novawagonmaster
11-16-2011, 05:07 PM
Where do I begin?
I know. I have to start with the wheels-up pic (Thank you Nolan!). It's just too cool!
http://i360.photobucket.com/albums/oo42/novawagonmaster/Car%20pics/2010%20Challenger%20TA/Timeslips/ATCOwheelie.jpg
Left Thursday morning for the 8-hour drive to Atco. Decided to trailer the car again this year, but borrowed a nice open trailer instead of dragging the mirror slayer. That was the best decision ever. Cut over an hour off the drive compared to last year.
Got up early Friday morning to get to the track. Stopped at a convenience store near the track to obtain enough junk food for the day, and who walks in? WalkingDeath/Nick! I said a quick hello, but did not want to catch anything, so I bolted!http://www.lxforums.com/board/images/smilies/runaround.gif
Got to the track, unloaded the car, changed the tires, and ran it down the return road to warm up the driveline fluids. I get down near the end of the return road, and I scared off what had to be at least a dozen white tail deer that were poking around in the grass between the track and the return road. I thought to myself, "That would suck if they were on the track when we were running!".
Pulled back around, checked fluids, then lined up for my first test-n-tune pass of the day. I lined up next to Legmaker. Car hooked, felt good, and went 11.22@120 mph. New 5.7 N/A record right out of the gate! Weight on that pass was about 3760. Chris was a good sport. He let me lead most of the way down the track before whizzing by right at the end.http://www.lxforums.com/board/images/smilies/icon_mrgreen.gif
After one more T&T pass, I added 250 lbs of ballast to the car (thanks to Hemiwagn for use of the scales!) and made my two qualifying runs. Qualified second to Kent/AlCharger in the 5.7 heads up class. Our times were very close. Sadly, we would never meet on the track in eliminations.
Round 1 (5.7 Heads UP)... I gave my pal Stell a 2-count head start and barely beat him on the top end.
Round 2 (5.7 Heads Up)... Damon/06HotRod reluctantly handed over the win.
Jason/Charger4Life eliminated Kent/Alcharger in the semifinals, so my prediction rang true. Two white cars in the finals. Finally the rematch I had waited a year for!
Finals (5.7 Heads Up)... Jason and I left the line in unison (my .110 to his .105) but it was the two-door that squeaked out the win this time around. Jason and I have had a great friendly rivalry going on. We both have the desire to win, but we also like to see each other do well. I'm happy to call Jason a friend. Nothing that happens on the track will ever change that.
http://i360.photobucket.com/albums/oo42/novawagonmaster/Car%20pics/2010%20Challenger%20TA/Timeslips/Atco2011HeadsUp57.jpg
While all of that was going on, I was also lapping the car through the index rounds. JsJaHonda gave me a free ride in round one when he crept through the staging beams and lit the red bulb.
Second round brought up Lisa/Trixie in that sweet yellow Challenger. At 3/4 track, her win light came on, yet neither of us had crossed the finish line. There were several instances throughout the day where timing errors occurred due to the stiff headwind blowing debris across the finish line beams (or so that's what the track staff told me). We had to pull right back around and run again. I thought I was going to break out on this run, so I let off early. Turns out I was OK, but Lisa must have been sitting there dreaming of SRT5939 when the light went green.http://www.lxforums.com/board/images/smilies/smile.gif
Third round brought up Captain Steve in his beastly orange Challenger. Steve must have wanted this one pretty bad, as he jumped the gun just a tad and lit the red bulb.
Round 4 brought up a 11.00 Jeep (sorry, but I don't know who). He ran right up and double-bulbed the tree, then went right up on the converter. Now I thought about letting him sit there for a while, but I didn't want to be the asshat that caused him to melt something down. I did take an extra second just to make him think about it though. Turns out, I won that race on the tree. We both ran .02 over our index, but my .092 light trumped his .216 reaction time.
