This is the RACING results page.
2007 -09 Results are Below

I mainly race at  Cordova Raceway Park in Cordova, Illinios (1/4 mile) and Midstate Dragway in Havana, IL. (1/8th mile).

I most enjoy running the Oldsmobile powered races. The big Olds race is in Norwalk Ohio every year. If you are an Olds enthusiast, it is a must attend event.

2009 RESULTS

The only change to the car this year over last year is the heads. I finally had them freshened up. New valves, springs, keepers and retainers. Went to 2.11/1.66 sizing. Had bowl work done to blend the new valves and also smoothed the combustion chambers. I also did some porting to the intake to match up with the heads better. The head work was all done by Jim at J&S Machine.

10-17-09 BOP and Sponsor Showdown, Cordova (IL) Dragway

The BOP race is normally the week before the Sponsor Showdown, but the BOP race was postponed a week due to cold temp and snow flurries. I actually made 70 of the 100 mile trip to the track last week, but got a call from a friend that it was postponed, so I turned around.

The BOP race offered up a no-box slick class and a no-box street tire class. I entered the no-box slick class which of course was the largest class. The Sponsor Showdown is a team race. Teams of five cars try to accumulate the most round wins as a team and basically get a trophy and bragging rights. As far as the purse, you race on your own and can win prize money as an individual car. Four other Olds and myself teamed up for this race. Pat Glynn in his yellow 73 cutlass, Bob Kelso in his "Heavy Hauler" G body wagon, Bob Tomlinson in his 70 Rallye 350, and Jason Yeager in his 71 442 W-30.

The weather was ideal, cool and sunny, so people were running personal best times all over the place. I was able to get in 6 time runs before eliminations. First pass off the trailer was 11.23 at 117.4 mph, so I was happy about that, I was thinking at this point that an 11.teen was very likely. Second pass, 11.22 @118.04, which tied my previous personal best. Third pass I decided to jet up, went 11.210 @117.7. Was surprised by this, thought this was going to be my 11.15, but it just was not meant to be, as that ended up my best et of the day and my new PB. The rest of the passes were 11.214, 11.245, 11.249, 11.265. My 60 foot times were 1.567, 1.573, 1.548, 1.545, 1.551, 1.550, so the traction was there.

First round of eliminations was the BOP race, I dialed 11.25, cut .020 and go 11.265 @117.46, my opponent dials 9.60, cut .034 and goes 9.601. He gets the win light by .0004 seconds. FRICK!!!, very close loss.

First round of the team race, I dialed 11.26, cut a crap .083 light, and go 11.261. My opponent dials 11.47, cuts .028 light and goes 11.483 taking the stripe easily by.043 seconds. Gave that one away at the tree, could have been a good close race, but I just could not pull around him. So, that would have been my day, but they had buy backs for first round losers of the BOP race.

Second round buy back for the BOP race I dialed 11.26 again, .044 light and go 11.246. Opponent dials 13.43 and gives a gift .077 light. He goes 13.435 and gets the breakout win. I took the stripe by too much, i dumped 2 mph, but it was not enough and broke out.

Done deal, that concludes my 2009 season. First year racing without a win. I did have a final round appearance but threw that win away on a bone head driving job.

This concludes my second full season on this motor with no problems. So that is four seasons in a row with no engine issues, I think I could get used to this.

The team of 5 olds racers. Bob doing a burnout in the Heavy Hauler. This thing was going 10.30s

Big Jerr and Jason discussing who looks better in a stocking cap. Jason Yeager with the wheels up in his awesome 442. I believe it ended up with a best ever 9.65 that day.

Good friend Pat Glynn launching his Cutlass I think he ended up running a best of 10.13 today. Pat ended up winning the no-box slick class of the BOP race. Congrats to Pat!!

 

9-11-09 through 9-13-09 Buick Olds Pontiac (BOP) Wars, Byron Dragway, IL

A fun weekend, three days of racing. Friday was a Gamblers race, Saturday is a Quick 16 or a no-box BOP race, and then Sunday is the BOP classes.

Friday I run three time trials, running right at 11.50 @115mph. First round I dial 11.50, go .049 on the tree, and run 11.506. My opponent dials 10.75, cuts .029 light and goes 10.752. He gets the win by .0247. So a close race, but bummed I went out first round.

Saturday is a BOP Q16, if you don't make that, you can get in a box, no box combo race, meaning, all delay box cars race box cars, and the no box cars race no box cars, the winner of each races in the final. For some reason, not may cars tried to do the Q16, so I decided to go ahead and get in that as the money was better and less rounds to win it. This race is a .400 pro tree, which I think scares a lot of people from doing it. I am able to deep stage my car and cut decent lights.

First round I dial 11.56, cut .107, and go 11.80 lifting very early. My opponent went up in smoke at the starting line, so it was an easy win.

