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SPOTTED! DWer on vacation in FL.

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  • SPOTTED! DWer on vacation in FL.

    Met Hemi Joel at our local test n tune last night in Bradenton FL. at Bradenton Motorports Park. I had a great time talking to Joel, super guy. He also gutted his truck in the pits trying for lower ETs.

  • #2
    NMBR1GMfan Todd, it was great to meet you and your 2 drag racin' daughters!

    This is definitely proof that it is indeed a small world, and another one of the serendipitous events that seem to prevail in my life. It all started Thursday morning, when I woke up in my camper, and grabbed a shirt from the top of the pile in the closet, which just happened to be a Drag Week T shirt. Later that afternoon, I was on my way to Fort Myers, for the upcoming car show and swap meet at Jet Blue Park. As I zipped past Bradenton, I started wondering if there was any events there this weekend, So I stopped at the next exit to check their schedule. Hmmm... a test and tune tonight. Should I go? How could I resist a shot at the 1/4 mile, even if it was in my old 93 Dodge dually that was set up to tow and haul, not to race? No, too risky, what if I broke it 1800 miles from home? And it's never been to a drag strip, and it couldn't possibly be fast enuff to have fun. Hmmm... how long does it take to get the camper off? Well, the next thing I knew I was backtracking up the freeway.

    So I get there and the guy at the gate "says your here to race right?"
    "Yup."
    "What are you racing"
    "I'm racing my truck, I'll take the camper off in the pits."
    "$15" he says with a laugh.
    I asked where to tech, and he says "are you serious? I thought you were joking. That will be $20 then", and hands me a tech card.

    So I took the camper off, took most of the cargo out of the back seat, teched in, and got into the staging lanes.







    Since my lane was not moving, I walked up to the front of the lanes to check out the scene. After a couple minutes this fellow walks up and asks me if I raced at Drag Week. (obviously, he saw my shirt) He tells about the late model GTO he is building for Drag Week, and after thinking for a second, I knew he was Nmbr1GMfan here on bangshift! He was learning his younger daughter how to race a manual trans car, and his older daughter was there sharing the driving. But I can't tell you what they were driving, or I would ruin Todds reputation as number 1 GM fan. We hung around and talked whenever we were in the lanes. We are both so enthused about DW 2016, and the cars we are building it, we had a lot to talk about. A very nice guy with a great family.

    So how did the old Dodge do? First pass was a 17.57 at 77 mph. I just couldn't leave it alone, this thing has a 16 in it I know! So I took off the tube from the turbo to the air cleaner, messed with the waste gate on the He351CW turbo, and made an adjustment on the injector pump. Next pass was a 17.18 at 78. Wow, that was easy progress, I better try it again, just 1 more pass. So I took ALL the junk out of the truck, including the jack, the lug wrench, the home made console/cup holder. I must have got at least 100 pounds out, which was good for a 17.004. Now it was WAY to close to 16's, I had to go again. Next I took out the spare tire, and made a different adjustment to the pump. 16.80 at 79! Yippee! Then I started thinking that the governor in the injector pump was holding back the top end MPH. And I never have checked for wide open throttle. Plus I haven't touched the power screw on the pump, that would help, and I crawled underneath to see how hard it would be to remove the muffler.... But then I had to leave my ambitions behind and call it good enough. 2 years ago, I broke the flex plate towing a heavy load up a big hill. I didn't want that to happen, so I loaded up the camper, and adjusted everything back the way it was.

    While I was loading, Todd pulled up with their car on a trailer, and told me that Heather had busted the crankshaft! We talked for a while longer, and then I hit the road all happy that I got to drag in January, and especially about meeting a new friend!

    Comment


    • #3
      Thats Crazy haha! Joel you are for sure a hard core drag racer. I bet a 16.80 is a pretty respectable time for a first gen. I LOVE those first gen Dodges!
      1968 Plymouth Barracuda Formula S 340 with a 360
      1997 Jeep Cherokee off road toy/driver. lifted, lockers, stroked 4.0

      Comment


      • #4
        I have a 95 Dodge dually with a 5 speed.. that big old pump is
        pretty easy to work on... I have a couple of fuel plates that I
        have tried.. got to change the governor to get more out of it..
        a bleed line (built in leak)going to waste gate is a easy power
        increase

        Comment


        • #5
          Update: Another small world incident.
          I went to a big car show and swap meet this morning in Ft. Myers. First I hit the swap meet, didn't see too much interesting, then looked at all the cars, lots of cool stuff. Then I made another pass through the swap meet and found a few goodies. I was hauling my stuff back to the camper when I heard a very healthy sounding V8 fire up. I had to go see what it was, and lo and behold, it was Doc Foxes yellow Drag Week Corvette!

          Comment


          • #6
            Joel, you have too much fun!
            Escaped on a technicality.

            Comment


            • #7
              Originally posted by Hemi Joel View Post
              Update: Another small world incident.
              I went to a big car show and swap meet this morning in Ft. Myers. First I hit the swap meet, didn't see too much interesting, then looked at all the cars, lots of cool stuff. Then I made another pass through the swap meet and found a few goodies. I was hauling my stuff back to the camper when I heard a very healthy sounding V8 fire up. I had to go see what it was, and lo and behold, it was Doc Foxes yellow Drag Week Corvette!

              Cool... yeah he winters down there

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              • #8
                Man, small world. Have fun Joel, It was a pleasure to meet you and surely made my night.

                Comment


                • #9
                  Looks to me like you all were at Muscle Car City. Normally I would be down there about now but we came back to Michigan for the holidays and ran into a little illness. So, it looks like we will be able to get on the road this week. With a little luck, I will be in North Ft Myers by this time next week. All is good though, I had time to install a supercharger on my truck while still here in Saginaw and keep an eye on my Gasser upgrades at American Gasser.Click image for larger version

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                  • #10
                    Originally posted by Nmbr1GMfan View Post
                    Met Hemi Joel at our local test n tune last night in Bradenton FL. at Bradenton Motorports Park. I had a great time talking to Joel, super guy. He also gutted his truck in the pits trying for lower ETs.
                    You just have to love a guy who will race anything! And then, try to make it faster. Mopar to you Joel, and by the way, thanks for the use of your jacket!

                    Comment


                    • #11
                      Originally posted by Hemi Joel View Post
                      Update: Another small world incident.
                      I went to a big car show and swap meet this morning in Ft. Myers. First I hit the swap meet, didn't see too much interesting, then looked at all the cars, lots of cool stuff. Then I made another pass through the swap meet and found a few goodies. I was hauling my stuff back to the camper when I heard a very healthy sounding V8 fire up. I had to go see what it was, and lo and behold, it was Doc Foxes yellow Drag Week Corvette!

                      Did he ask you to help him to push in into a parking spot?

                      Comment


                      • #12
                        Originally posted by HemiRick1 View Post

                        You just have to love a guy who will race anything! And then, try to make it faster. Mopar to you Joel, and by the way, thanks for the use of your jacket!
                        Hey Rick! I didn't know that was you here, I just figured it out when you mentioned the jacket. Thanks for sending it back so promptly, all dry cleaned. You are a class act, buddy!

                        Comment


                        • #13
                          Very cool story......!
                          HRPT LH- 09,10,11,12
                          DW- 12,16,17
                          "Stay thirsty my friends"
                          The worlds most interesting man

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