Round 5 was the semifinals which had an uneven number of cars. Fnkychkn eliminated Erik/Hemi31 on the other side of the ladder and I had the bye run due to best reaction time. I thought about making a parade lap down the track to save the car, but then thought I might learn something by running full-out. Wanted to make sure I was not going to break out in the next round. I went 11.52 on a 11.50 dial, so I knew I was close to my index if I kept the car hot.
Index finals had me running Pete/fnkychkn. Pete is deadly at this index game. I knew it was going to be decided on the tree. Pete must have been excited to get things going, because he went up and double-bulbed the tree. I've heard bad things happen if you screw with the fnkychkn, so I just went ahead and staged like it didn't happen. I cut a .074 light to his .123 light. Pete crossed the line first, but I forced him to run under his dial which gave me the win light. Great race Fnky!http://www.lxforums.com/board/images/smilies/chicken_dance_2.gif
http://i360.photobucket.com/albums/oo42/novawagonmaster/Car%20pics/2010%20Challenger%20TA/Timeslips/Atco2011Index.jpg
Note: I wrote the "package" time on each slip for Don (Done). I know that's what he wants to see.http://www.lxforums.com/board/images/smilies/icon_wink.gif
Next up was King Of The Hill.
I was lined up with slideway (the 6.1 class winner) in the first round. Again, we both ran .02 over our index, but I cut a .067 light to Bill's .125 giving me another close win.
Tiff Daniels (unlimited winner) got a free pass in the Drag Pack when InferAl (stroker winner) twisted his driveshaft into a pretzel. This set the stage fof me to run Tiff in the finals.
After flipping a coin for lane choice, we rolled up and did our burnouts. I was dialed in at 11.50 and Tiff was at 10.50. Now I knew she was running high 9's-low 10's all day, so I knew she would catch me at 3/4 track. We took off, and she did catch me early. And as soon as she pulled alongside, her win light lit up. My scoreboard said 9.xx seconds, so the timing system thought I broke out by two seconds. Yet another FUBAR'd run. Since we all know that is not possible, we pulled around for another go at it. Same lanes, same dial-ins, same one second head start. Again, Tiff caught me at 3/4 track, and then she started toying with me. I heard her pedal it at least 4 times, and she indeed crossed the line first. I cut a .032 light to her .105 light, and that forced her to break out. I honestly did not expect to beat a pro driver in a full-on race car. I was elated!
Remember those deer I scared off in the morning? Two of them were back to watch the finals. They were ON THE TRACK as Tiff and I crossed the finish line doing 120mph! The deer heard us coming and bolted. There were no close calls with them, but that is not what you want to see as you cross the line!
http://i360.photobucket.com/albums/oo42/novawagonmaster/Car%20pics/2010%20Challenger%20TA/Timeslips/Atco2011KOTH.jpg
Next came the awards ceremony. Dan, Stell, and Wendy made quick work of it, and it's a good thing. It was just starting to get dark, and it was getting cold.
http://i360.photobucket.com/albums/oo42/novawagonmaster/Car%20pics/2010%20Challenger%20TA/Timeslips/Atco2011Awards.jpg
Most folks packed up and left after the awards, but I wanted to stay a while and see if the car would respond to the cool air that was moving in. I took all of the extra weight back out of the car and let it cool for about an hour before making a run. The first pass felt really good, but I was not prepared for the time I would see on the slip. 11.12@120 mph with a 1.51 sixty foot! Holy crap! Another record! I was elated, but I figured I would keep making runs until it did not go any faster. I cooled down for almost another hour and ran again. This time it went 11.12@121 with a 1.54 sixty foot. The air was getting better, but the starting line was going away due to all of the street tire traffic from the locals. I decided it had been a great day, and it was time to pack it up.
http://i360.photobucket.com/albums/oo42/novawagonmaster/Car%20pics/2010%20Challenger%20TA/Timeslips/Atco2011RecordRuns.jpg
It was great to see all of my old friends, as well as meet a few new friends. There were so many people I wanted to meet this year, but there just was not enough time while racing in two classes. I was on the hot seat all day long. I promise I will take more time next year to meet more people. For anyone who is afraid of bothering me at the track, PLEASE DO! I may be an introvert, but I really do like to meet all of you and see how you are doing.
