Author Topic: Drag Week 2018 is underway.  (Read 15814 times)

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thatdarncat

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Drag Week 2018 is underway.
« on: September 10, 2018, 10:32:15 AM »
After a brief delay for fog this morning, Hot Rod drag Week got underway about 8:30 am Eastern time today. There is a free live video feed again this year, a few ways to access it, including the Hot Rod website link below.

Scott Miller already ran with his FE powered '68 Cougar with a 9.188 @ 145 pass. Hemi Joel made a pass, looks like he had some issues, which is surprising since the test passes have been good, not sure what the issue is yet. I have not seen Doug run the Galaxie yet.

Lots of good runs so far, including a few 7's and at least one in the 6's from Tom Bailey in the Unlimited class.

Richie Crampton is back with the '57 Wagon, this year with a billet alcohol funny car engine with water jackets added, but they are just making exhibition passes since they didn't get their support truck out of the pits in time this morning, sounds like they still had work to do. But they have made a pass already.
 
https://www.hotrod.com/events/drag-week/
« Last Edit: September 10, 2018, 12:26:13 PM by thatdarncat »
Kevin Rolph

1967 Cougar Drag Car ( under constuction )
1966 7 litre Galaxie
1966 Country Squire 390
1966 Cyclone GT 390
1968 Torino GT 390
1972 Gran Torino wagon
1978 Lincoln Mk V

thatdarncat

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Re: Drag Week 2018 is underway.
« Reply #1 on: September 10, 2018, 12:07:40 PM »
Doug S. just ran with the '65 Galaxie, turned 18.229 @ 74.60. Joel got a second pass in during the first session and ran a much better 10.22 ET, although I think I've seen at least 3 cars in his Hot Rod class who ran quicker this morning, so we will have to see if they are satisfied with that today.

They announced this morning that there are 375 cars this year that went through registration yesterday, so again, anyone that showed up were able to get in and participate.

After a brief bit of sunshine, the skies are looking a little threatening right now, hopefully the rain holds off.
Kevin Rolph

1967 Cougar Drag Car ( under constuction )
1966 7 litre Galaxie
1966 Country Squire 390
1966 Cyclone GT 390
1968 Torino GT 390
1972 Gran Torino wagon
1978 Lincoln Mk V

thatdarncat

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Re: Drag Week 2018 is underway.
« Reply #2 on: September 10, 2018, 12:23:50 PM »
Hot Rod just called that they are done for the day at the track due to rain  :'( Hopefully everyone makes the drive to South Carolina in the rain safe this afternoon.

Racing scheduled for 8am Eastern time tomorrow as of right now.
Kevin Rolph

1967 Cougar Drag Car ( under constuction )
1966 7 litre Galaxie
1966 Country Squire 390
1966 Cyclone GT 390
1968 Torino GT 390
1972 Gran Torino wagon
1978 Lincoln Mk V

Tommy A

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Re: Drag Week 2018 is underway.
« Reply #3 on: September 10, 2018, 08:14:25 PM »
Kevin, thanks for the update....Did you happen to hear what Jack Miller ran with his mustang??? thanks..........Tom

Drew Pojedinec

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Re: Drag Week 2018 is underway.
« Reply #4 on: September 10, 2018, 09:07:07 PM »
Jack ran his cougar, not his mustang.

Joel’s first run sounded like the carbs were sloshed, or maybe a fuel pressure issue.
His second run sounded cleaner.
I took a great video of Joel’s second run.

Typical Georgia weather. I left at 2pm as rain was certain. Plus I hadn’t heard from work and
The possibility of leaving for the airport at 2am was possible (now 4pm)
Only class left was the daily driver folk.

cjshaker

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Re: Drag Week 2018 is underway.
« Reply #5 on: September 11, 2018, 04:45:33 AM »
Jack wasn't happy when he dynoed the motor he put together, so he brought his Cougar.

Scott ran a 9.18 and is leading his class by .3 seconds. Way to go Scott!!

Joel ran a 10.16 in testing on Sunday. He was set for his first run on Monday, he had already done his burnout, when they had a break on the track and Joel had to shut it off for a minute. He bumped the fuel pump switch off when he shut it off and didn't realize it.

The air was hot and very humid, so it was a power killing day. No way were Scott and Joel going to run the times that they wanted.

