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Very Cool....

classic pic of the Rapid one.... he gets alot of ribbing cause it looks like he went in deep and the green is lit

classic pic of the Rapid one.... he gets alot of ribbing cause it looks like he went in deep and the green is lit

Yeah, my buddys busting my chops!!!

Too bad they haven't noticed my car isn't even staged yet!! Only my pre-stage light is on.

Al, the photographer pointed out the green light deal when he emailed me the photo. As he pointed out, his flash made the green lite looks lit.

"the green lite look lit"

Try saying that 3 times fast.

i am laughing so hard i can't even say THE

I can't even say it after I corrected it and put the 's' in place!!!

Could be the green lite looks lit because it had green vinly on it...
Great article, it is fun to read and the pictures are great! Cheers, WC1

WHAT I DID LAST WEEKEND
TULSA, OK 2006

Here is the 1st race report from “Rapid” on the Nitro Madness 2006
Racing Season

Most of you have seen these in the past few seasons. I just try to tell you how the weekend went. I am not a very good race reporter, just a racer giving a little insight to how our races go.

Team members are as follows: Scott Gaulter, owner and crewchief. Larry Bailey-{Pappy}, Randy Clough-{RC}, Kelly Baker-{new guy this year. I will have to give him a nickname I guess}, Peggy Gaulter, and Laura Baker. We also have a few crew members who work on the car back at the shop who don’t make all the races.

The Outlaw Fuel Altereds were in Tulsa, Ok this past Saturday. It turned out there were about 16-cars trying to make the 10-open slots in the field. The way these races work is there are 2-qualifying shots. The fastest 10-cars come back for the 1st round. Then the 2-fastest winners come back for the final. It is called a Chicago Style format.

We drove down on Fri, the 26th. As we were checking into the motel, the girl said they were still cleaning up from the Tornado. I mentioned they had “Some Nerve, having a tornado without us. Usually, when we drive 8-hours the tornado comes to town right when we do.” The crew broke out laughing, but since the girl behind the counter wasn’t with us last year at Great Bend for the tornado, and apparently doesn’t read my race reports, she didn’t get it until we explained it to her.

Saturday the 27th was sunny and hot. The temp was near 100 degrees and the wind was blowing pretty strong. It was too windy to put out the awning, and everything that wasn’t heavy was ready to blow away. The wind did however make the temperature bearable. Since it was so warm we chose to wear our team tee shirts and save the crew shirts for race time. Note to self, when you go South to race early in the season, take sun-screen and be sure to use it!!!! Can you say “REDNECKS” from the sunburn,, sure you can.

This track was, without a doubt, one of the nicest tracks we have gone to. It was wide, flat, smooth. The groove in this place was probably 10-12 foot wide. There was almost a ½ mile of shut-down after you crossed the finish line! They sprayed to track to 50-feet PAST the scoreboards, which were AFTER the finish line! The track personnel said they would do whatever we wanted as far as track prep. How is that for a great effort to make everything go smoothly?

We had made some changes to the fuel system in an effort to step up to the level of performance the Outlaws are capable of. We needed to check a few things so we warmed it up, made the connections with the gauges, and re-fired the car. It felt a tinge lazy. However, considering we were in 4000-ft of corrected air, it was to be expected. For those who don’t know, in the Mid-west we consider 1500-2000 feet, pretty good air. You will see this in the Spring, and again in the evening at the Fall races. During the Summer, we race in the 2500-3500 range of corrected air. The humidity on Saturday was around 50%, so the air conditions were not that great. Based on the corrected air, with the main pill required, the system pressure dropped too far. I changed the port nozzles to correct for this. Good to Go!

At 7:00PM, they called for the Outlaws. We, {well me anyway}, were a bit worried about what the 1st run would bring. We had only been out to 1-test session this year. At the test session, the car went about 30-feet and blew the tires off on the 1st attempt. We backed it down, and it went about 70-feet, and then blew the tires off again. That was the whole total of our runs this year, prior to loading up and driving 8-hours to run with the fastest guys around. Now do you see why I had some questions in my mind?