Thank you to Dan, Wendy, Stell, Rob, and everyone else who puts in the time to make these events happen. There is so much behind the scenes work that goes on to organize and run events/series like this that most of us will never know about. From the bottom of my heart...THANK YOU!
ShopHemi.com/Arrington, Paramount, American Racing Headers, Billet Technology, BFNY Performance, Afterhours Mopar Performance, HalfFast Performance, Legmaker Intakes, Cartek, RPM rollbars, Backlash Sport Fishing, Demon Performance, Nitrous Outlet, and all of the other event sponsors...without all of you, this series would not exist. Your generosity is greatly appreciated. THANK YOU!
And for everyone that has had a hand in helping me in my journey, thank you for helping me along the way. Arrington built me one mother of a 5.7 short block. Steve Frank designed a freak of a camshaft. GTP put together a beautiful set of cylinder heads and ported 6.1 intake. Kooks headers are the perfect match for my setup. Josh at HHP for setting me up with the gorgeous Weld wheels. Legmaker intakes...what else can I say...they are a proven winner on the late model HEMI. THANK YOU!
Cam at CrankThis Performance. Came came through for me in a big way at the last minute to get my 15" wheel conversion up and running. Not just with parts, but with information, specs, and advice. Who woulda thunk the guy in the Hawaiian shirt would have all the answers?! Cam is, and always will be... THE MAN! THANK YOU!
Erik (Hemi31), your help in this process has been instrumental. Not just the parts, but the knowledge and the friendship that came with them. Without you, I would still just be taking parts off the car to go faster. Hell, I might still be in the 11.50's but I would be missing important parts like doors and quarter panels. For helping me go faster with an-almost-complete car... THANK YOU!
Rob (robsrt) from SpeedRated, and Greg from FTI converters. The FTI converters have worked extremely well on this car (1.51 60' times... lifting the front wheels... from a 5.7 N/A? ARE YOU KIDDING?!?!), and these guys have exceeded my expectations every time when it comes to production times and shipping. Then Rob went above and beyond. He bailed me out when I ran into problems getting my 15" wheels. Not just a "vendor helping a customer" sort of thing, but something only a good friend would do, and I am glad to call Rob a friend. THANK YOU!
AJ (Hemituner). I could go on for days about AJ. He has been there for me from the beginning. He is the only guy who has written a tune for my car(s). I know how busy AJ is, and for him to give me the time of day is an honor. He has been the driving force behind both the tuning and the engine build. I tell him what my goals are and he does everything in his power to make them a reality. He truly has been my genie in a bottle this year. Bromance aside... AJ, I love you man! THANK YOU!
My local support group. Al (InferAl) for sharing his vast knowledge of what he has learned from being a pionoeer in the late model HEMI racing scene. Al has been my voice of reason many times. Ben (sublime130) for being Mr. Getrag. Ken (Tagman) for keeping my focus on the car instead of my wife's truck. Bobbi (#1Hemiwoman) and Ken (Hemiman) for cheering me on at the local tracks. Jeff (70TA-09RT) for all of the pics, videos, and use of the trailer. Wendy, Rich, Mike, JT, gosh...I know I'm forgetting people now... thank you all for the good times just hanging out at the track. Racing is fun, but hanging out with ALL of you is where it's at. I hope we can find something to do this Winter so we don't have to wait until Spring to get together again. Just for being you... THANK YOU!
