What took you out of Drag Week '13 (or almost did)?

[slimbo5]

Alternator quit in the lanes on the last day. Other than that zero issues. Ran at 175-180 even when it was at its hottest outside.

[ksj2]

Hows that new 3rd member doing?

[nesabo]

Hows that new 3rd member doing?

Kinda personal???

[ksj2]

LOL.His wife wanted to know.That didnt sound right.LOL.

[AdvAutoBob]

We enjoyed talking with you guys in the staging lanes at gateway, we wondered what had happened to you.

How is that new truck treating you guys?

Houston.


We had issues with fuel boiling, a plugged fuel filter and a bad front end shake.
By Thursday night we had to drive the last 50 miles into Bowling green at 20mph because the front end would keep going nuts. I called out a mobile welder to the track fri morning to try to weld up the front frame horn where the steering box mounts, but couldn't stiffen it up enough to safely make a real pass, so I putted down the track and enjoyed the socializing for the rest of the day. The trophies and such are lagniappe, finishing is the real deal.

Lovin' the new truck (the story will be told about it).. Glad you were able to finally finish.... I'm hoping to do the same in a years time

[slimbo5]

making noise but still together.

[NewEnglandRaceFan]

Thank you guys!!!!!!!!!! I appreciate it the kind comments. I can tell you it was by far the best year ever. The people I have met truly make Drag Week what it is, I don't know of another event any of us could participate in with the camaraderie that goes on during this week.

kool you made the best of it..
might want to ask for a box of relays for Christmas.
Also the 98 up gm trucks have a junction block that holds a maxi fuse for the battery power lead, most are 175 amps. you can get higher, and run one between the battery and the cable to the starter.. it'll save the main power + cable from going up in smoke, I grab them every time I'm on a junkyard crawl..
have you heeled up. that's a tender area to have staples

[bobs302z]

Boy Joes story is crazy .. Drag week is definitely a creator of endless story's ,new found friends ,and adventures .. Feel privileged to have started and finished
My adventures
Sept 2 .. Car quit about 60 mils from US border .. Ended up replacing cam on the side of the road ( distributor drive gear gone on cam )
Sept 5 we arrived in bowling green . Completed first part of drag week. 2500 mile drive in cars to bowling green. . Did some fluid changes and checked over cars
We hung out at LS fest and watched some racing over week end ... Registered on Sunday for drag week 2013 ..
Sept 9 .. First run of drag week ..ran 11.64 @ 118.64 mph. Currently fastest run in car .. Was very excited with run ... We travelled to Indy
Sept 10 Go to start car .. Press on clutch and find clutch stuck .. Found that cable had touched header and melted .. Was able to get free enough to get to track .. We were early so decided to replace cable outside gate .. Managed to burn arm on exhaust .. Great way to start the day .. Will have a mark on for arm to remember Indy forever
After doing 4 runs at Indy .. We met Bill and ended up helping him replace his clutch in a car wash bay .. And proceeded on to St. Louis .. Arrived there thinking it's only day 2 .. Wow.
Sept 11. What a day .. First run at gateway .. Hit both walls at big end of track .. With A lot of great people was able to get the car on the road ( I ended up with heat stroke that day .. Puked my guts out at the start of the drive .. But made it to Memphis ..1 am )
Sept 12. Made a pass at Memphis to get a time .. Spend 3 hr at alignment shop that made car worse ..went back to track did another tape measure alignment and drove to bowling green ..
Sept 13. Did 3 runs with the red wreck. Did a 12.02 Was pretty happy with that .. All considered FINISHED DRAG WEEK. Yay

Sept 14. Started 2500 mile treck home in the red wreck. ( no trailer ). Brothers car wasn't running that great .. Ended up being a coil .. We had one replaced it and drove on .. ( must say his 10 sec taxi ran very well for the whole trip )made it Wisconsin dells
Sept 15. Woke u to rain .. Started heading out .. Had to replace rear tires cause my getting worn out 305 rear mt were not drivable in the rain .. So continued on with my 4 gunk yard Lincoln tires and rims Then while driving through Fargo my passenger axle bearing gave up .. With great thanks to Jerry a bang shifter and drag weeker .. We had it replace and back on the road in a couple of hrs Continued on to Bismark North Dakota
Sept 16. Made it back to Canada to Richs house in Red Deer Alberta
Sept 17. Found that front tires were not faring so well with the current wheel alignment .. Tires were worn to cords .. So replace back to fronts and installed mt back on rear .. Headed ouT for the last 300 miles to grande prairie Alberta..
Everything was going great until 40 miles from home without any warning .. Drivers front wheel bearing gave out and tire came off .. Kept it between the lines ..came to a stop .. Ended up calling some buddy's from home and they brought trailer out ..
A little disappointed that I didn't complete the trip in the car ..
Went back to work sept 18.

[Grumpy]

WOW Joe, I'm amazed at what you went through and the fact that you kept on trying, if you turned that into a book they'd want to title it as Fiction for sure, right now I'm trying to visualize my Wife and Daughters changing a Transmission (or anything) to help me get ready to go race, nope can't do it!