Second round I dial 11.54, .007 light, run 11.57. Opponent dial 10.33/ .127/ 10.304. Luckily I cut a good light because the car spun. Got the win by .0588.

Third round it down to 4 cars. I dial 11.54, .040 light, and run 11.642. Opponent dials 8.72/ .043/ 8.740. I spun very bad on this pass and pretty much handed it to him. Track prep was not good all day. Too many radial tire cars pulling up the good rubber at the start line and apparently the track did not know how to prep for that or did not care to take the time to do it. None the less, I got my $50 entry fee back for getting to 4 cars.

Sunday my second and third time trial, i go 11.47 on both, but 60 foot times were only 1.61. First round I dialed 11.47, .071 light, go 11.509 on the brakes. My opponent went .030 on the tree, but only ran 11.17 on his 11.05 dial. Won by .0493 at the stripe.

Second round dialed 11.49, .037 tree, ran 11.528. My opponent went .006 on the tree, ran 11.720 on an 11.70 dial, just could not catch him he had me on the tree and my 60 foot time was off .03, so I was pretty much screwed. He took the stripe by .0493 (ironically the exact same amount as I won by last round).

So that was Byron this year, was a fun event. Just can not seem to close the deal this year, loosing some close races. Here are some photos from the event.

 

8-22-09 Midstate Dragway (Havana) Regular Points Program

My neighbor friends, the Scotts headed down to Havana to run their normal saturday points program. Decided to get into Sportsman class.

To get the day started, I blew a tire on my trailer, so I got to change that on the side of the road, not a big deal, except I found out the car has to be unloaded to get the spare tire out of the trailer. I fixed that problem the next week.

First three passes were time trials, the timing system was messed up and game me some bad data, they claim it was only first pass, but I am pretty sure it was not right on the second pass either. Second time trial showed a 1.53 60 foot time and a 7.17 et, I thought this was a bit fast. Third pass I ran it out to a 7.22 at 93.5 mph, more what I expected.

First round 7.18 dial, .0501 reaction, went 7.28 lifting very early dumping 10 mph. My opponent was not able to run his number so easy win taking the strip by .09.

Second round 7.19 dial, .0441 reaction, went 7.2188. Opponent was 8.32/.0498/8.4282. So, he was way off his number and I was able to tap the brakes, won by .08.

Third round 7.19/ .0020/ 7.2739. Opponent was 8.84/ .1290/ 8.8679. So, I dang near red lighted. Again, was able to get around him easy and was hard on the brakes only running 85 mph, Took the stripe by .071.

Fourth round I got a by round as the best reaction time from previous round gets the by if there is an odd number of cars, so my .002 got me a by run into the finals. Was feeling pretty good about that. Cut a .0559 light and went 7.2102 at 94.15.

Final round. Dialed 7.20, cut a .0340. This is where things go terribly wrong, and I royally screwed up. My opponent dialed 7.98, cuts a .0741 light. So, I have this thing in the bag, the car hooked, so i am going to catch him easy, get about a car length on him, just as I catch him, i nail the brakes at the stripe......or what I thought was the stripe, and let him catch me by too much. I realized what I had done, and nailed the throttle again, but it was too late. He took the stripe by .0009 seconds. He ended up going 7.9848 on that 7.98 dial. I was SOOOO pissed, just threw away the win. Somehow I misjudged the finish line. It was dark, it was late and I was tired is all I can figure. Got no one to blame but myself.

Jim Jr. and Jim Sr. Scott and Frank all three stayed the entire time to watch me, which I really appreciated, wish I could have got the win for them to see.

Here is their beautiful tube frame Dodge Dakota and my car in the pits.

7-17-09 through 7-19-09 Summit Motorsports Park, Norwalk OH

To start off, this was my son, Camden's first trip to the track. He is 10 months olds and did great, he of course was a big hit with our Olds racing friends.

Friday the track ran a door wars race, I think they called it Friday Chaos. I was in the "street assassin" class, basically could run one power adder and had to run a 10.5 tire or smaller, had to be street legal, tags, insurance, lights and so on. Had to qualify for the field of 16, I got in at 14, was surprised at that. They ran off a .500 pro tree. I got in with an 11.460.

First round I got #6 qualifier, which was a 9 second car, so needless to say, my 11.451 did not fair too well against his 9.402. Was a fun event, glad to just make the field.

Saturday was Norwalks mid season points championships. The pro class alone had 160 entries. My first time trial pass was at 1pm, ran 11.434 @116.20, second time trial pass was at 4:15pm and went 11.467 @115.14, so, it was getting hot. My first round pass was at 7:20 pm and I dial 11.45 and cut a .056 light and go 11.452 @115.72, my opponent went .062/10.641 on 10.60 dial, so I got by that one. Second round (10pm) was late on the tree with a .088 and went 11.419 @116.09 on a 11.43 dial. My opponent went .025/10.426 on 10.35 dial. I took the stripe by .0248 and broke out, so that was my saturday.

