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Organized Drag Racing and AutocrossDrag racing and autocross discussions and questions. Techniques, tips, suggestions, and "what will I run?" questions.
Well it's that time of the year again and I got it posted a few days early this time.
Same rules as every other year. Make it something obtainable.
Setting new personal bests? Winning an event? Making it through the season without breaking anything? Making it out to at least one race?
I've sat out the last four race seasons now. With the track a 2.5 hour north of me switching from IHRA to NHRA, there's now a bit of ambition to go race in 2017. If I get an NHRA license, it allows me to run at more tracks. I still need to fix a few things on the car to make it race ready. I'll also need a new chassis cert in the spring and one of the things that needs to be done to pass a cert is to replace the cross bar behind the seat. It doesn't pass a sonic test for wall thickness. It falls short a few thousands of an inch. I can't just cut it out because I have a framework for the drivers seat attached to it but I know how to redesign it to still retain part of the tube and create a new design that will pass the certification. It's just a matter of getting to work to cut out what I don't need and weld in some new tubing. I also need to fabricate some sort of transmission tunnel. I cut out a large chunk of floor to make transmission access easier and never got around to finishing the project.
I guess my 2017 goal is to make the car race ready and get out to at least 1 race to make all the money I have invested in the car fun again.
Re: What are your goals for the 2017 racing season?
Get the the car from the 14's to the 13's and win as many events as possible. Won the last event of the season this past year (also first year racing). So I know I can hopefully do it at least once in 2017.
Re: What are your goals for the 2017 racing season?
Get the car dialed in and start bringing in the kit and hopefully with one kit come home with my 8.9x slip. After that I will be happy to dial it back to 9's and try to go rounds.
Re: What are your goals for the 2017 racing season?
i didn't make any passes at all last season. I am currently building a new motor. I will be running the 8.50 index class once its done. My biggest problem is I lack the ambition to work on the car.
Re: What are your goals for the 2017 racing season?
After making just 10 races in 2 years, 2016's goal was to make a complete 10 race series. Did that with one semi, 3 runner ups, and 1 win finishing 2nd in the standings. Goal for this year is to make 10 races in the series, and to venture out to more serious competition once during the year. Second goal is to break the Texas Motorplex curse. I was taken out in three races there by a grand total across all three of .009.
Re: What are your goals for the 2017 racing season?
My car hasn't been down the strip in over 7 years. My youngest son doesn't even know the car exists! My goal is to get it running and spend Friday nights at the track with my three kids and my 80 year old dad. Some low 11's would be nice too...
Re: What are your goals for the 2017 racing season?
Looking to drop from the lows 6 s to the high 5 s in the 1/8.
Swapped out a set of heavy cast iron 049 for a used set of Brodix RR ovals. They had some nice port-work done to them so I had my victor manifold matched.
Hoping between the weight savings and the better flowing heads it will make it happen.
Time will tell.
Re: What are your goals for the 2017 racing season?
this was one of the last time slips for 2016.
I have heard that as well Alky
The heads are supposed to be good for about 75 horsepower right out of the box. Hopefully a little more with the port work.
That and weight loss should get me there.
Theoretically anyway . lol
Re: What are your goals for the 2017 racing season?
Originally Posted by Wolfster14
this was one of the last time slips for 2016.
I have heard that as well Alky
The heads are supposed to be good for about 75 horsepower right out of the box. Hopefully a little more with the port work.
That and weight loss should get me there.
Theoretically anyway . lol
Looks like you have the existing combo figured out pretty well!
I would think you would drop a fair amount with the heads and port work.
Re: What are your goals for the 2017 racing season?
Originally Posted by izcain
Looks like you have the existing combo figured out pretty well!
I would think you would drop a fair amount with the heads and port work.
I have used the combo before in both a 427 and now a 496 block with the comp cams 306B-r-10 grind and 12-1 compression and been very happy with the results. Especially in a 3200 pound car.
I have never run oval ports before but the research of late shows these Brodix heads to work great with this set-up.
Plus I got a really good deal on them.
Re: What are your goals for the 2017 racing season?
I ran my car for the first time last fall. I think there is another half second just sitting on the table for the taking. Combination of improving 60' time and some simple tweaks to the engine that should light up the wick a bit more. Also installing a real tachometer so I know when to shift. Last year I had to guess shift points because stock tach is way off at high rpm. My data logs showed I was way off too.
Re: What are your goals for the 2017 racing season?
Looking to finally get mine on the track, then build a 350 I have in the garage with an L79 cam and some double hump heads, should be a very fun engine that I can beat on for years to come.
Re: What are your goals for the 2017 racing season?
Well my goals last year didn't happen. A lot of family problems and I lost my mom to stage 4 lung cancer. Sad year. Shattered a piston early season as well. Rough year to race.
I did manage to run the car a few times. A 11.23@123mph as a best.
