multiple classes on a regular basis, and win doing it!

mw66nova

iTrader: (13)

i realize that you didn't get into the points race and by allowing the other guy to win you let him get his points, but darned if i'm not gonna make the other guy work for them points! anyhow, good job running double duty! i remember a couple of years ago at an NSCA even that Marc Dantoni was running in both the Outlaw Street AND Pro Street classes (both of which are 6.6x classes in the 1/4) and ended up winning in both classes...actually, i want to say he won the championship in both classes!

Motor City Mike

Nice work running 2 different cars in 2 different classes, and going as many rounds as you did in both (and making the final in one). It looks like things got pretty hectic as you got deeper into eliminations, with the shorter interval of time between classes (not much time to get to the other car and adjust your dial, check tire pressure, etc, and still try to keep a clear mind to do a proper burnout, stage the car, cut a good light, drive the stripe, etc, etc). Not many people have done it, let alone as successfully as you did.

Dan Fletcher is absolutely unreal. For those who don't know him or have seen him race, he runs both stock and super stock in both the NHRA and IHRA circuits. He has won both classes at the same event on several occasions, attends most (if not all) the national events for both series, and has recently won the last few races in stock (both series). Somehow he consistantly manages to cut through a 128 car field (7 rounds of elims) against some very tough competition, and take home the trophy with relative ease...

...but look out Fletcher, here comes the five7kid!

five7kid

iTrader: (14)

I don't think Fletcher needs to worry about me. . .

I really wanted (needed?) to keep going in the '57, since I am registered in that class for season points. But, that's the way it goes. And, yes, it was getting hectic with all those things, except I didn't bother checking air pressure after the 3rd round (experience says it stays pretty steady by that point anyway).

The really nice thing is my oldest daughter, who rarely comes out, drove the Camaro to & from the track for me, and was down at the starting line cheering me on. It seems most of the times when family members that don't usually come out are there, I go out early.

five7kid

iTrader: (14)

Well, I made him run, didn't just not show up. Looked better that way. Can't let the Vette, M*par and F*rd guys know what we're up to, ya know (as if any of them were still hanging around).

AlkyIROC

Dan Fletcher and David Rampy. It's amazing how they can run back and forth with cars in two different classes and still manage to get wins. You just need a good pit crew to get one vehicle ready and into the staging lanes while you're bringing the other one back to the pits.

Rampy runs cars in Stock Eliminator and Comp Eliminator

I'm sure if you look through all the results, there's a few more drivers who run 2 cars. Must be nice to have the money to make all the national events. Must be really nice to do it with 2 cars. Can we say big time sponsorship. Rampy has had a Winnebago sponsorship for many years.

five7kid

iTrader: (14)

When I saw Fletcher at Pomona in '04, he was by himself, running between the two cars. From articles I've seen written by him, it sounds like he does most of it alone, occasionally getting someone to trailer his cars between tracks while he flies home between races. His big-time sponsor is Summit - not a bad outfit to have on your side, I'd say.