Sunday is the Dick Miller Racing Olds powered event. I am once again in Pro (no delay box) which is always the biggest class. As Dick had the track exclusively rented this day for Olds only, we were able to get a ton of test passes if we wanted them. I took 6 passes before elims started. Was running 11.38 -1.42 @ 115.6-116.1 mph. The 60 foot times were mostly 1.57, but one was 1.58 and one was 1.59. I don't normally 60 foot great at Norwalk, but they are usually consistent.

First round dialed 11.40, go 11.446 @115.99 mph, .039 tree, opponent dialed 12.09 and went 12.079 @108.12 with a .031 tree. Was a tight race but he took the stripe by too much and broke out.

Second round dialed 11.43, go 11.677 @101.35 mph, .163 tree, opponent dialed 12.35 and went 12.563@107.97 with a .300 tree. This race was a complete cluster f-. My opponent went in and put on both staging bulbs, which the track starter does not like, so he made the guy wait like 30 seconds and then let me take my time to stage my car. This is supposedly an advantage to me, but basically messed up my timing. I ended up cutting a crap light, but his was dead late so it ended up an easy win.

Third round dialed 11.44, go 11.468 @114.29 mph, .047 tree, opponent dialed 12.22 and went 11.25 @116.69 with a .058 tree. Another close race and tapped the brakes to scrub off maybe 1 mph, but was able to take the stripe and get the win.

Fourth round dialed 11.46, go 11.438 @115.59 mph, .075 tree, opponent dialed 10.64 and went 10.606 @126.45 with a .082 tree. A very close race on a double break out. Opponent took the stripe by .0057, but my margin of victory was .0127.

Fifth round, down to 6 cars. Dialed 11.45, go 11.421 @115.89 mph, .052 tree, opponent dialed 10.38 and went 10.369 @126.99 with a .040 tree. This one was an error on my part for not dialing 11.43 from the previous round. I think that would have made the difference to get a win on a double break out versus a loss. Oh well, was a good day of racing, won some close rounds against some stiff competition.

orange car was fourth round opponent, silver g-body was fifth round opponent.

photos from the Norwalk track photographer, Moto Lenz.

Our good friends, Scott and Missy Grossenbachers 71 Olds Super Pro car, went to the finals and got runner up. Another good friend, Rob Thomas 69 442 got runner up in Street, You can see Bill Sullivan's 72 Cutlass behind Robs, Bill won Street in his first trip to Norwalk, not bad (lucky bastard :-)

Our pit area and Cam just hanging out in his swing.

6-26-09 Midstate Dragway (Havana) test and tune

Was originally going to race on Saturday at another points race. However, with my traction issues, I decided to go to a Central Street Scene test and tune night. I bought a new set of tires, Hoosier 28X10.0X15 Slicks (D06 compound) with tubes installed. I wanted to try the new slicks out, adjust on the shock setting and also play with tire pressure.

First pass left the shocks at c-6 r-2, tire pressure at 12psi, spun and went 1.69 sixty foot and 7.43 e.t. Second pass left things alone ran again. Figured I better give the brand new tires more than one break in run. Went 1.58/7.30. Next pass changed the shocks to c-6, r-4 (stiffer extension), went 1.60/7.30. Fourth pass I decided to move the tire pressure to 14 psi, went 1.57/7.25. Now we are getting somewhere. Felt great, actually hooked. Fifth pass same setting went 1.56/7.24, Sixth pass went 1.55/7.23. Last pass decided to move over to the Right lane and went 1.56/7.25. So, very happy with results. Finally consistant.

So, eighth pass, I decided I wanted to watch the car go down the track. My buddy Wes was with me and had experience bracket racing his foot brake car, so I decided to let him make a pass. Went well, the car went 7.36 spinning a bit. This being Wes' first time in the car, he did not stall it up enough and flashed the converter pretty hard and broke the tires loose a little. Was cool to listen and watch my car go down the track.

Had to adjust the valve lash. Was getting a bit loose.

6-14-09 Midstate Dragway (Havana) points race

Still working on traction issues, I decided to do the Sportsman class. First time trial, spun, second time trial I dropped the air pressure in the slicks and it finally hooked. Went 7.26 in 91 degree and 63% humidity, so I was happy with that. First round of elims, my competition cut a bad light, which was good as I spun again, but was still able to cover him up and lift and get the win. Second round I got the blue Olds as seen below. Well he got his revenge this time. We both cut bad lights, his worse, so I should have been able to get the win, but I took the stripe by too much and broke out, 7.305 on a 7.32 dial. I just need more seat time at the 1/8th mile, it all happens much faster.

