After last year's Drag Week debacle, where I only made it through the first track and part way to the second, I decided to hit it really hard this year. I need to get an FE back in the winner's circle! I realized that I had three potentially competitive cars in my shop, and last fall I hatched the idea of actually bringing all three to the event. These cars would be my 69 Mach 1 (which finished first in BB/NA in 2005 and second in BB/PA in 2007), my 64 Galaxie (DNF in 2008, and first place in Modified in 2009), and the 69 Shelby clone that I built last year and ran in Modified. The big issue, of course, is who was going to drive them, and who could spend a week away from work participating in Drag Week 2012. I did a brief survey of a few local friends, and got a pretty strong interest from them. After all, who wouldn't want to drive somebody else's nine second car for a week and race at four different tracks LOL! So I decided to try to make this happen.
All three cars are finished, but all three cars need engines. The Mach 1 still has the supercharged engine that I ran in 2007 in it, but if I pulled that out it would be a good candidate for the 530" High Riser I'm putting together. The Galaxie will get the SOHC that I ran in it in 2008, with the Hilborn injector setup, but with a bump in cam and cubic inches, courtesy of the crank that had been originally destined for the High Riser. The Shelby clone will get the revamped 585" SOHC, but with the sheet metal intake I built last summer, and repairs to fix the water leak issue. Currently I am working on all three of these engines at once, and hope to be starting with some dyno work in March.
The big question mark for this plan was the rules. Last year, Hot Rod changed some of the rules prior to the event, but then changed them back because the original changes came out rather late. This had a direct effect on my effort, allowing my Shelby clone to compete; it wouldn't have fit in the new rules as they were originally released. This year, Hot Rod released the new rules right after the end of DW'11, but they were released as preliminary, to allow racer input. I gave mine, which wasn't all that favorable because my 69 Shelby clone would have been put into a class where power adders were allowed, and of course I'm running naturally aspirated. The new rules have been percolating at Hot Rod since the end of September, but they were finally released a few days ago. Here is a link:
http://www.hotrod.com/dragweek/hrdp_1202_hot_rod_2012_drag_week_rules_registration/Unfortunately, these rules throw a wrench into my plans. My Galaxie is definitely in no-mans land for classes. It would fit into Modified, if I got special permission to run it with the Art Morrison front suspension clip, but it has the factory style leaf spring rear suspension, and that is not legal in the new Modified rules. It would fit in Super Street with the rear suspension, but Super Street prohibits weld-on front suspension clips. No place to go on this, unless I decided to put ladder bars or a four link into the Galaxie.
My 69 Shelby clone is also on the edge, although I think it might be legal for Modified. Modified says that the front frame rails have to be stock, and they are on my Shelby clone. However, Hot Rod may consider the shock towers as part of the front frame rails of the car, and of course they have been cut away so the SOHC fits in the engine compartment. If that happens to be the case, then I'm out of Modified. The car also might fit into Pro-Street, but I would have to get special permission for the front suspension, and then also put wider tires on the back of the car.
At least my Mach 1 will fit into the Street Race BB/NA class with no problem, so there is no doubt that I can take that car. I'll be in contact with Hot Rod over the next few days to see if I can get a clarification on some of these rules, or a special case rule for the Galaxie. We will see what happens...