2017 goals.
To have a 10.99 or under pass and/or trap 125mph.
Race all 12 points races at Milan in sportsman(and/or pro class).
Top 15 in sportsman. (Dependent on how it runs out of the gate I may race pro class instead. The car does have a new 650hp rated hughes Trans brake tranny, ptc 5k stall, 2 step Rev limiter, 6 pt cage and could be competitive and would be legal. If it runs 11.20 or under easily (10-12psi of boost) then I will not slow it down or sand bag sportsman class. I don't agree with people who build 10 second cars and sandbag so badly that they let off and peddle way before the 1000ft each pass in spt).
Have the car hold together and just have a fun season.
Re: What are your goals for the 2017 racing season?
Drag week is in Illinois this year. Couldn't be closer to me if they tried.
So what is the deal with that and do guys like me (not fast and not going to be winners) get to run much or would I just get knocked out in first round never to be seen again? I don't know the format of that event. All I know is it is really close to home.
Re: What are your goals for the 2017 racing season?
drag week works based on a 5 day, 4 track average et/mph. it's an amazing event. you participate all week and "placement" is based on what you averaged for the week.
Re: What are your goals for the 2017 racing season?
Ya.... that's definitely not for me. I'm not leaving my car in a hotel parking lot, and definitely not leaving it outside for a week around here. We get serious storms, man.
Re: What are your goals for the 2017 racing season?
Last year's drag week was right in my neighbor hood. Norwalk ntr..exc. I missed it because of work and family matters. But in the next 2 or 3 years I plan to go and have a competitive 10 flat car if that's worth a crap in any of the classes. Blows my mind on the low ets some of these street cars can produce.
Re: What are your goals for the 2017 racing season?
Goals for the GTA this year are quite a bit different since we road race and autocross compared to the drag racing goals in most of the responses. This year's goal is to hit 19 events in 11 states without breaking anything.that can't be fixed during the event. Just means a couple more spare parts in the trailer to hedge the bets during the 8 months the car will be living in the trailer while hitting events in Florida, Georgia, Tennessee, Kentucky, Pennsylvania, Oklahoma, California, Missouri, Indiana, and Mississippi. We will start the season tomorrow with a local event in Arizona with 2 more in January and 1 in February before heading east and finish the year back home for the final events. I'd like to say there is money and trophies on the line, but mainly this is just for fun. At least my boss is understanding about covering travel expenses when I can work client visits into the routing.
Re: What are your goals for the 2017 racing season?
Originally Posted by mw66nova
drag week works based on a 5 day, 4 track average et/mph. it's an amazing event. you participate all week and "placement" is based on what you averaged for the week.
What do you do with your truck and trailer after get out here? Basically you have to ditch it and leave it somewhere, right?
Re: What are your goals for the 2017 racing season?
I watched all of drag week last summer. Took the time to go over the rules to see what these guys had to do.
You can truck/trailer your vehicle to the first track. Truck and trailer stays there for the week. You get to drive your vehicle and can tow up to a 4x8 utility trailer to take all the tools and parts you need for the week. You drive to different tracks each day and only need to make one pass but many racers will make multiple passes to try and get a lower ET before heading off to the next track for the next day. Route from track to track is not a direct route and if you miss a checkpoint, you're disqualified. If you break down on route, repairs must be made on route. No support vehicles are allowed.
It's amazing to see what the racers will do just to make it to the next track to make a pass. The promod car broke a racing spindle (not designed for a 1000 mile trip) and found a replacement and had it brought to them so they could fix it on the road. Another vehicle with an LS engine had an engine fire and managed to find a new ECM and harness to get fixed.
The idea of drag week as evolved over the years from the old days when "fast" street cars had to make 20-30 laps around a road course to determine if they were capable of being streetable. There were a lot of things you could do to make it around the laps. Now, you really need to make it streetable because you now have a 1000 mile drive over the week to race at 4 different tracks. The last race brings you back to the first track so at the end of the racing, you can load back up on your trailer and go home. If you break down beyond repair anywhere else, you need to get back to the first track to pick up your truck and trailer or get yourself towed back.
There are still a lot of things the drivers do to make their super fast cars more streetable for a road trip. Many are EFI so they give them a streetable tune for highway driving. Many of them use Gear Vendors overdrives to make gearing more streetable. Supercharger cars with belt driven blowers have the belt removed and are replumbed to be a NA engine for the road trip. Turbo cars turn the boost way down. The promod did a whole bunch of things including swapping out rockers with lower ratios to make the camshaft a lot more tamer and even installed mufflers.
The nice thing about drag week 2016 was the high percentage of vehicles that finished the event. It's not as easy as it looks. It can cost you a lot of money to show up and race all week. That week of racing would probably cost me a lot more than racing a full season locally.