5-8-09 Midstate Dragway (Havana) points race

Decided to race 1/8 mile at Havana this week. They were paying $1500 to win Pro, so I figured this was a good time to go. I have not been to Havana since 2002 and the place was a total dump then. Now, new owners, many upgrades to the facility. We got three time trials. I was having terrible traction issues. I don't think they are famous for their track prep. I adjusted my shocks to soften them up and raised my two step so I would not flash the converter so hard, but still had issues. 

Three time trials were 7.39, 7.33, and 7.37. Spun on all three. First round I dialed 7.37, other guy went .001 red on the tree, so I got a free pass, did not spin as bad and went 7.32. Second round dialed 7.34 and went 7.39. My opponent took the stripe by way too much and broke out by .003. Third round my opponent and I cut almost identical lights and ended up a close race. I went 7.358 on a 7.34 and he went 8.653 on and 8.65 dial. I was lucky to get that far with the lack of traction I was experiencing. They need better track prep for sure. That concluded the day, was hot, peaked out at 94 and ended up about 85 by the time I was done.

I pitted with Jim and Brian Lapikas (J&S Machine) and we hung out for the day. A shot of our pit area and then a shot of Jim and Brian in front of his 69 Cutlass holding his timeslip.

My second round opponent was a nice 72 Cutlass. Last shot is of Chad in his monte carlo running in Super Pro. Chad is the Pace trailer dealer we bought our trailer from. His crew was nice enough to invite me over to a nice meal of Sloppy Joes.

5-8-09 Cordova Friday Fun Night

Well, not much to report. After an exciting drive to the track and having some a-hole do a u-turn on the interstate directly in front of me and forcing me to pull of some kind of amazing manuver to narrowly miss plowing into the back of them, we did get to the track safely. Once there, the clouds came in, but as of 4pm the forecast was clear. I made 4 passes and the rains came. Did not get to do any elimination rounds. The car ran 11.45, 11.43 and 11.44, then 4th pass it spun hard and only mustered an 11.59. I think there might have been a bit of sprinkles on the track. My 60 foot times were 1.55-1.57, so pretty consistant. So, after loading up in a down pour, Wes and I headed home.

4-18-09 Cordova Spring Warm up

Started the year at Cordova. My buddy Wes Barrett rode up with me and took in the sights and smells. I was mainly focused on adjusting my rear shocks. First four passes I was making shock adjustment changes. Adjusted around and managed to make things worse as far as 60 foot times. First round of trophy started, so I put the shocks back pretty close where I started and dialed high. I cut a crappy light, the car hooked and ended up lifting a bunch, but not enough, running a 11.448 on an 11.45 dial, so, I broke out and lost first round. I went back and ran another test pass with no changes and ran 11.32 at 117 mph with a 1.561 60 foot time, which I was pretty happy with. I would like my 60 foot times to be 1.55 consistantly.

 

Jeff Bryson and I before he headed out. Jeff runs a 350 cubic inch small block Olds powered 03 Olds Alero. Second photo is Jeff and Wes Barrett.

2008 RESULTS

Did not do a very good job of keeping up on reporting my 2008 season. Basically did not do much winning til the end of the season. I ran a new short block this season from the last two. Nothing wrong with my old one, I was presented with a deal, so I took it. Never really got any good cool air all season so I was not able to show a new personal best this season. I believe the motor was about .2-.3 tenths faster than last years motor in comparable weather.

2008 Olds Fall Nationals

Some shots from the Byron race this year. If you have an Olds, bring your car to this race. Get on www.realoldspower.com for the info. 

Final round matchup between myself and Scott Bares in his blue 70 442 convertible. Would have been a good race but Scott had some traction problems and I got super lucky by hitting the breaks hard at the strip and running 11.320 on my 11.32 dial. A little close.

 

The three race class winners. Rob Thomas from Michigan in his orange 69 442 won street class, I was in Pro class (no box), then Kevin Thompson from Kentucky in his green 70 F-85 who won Super Pro (delay box). Thanks to Jim at J&S Machine for putting up an extra $100 to class winners wearing his t-shirt.

2007 RESULTS

4-14-07
Cordova Dragway Park Opening Day


Opening day at Cordova Raceway Park ended up a pretty good one for me. The weather was not ideal, cloudy, cool, a little windy. First pass I spun badly and then bouced the motor off the rev limiter on both shifts because my shift light was not working at all. Ran 11.68. Ended up the tach signal wire was not making contact, problem solved. Waited around hoping the track would improve and then made two back to back passes before trophy eliminations started.
Car still spun, but was consistent, plus I shifted it right, ran an 11.47 and 11.45.
Trophy was a small field, so I knew I had a fair chance to win it, there were a few guys who I knew would be tough.
First round I get the bye, but did not get to use it. I end up racing a guy on a frickin 22 second moped. Apparently, his motor cycle broke down and he ran his pit moped instead. Anyway, he red lit and I ran an 11.415.
Second round I get a 4th gen Camaro, he dials an 11.30 and cuts a terrible .345 light. Needless to say, I covered him up easy, lifted a couple of times and ran an 11.608 on an 11.45 dial.
Third round I finally get to use the bye, ran a nice pass, no spin, went 11.396. The car was liking the left lane, all my 60 foot times were better in that lane. This one was 1.580.
Fourth round was the final round. I was pretty confident I could run an 11.40 in the left lane. The guy I was racing wanted the right lane so it worked out. I dial 11.40 and went and turned on the red bulb. Damn it!!! The car ran an 11.401. The bulb was -.015 red and my opponent cut a .036 light. I knew I needed a decent light, but I pushed it too much.
MPH was at the 115 mph range all day. Off about 1. I think we had a bit of a head wind. Good day, happy with how the car ran.

