There is some self hypnosis involved...and a whole bunch of research and record keeping! As Polarpete alluded, it's easier to remember the things you are passionate about.

I walked back to our pits, and noticed that Dale had the front end removed from the Gremlin.
"I thought you were going to make another pass?" I questioned Dale as he leaned on the passenger's side front tire.
"That was the plan", Dale shrugged, "but something doesn't sound right on this side of the engine, so I'm going to pull a valve cover and have a look!"
"Did you hear those guys talking about us on the loud speaker?" Boone interjected with a nudge.
"Yeah", I chuckled, I'm sure John mentioned something about it."
"Said he was surrounded by a bunch of celebrities, and insiders." Boone laughed.
I walked over to show John my time slip, when I noticed out of the corner of my eye that Rachael wasn't returning to our pit, but was instead driving the Belvedere right back up the staging lanes.
"I better go stop her...or she will burn that poor thing to the ground", I explained, then sprinted across the grass, waving to get her attention. "Sprinted", in this case, is of course, relative to what you expect from a 300lb. fifty year old! The effort felt like it to me, even if the result didn't appear to be "sprinting" to anyone else.

"What do you think you are doing?" I asked her, between gasps for air. She had the driver's door open, helmet still on, and I was bent over in the opening, with my hands on my knees.
"That one was too fast, and you told me we weren't accepting the 11.89...so I need another run!"
"Yeah, but you can't be making three back to back runs, everything is too hot, so bring it back to the pits, let it cool off, and we'll formulate a plan for how you're going to get an 11.50 time slip to turn in."
"Fine", she threw up her hands, "But I didn't run the car all out when I rolled through the beams on that first one...I'm smart enough to know that was a wasted pass!"

She parked the Belvedere in the grass next to John's Valiant, and headed straight for Boone while I opened the hood to cool the 440 down.
"Where is your time slip Boone?" I heard her ask, politely, almost sweetly. He handed it to her, and she immediately pulled out her phone and took a picture of it, then handed it back.
"I already got a pic of it", Boone looked at her, with a puzzled expression.
"This photo is for me!" She explained, then produced her last time slip from the Belvedere and took a picture of it."
"Because I want everyone to know that on this day, at Great Lakes Dragaway...the Belvedere drug the Barnyard Viper's butt!"
"Hey!! That's not funny", Boone protested, but judging from the laughter of everyone else in our group, he was apparently the only one that felt that way.

Rachael was faunching at the bit for another pass, and I just decided if I couldn't calm her down, I might as well join her.
"I'll follow you up in the Valiant", I told her, as she was already back behind the wheel despite the hood still in the up position.
"Look...if it feels as good as it did on that last pass, you're going to have to lift early. But if it spins, or you are late on the N20 button, or it does anything stupid in the front half, run it out the back!"
She nodded in affirmation, and pulled her helmet back on, as Skippy lowered the hood.

By this time, there were only a handful of cars still making runs. Some, because they had yet to hit their goals for the day, some were chasing problems, and some were wringing out every hundredth they could, in an attempt to try and stay in the hunt for their respective classes.

The latter group included three of the six Street Race Small Block NA cars which still had nine second averages for the week. Roberts and Tabscott were trading body blows all day at the head of the pack in their chevies, making run after run to shave off hundredths. The third was Paul Corman's Demon. Paul was the defending class champ, and he had been blindsided on day one by the onslaught of fast cars challenging for supremacy in Drag Week's most competitive class. His willingness to punish the green a-body had rewarded him with a move from 6th to 4th by Wednesday, putting a pair of C-6 Corvettes and a pair of fox body Mustangs in his rear view mirror for the rest of the week.

Hunter's 56 Chevy, and McGilton's Big bucks Zl-1 '13 Camaro were loading up their trailers and preparing for the trip ahead, apparently deciding that giving up a tenth to Blasco's Dart on hump day would have to be good enough. Only 6 of the initial 12 Pro Street Power Adder entries were still in the battle, so perhaps survival was the smart call.

I was directly behind Rachael, sitting in the water box, when she launched the Belvedere, and it was fairly obvious by the time she made the one-two shift that the ole 440 was making a stout pass.
"Better get out of it!" I shouted into my helmet.
The starter motioned at me to begin my burnout as an 11.53 at only 100 mph flashed on the scoreboard.
"NICE", I breathed a sigh of relief, "now we can call it a day!"
My pass was anything but nice, with a bad hesitation at the hit, followed by spinning, but by the time I clicked second, I had put it behind me, deciding instead to focus on the track, and my surroundings as we traversed a quarter mile I may never see again. The 10.66-126 was nothing of note, but I enjoyed the run in spite of the numbers.

When I returned to our pit spot, and pulled up behind Dale's Gremlin, all I saw were somber faces gathered around his engine. It became fairly evident that my prediction of "calling it a day" was not even remotely close!

