Ran N/SS this weekend at Columbus. Swirling winds from right head to the right tail all weekend. Didn't look like it would go 9.00 in the heat of the day with the headwind. So for the first time since the motors been back together we decided to run 9.25. I only have about 180lbs of ballast that there is a space to bolt it. So decided to kill it by pulling timing. Went from 35 degrees to 29 on pass #3. Very surprised it only killed .02. But again the wind was all over the place. Pulled 2 more to 27 total. That got us to 9.14. Started sneeking up on it with weight Saturday. First run we got closer but again depended on the wind and missd it with a 9.18. Ended up quailifing #4 with a 9.279. Winner of rd 1 had a bye in rd #2. We had it set 9.26 for rd #1. I did sit on the tree as my oponnent had been off by .06 in qualifing. But I really sat on it, .106. Day done. Sunday just ran the same weight to see if it follwed the weather as many thought the weather was way off. We were right it followed with a 9.268. Good enough for #1 qualifier and $100. Got by my buddy Mike Retford who was R/U on Saturday with an
.032 / 9.260 run. That got us a bye in Rd #2. Again wind got us and slowed a bit, 9.282. Removed some ballast for rd #3. Set for 9.260. I made 3 mistakes. Bad burnout. Not enough wheel speed. It went crooked, and hooked hard in the box. It was then I realised it was in 1st gear. I always start in 3rd. Then pulled up to stage. Setting the tach recorder it moved and turned on the 2nd stage light. Had time to back out as my opponent wasn't in yet. Of course from the crooked burn out It was over to the right side of the groove. Hit the throttle. It hooked hard, yanked the front end and headed for the tree. An abrupt lift and steering correction, day done. What was good? The car. Many having traction issues. Not us, car was perfect. What was bad? The driver, lousy lights, mistakes. I'll be back out Friday at Milan running Open Comp. First time on a Pro tree in 20 years.
Doug

You were racing so not all bad....Have you tried short shifting of shifting out of first almost immediately? We have found that to work really well running index stuff.

many different ways to slow the cars down, short shifting, over winding the motor in 1st and 2nd gears, lifting at a certain point on the track, varying valve lash, loosening it seems best to slow the car down a tiny amount lower air pressure in the front tires and so on

Mechanical throttle stop. (less than full throttle) The biggest reason for this method, adjusting timing and such always messed with my reaction times.


Brian

I tried adding weight and changing timing for small changes, but as mentioned throttle limiter is the best way to kill a lot. Simple bolt through the firewall that limits the throttle pedal. Main issue is getting enough runs to know how much travel to add or subtract. I have added weight to try and drop to a lower index, and I guess it was a traction problem, because the car picked up when I added 100lbs. From your post, you were on the right setup, but it is just racing, if it is not your day it is not your day.

It was going so well until eliminations!

Good luck Friday at Milan. It’s a great crowd on the shootout nights!

I've pulled throttle in the past. But never built a bolt set up for the Holleys. Weight works great. Trouble is now the car is quicker. Killing ..10-.15 with weight works very well. Trouble this weekend was early or late it could've probably run 8.95. Couldn't tell if it bothered the lights since I was so inconsistent. Though my best lights were with the timing pulled.
Doug

Hopefully you'll be more in the zone Friday. Are you going to play around with weight or timing or just run it all-out? I think the strategy is to have a tenth in reserve after you qualify?

Timing will be back in. The dial is .10 below the best qualifing run. No way I'd leave a .10 on the table. 100lbs or so for qualifing. Then adjust as necesary for weather. A .10 is cake.
Doug

Good luck Doug!!

Throttle stop .. I have been using one for over 10 years with great success slowing from 10.90s to 11.50s as I run 11.50 Index. Mine is a modified Moroso unit , it basically bolts to the rear carb bolt / stud and is adjusted to regulate the throttle cable action. On my set up my secondaries are barely opening. I have tried the E.Z. plate system as well as the Willys adjustable plate system and I found they killed to much mph on my combination so I went back to my bolt system.

