Return of the Chicken Chokers
By Len Cottrell
After some problems at the Keystones, the Chicken Chokers returned
with a nice 5.70
at Richmond -- "getting back on the horse." Photo thanks to Len Cottrell
Two weeks and two days from the Keystone
Nationals, we made an all out effort to make the race at Maple Grove.
The last major barrier was handled when the latest PSI blower was the
only item we could not obtain. Jay Payne from Los Angeles (better known as
Shelly Anderson's husband) shipped me his spare unit in order for us to
make the Keystones. Now all we needed was a few more hours in each day and
we would just make it. The good news for Tim Slagle was that he had made a
great recovery. We sent him away to make some runs in a Super Comp dragster
at MIR, which he did and he felt good after two runs. We expected our new
"rocket ship" to perform a little better that its predecessor as
we expected it to be 75 to 100 lbs. lighter.
The good news is that we made it to Maple Grove and finished putting the car
together on Friday! We had two qualifying runs left to get in. On our first
attempt, the main fuel line hose collapsed from vacuum and shut off on the
burn out. We fixed that by putting a universal radiator hose with a coil in
it for the next attempt. On the last attempt, the engine RPM would not idle
down from the burnout and we had to abort the run.
After listing about 20 candidates for the problem, we finally discovered
that you can put the spool in the barrel valve in 180 off and it will still
leak the same. However, the holes in the valve will not line up properly and
allow the excess fuel to return to the tank after the burn out. After the
problem was discovered, it took all of about five minutes to correct.
It was disappointing to not be able to make the program but the good news
is there was a points meet at Dinwiddie (Richmond) the following weekend.
This was the last time NHRA will race at the track, as Virginia
Motorsports Park will go to IHRA sanction next year. The schedule was one
qualifying shot on Friday night at 7:00 p.m. and two shots on Saturday. We
were already loaded and ready to go on Friday morning!
The race at Virginia was important. We had to return to the scene of the
crash to "get back on the horse." Here are some pics of the new
car and trailer as we were preparing the car for the finals at Richmond
(Dinwiddie), Virginia, last Sunday. We qualified the car # 2 with a 5.70 on
its maiden voyage. We were pleased with our first
complete pass on the car and with the race itself. We will now put the car
away for an assault next year.
Len Cottrell
