NHRA Coverage: Rain Sucks

Posted by pikesan on Feb 26, 2008 in Racing | 0 comments

Out of all the days…
It rains here 0.8″ on average in February in “sunny” Chandler, Arizona, but for some sick, demented and just play wrong reason, it had to rain on my vacation day at the NHRA Nationals. Why not rain on some damn golf event! 26 days of rain a year! That’s all we get… It’s a fact. 7% for the math challenged… 7 days out of 100. I guess I’m just lucky.

I did have a good time though!

Hang’n at a track is always fun. My buddy Dave (click for his garage) races a 1974 Vega in Super Street. Lucky me had a dry trailer to hang in and I got to bring the 12 pack and the Carl’s Jr. Just in case you’re wondering, a “Combo meal with a side of hamburger” isn’t a joke. It means get an extra burger or Joe’s (click for his garage) gonna be hungry. Somehow we survived with a 4-buck hot dog to ease the hunger pain.

Dave wasn’t so lucky, or was he? After his shake down run, he felt his powerglide slipping. (Was that the name of a b-side Journey song?) After checking the fluid, he decided to drop the deep sump pan. Doing so, he heard the problem as one of the bolts that holds in the fluid pickup had snapped off. We trucked over to the Mac Tools center to find some left-handed drill bits. I thought we were looking for easy-outs, so I wasn’t fall’n for the old, “left-handed drill bit “routine… sure, I ask, “What’s a left handed drill bit?” and I look like the knuckle head searching for a bucket of prop wash or a quart of blinker fluid on his first day on the job. NOT ME! Umm, turns out there are left-handed drill bits and for $40 you can buy’m. (I didn’t really let on that I had just learned something… I was too worried about my 6’4″ frame bouncing off the back of Dave’s quad as we rode “Broke Back” style back to his pits…) (not that there’s anything wrong with that…) Here’s Dave’s, “I said sprocket, not socket” face and the limited edition, MyRideisMe.com racing stickers, ready to go to battle (don’t ask about contingency prizes!). Dave broke out first round after cutting a 0.005 light with a 10.79 on a 10.90 dial. Oops.

So as I left, damp and pissed that the rain had stopped, started, started and stopped all day, I grabbed this shot. This is how the top tier of drag racing rolls: (BAM! That just happened!)

These rigs represent the EMPIRE that is John Force Racing. 6 identical Peterbilt haulers in pristine white. As my luck would continue to run, Force went out 1st round and the sweetheart of drag racing, Ashley Force, didn’t even qualify with only the 2 runs on Saturday to get in. At least Robert Hight stayed hot and kept on to the final round where he lost to flu-stricken Fast Jack Beckman. Force had the call of the day following his and Mike Neff’s 1 & 2 (at the time) qualifying run. The 2 funny’s nearly touched at the end of the track. Force said, “Good thing we’re sponsored by Old Spice cause that was a close shave!”. Nobody does it better. Hats off to all NHRA pros for keeping on. After Eric Medlen’s death last year, I almost couldn’t watch racing anymore. Compare that to the Force team and amazingly, John Medlen. They’re out there trying to win and go as fast as they safely can while unselfishly sharing all they learn to protect other drivers. Thanks guys!

So all in all, a bad day of racing is better than work. Don’t you agree? Let us know and while you’re here, don’t wait for the next rainy day, please JOIN MyRideisMe.com.