We were back about midway in the group. I heard some good numbers being run, and a couple of in &out of the throttle passes. Great, more pressure! Oh yeah, did I mention the shift light picked this time to have the bulb die? Now, lets see, no runs this year, no shift light, 4000 feet of humid air, and I need to run a big number just to qualify against these guys! Yep, situation normal!

If you have never had the pleasure of sitting in your car, bundled in a
–20 fire suit, for 10-15 minutes waiting for your turn to run, you should try it. You are missing out on a fun little bit of the racing experience! If, you feel the need to relate. Pick a nice hot day. Go put on your Winter coat, heavy gloves, full-face stocking cap, and boots. Get into your car, start it and turn the heater on high. Now have your partner tie you to the seat so you can’t move, and come back to check on you in about 15-minutes. Now you will get the picture.

We get the signal to fire up, Tom {owner/driver of the Bad Rat Altered} and I hit the water at the same time doing side by side burnouts well past the 330-foot timers! The car felt good, after the motor fired, all the heat, wind everything vanishes from your mind. You just don’t notice anything but what is happening with the car. I let Tom pre-stage, I came in, then staged, Tom came on in, a flash of yellow and we were off! I wound it out until it started sounding expensive; hit the air button for 2nd. About 300-400 foot out, I was glad the crew had decided not to remove the steering wheel to lighten the car. It was moving around pretty good. I just told the car it might as well stay headed on down the track, because I wasn’t taking my foot off the loud pedal until it was out of fuel, or out of racetrack! Man, it felt good, the car was pulling, it was a bit loose, and I was along for the ride! The Outlaws had decided to run the races as 1/8th mile at all tracks this year. I drove it a bit deep past the 1/8 mile cones, just to be sure we got everything out of it we could. I hit the button to launch both chutes, when they hit, off the gas and coasting. I never even had to touch the brakes and the car stopped short of the final return road. Tom stopped a little ways behind me. When the guys came, we both got pushed around the corner out of the way. The crew told me we just went to #1 qualifier with a 4.19 @ 174 mph!! That was a new team mph record in the 1/8th for our car!

On the top end, I remove my helmet, gloves, R3-device, unbuckle and remove my jacket. I stay in the car to steer it, as we tow it back to the pits. Then I finally can get out of the car. I only tell you all this nonsense as it plays a part in what happens next. I have my upper gear off, and we are starting back, we have made it about to the ¾ area of the total track area. Tom is just off the track on the last return road where his wife has arrived on the 4-wheeler. I sub-consciously here a car coming down the track, it has the engine up, then comes down to about 3500 rpms and stays there. We are still way past the 1/8 mile so the car should be off by now. I look up, as I know something is going on. The car goes past us, still clipping along, no chutes, no squealing of tires like the brakes are on, nothing. I yell, he is in trouble, and jump out of our car. My cousin Kelly, {our newest crew member} and I take off on a dead run. I watch the car go off the end of the track, thru the sand, and the net. It goes over a little hill, and flips. I still have my fire boots, and fire pants on. I am the best protected to get in there and help him out if he needs it. Have you ever tried to run very far in this set-up? Kelly and I both get to the end of the track, and are out of energy. We both slow down to a jog. I see Tom disappear over the hill, with his wife running a little behind him. She tops the hill, and starts screaming, which makes us take off full speed again. Before we can top the hill, the track safety people are getting there. I made it to the fence and the car is back on its wheels, but fuel is pouring out of it. The track safety crew tells us all to get back they will take care of him. Bob, the driver who crashed, is standing up, but appears to not be able to get on out of the car. We are again told to stay back. By this time lots of people are there and so is my wife. We all went back over to Tom’s car and make sure he and his wife are ok. Laura, {my wife} tells me the boys took our car back to the pits and will come pick us up in a bit. We waited a bit, and then hitched a ride with some local racers on their golf cart. I have heard Bob is ok, and he comes back to the track later. Someone told me his throttle stuck, and the fuel shut-off didn’t close all the way. It was pretty hard on the car. I would guess it is new chassis time from what I saw.

