great photos !!The Plastic Fantastic Nostalgia Nitro Funnycar
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jim sanders
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Rapid Randy Baker
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Rapid Randy Baker
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2009 Nostalgia Fest at Cordova
2009 NOSTALGIA FEST
CORDOVA, IL
This past weekend the Miller Rear Gears team went to Cordova, Illinois for one of the largest Nostalgia events held here in the Midwest. This was race #3 of the Drag Racing On-line Nitro Funnycar series. Cordova is quite probably the most well known of all the Midwest drag strips. It has been home to the World Series of Drag Racing for 56 years. The track is very well run and always lends itself to fantastic entertainment for the fans and racers alike.
There were somewhere in the range of 13-15 Nitro Funny cars trying for the 8-car field with cars from as far away as California here to race with the Midwest cars. Gary Turner brought his 5-second Funnycar called “The Peddler” along with all of his crew. They are a great bunch of guys and we had a good time hanging out with them.
After the Indy Good Guys race where we discovered a problem with the engine. The time between events gave Danny the time to make sure everything was fresh and ready to run when they arrived on Friday. Well that was the plan; and you know what they say about the best laid plans don't you.
It was time to warm up the car for the Friday night qualifying session. A problem developed when the car was fired up in the pits. It was running fine, but it was burning oil in the #7 Cylinder. We did a little checking, and decided to pull the intake and supercharger off to inspect the intake to head seal. Little did we know this was the first of 3-4 times of tearing it down to try to stop a minor, but engine damaging problem. It appeared that the intake port was sucking oil from the lifter valley area causing the smoke. I have been telling you how great a group of people we race with, and yet again they proved it. I can't even tell you how many of the other crew-chiefs and crew-members from other teams came over to offer help, parts whatever it took to help us out.
When it wasn't able to be fixed in time for the qualifying session, we elected to start at the bottom to solve any issues. We dropped the oil pan, and pulled the piston and rod out. We replaced the rings just to be sure they were fine. While it was apart, Tom Motry {Drastic Plastic AA/FA} came over with his dial bore gauge and checked to make sure the new sleeve didn't have any problems. We buttoned up the bottom end. Since the o-rings in the cylinder heads didn't seem to be sealing to the intake good enough, we replaced them with gaskets and put everything back together and headed to the motel.
We were short a crew guy this weekend and I pressed Laura into service. I knew she could do it as she was very involved in building/racing my Corvette back when we were first married. Nobody on this team knew about that though. She always packs the chutes and helps leak the engine, but we usually have enough help where she doesn't have to do much actual engine work. It was great to see everyone on the team step up their game and make sure things got done that were necessary.
Saturday early we fired the car and the oil problem was solved! Great, now we at least get to try to make the show in the last qualifying session. It was set for 2:00 PM, and the weather was HOT and HUMID. The corrected air was well over 3500 feet and the sun was beating down on the track.
Danny and I discussed it, and decided to back the power down a little considering what we felt the track conditions would be, and how much power it would hold. We both felt that it was important to make a run with the engine coming back in 1-piece so we would be able to have something to build on. I am sorry to say we guessed wrong. We backed the motor down a bit too far and didn't have the power to make the field.
In the burnout the car felt OK, but not as zippy as we have had it in the past. I was lined up with the Wonder Wagon with my buddy Mini-Me driving. We backed up from the burnouts together, and we went into the beams almost at the same time. He left first, and I had to follow him all the way down the track. I could feel our car going rich around 500-feet, and pulled it to high gear. It just never seemed to recover and start marching to the stripe. At 1150-1200 feet I felt it going rich again and just legged it on through. We were planning on running a 6.30 something, and it just didn't have enough power to run that number. Our weekend of racing was over.
We checked everything over, leaked down the engine to verify no damages. Heck, 3-of the cylinders didn't even look like the plugs had been used. Danny made some nozzle changes; we put more mag in, and increased the Nitro %. It was our intent to make another pass at the end of the 1st round of eliminations to see what our changes accomplished.
They started eliminations, then a huge rain and wind storm, like 70-mph winds came in. We got the car in the trailer, and the storm hit. It rained like crazy for an hour or more, and we decided to go back to the motel and get something to eat. It looked very doubtful that the race would go on tonight. Sunday was supposed to be cooler and sunshine. I knew from past races that Scott Gardner would get the race done if anyone could. With that in mind I started calling some guys at the track after we were done with dinner. I talked to RC on the Nitro Madness team. He said, “We are in the lanes now come on back out.” Laura and I went back to the track to watch how things were going. I should have known by this point in the weekend to just stop guessing how the track would react to the weather. Danny and I decided with the evening dew coming in, and the rain, there was no use in even trying to make another run on the car.
We got back to the track just in time as the Funny cars were rolling to the lanes to run. Somebody forgot to tell the track it was supposed to be worse. Doc Halladay and Jerry ran a 6.01. Gary Turner and crew-chief Cory Lee dropped a low 6.00 second run as well. I watched Ray Zeller grin as he saw those times come up. He had Steve Nichols “Mill Road Boys” Chevy loaded for bear. At the hit the flames come up and it just marched away from the line. They stopped the timers with a 6.11. I think it was a new team record for them. Man it was a cool run to watch!
It was late and the dew was really coming in, so Laura and I decided to head out for the motel. I talked to Jerry Newman on Sunday morning to find out they didn't get to run the final.
It was a great race to be at, it would have been better if we would have been mixing it up with our friends, but with that many cars there someone had to sit out. It just turned out to be our turn this weekend. The great news is the car got to go home with the engine in 1-piece and we have something to build on for our next race.