I cannot wait for next year's racing season. With the new classes, it is going to be a blast. Glad I have a few months to unwind, though. It's going to take some time to figure out where to hang all of this stuff without Shannon noticing.http://www.lxforums.com/board/images/smilies/ninja.gif
http://i360.photobucket.com/albums/oo42/novawagonmaster/Car%20pics/2010%20Challenger%20TA/Timeslips/2011MSHSSeriesAwards.jpg
I know. I have to start with the wheels-up pic (Thank you Nolan!). It's just too cool!
http://i360.photobucket.com/albums/oo42/novawagonmaster/Car%20pics/2010%20Challenger%20TA/Timeslips/ATCOwheelie.jpg
Left Thursday morning for the 8-hour drive to Atco. Decided to trailer the car again this year, but borrowed a nice open trailer instead of dragging the mirror slayer. That was the best decision ever. Cut over an hour off the drive compared to last year.
Got up early Friday morning to get to the track. Stopped at a convenience store near the track to obtain enough junk food for the day, and who walks in? WalkingDeath/Nick! I said a quick hello, but did not want to catch anything, so I bolted!http://www.lxforums.com/board/images/smilies/runaround.gif
Got to the track, unloaded the car, changed the tires, and ran it down the return road to warm up the driveline fluids. I get down near the end of the return road, and I scared off what had to be at least a dozen white tail deer that were poking around in the grass between the track and the return road. I thought to myself, "That would suck if they were on the track when we were running!".
Pulled back around, checked fluids, then lined up for my first test-n-tune pass of the day. I lined up next to Legmaker. Car hooked, felt good, and went 11.22@120 mph. New 5.7 N/A record right out of the gate! Weight on that pass was about 3760. Chris was a good sport. He let me lead most of the way down the track before whizzing by right at the end.http://www.lxforums.com/board/images/smilies/icon_mrgreen.gif
After one more T&T pass, I added 250 lbs of ballast to the car (thanks to Hemiwagn for use of the scales!) and made my two qualifying runs. Qualified second to Kent/AlCharger in the 5.7 heads up class. Our times were very close. Sadly, we would never meet on the track in eliminations.
Round 1 (5.7 Heads UP)... I gave my pal Stell a 2-count head start and barely beat him on the top end.
Round 2 (5.7 Heads Up)... Damon/06HotRod reluctantly handed over the win.
Jason/Charger4Life eliminated Kent/Alcharger in the semifinals, so my prediction rang true. Two white cars in the finals. Finally the rematch I had waited a year for!
Finals (5.7 Heads Up)... Jason and I left the line in unison (my .110 to his .105) but it was the two-door that squeaked out the win this time around. Jason and I have had a great friendly rivalry going on. We both have the desire to win, but we also like to see each other do well. I'm happy to call Jason a friend. Nothing that happens on the track will ever change that.
http://i360.photobucket.com/albums/oo42/novawagonmaster/Car%20pics/2010%20Challenger%20TA/Timeslips/Atco2011HeadsUp57.jpg
While all of that was going on, I was also lapping the car through the index rounds. JsJaHonda gave me a free ride in round one when he crept through the staging beams and lit the red bulb.
Second round brought up Lisa/Trixie in that sweet yellow Challenger. At 3/4 track, her win light came on, yet neither of us had crossed the finish line. There were several instances throughout the day where timing errors occurred due to the stiff headwind blowing debris across the finish line beams (or so that's what the track staff told me). We had to pull right back around and run again. I thought I was going to break out on this run, so I let off early. Turns out I was OK, but Lisa must have been sitting there dreaming of SRT5939 when the light went green.http://www.lxforums.com/board/images/smilies/smile.gif
Third round brought up Captain Steve in his beastly orange Challenger. Steve must have wanted this one pretty bad, as he jumped the gun just a tad and lit the red bulb.
Round 4 brought up a 11.00 Jeep (sorry, but I don't know who). He ran right up and double-bulbed the tree, then went right up on the converter. Now I thought about letting him sit there for a while, but I didn't want to be the asshat that caused him to melt something down. I did take an extra second just to make him think about it though. Turns out, I won that race on the tree. We both ran .02 over our index, but my .092 light trumped his .216 reaction time.