Me and my son were watching the racing all day when I decided to finally get in line kinda late. As soon as I ran and got back to the pit, it started to rain and then cut loose with a downpour. I screwed up when I was thrashing on the valvetrain Thursday night and Friday morning. I had most of the top end of the engine apart and completely forgot about the kickdown rod when I put everything back together. I left without putting it on and didn't realize it till I was half way to Atlanta. I knew that was going to really screw things up, and sure enough, when I shifted into second, it only held for about 1 second before shifting into 3rd. That kept me from getting into the 10s...lol  When I realized I had forgotten my rod, I was messing around and tried the shifting into Drive, then back to low thing, but it didn't work on my transmission, it went straight back to 1st. That wasn't good, and there wasn't a darn thing I could do about it. Mine is a 'large case' COM trans, so I don't know if there's a difference between that and the medium case that Alan had or what the deal is. Stupid mistake on my part. There was zero chance of running a respectable time (for a bone stock engine) without being able to hold 2nd gear. Also, it was still running rich and pushing black smoke from the secondaries, but I don't have any different jets for the Autolite carb, so I can't change them. This carb has different jets than a Holley, so I don't know where to even find any. I have a handful, but there are only 2 sizes that I have, one for the primaries and one for the secondaries.
« Last Edit: September 11, 2018, 04:53:40 AM by cjshaker »
Doug Smith


'69 R-code Mach 1, 427 MR, 2x4, Jerico, 4.30 Locker
'70 F-350 390
'55 Ford Customline 2dr
'37 Ford Coupe

thatdarncat

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Re: Drag Week 2018 is underway.
« Reply #6 on: September 11, 2018, 06:56:46 AM »
Thanks for the update Doug. Here's a link to the Hot Rod website for day 1 results:

https://www.hotrod.com/articles/hot-rod-drag-week-official-results-day-1/

Scott Miller is indeed leading his class, wishing him luck to continue there.

Joel is sitting 4th in the Hot Rod class, close to the leaders.

Doug, is there anyway you can wire the kickdown arm engaged when you get to the track?

Right now people at the track are reporting it's dry and they should be racing this morning. Reports from last night were that one participant with a '65 Galaxie had a tire blow out and wound up in the ditch with his trailer upside down. Turned out it was a green Galaxie. Very glad it wasn't Doug, but certainly sad news for that person. Sounds like they were not injured. At least one other participant in the ditch from driving in the rain also, one of the Gebhart Mopar clan. They were not injured either.

Of course right now hurricane Florence is the big wild card. Mandatory evacuations on the coast mean some roadways are set to run with all lanes going away from the coast, so that may effect the Hot Rod planned routes each day.
Kevin Rolph

1967 Cougar Drag Car ( under constuction )
1966 7 litre Galaxie
1966 Country Squire 390
1966 Cyclone GT 390
1968 Torino GT 390
1972 Gran Torino wagon
1978 Lincoln Mk V

Drew Pojedinec

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Re: Drag Week 2018 is underway.
« Reply #7 on: September 11, 2018, 07:46:28 AM »
Ahh that makes sense with Joel’s run. Sounded like it was cutting in and out. Second run was great.

Hot and humid? Hehe I almost had to take off my second shirt

cjshaker

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Re: Drag Week 2018 is underway.
« Reply #8 on: September 11, 2018, 09:11:11 AM »
Drew, we're talking about Minnesotans here, they're basically Canadians with permanent green cards, so anything above freezing is hot ;D ;)

That really sucks about the green Galaxie, but it was a '66, not a '65. It was the only other Galaxie there. I talked to those 2 for a while and it turned out they only live 20 minutes from me in Ohio. It was a father/son team, with the son driving.

Kevin, I'm home now. Here's the story; my Son lives on the NC coast, right where Hurricane Florence is slated to hit. They were having mandatory evacuations, so he had to leave. He has a family with 2 boys, so he made the right call. I had talked to Keith, the race director, and he was going to allow Randy to follow me in his truck, in case he had to leave. Things took a turn for the worse as far as Florence was concerned, so that's when he made the decision to head home. Initial plans were that this years Drag Week would be my son, my wife and me. That was the major driving incentive to get the Galaxie going. Even though she put in for the vacation MONTHS ago, they would not let her have the whole week off, so she was going to drive down on Wednesday to meet us at Bristol, and just tag along, but at a distance. I took off by myself yesterday after the days events and was driving to the first check point. The rain was so horrible that I couldn't see the road, and that was with good wipers! I pulled off and let it subside, then hit the road again. Again, the rain hit and I had to pull off again.

Sitting in a gas station parking lot, and knowing what was coming with the hurricane, I did not want my wife making the 9-10 hour trip down, only to most likely be washed out the last 2-3 days. I gave it much thought and decided that the wise thing to do would be to just call it a successful trip with the car and head home. I waited for the rain to let up and headed back. I got home at 3:45 am today. It was actually a beautiful trip through the Smokey Mountain Bi-way, and the car ran perfect all the way home. Even though I'm bummed that I did not complete Drag Week, I'm very happy with how the car performed (on the highway, not the track). I have a few leaks to take care of (I also had an axle seal that started leaking and saturated one of my rear brakes), but I also found that I have a rock solid car that could easily go cross country without so much as a grunt, fully loaded. And I now have another FE added to my driving stable, with another to come here shortly, but that's another story.

