Next is Las Vegas....

Earlier today, just before my bi-weekly chemotherapy, where I again reflected on the fact that life is too short to stand around and watch it go by, I decided that we will continue to "grab life by the horns", and will go to Las Vegas to compete in the NHRA Las Vegas Nationals. It wasn't only my decision as I need Keith Lynch and Tonya to also be on board with the decision, and I respect the fact that my schedule is more flexible than theirs. But they agreed that we can, and should do it. So here we go!

It appears that only one other Challenger Drag Pak is registered for the race. And that is too bad, as the challenger Drag Pak cars make for some really interested racing.

They will not be Class racing at the Las Vegas Nationals, so I initially had mixed emotions about it. But I do want to see the car start going deep into the eliminations, and I think we have the car and the driver to do that.

So, we are making a couple of minor tweaks to the car, and will hit the road in time to make it to Las Vegas for what may, or may not be our last race of the year. Getting there on time will be much better than our last attempt to get Las Vegas, where my Son Christopher, and crew mate Mandie Abraham got there a few hours late, after doing all they could to get there on time, but running into all sorts of delays.

Some reflections..

Drag Pak #24 is the most widely known Drag Pak car in existence. This blog, has helped to introduce many drag race fans, and other Drag Pak owners to the issues involved in Building and campaigning a car like the Dodge Challenger Drag Pak car. And although we have not won much yet, (we did get best appearing in Denver, and Qualified first in Maple Grove, and won B/SA class there), our history is unmatched. We were one of the first 8 Drag Pak cars on the track in spite of having number 24, and having not having picked up our car until November of 2009. At that time we were running a 6.1 Hemi. We ran a couple of races in Atlanta Raceway. Then we changed to a 5.7 Hemi engine, and were the first Drag Pak car to run that combination in a Divisional or national event, and we did both before there were any other 5.7's running. We actually ran a World record time of 10.58 in F/SA, but were disqualified when out weight came up a few (I think it was 3) pounds light. In our most recent event at maple Grove Raceway, we were the first 5.7 Drag Pak to make two runs in the 9.8 second range.

My son Christopher, was instrumental is the completion of Drag Pak #24. Together we made the decisions, rarely with disagreements as he always did the homework to be well informed, and was almost always ready to prove. In a few cases we did disagree, and ended up with the most rational choice, and looking back, I see nothing where I could say we blew it. Most of important decisions were "spot on". That doesn't mean that we haven't since changed some things though. It only means that at the time, the decisions we made were not bad decisions.

Chris did all of the painting on the car. The only thing that didn't need painting was the exterior body panels. He painted the trunk interior and engine compartment Stone White to match the exterior. He painted the underside of the car which had 4 different colors of paint in various places, a single medium gray color. That was hard, as we didn't have a life, and Chris did the work on his back with the car on Jack Stands. But the real work went into the interior. We had to mask the roll cage, dash, roof panels, door panels, etc. to paint the floor white. Then we had unmask a lot of that, and mask the floor to paint the roll cage a dark gray color.

It was all a great deal of work, but as the blog shows during those early times, we still had a lot of fun.

We have run in Atlanta, Denver, Norwalk, Indianapolis, National Trailways, and Maple Grove, some of those two, and even three times.

We have already run in more NHRA classes than any other Drag Pak, F/SA, E/SA, D/SA, B/SA, and A/SA. It is entirely possible that before the end of the year, we will add C/SA to take our already impressive collection of classes and complete it A though F.

We have a wide following on Classracer, and this blog, and have established the Drag Pak Registry http://www/dragpakregistry.com to promote the Drag Pak Program, help other Drag Pak owners, and to share our experiences with Drag Pak #24.

We look forward to continuing to provide you with interesting, useful, and sometimes amusing information about our experiences with Drag Pak #24.

If you wish more specific information or have questions about our car, or the Drag Pak Program, feel free to contact me directly: mailto:david@newhemiracing.com

Thanks for your encouragement and interest in this blog!

David Wertman