My car isn't street legal but it looks like a fun event to compete in and technically, I could drive my 2014 F150 if I wanted to. I could picture a western Canada event like this between 4 tracks in Alberta and Saskatchewan. Roughly 1000 miles round trip. I'm sure there are a lot more regions that could hold a similar style event providing there are still enough dragstrips around in a close enough area.
Re: What are your goals for the 2017 racing season?
Originally Posted by AlkyIROC
... I could picture a western Canada event like this between 4 tracks in Alberta and Saskatchewan. Roughly 1000 miles round trip. I'm sure there are a lot more regions that could hold a similar style event providing there are still enough dragstrips around in a close enough area.
I'd definitely be into that.
As for the 2017 racing season, I've always felt a little weird posting to that question as I don't race, per se. It's me and the track and looking for the quickest ET, MPH, 60', reaction time, etc. That said, seeing as my junk was in pieces for most of last year, I'd like to get to the track (25 minutes away) and collect a few time slips. What would make it a a success is being quicker than ever but that would have to be after correcting the time slips to sea level. One thing I've learned is that altitude does make a difference.
Looking for a half second and 5 MPH....
Re: What are your goals for the 2017 racing season?
Originally Posted by izcain
Just curious did it say in the rule book that the truck and trailer couldn't fallow you? Or even just the truck?
Truck and trailer that you use to haul the race car stay in lockup at the first track during the week. Race cars are allowed to tow a small trailer with everything they need to survive the week on the road. Looks really strange to see a promod car doing down the highway towing a small trailer with huge slicks hanging off the sides.
Re: What are your goals for the 2017 racing season?
Originally Posted by skinny z
I'd definitely be into that.
Since Calgary doesn't have a track any more, a 4 track, 1000 mile highway drive could be something like Edmonton, Saskatoon, Medicine Hat, Rimby then back to Edmonton. Putting Gimli or Kelowna 's race track into the mix would be nice but it would make the drive far too long.
Re: What are your goals for the 2017 racing season?
I don't think Cordova has room for 350 trucks, trailers, and cars. Maybe I didn't pay attention last fall, but I don't remember seeing that much parking space.
Re: What are your goals for the 2017 racing season?
No parking would make for a real cluster
I have watched the feed every year.
Just looked up the rule book. Saw some things in pics that should not have been allowed to be done by the rules. Jeff lutz running down the road with battery cables coming from the trailer to the promod for one. According to the rules your trailer cannot support the vehicle (cooling, charging, or oiling.) while moving. Prob like usual certain people with special treatment.
Re: What are your goals for the 2017 racing season?
they called that in before they did it. freiburger gave them the go-ahead, so long as it was all contained in/on the car. my understanding was that the charger and generator were strapped to the back of the CAR, not on the trailer. not sure what picture you saw though.
Re: What are your goals for the 2017 racing season?
Picture clearly showed the cables running from the trailer to the car I will see if I can find the pic again.
I'm sure that they would not want to see their giant be put out by something as trivial as an alternator lol
Re: What are your goals for the 2017 racing season?
Originally Posted by AlkyIROC
Since Calgary doesn't have a track any more, a 4 track, 1000 mile highway drive could be something like Edmonton, Saskatoon, Medicine Hat, Rimby then back to Edmonton. Putting Gimli or Kelowna 's race track into the mix would be nice but it would make the drive far too long.
This is the sort of thing that would be enormously difficult to organize but as I said, I'd be into it. I'd help with the organization too.
While on the subject of Canadian racing, what's out there for the flying/standing mile or open road events like Maxton/Mojave/Texas or the Silver State Challenge? I love drag racing and all but that stuff would be a different experience altogether. I've searched on more than one occasion and have come up with zero in this part of the continent.
Re: What are your goals for the 2017 racing season?
Originally Posted by QwkTrip
What do you do with your truck and trailer after get out here? Basically you have to ditch it and leave it somewhere, right?
i mean, it's not like you're leaving it on the side of the road in chicago, lol. it's locked up at the track with 24hr security all week. guys with huge toter homes and stacker trailers worth more than my house twice over leave them with no issues.
that being said, this isn't an event for everyone. it's tough on your equipment, body, mind, and wallet. i don't have very much in the latter there, so i hope i have enough of the first 3 and make up the last bit with some pure effing enthusiasm to make it happen
Re: What are your goals for the 2017 racing season?
Hi Guys, new to the forum. I'm just finishing up a Camaro that I've been working on for a year with the help of a friend. We put spohn ADJ TA, LCA's, PHB, SB and trans mount on with front K member and tube arms. Can't wait to try it out this spring. My goal is to run 6.5's in 1/8th. No 1/4 tracks around our area of North Carolina but 5 1/8 mile tracks close by.
Last edited by Tarheel49; 01-27-2017 at 06:23 PM.
Reason: picture fuzzy
12-29-2016, 10:42 PM
