California is the place ya oughta be......

I wonder how the Barnyard Viper did in Gasser Class?
Jerry

I was in Bakersfield for Thursday & Fridays sessions at the March Meet and can confirm that yes, Billy has been busy racing and traveling. It was great to get to chat with Billy and Boone for a while. As good as he is at writing this stuff down for us, he's just as fun to bench-race with in person. I enjoyed meeting them and getting a first hand look at the Valiant and Barnyard Viper.

Billy had a bit of a mishap with the Valiant on Thursday that I'll let him explain. Not a huge issue, but something I'm sure he will be able to spin yarn about for years to come.

Did it involve his hood?

sharp eyes! That guy's head was hiding it...

secret drag week testing exposed!!!

I apologize guys.

Playing with cars, writing stories, interacting with our friends on the net...all provide a respite from the everyday grind of life. But sometimes life grabs you by the nape of the neck and demands all of your attention. Whether it's health, marriage, kids, financial, legal, or other wise, you have to be the patriarch on occasion, and handle what's thrown your way.

It's been a particularly trying week, but, much like we've learned from DW, you deal with the problems as they arise, and move forward to the next obstacle!

We've officially passed the halfway mark between DW-15, and DW-16, and with registration already completed, car swaps, and new plans...I should be working on The Preparation 16 story, and yet here I sit, only 75% through this story! Frankly, by expanding the scope of the story, and trying to provide a larger window into the happenings of drag week, I've probably bitten off more than I can chew...Then again, if you've read most of these stories, you've come to understand that perhaps, that is situation normal for the Gebhart bunch.

The March Meet at Famoso was a bucket list type item for me, and it was a memorable trip. The Thursday run for the Valiant was initiated by a nice wheelstand and the second best 60ft. the car has ever produced, a 1.413, and a great photo op., but the re-entry was a little rough, and I was on the rev limiter before I gathered myself, and bumped it into second. Apparently the rough landing had also jarred loose the 50+ year old, stock hood latch, and at the 1000' mark, the hood flew up, and ripped itself loose from the stock hood hinges. The only damage to the rest of the body was a small scuff above the windshield where the abs plastic aero scoop hit the top on it's way over the car. At the 1/8 mile it was 6.582-102.27, versus a 6.596-103.87 on my best ever 10.39-128, so despite needing more jet, it was on a heck of a pass! I lifted when the hood disappeared, and slowed to a 10.52-114 on the D-Gas 10.60 index. Since I was now hoodless, I was required to install my small, restrictive air cleaner on the 950 carb. I know from experience that the air cleaner usually costs me 2 mph in the quarter with the hood scoop in place, but since I was already too fast, I decided to go with it. D-Gas runs on a .400 Pro Tree, which is a tall order for a back halved bracket car with a tied down front suspension and 24" front runners. A small tire ladder bar street car with 261/2 tall street tires on the front, and full A-body travel...pretty much impossible! Even so, my .226 way absolutely horrible! So I had Boone crawl under the dash, and crank the two step from 3700 to 4200, in an attempt to improve it.
At no time before I staged the car Friday morning did the thought enter my mind that the removal of the stock steel hood and hinges, combined with 500 more rpm at the hit, might result in a larger, higher wheelie; proving once again that I am neither intelligent nor intuitive! The resulting 1.400 60ft is the Valiant's best ever, and then I felt the rear tires drive under me, and frankly it scared me. Once again, it was popping against the rev limiter before I managed the shift, and it seemed to pull hard all the way to the stripe. 10.62-122.8, ouch, I should've been happy to run only 2 hundredths over the index, and qualifying tenth...but 122? The small diameter air cleaner, and no hood scoop, just killed the car five mph...that's pretty ugly.

Your Grandson wants to know when it will be race car with 3 pedals.LOL. Me bad.You went to the March Meet. Color me jealous.

All in all, Boone and I, along with Mom and Dad, had a great time at the March Meet despite both of us being first round runner-ups Saturday morning. I'd recommend visiting the event at least once, if only for the pure spectacle of it all.

Drag Week 2015 Day four, Cordova Ill.
I'm reluctant to write much tonight, because either this website or my PC keeps locking up, and I'd hate to lay down 4 or 5 paragraphs and have them disappear. Much like Wednesday, Thursday pretty much started with a text from Opal, telling us that her and John were already at the track, and in what area they were pitted. The message came through at 9:00 AM, and we were just beginning to attack the continental breakfast, at our hotel 15 miles away, so there was no way we were going to threaten for a chance to be the first few cars down the track! We finished up our plates and walked outside to threatening skies overhead, and Joe Barry's 6 second, all steel 56 Chevy still in the parking lot. Typically we are always the last remaining Drag Week cars at any motel parking lot in the morning, but I wasn't really surprised. The new Drag Week rules stipulate that any car faster than 8.50 has to report to impound when they show up at a track. Once in impound, only the driver and passenger may work on the vehicle, with only the tools and parts brought by that vehicle. Naturally, the big cars have already adapted to this rule, by doing the serous pre-race prep at the motel before arriving, or limping to the nearest Wal-Mart parking lot for post race repairs, where they won't be hampered by the impound restrictions! We left about 9:30 for the track, and ran across the mighty Mississippi to get back into Illinois and arrive at Cordova Dragway.

