After a couple of days of rain, yesterday emerged with a picture perfect sun and warm temps. The track was in good shape and car count for Pro/No E, was around 50+. First time trial on the 1000ft surface with the Maverick of Todd's. was a respectable 7.80. Mine with the 347 "Fearmont", was 8.81 with a 1.45 60ft. In the pit area while waiting for second round, got word of a long delay because of an incident on the starting line. A 68 or 9 Dodge dart driven by a nice senior era gentleman from northern Arkansas, had launched and the 727 trans exploded. Have seen many of these model's do this over the years when coupled to torque monster 440+ Mopars. This time was very devastating, the gentleman lost toes and part of the upper foot from shrapnel entering the car. A trans blanket or other type shield would probably have been useful here but this is not a track that requires it but recommends it for higher HP applications. Most of the serious racer's use them in the 4 and 5 second 1/8th mile et range. Bad part is that even a stock auto trans can do the same thing if something come's loose inside at high rpm's. Every individual should make a decision on his or her safety requirements along with track rules. Racing is a dangerous sport, no matter how you look at it and accidents will happen. I still feel safer on the drag strip, as I did in midget and stock cars, than on the freeway. Report on the man's condition is pending, lost a lot of blood. On a brighter note, Todd and I ran almost the same number as in first round time trial, in the second round, 7.80 and 8.81. To shorten this all up, we both went to the quarter finals dialing down a bit for wind and humidity change's. Todd lost on a .540 light to a .511 and I also had a .548 against a .570 but even pedaling at the big end, broke out with a 8.71 on a 8.77 dial. Still got to learn to not want to cross the finish line too far in front. The old days of heads up racing just keeps lurking in my head. With a couple of good lights in previous round's, .517 and .504, felt good about the whole deal. Our Mustang did not fair as well but we are all trying to learn from mistakes made on each run.
Ouch. I have never heard of that with an Auto-but I am not a racer. I thought manuals with flywheels were the only hazardous trannys. Sorry to hear that news. Glad to hear you are still competing. Seth
Is not real common in racing unless you are running a trans-brake which locks the foward and reverse gears together until you release the solonoid button and with the engine at 5500 rpm or above, it puts a big bang on things when it engages first gear. Don't know if the fellow had a brake or was foot braking it but even then with slicks and spooled rear ends with deep gears for racing, still lot's of strain on internals that are basically built for street driving etc. Yeah, I'm still at it, the health is not getting better but if I can't get in that seat and buckle up for a pass down the track, then things would be worse. Thanks for your comment.
Sounds like a good day of racing for you guys! I have personally seen the results of a Torqueflite exploding. I have a friend that came out on the lucky side when his went. The Super Bee's floor pan did not fair so well, but it was repaired to fight another battle. The trans has a blanket after that.
Sorry to hear about the fellow-racer and that you guys didn't bring home the big money. I konw y'all will soon though. Thanks for the reminder about the tranny blanket. I gotta get one on order (especially since my FP isn't even SFI approved -not that that would guarantee that it won't come apart).
The Torqueflite was the reason trans shields and blankets were invented in the first place. I believe it to be the truth...or...at least that's what I've been told by reliable sources. Here's what happens to a 727....http://perfectrun.com/ipw-web/bulletin/bb/viewtopic.php?t=2891
Thanks for the link. I was looking for that before my post but couldn't find it. That's an awful lot of carnage.
Hope the guy is doing well and prayers to a fellow racer. Does all happen so quick. I run the tci shield,I just don't like the blanket. My thinking is it keeps heat in the tranny. My tunnel was pretty much stock looking on the 69.5 Maverick an while being tight, I think it will clear on street cars. Tranny shields are a excellent idea for anybody putting some meat on the road. Doesn't always happen to the other guy! Good job on the day at the track!
Good to hear you and Todd had a good day. Too bad about the other gentleman. Hope for his fast recovery.
I almost came to the races sunday. I went and talked to Todd about it Saturday and overslept a bit on Sunday and decided by the time I got the kids around and things, I wouldn't get to see much before I had to come hom to go to work. Congrats on the cars running so well. I hate to hear about people getting hurt racing. I've seen quite a few wrecks and tranny explosion up there and none of them were good. Hopefully he will come out in the best possible shape he can be. See you guys soon.