5-12-07
Hot Rod Magazine Pump Gas Drags in Memphis TN
All the photos are first, then I wrote a little about the weekend.

Thursday night test and tune at Memphis Motorsports Park

My one qualifying pass on Saturday.

Quarantine after all tech inspection is done. First row of completed tech cars.

At the track during cool down before the qualifying pass.

The crowd checking out all the cars at the track.

During beginning of the drive to the track just after I waited on the train.

My competitor in first round of eliminations. Dan and his wife Becky were super people and Missy and I got to be friends with them. As luck would have it, we were paired up first round. Yes, he won.

For those not familiar. Hot Rod magazine has been putting on this race for the last 3 years, this one being the 4th. You have to send in an application to be selected. 75 cars were selected. The car has to be street legal with documentation. You have to make a 30 mile drive to the track through Memphis traffic in the heat of the day without falling behind or you are disqualified. You also have to check in at three checkpoints along the way. When you arrive at the track, you then get a cool down period and then have to make one 1/4 mile pass down the track. All the cars are placed from fastest to slowest, only the top 32 get to race in eliminations, which is heads up (first one to the finish line wins). If you win 5 rounds in a row, you win. All this is done with 10 gallon of 93 octane pump gas (cruise, qualifying pass, first and second round, then they will give you 5 more gallon if you make it that far).

What a weekend. Was a fun event to be a part of and just an honor to be picked.
Missy and I drove down to Memphis on Thursday to participate in the test and tune. Was about an 8 hour drive for us and got there around 3:30. Weather was not ideal, very hot and humid. The traction was not the best. I ran an 11.57 with a little spin, an 11.63 with a lot of spin and then managed an 11.51. I called it a night at that point which was good as it started pouring down rain shortly after I got everything loaded back in the trailer for the night.

Friday was an off day, no racing at the track at all. Did some small stuff on the car in preparation for the next day. Went down to famous Beil street in Memphis and had some BBQ.

Saturday was a long day. Got up at around 6:30 because I could not sleep any more. I am sure I was a little excited. Anyway, the plan was to drive from the track to Comp Cams in the Cutlass, where all the tech inspection would take place. Myself and two other competitiors drove together with Missy leading the way. It was about a 20 mile cruise to Comp Cams. We were one of the first cars to arrive so I got into tech farily soon. They checked the car over pretty good. Lights, blinkers, horn, registration, insurance, safety equipment, and tire size (no more than 11.25 inch tread width). If any failed, you did not pass and were pushed back and allowed to work on the car. You had to be teched in by 2:30pm. They then drain all your gas and give you 10 gallon of 93 octane gas and then seal the filler cap. You can not add fuel or you are out.
The car is then impounded for the rest of the day until the cruise to the track begins. The hood is sealed and you are not allowed to touch the car at all during this time. Before the car is impounded, you can put any tools in it you may need when you get to the track. If it is not carried to the track in the car, you are not allowed to use it any any point in the race.
So finally at about 3:30 the cruise starts, which they do not tell you the route until you are pulling out of the Comp Cams driveway. The first thing I did as I left was get stopped by a freight train for a good 10 minutes. I had a co-pilot, Kevin, to help me navigate the correct route. Knew Kevin online and met him in person on Thursday. He was a big help for the drive. Anyway, the drive was no problem. The car stayed cool, at about 180-195 the whole drive. It was hot and humid. Had to be at least 90 and like 80% humidity.
We get to the track and are greeted by a huge crowd. I was not expecting this. It was really cool everyone cheering and taking photos. Once we parked we are allowed to open the hoods and work on anything. I just checked to make sure I did not have any fouled plugs and dropped the air pressure in my rear tires. I was ready to go. The cool down was supposed to be 30 minutes but was well over an hour. We all were then called to make a qualifing pass. Mind you, only 35 cars made qualifying passes. This was good for me. A bunch of cars were spinning off the line badly and did not get good runs. I ran an 11.544 with slight wheel spin. I qualified #29. At this point, I was happy. Accomplished more than I expected. First round of eliminations, I ran the #13 qualifier who went 10.15. Needless to say, I lost that race. I deep staged trying to get a good reaction time, the car spun and ran an 11.67.
I later ran an exibition pass between rounds and managed an 11.491 @114.85. I was happy with this considering how hot and humid it was.
So that was it. Great experience. The numbers worked out like this: 75 cars invited, approx. 55 showed up to Comp Cams, 41 left Comp Cams for the cruise, 35 made qualifing passes. Through all that attrition, that left me with a chance to qualify. I was proud to even make the field. I believe I was one of two naturally aspirated cars. One other Olds powered car was invited but did not show.
All the racing got done at about 11pm. I was dog tired and headed to the showers. I could not bring myself to listen to the whole awards ceremony part. The editor of Hot Rod likes to talk. I think they got done at about 12:30. Went to bed at 1am.

