Re: JP1738's Stocker and S/G car
 

From almost not making the race at all, to almost winning it all, this past weekend will be one for the history books.

After getting home from Orlando, I had a lot of work to do. I started by going to my local drag strip here in Shelby to try to get some more seat time and figure the tree out. I've been struggling mightily getting consistent reaction times in the car, and after a very sub-par performance at Orlando, I had to get back in the lab and figure it out. I made some great progress at the bracket race but there was still work to be done.

So after driving 10 hours back home saturday, I raced Sunday, then pulled the transmission out of my Mazda to swap starters and flex plates. Monday I put everything back together for that car including the trans, headers, diapers, plugs, and a few other miscellaneous things. Tuesday I loaded everything on to my double open trailer and packed the truck to head south again.

https://i.postimg.cc/3JDLfLqv/IMG-6901.jpg
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Re: JP1738's Stocker and S/G car
 

Then it was time to hit the road. What an unmitigated disaster.

I left my shop around 4:30 after work on Wednesday. Everything was going well until I had a blow-out on my trailer about 130 miles from the track. Not a huge deal, I had a spare that was pretty rotten but I felt it could get me the rest of the way if I took it easy. Unfortunately, while on the side of the interstate changing the tire, the alternator on my truck quit while it was idling with the flashers on. I was able to get the tire changes and limp to the next exit. At this point it was 11pm and no part stores were open to replace the alternator on my truck.

So I did the only thing I could do. I fired up the generator in my truck, ran a drop cord through the windows, stuck my battery charger on the windshield with the cords running under the wipers, and put the clamps on one of the batteries. I drove 45 mph for the rest of the trip and limped to the track. Unfortunately, the 40 amp charger wouldn't put out enough juice to keep everything running so I could only drive about 15 miles at a time before I had to pull over and let everything re-charge for 15 minutes, then hit the road again.

My 7 hour drive ended up being 13 hours, I pulled into Gainesville Raceway at 5am and slept for 1.5 hours. Then I got up, pulled through the gate once it opened, unloaded everything, warmed it all up (I was running SST and STK, the first two classes out) and made some qualifying hits. Over the course of the weekend I was able to get 4 new trailer tires from Greg Lubben who owns a tire shop not far from the track and a new alternator and serpentine belt from an O'reilley's about 15 minutes away. I spent all of my free time at the track working on my set-up to make sure when I was ready to leave, I could.

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Re: JP1738's Stocker and S/G car
 

Ouch! But hey Dawson whatever it takes to make it right? LOL was watching and rooting you on from Texas (we don't french kiss our sisters here that is arkansas.

Re: JP1738's Stocker and S/G car
 

Geez, just call out the whole state, whydontcha? :D:D

Thanks for pulling for me man, it's really nice to know I've got folks in my corner!!!

Re: JP1738's Stocker and S/G car
 

Was fun watching you get after it. Love the Stocker also, hopefully your next trip out is uneventful with the tow rig. That is enough to mentally take you out of the game once at the track. Nice recovery LOL!

Re: JP1738's Stocker and S/G car
 

I am very proud of my son. everything he has and has accomplished is through his own dedication, hard work, sleepless nights and most of all his own $$$. it may not look like much but it is his and he is very proud. nobody on the property is going to out work him that is a fact and i truly believe a win in stock is in the future. i was disappointed in his choice of dial in the semis but he does the dialing and the driving so i stay in my lane. he was aggressive the entire race holding some and driving the stripe. not bragging on him but the first three rounds he took .003, .005 and .006.

i again would like to thank all of you who pull for him and help and support him through your positive words of encouragement and advice. i tried to teach him at an early age to listen to people who know more than you and gain years of experience from others.

thats my boy.

ep

Re: JP1738's Stocker and S/G car
 

Honestly I think it worked out well. I was so busy working on the tow rig and stressed about getting home I wasn't even worried about the race itself. I think I drove better because I had no more mental capacity to fret over the race lol

Re: JP1738's Stocker and S/G car
 

Anyway, to finally finish of this arduous story, the race itself:

I managed to qualify 94th out of the 107 stock eliminator cars on the property and miraculously had the only other N/SA car covered by about .15. First and only round of class eliminations I was .032 at the tree and went 12.47 at 104mph to my opponent's (who was also in a 305 Malibu wagon) 12.80 at 101mph off the 13.00 index. Such an awesome feeling to get a huge win and celebrate with my friends and family.