So Nitro Madness is #1 after the first session! How about that for a way to start off your season! We did the service work, and were ready for the 2nd session. We were somewhere around the first 4-5 sets of cars out on the track. We took the left lane. It just worked out, that Tom and I were again running with each other. With another side-by-side burnout Tom and I take them out to the 400-foot range. The car is pretty loose and fishtailing a bit, which is fun for the fans, and is ok as long as it doesn’t grab the track while it is out of shape. When I say a bit, you probably could read the Nitro Madness on the side of the car from the starting line area. As I am backing up I give the crowd a wave. It is funny, to see their reaction to this. They seem kind of shocked at first, and then they all start waving back. Tom was in first again, I pre-staged, then let him fully stage, and I came in right after him. Since we fixed the shift light, I guess I should pay attention to it, and when it flashes, I hit the button and go into 2nd. The car is really loose, moving from one edge of the groove to the other as I saw on the wheel to keep if in check. Right after I pass the 1/8-mile cones I drop the chutes, ease on the brakes and this time make the 2nd turnoff. The crew arrived and told me we just ran a 4.22 @ 172 mph. The 4.22 was pretty good considering how loose it was. It was pretty close to our other pass so we were satisfied with the pass. The air was a couple hundred feet better, and the temp was down a bit. I knew this group was used to running in this type of air, so I was betting they would fig it out in this session. 3-of them made better runs than we did that time. Which still put us #4 and in the show!

We had Jack Hodgson, with the Southern Flyer Altered in the 1st round. We had lane choice and went back to the right lane. Jack and I both did long burnouts again our car was loose during the burnout. My guys just put me in the middle of the groove as our tracks moved around so much. Jack got me big time on the line, lucky we had enough in her to get the win with a 4.21 @ 173 mph. It was a good race, and the crew got a big hand from the crowd as they came to get me on the big end. We waited for all the other Altereds to make their runs. It turns out we made the cut and would be in the final with the Grim Reeper. He ran 4.10, and we went 4.21. We had our work cut out for ourselves.

I went over and talked to him about lane choice, he picked the left lane. He asked for more time as his trans, a {Lencodrive} like ours, was just too hot. I told him to come get us when he was ready, no hurry or pressure from us. It is almost 1:00Am, and the track is still packed with people. It was pretty exciting to be in the final. Larry, and I did long, long smoky old burnouts, backing up into our tire smoke. He pulled in and double bulbed, pre stage and staged lights were on. I knew we had the auto start on. I pre-staged, and then crept into the staged beam. Right as I hit the trans-brake, the car jumped forward and was not holding. When I brought up the rpm, it rolled right out of the beams, giving the win to the Grim Reeper. I kept the button in until the yellow flashed and released it. Our car ran 168 mph, and he tossed a blower belt. Talk about missed chances for winning the event. The trans was slipping down the track and on the big end as I turned off it smelled hot and bad. I looked behind as I stood up to remove my R3 device, and saw trans-fluid on the track. I knew it came from the overflow. How ironic, the Grim Reeper car was cooling his trans, and we loose because we didn’t cool it enough. We usually have around 2-hours between runs. We have never had any heat problems with our trans/converter. What I believe happened it the fluid was so hot, it was foaming. So the trans-brake piston was trying to compress foamy aerated fluid, and it just wouldn’t hold. We had it hopped up pretty good in the final trying to step up to run with his 4.10 the round before. We just didn’t get a chance to prove it.

Congrats to the whole Grim Reeper team for a job well done!

It was a great weekend of racing. The fans bought a bunch of tee shirts; I got to meet some people from different web sites.

I hope you enjoyed my “What I did last weekend” story.

“Rapid” Randy Baker

Would you guys read this and tell me if it is too long. There was a bunch of things going on to tell you about. I just don't know if I went too long with it.

Rapid

Randy, that was the coolest one I've read in a long time, excellent!! You guys did good bud!! And yes I can relate to the 20 suit, gloves, boots on a 100 deg day!! But your right, when the engine fires you don't notice it at all! And NO, it was'nt too long a post!! You had me hanging on every word! Bet that wreck deal was scarry!! Glad everyone is ok! Well, I guess before the next race I'd better give ya another pep talk huh? Seriously Randy, you guys are such a good team, you guys will do well no matter what! You've got the Magic son!! Your team is inspiring and you are very lucky to have such people taking care of you. And I suppose your ok as a driver too. Continued success to you all!!