6-1-07
Friday Fun Night - Cordova Dragway Park
Not much in the way of good racing to report. I did get the opportunity to take some interns from work to the track. That proved to be fun for them. The entire evening was almost called off due to a big thunderstorm that hit the track at about 2pm. They decided to run as the sun came out and did a good job drying the track.
Not sure if it was the rain coming back up through the track or the lack of track prep, but starting line traction was an issue all night for me and almost everyone else. Usually, traction is not an issue for me at all, but it was terrible all night. The car count was low, so I suspect they were stingy with the traction compound.
The car ran anywhere from 11.67 down to 11.54, spinning hard off the starting line on every pass. The 60 foot times were all over the place. With the weather like it was, should have been deep in the 11.40's.
Anyway, I was in the trophy bracket race for a little practice. Because the car count was so low, 4 rounds got you into the finals. I ran around a guy at the finish line when he went hard on the brakes. The next two rounds were also gifts as they both went red on the tree. Final round I cut an embarassingly bad light. My opponent covered me up easily.
Not my most memorable trip to the track, but it was still better than my best day at work :-) !!!

6-23-07
Thunderfest - Cordova Dragway Park
RAINOUT. Missy and I thought we would beat the rush and go up on Friday night and sleep at the track and get a good pit spot. It started raining at about 9pm and then proceded to rain for the next 18 hours. They started drying the track at about 3. I made my first (and only) qualifing pass at 5pm. Started to drizzle again. At 7pm they made the call to postpone the race til the next day. I could not burn another day and we packed up and went home. I did get to spend some quality time in our new trailer.

6-30-07
Freefest - Cordova Dragway Park
Another weird day. The timing system would not work at the track, so the race was cancelled. TOTAL buzz kill. I have managed to go to the track two weekends in a row and have made a total of two passes. Basically just wasted a bunch of diesel.

7-13-07 through 7-15-07
Dick Miller Racing Olds Powered Nationals - Norwalk, OH
This is our big Olds race for the year. The one we most look forward to. I believe Dick Miller told me he had 200 Olds powered race cars this year.

Thursday - The drive to Norwalk, takes about 8 hours for us. Missy got off work early and we were able to get to Norwalk just before dark. We arrived about 30 minutes before it started raining, so we timed it pretty good. With a long day driving, it was just fine with us to go to sleep. We fired up the generator, the A/C and were out.

Friday - We make the move across the street to the track. Friday morning is Olds only test and tune. I was able to get in 8 test passes. The car ran 11.48 to 11.52 with 115 mph. Also, Missy finally got to take two passes down the track with me. Norwalk is one of the few tracks that allow passengers. She got to feel what an 11.55 @ 114.84mph feels like. She liked it. Also, the car was hooking great. Had seven 1.58 60 foot times on Friday. Pretty happy with the consistency. I was struggling with lights at Norwalk. Their rollout seems a bit longer than Cordova's. I was experimenting with bumping in a little deep past the stage light. Was not having much luck.
There was a Gamblers Race run which I entered. Lost first round. Ran an 11.501 on an 11.49 dial and cut a .063 light. Was not good enough to get the win. Lost by .0062 at the stripe. They had first round buy backs, so I got back in, and proceeded to loose second round also. This time I cut a .045 light and ran and 11.523 on and 11.50 dial. I just could not get a break. Oh well, that was Friday.

Saturday - This is the normal Norwalk points race night with alot of cars. I decided to run the Sportsman class which has an e.t. break at 12.00 and slower. So, I moved my throttle braket a bit to slow it down. Everything was running smoothly so we ended up getting three time trials before eliminations. That almost never happens at these big races. It was a short racing day for me. I cut a .111 light in round one, ran a 12.172 on a 12.15 dial. Crappy light, that was that.
This did enable me to catch an early shower and plenty of time to socialize, which was nice. At about 10pm, it started raining, so the race was called a little early.

