Noble Oklahoma, and no rain... lets go racing....

I didn't post yesterday since we didn't run yesterday. The sun actually came out and the ran all of the big money professional classes yesterday. We slept in and ran errands, and finally went to the track since it was rumored that when the pros left their pit spaces on the concrete, sportsman cars (which includes stock) could move up from the mud pits we were in.

We actually were in a pretty good spot at the beginning, before the rain. And even then we were still in pretty good shape. But then.... trucks started swinging wider and wider to make their turns on the road near us, and chewed up our pit something awful. Luckily the car was in the trailer, so once a couple of spots opened up, we were able to move up to park on concrete. We left the car in the trailer, knowing when we came back the next day, we would be in good shape right near the staging area.

So this morning, we got all ready. And then the call came for our one and only qualifying round due to the rain shortened program. Normally, we would two or three opportunities to qualify, so it was do or move along.. And we did it. We ran a time that qualified us number one. That meant that we ran further under our index than anyone else did. And that is the second time that we have done that because we also did it al Maple Grove. So this latest run really proves that Maple Grove was no fluke, and this car runs good.

Oh, and we have now manged to do something that no other Drag Pak has done, (and now that we cant run in anything below C/SA, it cant happen unless Chysler comes wup with new engine combinations) Drag Pak #24 has now entered and run, or at least teched in, to every NHRA stock class from A/SA down to F/SA. Pretty cool accomplishment, I think.

But back to the race at Thunder Valley Raceway.

There was no class race run. Not all races off the opportunity to go heads up against other cars that are in you class. So that meant that our only racing option, oce we qualifyied, was to run in Stock eliminations. In this situation, you put a number on your window and then you try to run a time equal to that number.

We dialed (wrote) a 10.23 on the window. And we ran against an M Stock kcar, that dialed a 12.44. We ran and did just what we hoped, we ran a few 10ths of a second slower than 10.23, and the other ran a number that was not as close to his number as ours was to our number. So, we moved to the second round where we, due to being low qualifier, gave us a bye or uncontested run. So we won that one.... lol

On to the third round. We won. A good close race against topugh competitors, but we won.

On to the fourth round, We won again. How cool is that. We were racing fast cars, and our car was predictable enough and our driver reliable enough to win us into the money. This is a divisional race, and not a National race, so the money isn't much. But winning is sure fun.

And we are in the semi finals against our good friend Jim Marshall in his Corvette. Jim is rock solid driver, and he knows his car really well. He dialed an 11.18 and ran a 11.18 so he won... not so fast... These runs are staggered starts so Jim left first, and was way out there, and Keith reeled him in, and beat him to the finish line, and did run under our dial, so we win...

Now we have a race against a guy who is one win away from a World championship, so he is certainly no slouch. He is a very good driver with a very good car. We definitely had our work cut out for us.

We had a nice burnout. We lined up with a 10.28 dial. He lined with a 10.64 dial (I think) but his was higher than ours. Keith cut a .001 light. And ran right on his dial, 10.28 dial, 10.28 run... That is as close as you get to perfection while not being quite perfect. But you have to agree with me that tha tis some bit of driving. And Keith's experience and accomlisments as a two time World Champion really showed. It was truly a wolrd class performance.

The car perfromed perfectly, doing everything it was was asked to do. And Keith performed even better, taking on some tough competition and showing what he can do with a good car.

We won it all. Thunder Valley Raceway, Lucas Oil Race, and I have the pictures to prove it!

Or if you get the NHRA publication, National Dragster, in a couple of weeks you will see it there.

Well it is getting late,a nd although I am really excited, I will sign off as we are now treking towards Las Vegas for the Nationals.. Wil keep you posted.

David