I hope you enjoyed my “What I did Last Weekend” story,
Rapid
CORDOVA, IL
This past weekend the Miller Rear Gears team went to Cordova, Illinois for one of the largest Nostalgia events held here in the Midwest. This was race #3 of the Drag Racing On-line Nitro Funnycar series. Cordova is quite probably the most well known of all the Midwest drag strips. It has been home to the World Series of Drag Racing for 56 years. The track is very well run and always lends itself to fantastic entertainment for the fans and racers alike.
There were somewhere in the range of 13-15 Nitro Funny cars trying for the 8-car field with cars from as far away as California here to race with the Midwest cars. Gary Turner brought his 5-second Funnycar called “The Peddler” along with all of his crew. They are a great bunch of guys and we had a good time hanging out with them.
After the Indy Good Guys race where we discovered a problem with the engine. The time between events gave Danny the time to make sure everything was fresh and ready to run when they arrived on Friday. Well that was the plan; and you know what they say about the best laid plans don't you.
It was time to warm up the car for the Friday night qualifying session. A problem developed when the car was fired up in the pits. It was running fine, but it was burning oil in the #7 Cylinder. We did a little checking, and decided to pull the intake and supercharger off to inspect the intake to head seal. Little did we know this was the first of 3-4 times of tearing it down to try to stop a minor, but engine damaging problem. It appeared that the intake port was sucking oil from the lifter valley area causing the smoke. I have been telling you how great a group of people we race with, and yet again they proved it. I can't even tell you how many of the other crew-chiefs and crew-members from other teams came over to offer help, parts whatever it took to help us out.
When it wasn't able to be fixed in time for the qualifying session, we elected to start at the bottom to solve any issues. We dropped the oil pan, and pulled the piston and rod out. We replaced the rings just to be sure they were fine. While it was apart, Tom Motry {Drastic Plastic AA/FA} came over with his dial bore gauge and checked to make sure the new sleeve didn't have any problems. We buttoned up the bottom end. Since the o-rings in the cylinder heads didn't seem to be sealing to the intake good enough, we replaced them with gaskets and put everything back together and headed to the motel.
We were short a crew guy this weekend and I pressed Laura into service. I knew she could do it as she was very involved in building/racing my Corvette back when we were first married. Nobody on this team knew about that though. She always packs the chutes and helps leak the engine, but we usually have enough help where she doesn't have to do much actual engine work. It was great to see everyone on the team step up their game and make sure things got done that were necessary.
Saturday early we fired the car and the oil problem was solved! Great, now we at least get to try to make the show in the last qualifying session. It was set for 2:00 PM, and the weather was HOT and HUMID. The corrected air was well over 3500 feet and the sun was beating down on the track.
Danny and I discussed it, and decided to back the power down a little considering what we felt the track conditions would be, and how much power it would hold. We both felt that it was important to make a run with the engine coming back in 1-piece so we would be able to have something to build on. I am sorry to say we guessed wrong. We backed the motor down a bit too far and didn't have the power to make the field.
In the burnout the car felt OK, but not as zippy as we have had it in the past. I was lined up with the Wonder Wagon with my buddy Mini-Me driving. We backed up from the burnouts together, and we went into the beams almost at the same time. He left first, and I had to follow him all the way down the track. I could feel our car going rich around 500-feet, and pulled it to high gear. It just never seemed to recover and start marching to the stripe. At 1150-1200 feet I felt it going rich again and just legged it on through. We were planning on running a 6.30 something, and it just didn't have enough power to run that number. Our weekend of racing was over.
We checked everything over, leaked down the engine to verify no damages. Heck, 3-of the cylinders didn't even look like the plugs had been used. Danny made some nozzle changes; we put more mag in, and increased the Nitro %. It was our intent to make another pass at the end of the 1st round of eliminations to see what our changes accomplished.
They started eliminations, then a huge rain and wind storm, like 70-mph winds came in. We got the car in the trailer, and the storm hit. It rained like crazy for an hour or more, and we decided to go back to the motel and get something to eat. It looked very doubtful that the race would go on tonight. Sunday was supposed to be cooler and sunshine. I knew from past races that Scott Gardner would get the race done if anyone could. With that in mind I started calling some guys at the track after we were done with dinner. I talked to RC on the Nitro Madness team. He said, “We are in the lanes now come on back out.” Laura and I went back to the track to watch how things were going. I should have known by this point in the weekend to just stop guessing how the track would react to the weather. Danny and I decided with the evening dew coming in, and the rain, there was no use in even trying to make another run on the car.
We got back to the track just in time as the Funny cars were rolling to the lanes to run. Somebody forgot to tell the track it was supposed to be worse. Doc Halladay and Jerry ran a 6.01. Gary Turner and crew-chief Cory Lee dropped a low 6.00 second run as well. I watched Ray Zeller grin as he saw those times come up. He had Steve Nichols “Mill Road Boys” Chevy loaded for bear. At the hit the flames come up and it just marched away from the line. They stopped the timers with a 6.11. I think it was a new team record for them. Man it was a cool run to watch!
It was late and the dew was really coming in, so Laura and I decided to head out for the motel. I talked to Jerry Newman on Sunday morning to find out they didn't get to run the final.
It was a great race to be at, it would have been better if we would have been mixing it up with our friends, but with that many cars there someone had to sit out. It just turned out to be our turn this weekend. The great news is the car got to go home with the engine in 1-piece and we have something to build on for our next race.
I hope you enjoyed my “What I did Last Weekend” story,
Rapid
NITRO PILOT
[url]http://.www.rapidrandy.net[/url]
[url]http://.www.rapidrandy.net[/url]
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