On a side note, my son got home, but there is no gas to be found anywhere, so he's not even sure how they're going to evacuate. Right now, he's my major concern.

Doug Smith


'69 R-code Mach 1, 427 MR, 2x4, Jerico, 4.30 Locker
'70 F-350 390
'55 Ford Customline 2dr
'37 Ford Coupe

thatdarncat

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Re: Drag Week 2018 is underway.
« Reply #9 on: September 11, 2018, 09:34:13 AM »
Thanks for the update Doug, Hoping that your son & family make it safe through the hurricane. that explains why I didn't see you run this morning on the live feed.

Hot Rod just made the announcement today that racing is still on for Charlotte N.C. tomorrow, but competitors don't need to follow the official Drag Week route or stop at any checkpoints today. They are advising participants today just to take the most direct route.

Scott Miller ran 9.129 @ 146. Jack Miller ran 12.518 in his Cougar.

Joel ran 10.43 in the Coupe, but he still has people in his class running quicker. It looked like maybe he spun on his pass. No word yet from Jeff if they are staying to try another pass or have hit the road.
Kevin Rolph

1967 Cougar Drag Car ( under constuction )
1966 7 litre Galaxie
1966 Country Squire 390
1966 Cyclone GT 390
1968 Torino GT 390
1972 Gran Torino wagon
1978 Lincoln Mk V

cjshaker

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Re: Drag Week 2018 is underway.
« Reply #10 on: September 11, 2018, 10:16:04 AM »
Scott's run.. https://youtu.be/QTjOtqUnCe8?t=1h16m3s

Hoping he makes it through the week. If he keeps this up, he'll have his 2nd win! As far as I could see, there were only 3 FEs at this years DW; Scott, his dad Jack and me.
Doug Smith


'69 R-code Mach 1, 427 MR, 2x4, Jerico, 4.30 Locker
'70 F-350 390
'55 Ford Customline 2dr
'37 Ford Coupe

thatdarncat

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Re: Drag Week 2018 is underway.
« Reply #11 on: September 11, 2018, 10:36:05 AM »
David Freiburger just announced that they will be announcing the 2019 Drag Week tracks this Friday morning in Atlanta. First time ever having that info so soon. 
Kevin Rolph

1967 Cougar Drag Car ( under constuction )
1966 7 litre Galaxie
1966 Country Squire 390
1966 Cyclone GT 390
1968 Torino GT 390
1972 Gran Torino wagon
1978 Lincoln Mk V

Drew Pojedinec

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Re: Drag Week 2018 is underway.
« Reply #12 on: September 11, 2018, 11:48:34 AM »
Doug, I've got a video of your run, Joel's run and Scott's.  I'll have to put them up on youtube....  I'm packing my bags headed to the airport, I might upload them tonight from the hotel.


ok, fine I did it anyway.  Here, if you are interested:
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=pOfaNU0gQrE&feature=youtu.be

If you prefer privacy I can delete it.
« Last Edit: September 11, 2018, 12:02:44 PM by Drew Pojedinec »

cjshaker

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Re: Drag Week 2018 is underway.
« Reply #13 on: September 11, 2018, 12:06:56 PM »
No Drew, that's fine. Much better than what I saw on the Live Feed. I had to laugh seeing people checking their phone, watching the line, the sky, the bug on their shorts..lol  Plenty of time to go get a snack while I was going down the track. ;D
Doug Smith


'69 R-code Mach 1, 427 MR, 2x4, Jerico, 4.30 Locker
'70 F-350 390
'55 Ford Customline 2dr
'37 Ford Coupe

jayb

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Re: Drag Week 2018 is underway.
« Reply #14 on: September 11, 2018, 12:21:03 PM »
David Freiburger just announced that they will be announcing the 2019 Drag Week tracks this Friday morning in Atlanta. First time ever having that info so soon.

That's cool, I hope they come back towards the midwest next year.  The route this year was one reason I elected not to go.  Based on the hurricane, it looks like I picked the right year to skip...
Jay Brown
- 1969 Mach 1, Drag Week 2005 Winner NA/BB, 511" FE (10.60s @ 129); Drag Week 2007 Runner-Up PA/BB, 490" Supercharged FE (9.35 @ 151)
- 1964 Ford Galaxie, Drag Week 2009 Winner Modified NA (9.50s @ 143), 585" SOHC
- 1969 Shelby Clone, Drag Week 2015 Winner Modified NA (Average 8.98 @ 149), 585" SOHC