[Joe Barry]

Boy Joes story is crazy .. Drag week is definitely a creator of endless story's ,new found friends ,and adventures .. Feel privileged to have started and finished
My adventures
Sept 2 .. Car quit about 60 mils from US border .. Ended up replacing cam on the side of the road ( distributor drive gear gone on cam )
Sept 5 we arrived in bowling green . Completed first part of drag week. 2500 mile drive in cars to bowling green. . Did some fluid changes and checked over cars
We hung out at LS fest and watched some racing over week end ... Registered on Sunday for drag week 2013 ..
Sept 9 .. First run of drag week ..ran 11.64 @ 118.64 mph. Currently fastest run in car .. Was very excited with run ... We travelled to Indy
Sept 10 Go to start car .. Press on clutch and find clutch stuck .. Found that cable had touched header and melted .. Was able to get free enough to get to track .. We were early so decided to replace cable outside gate .. Managed to burn arm on exhaust .. Great way to start the day .. Will have a mark on for arm to remember Indy forever
After doing 4 runs at Indy .. We met Bill and ended up helping him replace his clutch in a car wash bay .. And proceeded on to St. Louis .. Arrived there thinking it's only day 2 .. Wow.
Sept 11. What a day .. First run at gateway .. Hit both walls at big end of track .. With A lot of great people was able to get the car on the road ( I ended up with heat stroke that day .. Puked my guts out at the start of the drive .. But made it to Memphis ..1 am )
Sept 12. Made a pass at Memphis to get a time .. Spend 3 hr at alignment shop that made car worse ..went back to track did another tape measure alignment and drove to bowling green ..
Sept 13. Did 3 runs with the red wreck. Did a 12.02 Was pretty happy with that .. All considered FINISHED DRAG WEEK. Yay

Sept 14. Started 2500 mile treck home in the red wreck. ( no trailer ). Brothers car wasn't running that great .. Ended up being a coil .. We had one replaced it and drove on .. ( must say his 10 sec taxi ran very well for the whole trip )made it Wisconsin dells
Sept 15. Woke u to rain .. Started heading out .. Had to replace rear tires cause my getting worn out 305 rear mt were not drivable in the rain .. So continued on with my 4 gunk yard Lincoln tires and rims Then while driving through Fargo my passenger axle bearing gave up .. With great thanks to Jerry a bang shifter and drag weeker .. We had it replace and back on the road in a couple of hrs Continued on to Bismark North Dakota
Sept 16. Made it back to Canada to Richs house in Red Deer Alberta
Sept 17. Found that front tires were not faring so well with the current wheel alignment .. Tires were worn to cords .. So replace back to fronts and installed mt back on rear .. Headed ouT for the last 300 miles to grande prairie Alberta..
Everything was going great until 40 miles from home without any warning .. Drivers front wheel bearing gave out and tire came off .. Kept it between the lines ..came to a stop .. Ended up calling some buddy's from home and they brought trailer out ..
A little disappointed that I didn't complete the trip in the car ..
Went back to work sept 18.

This to me is just awesome!!!!!!! To have a car you can drive to and from the event yet be brave enough to beat on it all week racing it. You guys over came a lot and were there at the end of the week. Doing Drag Week three times I still believe finishing is really the true win and the ET stuff just feeds our egos.

[Joe Barry]

kool you made the best of it..
might want to ask for a box of relays for Christmas.
Also the 98 up gm trucks have a junction block that holds a maxi fuse for the battery power lead, most are 175 amps. you can get higher, and run one between the battery and the cable to the starter.. it'll save the main power + cable from going up in smoke, I grab them every time I'm on a junkyard crawl..
have you heeled up. that's a tender area to have staples

I actually have everything on relays. We have a wiring system by Spaghetti menders that is suppose to prevent issues like we had at the beginning of the week. This is the second time that fuses never popped and allowed damage. Because everything is set in epoxy there is no way to tell if something breaks due to tire shake or possibly a vibration from driving down the road. It seems that every time I make a fly by down the highway within seconds of getting out of the throttle a problem starts, I will be pulling out the components over the winter and switching to a system that has the ability to sense a change in ohms on a wire and will shut that circuit down. I really believe the wiring issues causing the catastrophic engine damage at the end of the week.

[Joe Barry]

WOW Joe, I'm amazed at what you went through and the fact that you kept on trying, if you turned that into a book they'd want to title it as Fiction for sure, right now I'm trying to visualize my Wife and Daughters changing a Transmission (or anything) to help me get ready to go race, nope can't do it!

This was the only thing that kept me motivated all week. I can only say I am a very lucky man.

[NewEnglandRaceFan]

I actually have everything on relays. We have a wiring system by Spaghetti menders that is suppose to prevent issues like we had at the beginning of the week. This is the second time that fuses never popped and allowed damage. Because everything is set in epoxy there is no way to tell if something breaks due to tire shake or possibly a vibration from driving down the road. It seems that every time I make a fly by down the highway within seconds of getting out of the throttle a problem starts, I will be pulling out the components over the winter and switching to a system that has the ability to sense a change in ohms on a wire and will shut that circuit down. I really believe the wiring issues causing the catastrophic engine damage at the end of the week.

Are the fuses slow burn(blow)
I take it the trunk lid is fiber as you said it was a 10 minute ordeal to get to the battery.
Maybe add a trap door to the lid near the battery side so if you need to you can get to a quick disconnect and totally kill power . fires are no fun.. good luck