Day one:

We arrived at the track fairly early Friday morning. Our fist task was swapping carbs between the two cars. My in laws were using my Barry Grant 750 Silver Claw and I was using my buddy Georges Proform 850. The 750 has always been an awesome carburetor and had been on the 442 since the cam break in was completed just 4 days prior to registration. The only problem with leaving it on the 442 was the lack of vacuum ports for the power brakes which were currently inoperable with no convenient point of connection. So off with the carbs and onward with the swap.

Once we swapped carbs and got power brakes on the 442 we headed off to make our first runs. Couple of things to keep in mind though.

1.) My car had less than 5 miles and/or an hour of run time since reassembly at this point.

2.) The first time time my mother in law had driven the 442 "EVER" was Thursday night from the track to the hotel. Furthermore, she has never been down a race track.

3.) Just to complicate things a bit more, the 442 is a 4 speed car.

That being said, I think my mother in law's first pass was an 18 something as she began to get a feel for what she was up against. Little did I know what that would be, but I'll come back to that...

As for me, my first pass of the day was a 12.3X @ not fast enough to make me happy. I made my way back to the pits and noticed the car was not in the mood to idle. By the time I got back to my pit spot it was clear the rear needle and seat was stuck. I can only assume in the great carb swap something broke free. I pulled the carb apart blew through it, reassembled it and started the car once more. Same deal, a fountain of fuel from the rear bowl. After messing with the needle and seat several more times I finally disassembled the entire rear float assembly, hosed it down and put it back together for what came to be the last time. While I never saw the obstruction, it was finally gone.

Now with less time and warmer air, my mother in law and I went back for our 2nd passes. The 442 picked up as she began to row the gears with more aggression, this resulted in a 15.82 @ 100.9 MPH.

My car did slightly better as well this time around, 12.13 @ 109.9. Still not the 11.9X I was hoping for but a step in the right direction. It seemed like maybe it could happen this Drag Weekend...

When I returned to the pits, the 442 began to announce some of the gremlins associated with a freshly assembled car. The Clutch required adjustment, the brake light switch required adjustment so as not to drain the battery which in no time at all revealed our next problem, the alternator was no longer charging.

Needless to say, we now had a new set of problems and rather than make passes we aimed our focus at getting the cars roadworthy for the drive to Tucson...