I decided to start a thread after someone telling me that I should do so ((Thanks Jim ))
Well, the dragster that I'm running in right now is one that my brother used to race. He decided to step back from drag racing once he heard enough from his ol' ladie. Biggest mistake ever!! He passed the car down to me, said that I could race it.
My dad and one of his buddies started building this dragster back in the early 90's, in hopes of having my dad race it after his other dragster's frame started to crack. My dad, being super hot-headed, got into it with NHRA and walked away from drag racing all together, leaving the frame with his buddy. Also, like my brother, his ol' ladie was not fond of drag racing, what so ever. The frame sat in his garage for a well over 10 years without being touched. My dad finally got back with NHRA when he involved my brother and I in Jr. Drag Racing. From there, we've all been hooked. In about 2004, my dad's buddy and my brother had a talk about finishing that dragster, and having my brother race it. But since the dragster is partly my dad's, they needed that approval. At the time, my dad was with a woman who was not into drag racing either, ((What is wrong with women these days!!!)) so she would be the one who always said no. FINALLY, my dad gave in and finished this car, and my brother was racing in late 2005ish. In June of 2006, my dad finally ((after much antipation)) offered me my turn in the car. He wanted to know if I wanted to get my Super Comp. license, and of course, I was not going to decline. I made it to Irwindale one night to make my 3 half-track laps, then Fontana the next day to finish my licensing passes. Went 8.93 twice, and then stepped her up with a 8.39 at 158 MPH. His co-worker saw potential in me, and bought a "kit-car" to build for me to race, since my brother was still racing the dragster at the time. In October of 2006, my brother ended up spitting a rod out of the pan at a race at Fontana Raceway. That's when his ol' ladie kind of made him quit, I guess. We put all of our heads together, and realized that instead of throwing money and time into that "kit-car", we should just rebuild the engine and throw me in the dragster that my brother was racing for the time being.
We decided to finally start building the engine again. We've encountered numorous hardships in doing so. I've gone through 2 blocks, and a total rebuild count of 3 in the past 2 weeks, just to get my butt out on the track racing. The first block, which my brother had shot a rod through the pan, came back from the machinist with an "Ok to use" cert. Well, after putting in 3 gallons of water once the engine was built, we realized there was a problem. The water was getting into the oil passages, and going strait to the pan. I guess the machinist over looked a HUGE hole that anyone can see, if they know what they're looking for. Then we got another block, built her up ((had the "sponsor" do the bottom end, we did the heads and injectors)) and 12 pounds of oil pressure. Sent it back to them to find out what the problem was, and they blamed it on the oil pump. Then as we were about to load her in the trailer at the shop, we started her up, the oil pressure went from about 70 to 50 lbs. Then we did some hot laps in a cul-de-sac near their work, the first one was perfect, then the second one, I felt her stumble. Then as I was hitting the brakes, I hear the high pitch squealling, and look at the oil pressure guage and she was below 15 lbs. Spun the rod bearings out, not a purdy sound to hear. None the less, I had to skip the race that weekend, a total of 2 races that I have missed so far. The cause of the low oil pressure :: Only 3 quarts of oil was put in by my "sponsor", who builds engines for a living. I finally came across another block and we're going to build her again ourself. The first time, we rebuilt it, and if there wasn't a hole in the block, she would've been fine.
I will use this thread to keep you posted on the racing stats and how everything goes. My first race will be out at Palmdale at the Summit Series race in May. I've missed 3 races so far out of this series, but I'm still hoping to make a dent in the point standings. I will also update this with pictures, I will add some on here when I get home.