Upcoming Races
Ennis
Divisional Event 12-15 Apr
Houston
National Event 20-22
Apr
Atlanta
National Event 4-6
May
February Testing:
We tested in February with Pro Stock bike racers Matt and Angie Smith at Bradenton Motorsports Park. This was our second pre-season test trip to our old home track where the weather is generally great and the track is fantastic. The trip is worth the drive as the staff hosts several off-season professional test sessions and they go to great lengths to ensure customers are happy.
The week leading up to the test session was crazy, to say the least. The Super Stock motor was finally delivered and installed on Wednesday. The Stocker motor was back from the engine builder and ready for install Thursday night. Bill worked until 4 am Friday to get the motor in and ready to start. Early Friday, morning the Stocker was started and finishing touches were made to both cars before loading up and heading out late afternoon. The first part of the trip included Friday night rush hour in Houston, followed by road construction in Lake Charles and Baton Rouge. To add further stress, the weather was calling for an 80% chance of rain for the entire first day of testing. Thankfully, things improved on Saturday. Bill was able to catch up on sleep while Brenda drove and the weather forecast for testing improved.
We had two main goals for the test sessions; good runs on our new engines and testing of new Goodyear tires for both cars. Sunday the rain held until 7 pm allowing for a full day of testing for the Stocker. Monday was an awesome day of testing for the Super Stocker.
The performance of both cars was spectacular. The engines showed good potential, and the new Goodyear tires transferred the power to the track efficiently. On the Stocker we did an A-B test going from a small tire to a large tire. Based on previous experience we expected the ET to increase .05-.07 and an increase of 1 MPH. We were very surprised to see the 60 ft time the same and all down track ET’s decrease.
The tire for the Super Stocker transferred the power to the track with no drama! Last year we were pulling up to 10 degrees of timing for 1.5 seconds to get the car down the track. With the new Goodyear tires the car is getting full power for the entire run. The ET and MPH from our best run last year was consistently bested in weather that was 1500’ worse. This is a Huge Win!
The test session ended with an Uber ride to the Sarasota Airport for Brenda, leaving Bill to make the trip home alone. Brenda had a 7 am business meeting the next day that couldn’t be missed. Sometimes, it’s hard to balance work and racing!
Belle Rose and Houston Divisional Race Results:
We now have two races under our belt for 2018. The first race was the Belle Rose Divisional. We left our house at 4 AM for the 5 hour drive to the track. Unfortunately, at the Louisiana state line a tandem truck was involved in a bad accident and traffic was stopped with no place to exit. Finally 12 hours after leaving the house we arrived at the track.
While both cars exited first round at Belle Rose, we learned a lot and applied those lessons during the Houston Divisional.
As a result, the Stocker made it to the third round before losing in a very close race and the Super Stocker lost in the second round.
2018 is going to be Great!
Travels with Brenda – National Dragster
Pro Mod driver Mike Janis was featured in the November 17, 2017 issue of National Dragster. We have known Mike since 2001 when we lived in Buffalo. Mike’s operation is truly a budget operation. In his heart he is a sportsman racer.
The February 23, 2018 issue featured Randy Taylor. We met Randy while testing the Super Stocker at the San Antonio IHRA race last year. While Randy has driven Top Dragsters and crewed on Top Fuel Dragboats, he was new to Stock and Factory Stock racing. Having never raced in Stock before he had lots of questions. Bill pointed him in the right direction and Randy then took the reins. He is now a threat to win any Factory Stock Showdown he enters.
Work has already started on the next article. Like last year, the goal is to have 4-5 articles featuring Sportsman racers published in the calendar year.