Here is a real "brain trust.” Louie and me trying to figure out a way to get by first round after only one time run in the car. |
This is the best photo I got of the car without us "old guys" hanging around it. Clean as a whistle and performs as good as it looks.
The car was really easy to drive. Did the burnout, drove it up to pre-stage and then I remembered what Louis said: when you push the trans-brake button in, the gas pedal will go to the floor because the throttle controller “relaxes.” OK, that was weird, I was holding the button down and hoping I would find the gas pedal after I let go of the button. I had added .01 to the delay box and ended up with a .046 light and the car ran 6.541.
Twenty minutes later I was lined up for first round against the Norwalk Summit Champion. I took .01 back out of the delay box and I had a .035 light and the car ran a 6.55 on a 6.54 dial. I WON, thanks to the guy in the dragster gobbling up too much stripe! Well, it was only first round but I was a happy camper to even remember to let go of the button.
Second round was a few minutes later and I was beginning to relax a little in the car. I know that meant I would be quicker off the button so I only took .007 out of the box hoping to get a high-teen or low-twenty reaction time. I let go of the button and felt like I didn’t really kill it but the red-light came on. Now, get this…I picked up the time slip and my reaction time was -. 0001 !! Damn, that was close to being a REAL GOOD light and the other guy was .007 but ran .04 over to my .01 over 6.55 on a 6.54 dial. But, red is red and my attempt to get to Rockingham for the World Championship was over. I couldn’t have done it without my wife Barb’s support, Eddie Hall talking his dad into loaning me a very good racecar, and Louie Hall for trusting someone he has never met (me) and loaning me his racecar for a couple hours.
I must have left some of that “Iowa Mo-Jo” in the Hall’s pit area as Eddie took home all the marbles Sunday and is now the Top ET Division Champ. Way to go Eddie!!
On the flip side, like most ET Finals I have attended, this event was pretty much a disappointment. Piss-poor track prep to the extent it was basically unsafe in the evening, the event was unorganized and proceeded in slow motion. (Think about it, they had a gambler race scheduled for two rounds Thursday and then finish on Friday. How many cars did they think would really be there?) I was glad I was able to leave Saturday morning and make the 10-hour trip home.
I’m over it now and planning my trip to Florida in November. I can hardly wait.
If you have been disappointed in big bracket races I recommend you try to schedule some time and set aside some money for a trip to the “Winter Series” races in Florida. Number one on my list is the Moroso 5-Day Bracket Championships in West Palm Beach, FL. November 13-17.
It is a great way to put an exclamation point on the season for me. Get up in the morning, drive to the beach and enjoy the sunrise and breakfast, get back to the track to warm the car up for the “run for the money” time run and then go racing. If you get beat early, which has happened to me more than it hasn’t in Florida, you can join other racers in the grandstands and enjoy your favorite beverages and just maybe place a couple $1.00 bets on who is winning in the next pair down the track.
For those of you with plenty of spare time on your hands and a pocketful of money, you could race the week before Moroso at the Bradenton 5-day event then follow the Moroso race with an event at Imokalee Dragway. Nice way to prevent being up north as winter starts to show up, right?
Plans call for DragRacingOnline.com to cover the Moroso 5-Day live during the day. So, if you are stuck up North (South, East and West for that matter) keep your computer on. Hopefully, we can keep you posted on what is going on, who is there, who set Low E.T. and who will become a Moroso 5-Day Champion.
Maybe the DragRacingOnline.com team will see you in Florida! 
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