"Dropped an intake valve", Dale mumbled at me as I walked over, "Can you go up to the tower and put a call in for some parts?"
"Sure...I guess, I've got to turn in my slip and get my route sheet anyway. How do you know it didn't shatter the piston?"
He shrugged, "I had it running, it wasn't smoking...just sounded rough. There isn't any junk on the plug, but I found this when I took the cover off."
I peered over John's shoulder, the #4 intake valve was about halfway open, and was stuck in the guide. The retainer was broken half into, and the locks were in pieces. "That's ugly...gonna pull the head? I questioned as Dale handed me a scrap of paper.
"If we can find some parts", Dale surmised.
"Actually it doesn't matter Dale", John interjected, "if we have a chance of fixing it...the head has to come off, so we might as well get to it!"
Dale's head snapped up as if he had just been awakened from a dream, "Yeah! You're right", he looked at me, "Go put out the call, and we'll tear into it."

I walked to the top of the small tower, and handed the paper to a track worker. A few minutes later Freiburger was calling for a 2.19 Indy valve, 1.55 retainer, and 10 degree locks. He questioned whether or not it could be for the Dart, but Brian Lohnes quickly corrected him, "That was one of the Gebharts, so I'm thinking Gremlin! If any body can offer them some help, seek out the Gremlin in the pits!"

John and James were doing most of the disassembly as Dale was busy networking with locals who had leads on parts, and the people who could handle the work he needed done. It always amazes me about Drag Week, how quickly you can go from utter desperation to back on the road, due in no small part, to people who are more than willing to help keep these steel chariots rolling. America's love and romance of Hot Rods is still very much alive and well!

Rachael and Opal pulled out their small grills, and began preparing food for our little army in short order.
"Did you turn in your time slip yet?" I asked Rachael.
"Oh...yeah, I better run and do that. Let me get these brats started first!"
"Let me see your last one compared to the 11.30. How quick did you get out of the nitrous?"
She handed me both passes, "I lifted completely off the gas, right after I got off the bottle!" She smiled and shook her head, "the thing was flying, I knew it was a great pass!"
Five hundredths quicker to 60ft. (1.65), six hun at the 1/8 (7.15), and she had lifted early enough to scrub eight mph on the 11.30 pass. The numbers left me wondering what the old, wore out, 3800lb. b-body would have ran out the back door, perhaps an 11.20, or even a fifteen? I whistled, and shook my head before handing her the slips back, and in my best Forrest Gump imitation said, "440's and nitrous go together like peas and carrots!"
"Very funny Dad! But we didn't bring any veggies, unless you count the relish!"

"We've got it figured out, I think", Dale explained to me, "We found one place in Kenosha that has the parts we need, then Don's Auto Parts and Machine Shop say they can repair the guide, seat, and get the head back together". He looked longingly towards Darren's Ram as he talked about the thirty mile round trip.
"No, take the Belvedere. Someone sees you drive off with that cylinder head in Darren's truck, and they will be sending pictures to the Drag Week staff before you even hit the gate!"

billy, do you [or any others] have much trouble with trailer tires ? especially those that haul the "run of the mill" lowes, home depot, harbor freight, and similar utility trailers ? and if so, how many spare tires/wheel assemblies [along with spindles and bearings if necessary] are required fare ? this may be just a rhetorical or unnecessary question, so please don't hold it against me if it is not a problem. i just wondered.

Barnyard Viper is taking on a life of its own.... Was just watching the new roadkill..... There it is in the Staging lanes at Tulsa Raceway Park!

In the time honored tradition of Big Daddy Don Garlits; sometimes, if you really want to get noticed, you have to go west! So next up for the Barnyard Viper is a trip to Bakersfield for the Famoso March Meet!

Damn! John has the larger old school steel Coleman!! He's outdone me once again!

the place is going to LOVE that old truck!!

moparx,
When Boone had to give up his wheel bearing grease thirty miles into the trip on the first day, it was for a competitor who had burned up a bearing on his trailer. The consensus among the HF trailer users seems to be that the 12" wheels are a must. The 8" versions create higher bearing speed, and more drag, which the typical high stall converter cars are sensitive to.

Quite a few of the custom trailers use the exact same wheel/tire combo on the trailer, as they run on the front of their car. While this may seem to be the height of vanity, it does allow them to carry less spares.


I've also noticed quite a few of them have extended the tongues. If you notice in this picture of James Reeves' Omni GLH, the wheel base of the car seems to be the same as the distance to the trailer axle.

Great post!

i was thinking those small wheels would potentially be a problem, as well as creating problems with the bearings and hubs. those that used the same front runners as on their car was thinking good ideas ! and lastly, i know from the old "flat towing" days, the longer the tow bar was, the truer the towed vehicle tracked. i personally flat towed a new ss GTX from 68-72 with a 72" long bar, and it was miles ahead in handling from the locally available 36" long bars the dune buggy and jeep racers used. i could go 65-70 mph with a pickup or a u-haul clamp-on-bumper hitch[now that was safe ] and not even feel like it was back there. i would think those that tow the hardware store utility trailers find more stability extending the tongue as i found with the longer tow bar. i also used tow hubs that were for a chevy pattern with the 4 1/5" pattern drilled between the 4 3/4" pattern with a hand drill. there was no tapered seat because the hub was too large to accommodate the taper, plus we didn't have any thing to make the taper with. just used regular nuts that had to be tightened with an open end wrench. life seemed so much calmer and laid back then as opposed to today. and for those that wonder, that GTX was fast around town and a local track or two, but a real slug against guys that knew what was going on. it was fun none the less.