Sunday - Time for the Olds Powered Race. This year marks the 10th Anniversary of the race, so Dick Miller decided to have a "race of champions". All winners and runner-ups from the last 9 years were invited to race each other in the same class they won in. Did not have to have the same car, but it had to be in the same class. So only 6 cars from Street class showed up. First round was a nail biter, I ended up winning by a hair, took the stripe by .0063. Cut a .051 and ran 11.556 on an 11.54 dial. That was a huge confidence builder after the last two days of not winning squat. Second round I nailed the tree good and cut a .014. My opponent cut a bad light so I caught him easy and lifted. With only 6 cars, it is the final round already. I cut another good light at .027, the other guy cut a bad .091 light. I caught him, lifted, coasted by and lost!!! I broke out by .006. Crap, The car must have picked up a bit. I did not think I had anything to worry about, so I did not hit the brakes, guess I should have. Ran 11.534 on an 11.54 dial. Runner-up got me $50 and a nice plaque.
So now on to the normal race. I am in Street class, large class, I think around 60 cars or so.
First round .054 light, covered up the other guy easy and took the win.
Second round .009 light (best ever in elims), went 11.605 on an 11.57 dial. Win.
Third round .094 (not sure what happened there), my opponent did better on the reaction time and I ended up breaking out trying to get around him. Went 11.583 on and 11.59 dial.
So that was Norwalk for the year. Was a blast. Won a few rounds, car did not break. Ran 23 passes in three days.

This is the "Race of Champions" lineup. Winner and runner-ups from all three classes. My friend Jeff Smith won the Pro class in the red 65 442.

7-21-07
Oldsmobile Club of America/Mondello Olds Powered Appreciation Nationals - Bowling Green, KY

Back to back races with the Norwalk event. Missy and I drove back to Peoria on Monday. Tuesday and Wednesday I did some maintenance to the car. We cleaned up the trailer, restocked it and Missy did all the clothes washing. We headed to Bowling Green on Thursday morning. Met up with our friends Scott and Missy Grossenbacher (tyler and kenzie and bandit also) at a RV park next to the track.
Friday morning, the G-bachers headed to the OCA car show. This year the OCA is making an effort to recongnize race cars. Scott entered his car in the show. I chose not to. Maybe next year. Missy and I slept in a bit and headed to the car show. Wow, that was a bunch of Olds in one place. Hundreds of them. It was hot, so a few hours of walking around, Missy and I and Kenzie opted to head to the water park in the afternoon.
Saturday we moved over to the track. It started out with open time trials. I made 5 passes. Ran anywhere from an 11.42 upto a 11.50. The air must have been pretty good as the mph was 117-118. Traction was an issue for almost everyone that day. Not sure why. I knew eliminations were going to be interesting to dial in.
First round I go -.004 on the tree. I ran the pass out, and go 11.571 on an 11.46 dial. Interesting. I would have been screwed even if I did not red light.
Luckily, they had first round buy backs.
Second round I figure I better dial up with the traction being so inconsistent. I cut a .057 light and ran the guy down and lifted getting the win.
Third round I cut a .108 light (crappy) but it was better than the other guy and ran 11.638 on and 11.62 dial and got the win.
Fourth round i go .069 on the tree. The other guy went red. I ran the car out to an 11.442 on the 11.61 dial. Talk about sandbagging. The car really hooked. Going into the final round, I was unsure what to dial. I decided to dial up and hope I cut a better light.
Final round i cut a dismal .091 light. Luckily my opponent went .211 on the tree, so I was able to catch him and nail the brakes at the stripe and get the win.
This win got me $500 from the OCA. Joe Mondello was there to hand out some murchandise. Got a full gasket set and a nice timing chain set, along with some Torco racing oil. Not a bad prize package.

All the three class winners and runner ups. Missy and I.

Me and Abel, winner and runner up in Street Class. Kevin Thompson, and Scott Grossenbacher, winner and runner up in Super-Pro, and me.

8-8-07 and 8-9-07
Olds Fall Nationals - Byron, IL
This two day event was scheduled to have a quick 16 on Saturday and those who did not make it could enter a gamblers cash race. However, the track was badly overbooked with several different groups and events. Combine this with a big oil down and it made for a long day. The track no longer has an evening curfew, but it really does not matter because they can not run past dark, because they have no lights on the track. This event started on Saturday with some time runs, the car ran an 11.53, .55. and .56. Then it was time for quick 16 qualifing, but apparently the first run was only a "time run" for practice. I ran 11.511. So then an hour and a half later we got to run our "qualifying run", I ran 11.517. Here is where it gets weird. Only 17 guys made the "qualifying run". Several guys did not run the "qualifying run" because they assumed the first pass got them in. It was confusing. So I am sitting at #17. A buddy of mine was running out of tire, and sitting at #15. He elected to scratch, and that put me in the show at #16.
By now, the track is so far behind, I really wanted in the quick 16 because there was no way they would have time to get in our gamblers race. So basically I would have been there all day with no chance at a purse.
So, first round I dial a 11.50, cut a bad light (.096) on the .500 pro tree. My opponent was worse on the tree, so I covered him up and ran 11.575 on the brakes. FYI, first round was run exactly 2 hours after our qualifying run.
Second round I dial 11.49, cut another bad light and run 11.463. I beat the guy to the line and hit the brakes, but not soon enough, so I lost on the break out.
Sunday brings us to the Olds classes. The track is still swamped with tons of cars. We got two time runs before eliminations. I ran 11.490 and 11.505.
First round I drill the tree (back to the normal .500 sportsman tree) with .018 reaction time. I easily catch the other car and run it through with an 11.515.
Second round I get the bye. They gave the bye to the best reaction time in round one. So I kind of earned it.
Third round I cut a .060 light and run 11.634 hard on the brakes on the 11.51 dial.
Fourth round (final round) I dialed down because the incrementals from round three told me I would have run an 11.46. I cut a .039 light and catch the other car easily and run an 11.518, getting the race win.
So that was that, only 12 cars with only 1 car buying back. That made for 4 rounds of racing.