Setting for index on a single day is pretty easy. I have experience using a bolt. My old 63 Dodge with a crossram had 3/8"x 24 bolt style stop. Could move it .01. Here's the trouble with the bolt. It's not linear when it gets cranked out 45 flats on the hex or so. The amount of ET drop depreciates rapidly. So when you get into that area you don't want to move it. With this intake and Eddy carb's that was an issue. Here's my problem with that. We may run over a period of days on the same weekend. If you get a big weather change the bolt needs to be moved. Now all the weather data vs bolt position changes. Many Sundays there is no time trial. Now your guessing. Thats why on long weekend we may chose 9.25 over 9.00 so we have enough in the bank. I'm not convinced timing is the ultimate answer either. For sure weight alone works. But a big swing can put you in 300lb territory. That's more than I fell comfortable with.
Doug

FWIW in our dragster we ran a coupole races where 5.00 was as quick as could be dialed. We shifted the car immediately into high gear and it would run 5.0/150 and all out on those days would have run 4.50/153. Used that set up on occasion to bracket race as well. As folks didn't expect a 5.0 car to run 150. was very affective. I have run the blue car in the 9.60 class and used the same strategy to slow it down. Immediately shift first gear and short second. Slows it down more than enough to make it raceable at 9.60 from 8.80's or 9.0's here

We have to manually shift. The converter falls back to 6300. I hit the 1/2 shift at 6500. It takes about 500 rpm to make the shift on 1/2. If I were to just hit the button for 1/2 imediatly after the hit I'd be guesing on shift timing. As long as it makes the shift while it's still in converter slip do you think the 1/2 shift time varience will affect a consistent slow down of the ET?
Doug

Since you footbrake why not rry leaving in second gear and or short shifting? Id be willing to et leaving in second will kill most if not more than you want. Since it will affect your short times the most. I am sure that will kill more than enough as long as you can hit the tree still. I am a stop racer at heart and my old car and new one both need to kill 3 seconds of ET to run 10.90. We do it a similar way kill it as soon as possible and as hard as you can. I get this is a bit apples to oranges but the theory applies. I know alot of folks with three speeds who have 1st and 2nd gear leave valve bodies for this reason. In a stop car will kill it immediately to have as much MPH as possible, and use the shift point to get to the ideal/target 60' time.

The blue car is manually shifted like yours but I use a break. I shift as soon as I let go. It has not seemed to affect it as long as you are consistent and the car is. Your car sems to work very well so the variable would be you. The 2/3 light is set at 6400 my converter is dumb tight at 6200. I have no issues killing over 1/2 a second this way. I did just put an air shifter in the car though to make it all easier. Will shift 1-2 immediately and likely 2-3 on time to adjust. But have not gotten to run it yet as we are done here til the end of September. I am still hunting for a good bottom bulb set up, but I like more MPH for the ET than vice versa. Makes the race "look" different to my opponent. My car is already not as efficient as yours as my MPH is a good bit higher for the ET but I am also a fair amount heavier and am pulling timing at the hit when I am running it all in. I run 148/9 here at 9 ohs fwiw.

The wind was crazy this weekend. 7-19 MPH tailwind Saturday until it dropped out and then a 3-6 MPH headwind Sunday.

The air was probably the best we will see until October.

We took a shot at 10.75 but could only muster 10.84 so I knocked timing out as well. I just eyeballed the change but it worked pretty well as she went 11.00 in round 1.

We should have a video edited together in the coming days from Saturday and Sunday.

Spot drop at the 1000' cone.

That's how the Stockers do it.

From a crazy run i made thirty years ago, I suspect an almost instant shift to second would be able to add . 25 to your ET. If the trans can take a shift real early, like at about one to two feet out , then correct with balast? mental timing for that shift might have to be tied to say, the green, or .5 after the third amber. That will put you in a rhythm , on the half second mark. One, (amber), two, (2ndamber) three, launch, (3rd amber)4shift(green)