Billy, if you compose/edit your installments in MS Word first, you can save them as you type them. That way short of a total hard drive meltdown, if something crashes, the most you might lose is the last few words you typed.

When it's time to post you just copy and paste it.

Also when it's time to write your book, you'll have it all in one place.

Kevin

If Drag Week was a game of Texas Holdem the first three days represent the flop, and everyone still in competition could see those cards just by looking at the results. Now the game was getting serious, and on the fourth, it was time to see who was just limping for the finish line, and who was ready to put in the work to better their position. We rolled into the pits fashionably late as always, but Cordova had a different feel. Everyone had their roles defined, and the tasks required ahead of them. Guys were wearily working on their hotrods with one eye on the competition, and the other studiously watching the clouds overhead.

The Hot Rod/ Drag Week staff have learned a great deal about how to get a day in when inclement weather is threatening. The massive failure of the final day at Heartland Park Topeka in 2011 has shaped many of their decisions since, and for the better. As such, they were stepping up the program at Cordova, only allowing about an hour for each of the first two sessions. By the time we rolled through the gate, the last of the class cars first session was finishing up, and the SME cars were already in the lanes, so our focus was to get Rachael and the Belvedere in the lanes before we prepped our cars.

Ray had already ran his Barracuda, and left, recording his slowest time of the week. The humidity was definitely to blame, considering he had chosen to run closed hood, and couldn't chase the jetting. One of the strategies on display was to take the first hit, and try to get out before the weather hit. It didn't surprise me that Clark and Bill were quickly rolling considering they had a pretty good cushion in the SME quick 32 qualifying, but Dan Smith didn't throw many attempts at the track either, and he was barely hanging onto position number 32! Like Ray, both of them accepted their slowest run of the week.

It didn't take long for the news to spread through the pits about Matt Blasco and the EFI Dart's transmission woes. Many times on Drag Week, it's not about the parts failures, as much as it is about the timing of those failures. Breaking on his first attempt, on a day destined for a rain shortened finish was exceedingly bad luck! I'm sure as painful as turning in that 16.98 slip had to be, they were happy that the Dart was able to leave Cordova Dragway under it's own power!

I was packed and ready to go when Matt came looking for parts, we tore into my trailer of killed transmission parts, found the input housing and looked for what he needed, it was there but was a stock unit. I told him he could have it but it would not hold up. Guess he found one from the Glen or the Bryant.

By the time we arrived, John and Opal had us a nice pit spot picked out, Robert and Aaron were there, 451 Dart and his Wife were there, as well as Jeremy and his Dad, all looking far more rested and lively than we were! The Odd Couple were on hand as well, and I knew Daryl Yost hadn't slept any more than we had, so I was surprised at how happy he looked. He probably just felt that the worst was behind them, and that's usually when Drag Week throws even more at you. Earlier in the week, I think he would have made extra passes for a nine second slip, but the Chevelle would have to settle for a 10.04.

Not only did I meet you, I got mentioned in the story. Nice meeting your crew!!

John made the opening shot for our group, towards the end of the Street Machine Eliminator session, and went 11.02-120. He had made a proclamation that he wanted to go tens every day, so as soon as the number lit up the boards we knew he would make another run. Rachael's first run, as the last pair down in the session, wasn't going to work either. Even though she was becoming very adept at slowing up and hitting the finish line around a hundred mph, the 11.44 e.t. was still too quick to turn in.

It was an enjoyable visit as with you and your Wife as well, even if we were a little haggard, and preoccupied! Of course, it only added fuel to John's fire, as he had been teasing us about being celebrities, and Drag Week insiders all week! I particularly like the pic of me removing the exhaust from the Valiant because it has the Valiant, the Barnyard, the Gremlin, and a beautiful young lady in it! Of course, the pictures also got a smile out of Boone, which, on a Drag Week Thursday, can be a difficult thing to do!

This was my third visit to Cordova Dragway, but my first chance to actually make a pass down the track. My first visit was in the mid nineties as an OTR trucker, when I stopped by Sunday morning of the World Series of Drag Racing. Everyone laughed and explained that I had missed the big show which took place on Saturday night. I ended up having breakfast with the Fuel racing husband and wife team, Brent and Vicki Fanning though, and that casual conversation will be something I'll remember for a long time. The second was Drag Week 2006, with Boone and his 78 D-100, so I was really excited this time to add the place to my list of "Tracks I've Raced At"!

My battle with Glenn Bridger's Camaro for 2nd/third in Pro Street NA had taken a decided turn in my favor at Indy when the Valiant's best NA pass ever, that 10.396, had trounced his 10.504. He turned the tables back to his advantage at Union Grove, laying down his best number of Drag Week, a 10.431 to my 10.532.
I don't like to look at the averages during the event, I prefer totals, so I know how much ground has to be made up, and roughly he had five hundredths on me over the three days, so I needed to run 5-6 hun better than he did at Cordova. The one caveat to that equation was...I kinda need to know what he was running, and I hadn't seen the him make a pass all week, as he tended to be rolling out the gate as I arrived each day! I had ran to the fence several times thinking I had a chance to see him run, only to realize it was one of the other 10 Red first gen Camaros on Drag Week!

My first pass wasn't pretty, as the hesitation on the hit had returned with a vengeance, and led to a horrible 1.58 60ft., and an off the pace 10.681-126.02