Here are all three class winners. Me on the left in Street. Kevin Thompson won Super Pro, and Jim Peterson won Pro driving Jeff Smiths car.

9-22-07
Sponsor Showdown, Cordova, IL
This is a team race, 5 cars each team, accumulating points each round win until there are none left. The team was consited of myself, Greg Tinney (71 442), Jeff Bryson (02 Alero), Bob Kelso (82 Cutlass Wagon) and Kenny (64 F-85)
Well, not much to report on this one. Assembled a team of all Olds race cars. Two of us went out first round, the other three went out second round. Not much of a showing for the Olds team. Before eliminations even started, we had to go find a substitute for Jeffs car as it had a valve train problem.
Anyway, first round I cut a .004 light but run off my number .04 and lost at the strip by .003, bummer.

10-6-07 and 10-7-07
USA Olds Powered Nationals Indianapolis, IN
Was a hot one in Indy. Not expecting that much heat in Indianapolis in October. Saturday I qualified for the quick 16 at number 15. Like the Cutlass and I have done in the past on the .400 pro tree, I was cutting good lights deep staging. Traction was not the best, most likely because of the high track temps. I ended up going to the finals and won the thing. Was good win for me as I had some family in town watching, which always adds a little pressure to perform. The wifes aunt and uncle as well as her second cousin. Troy (uncle) took some awesome photos, most of which are shown below.
Sunday was the regular three bracket racing classes of super pro, pro and street. I entered street and ended up winning that class. So needless to say, was a very good weekend for me. The car ran great, got in a bunch of passes. The car count was not where we would have liked it to be, but this was a first year event, so I expect better numbers in the years to come.

10-13-07
BOP Cordova, IL
Kind of an anticlimatic end to the season. Made two passes when I got there. One without the exhaust just out of curiosity. Ended up only picking up .04 seconds, which is basically nothing, the weather could have contributed to that change. I did learn that I do not like listening to that much exhaust noise. Also, I could really feel seat of the pants difference off the line, it was really doggy, it killed the torque. Now I know.
So then some Pontiac nails the wall, gets hung up on the railing. About an hour and a half later, they got him off the rail, and it starts raining. The race is under a wait and see rain delay. Missy and I decided to pack up and head out. Two reasons.
1. We had Packer tickets and had to drive up to Green Bay yet that night.
2. We had undergone what I will call the rain delay from hell earlier this season at Cordova. To put it lightly, they wait a bit too long to call races when it rains, and I was not up to it this day.
Of course, we left and they ended up racing, but that is okay, we got a good jump on our drive north.

So there you go, that is a wrap to the season. Was a good one. Ran 96 passes and won more eliminations rounds than ever and won more races than ever. Also, this is year number two on the same motor with no problems.

Racing Accomplishments
2003 Mondello Olds Nationals Street Winner Byron, IL
2004 Dick Miller Olds Powered Nationals Street Runner Up Norwalk, OH
2005 Mondello Olds Nationals Street Winner Byron, IL
2005 Mondello Olds Nationals Quick 16 Runner Up Byron, IL
2005 NMCA Pure Street 12 second index Cordova event Winner
2006 Mondello Olds Nationals Quick 16 Winner Byron, IL
2006 Cordova Raceway park Sponsor Showdown Winner (no-box class)
2006 Won 3 Friday night Trophy bracket races at Cordova
2007 Selected for the Hot Rod Magazine Pump Gas Drags, qualified 29th. Memphis, TN
2007 Dick Miller Racing Olds Powered Nationals "Race of Champions" Street runner-up Norwalk, OH
2007 OCA Nationals Street Winner Bowling Green, KY
2007 Olds Fall Nationals Street Winner Byron, IL
2007 Olds Indy Nationals Q-16 Winner
2007 Olds Indy Nationals Street Winner
2008 Olds Fall Nationals Pro Winner Byron, IL
2008 BOP Slick tire class Runner Up Cordova, IL