Well I went to "Runday Sunday" to try to fix the unbelievably annoying bunny hop I have on launch (which keeps getting worse). All of a sudden, about 40 imports show up, the announcer starts speaking Spanish, and I am surrounded by rotary powered drag cars and barbeque grills... food smelled good - I didn't get any though.

It's not my thing, but I get it - some of those things are fast as hell.
I just don't understand why they have to bang, pop and sputter and rev to the moon for 5-10 minuted before taking the tree. It was 100 degrees out, and by the time I made my last pass, I buried the temperature gauge and blew the head gasket between #8 and the jacket.

My 440-1's have been subjected to welder surgery so many times, I think it's definitely time to turn them into garage art. I have damage at #8 and another surface cut is out of the question. Looks like I'm a spectator for a while.

damaging our fun stuff sets me out for way to long. It's a hobby, not a priority. Last mill we blew it was two years before we had light at the end of the tunnel. In the mean time I drag out the ole iron head 360 and get comfortable running high 10's. The import or truck thing doesn't bother me... that is until it takes them 3+ minutes between the burnout and finally staging.

Try getting stuck behind a couple of junior dragsters. I think they unload and then wait till the starting line to do EVERYTHING. They start it, warm it, set the carb, talk, do a couple hops, talk some more, set the carb again, and finally take forever to stage.

And when there are more than one, they will only run one at a time so that none of the kids get discouraged by losing a test pass.

Last time I was out, one pulled straight into the burn out box while we were in the staging lanes. Then 3 more were pushed up behind him/her. I bet it took 10 minutes for them to get down the track. I was trying to make a 2nd pass and had to pull out of the staging lanes cause I couldn't keep the temp where it needed to be waiting that long.

Ah that sux, sorry to hear that.

Always thought the whole bang pop and rev to the moon thing was their idea of fun...

Thanks... I don't know much about those things, but I can't understand how all of that popping and banging can be good for any kind of race parts.

I'm doing a full-on upgrade to the cooling system to make sure the poppers and JR dragsters don't fry me again.

Tougher question is what to do about heads...I'm at 4.5", about the limit probably of the -1's, even ported... I have zero experience with the 572-13's, does anyone know do they accept the same jesels and offset lifters that I ran with the -1's ?? I'm just now starting to come to terms with the impending cost of this whole event. Both of my heads are pretty much done, almost as much weld as there is casting at this point... Really sucks, I was frustrated working on the bounce at leave issue than dissecting the motor... should have counted my blessings I guess...

Had someone tell me at the track that the problem is that I'm racing "dinosaurs", and what I really need is an LS, now I have to wait to spank his ass...

I don't understand, are you guys leaving your cars running while these juniors or imports are trying to make passes.

I shut it down twice while waiting for the rotary fart machine to take the tree, I was afraid to shut it down a third time.... famous last words -
"should have pulled out".... lol

When testing hot laps, it helps to get a feel for how many are ahead of you in the staging lanes and how long they will take. If we have to hot lap when running KOS, they let us know how long it will be so we can plan accordingly. But it's usually right back into the staging lanes right behind the burn-out box.

Sometimes it is better to shut it off rather than have it idle. But if you shut it off, you have to deal with heat soak. Our cars are street cars, not dedicated race cars. So some indication of how long, is a really big help.