Dale tossed the wounded cylinder head in the empty trunk of the Belvedere, as Skippy and Boone jumped in with him for the trip to Kenosha.

John had some emory cloth and brake clean on hand, so he decided to tackle the job of dressing up the dinged piston top as best he could given our current predicament, while James was tasked with cleaning up all the other parts for re-assembly.

I decided to concentrate on the Valiant. We had some time on our hands, right at that moment that we were going to pay dearly for later in the night, so we needed to make it count for something. I changed the oil on the small block, went over the header bolts, and just tightened and checked everything I could think of, then started to install the pipes and pack everything up for the road trip.

Darren had been watching the last few runs down the track, as well as checking out all the stragglers still in the pits, and he walked over next to the Valiant as I was installing the passenger's side exhaust pipe.
"Can you get that thing on there, Chubby, or do I need to jack the car up higher?" He teased, as he sat down on a canvas chair next to the car.
"No...I've got it just fine...if you really want to help, you could just get down here and put it on for me", I countered.
"Don't think so", he laughed, "since I'm just following along, and not an official trunk monkey that might get you disqualified, besides, I thought you had Skippy trained to do that for you?"
"Yeah, but he went with Boone and Dale to get the head off the Gremlin fixed."
"So he baled on you to go sight seeing?"
"I think Rachael sent him along to keep an eye on the Belvedere...I don't think she trusts her Uncles to be out on the streets in her car without supervision!"
"Probably a good call, who was driving when they left here?"
"Dale", I stated.
"Definitely a good call on her part then", he chuckled.
"Did Goldstone get his six today in the red AMX"? I changed the subject.
"No, he made three hits today, but all were low sevens...he just couldn't get the power down at about a 150 feet out, and had to pedal it every pass."
"What about Joe Barry?"
"He was struggling today too. Monte got him lined up in the groove on his last hit and it was great to the 1/8th, but then it laid down in the second half and only went 177!"
"Only"?
"Well, the ole Creamsicle '56 been over 200, so I think 'only' applies in his case", he laughed. "Did you see them haul the green Nova out of here on a trailer"?
"Brad Dyer in the '72, that won Modified NA last year? I saw them working on it down at the end of the return road."
"Yeah, he's done! They were interviewing him on camera earlier today, and he admitted to running his entire Drag Week trip on C-14 fuel!
"That's just crazy! I know the Horns did the same thing last year in that small block Challenger, but I think they had 110 octane fuel with them. I'll just have to be a slow guy in the NA classes, because I'm just not going to do it that way".
"Well, there's E-85!" He started laughing.
"After your debacle last year...no thanks!"

Thats crazy, c114. My car is 12.5-1 and I run pump for the drives no issue. That must be a tick higher in compression lol

87 for the drives, and I fill up with 93 to race. Or 91, if there's no 93 there.

2011 was the year the staging lanes were absolutely nutso.

2012 started the separate run groups. Works ok I guess but sucks if one guy in your group is a SME car and you have to hang around for him to make his run(s).

That would be me in my group James Lol

"Did you see those crazy Aussies?" Darren asked as I moved to the other side.
"Which ones? There's like 5 cars this year, or 6 maybe".
"Well Faraone didn't make it today in the Valiant Charger, so there is one less, but I'm talking about the purple Holden".
"The Trapnell's Monaro. Didn't they make like five or six hits right at the end of the day? I couldn't figure out what was going on, but it didn't sound happy".
"They're parked in front of the fuel depot right now, with the car up on jack stands, and parts scattered everywhere...something about a camshaft problem."
"Well...that's not good! I wonder what time they are going to shut this place down and want us off the property?"
"There are cars rolling in on trailers right now", Darren observed, "so I think they are running another program tonight."
"Cool! At least we won't have to push the Gremlin out on the street to finish up."

Dale was back with the cylinder head much quicker than I anticipated, rolling back into the facility around 4:30pm. He had barely placed the head back on his hitch cargo carrier/converted work bench to clean it up for re-assembly when a gentleman walked up with a bunch of Indy rockers, shims, locks, and retainers. I think his name was Steve, but I remember faces far better than I remember names, anyway, he had heard the call over the loudspeaker for parts, and had driven forty-five minutes back home, gathered up some of his stuff, and drove back to see if he could be of assistance! He ended up selling the stuff to Dale for about half what it would have fetched here on the Moparts classified section, not to mention his time and fuel.
"You are a lucky dog!" I teased Dale
"People on Drag Week just never cease to amaze me", he shook his head, "the amount of help we've gotten over the years from random hot rodders and car enthusiasts...it's just awesome!"

Shane McClelland pulled up in the Crusty Nova, trailer in tow, clearly on his way to Cordova, and checked to see if Dale needed anything else. Shane and Dale were in the final of the Shootout last year, but neither were having the kind of Drag Week in 2015 that they had planned. Shane was currently fourth in Modified PA, and Dale was fifth.