Round 5 was the semifinals which had an uneven number of cars. Fnkychkn eliminated Erik/Hemi31 on the other side of the ladder and I had the bye run due to best reaction time. I thought about making a parade lap down the track to save the car, but then thought I might learn something by running full-out. Wanted to make sure I was not going to break out in the next round. I went 11.52 on a 11.50 dial, so I knew I was close to my index if I kept the car hot.
Index finals had me running Pete/fnkychkn. Pete is deadly at this index game. I knew it was going to be decided on the tree. Pete must have been excited to get things going, because he went up and double-bulbed the tree. I've heard bad things happen if you screw with the fnkychkn, so I just went ahead and staged like it didn't happen. I cut a .074 light to his .123 light. Pete crossed the line first, but I forced him to run under his dial which gave me the win light. Great race Fnky!http://www.lxforums.com/board/images/smilies/chicken_dance_2.gif
http://i360.photobucket.com/albums/oo42/novawagonmaster/Car%20pics/2010%20Challenger%20TA/Timeslips/Atco2011Index.jpg
Note: I wrote the "package" time on each slip for Don (Done). I know that's what he wants to see.http://www.lxforums.com/board/images/smilies/icon_wink.gif
Next up was King Of The Hill.
I was lined up with slideway (the 6.1 class winner) in the first round. Again, we both ran .02 over our index, but I cut a .067 light to Bill's .125 giving me another close win.
Tiff Daniels (unlimited winner) got a free pass in the Drag Pack when InferAl (stroker winner) twisted his driveshaft into a pretzel. This set the stage fof me to run Tiff in the finals.
After flipping a coin for lane choice, we rolled up and did our burnouts. I was dialed in at 11.50 and Tiff was at 10.50. Now I knew she was running high 9's-low 10's all day, so I knew she would catch me at 3/4 track. We took off, and she did catch me early. And as soon as she pulled alongside, her win light lit up. My scoreboard said 9.xx seconds, so the timing system thought I broke out by two seconds. Yet another FUBAR'd run. Since we all know that is not possible, we pulled around for another go at it. Same lanes, same dial-ins, same one second head start. Again, Tiff caught me at 3/4 track, and then she started toying with me. I heard her pedal it at least 4 times, and she indeed crossed the line first. I cut a .032 light to her .105 light, and that forced her to break out. I honestly did not expect to beat a pro driver in a full-on race car. I was elated!
Remember those deer I scared off in the morning? Two of them were back to watch the finals. They were ON THE TRACK as Tiff and I crossed the finish line doing 120mph! The deer heard us coming and bolted. There were no close calls with them, but that is not what you want to see as you cross the line!
http://i360.photobucket.com/albums/oo42/novawagonmaster/Car%20pics/2010%20Challenger%20TA/Timeslips/Atco2011KOTH.jpg
Next came the awards ceremony. Dan, Stell, and Wendy made quick work of it, and it's a good thing. It was just starting to get dark, and it was getting cold.
http://i360.photobucket.com/albums/oo42/novawagonmaster/Car%20pics/2010%20Challenger%20TA/Timeslips/Atco2011Awards.jpg
Most folks packed up and left after the awards, but I wanted to stay a while and see if the car would respond to the cool air that was moving in. I took all of the extra weight back out of the car and let it cool for about an hour before making a run. The first pass felt really good, but I was not prepared for the time I would see on the slip. 11.12@120 mph with a 1.51 sixty foot! Holy crap! Another record! I was elated, but I figured I would keep making runs until it did not go any faster. I cooled down for almost another hour and ran again. This time it went 11.12@121 with a 1.54 sixty foot. The air was getting better, but the starting line was going away due to all of the street tire traffic from the locals. I decided it had been a great day, and it was time to pack it up.
http://i360.photobucket.com/albums/oo42/novawagonmaster/Car%20pics/2010%20Challenger%20TA/Timeslips/Atco2011RecordRuns.jpg
It was great to see all of my old friends, as well as meet a few new friends. There were so many people I wanted to meet this year, but there just was not enough time while racing in two classes. I was on the hot seat all day long. I promise I will take more time next year to meet more people. For anyone who is afraid of bothering me at the track, PLEASE DO! I may be an introvert, but I really do like to meet all of you and see how you are doing.
Thank you to Dan, Wendy, Stell, Rob, and everyone else who puts in the time to make these events happen. There is so much behind the scenes work that goes on to organize and run events/series like this that most of us will never know about. From the bottom of my heart...THANK YOU!
ShopHemi.com/Arrington, Paramount, American Racing Headers, Billet Technology, BFNY Performance, Afterhours Mopar Performance, HalfFast Performance, Legmaker Intakes, Cartek, RPM rollbars, Backlash Sport Fishing, Demon Performance, Nitrous Outlet, and all of the other event sponsors...without all of you, this series would not exist. Your generosity is greatly appreciated. THANK YOU!
And for everyone that has had a hand in helping me in my journey, thank you for helping me along the way. Arrington built me one mother of a 5.7 short block. Steve Frank designed a freak of a camshaft. GTP put together a beautiful set of cylinder heads and ported 6.1 intake. Kooks headers are the perfect match for my setup. Josh at HHP for setting me up with the gorgeous Weld wheels. Legmaker intakes...what else can I say...they are a proven winner on the late model HEMI. THANK YOU!
Cam at CrankThis Performance. Came came through for me in a big way at the last minute to get my 15" wheel conversion up and running. Not just with parts, but with information, specs, and advice. Who woulda thunk the guy in the Hawaiian shirt would have all the answers?! Cam is, and always will be... THE MAN! THANK YOU!
Erik (Hemi31), your help in this process has been instrumental. Not just the parts, but the knowledge and the friendship that came with them. Without you, I would still just be taking parts off the car to go faster. Hell, I might still be in the 11.50's but I would be missing important parts like doors and quarter panels. For helping me go faster with an-almost-complete car... THANK YOU!
Rob (robsrt) from SpeedRated, and Greg from FTI converters. The FTI converters have worked extremely well on this car (1.51 60' times... lifting the front wheels... from a 5.7 N/A? ARE YOU KIDDING?!?!), and these guys have exceeded my expectations every time when it comes to production times and shipping. Then Rob went above and beyond. He bailed me out when I ran into problems getting my 15" wheels. Not just a "vendor helping a customer" sort of thing, but something only a good friend would do, and I am glad to call Rob a friend. THANK YOU!
AJ (Hemituner). I could go on for days about AJ. He has been there for me from the beginning. He is the only guy who has written a tune for my car(s). I know how busy AJ is, and for him to give me the time of day is an honor. He has been the driving force behind both the tuning and the engine build. I tell him what my goals are and he does everything in his power to make them a reality. He truly has been my genie in a bottle this year. Bromance aside... AJ, I love you man! THANK YOU!
My local support group. Al (InferAl) for sharing his vast knowledge of what he has learned from being a pionoeer in the late model HEMI racing scene. Al has been my voice of reason many times. Ben (sublime130) for being Mr. Getrag. Ken (Tagman) for keeping my focus on the car instead of my wife's truck. Bobbi (#1Hemiwoman) and Ken (Hemiman) for cheering me on at the local tracks. Jeff (70TA-09RT) for all of the pics, videos, and use of the trailer. Wendy, Rich, Mike, JT, gosh...I know I'm forgetting people now... thank you all for the good times just hanging out at the track. Racing is fun, but hanging out with ALL of you is where it's at. I hope we can find something to do this Winter so we don't have to wait until Spring to get together again. Just for being you... THANK YOU!
I cannot wait for next year's racing season. With the new classes, it is going to be a blast. Glad I have a few months to unwind, though. It's going to take some time to figure out where to hang all of this stuff without Shannon noticing.http://www.lxforums.com/board/images/smilies/ninja.gif
http://i360.photobucket.com/albums/oo42/novawagonmaster/Car%20pics/2010%20Challenger%20TA/Timeslips/2011MSHSSeriesAwards.jpg