First round of the race I had one of the closes races of the round. I drew Thomas Auger in his beautiful '65 Coronet. .019 and 3 above to his .033 and 2 above for a holeshot win by .005.

Second round, a little less tight of a win but one against one of my heroes and good friend Tim Stickles in his '80 Malibu sedan. .019 and 2 above to beat Tim to the finish line by .007. He was a little bit late and a little bit fast which made the race look right to me. I was sweating it until I got my win light on!

Third round I drew another gorgeous Mopar, this time in the form of Dwayne Scheitlin's 440 powered '70 Challenger in A/SA. Neither of us were in a hurry to get off the starting line, my .086 to his .104 left first however and I was able to parlay that into a double breakout win at -.005 under to his -.017 under, getting to the stripe .006 ahead.

Fourth round was a doozy. I drew Joey Shipp in his H/SA '69 Nova. Dead even up front, my .022 to his .023. He did a phenomenal job at the finish line rolling me through .007 but lost in the double breakout as I went -.006 under to his -.012 under. A nail biter for sure but I managed to sneak by him thanks to having a really good handle on the dial.

Fifth round I drew Stock Eliminator royalty in Brenda Grubbs in her breath taking AA/SA '69 Camaro. Unfortunately she pushed through the beams before her side of the tree came down and came up with an LB3A. I was .053 and went 12.418 off my 12.44 dial for the win.

My Sixth and last round came against my very good friend Orion and John Riley. These guys are some of the most dedicated and hardcore gentlemen I have ever met and dang good people to boot. I missed it a touch up front and left 2nd for the first time all day, .050 to his .024. He landed closer to the dial as I chased mine when I shouldn't have. I go 12.440 off my 12.40 prediction and end up .003 behind for the loss. Orion would go on to turn it red in the finals against Josh Decker. Congrats to both of those guys.

After a very long weekend of repairs and racing, I made it home Saturday evening and my drive was uneventful, a very welcome change from my trip down. Thanks again to everybody that followed along here on CR, FB, and on the live feed. It's been my pleasure giving some of you guys someone to root for and I look forward to doing it again soon! The stocker will be down for a bit while I wait on the SGMP double and Charlotte to roll around. In the meantime I'll have it apart again to address some persisting issues in the rear suspension.

Time to show my bracket car some love and get it ready for some outlaw index racing coming up. I'll be chasing a couple local points championships in it this year and I'm hoping for the best! I better get my nitrous bottle filled because I plan on using plenty of it!

A very special thank you, in no particualr order, to the following people, whom without, none of this success would have been possible:
Tim Stickles
Billy Wilson
Mark Lewis
"Super" Scot Lamar
Chad Taylor
Brad Plourd
Daren Poole-Adams
My dad, EP
My wonderful and understanding girlfriend of 5 years and #1 Crew Chief, Meg Mitchell


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Re: JP1738's Stocker and S/G car
 

Keeping the race track hot around here. Trying as best I can to keep my foot on the gas and stay as competitive as possible this year, even if it means leaving my comfort zone from time to time. I swapped out the monster truck tires in favor of some 28/10.5s for a local no prep index (6.30 index) race at Shadyside Dragway this past weekend. Made it to the finals where I was .016 take .005 to lose a double breakout by .0001. It's tough when the little numbers don't go your way after laying down a pretty solid lap, but I have to believe if I keep my head down and continue giving myself opportunities, I'll find some success.

After the race I went ahead and put the big tires back on in preparation for the first IHRA bracket series points race at Shadyside and the first 6.0 index race of the year for me. Looking forward to it greatly and hoping to win a little cash so I can afford to buy my next drum of fuel. Also stuffed some new plugs in it as the old ones were pretty tired. Now that everything is running pretty good and neither car needs mechanical attention, I finally had time to wash and clean everything, so the car got a spray wax while the truck and trailer got a bath. Feels really good to have clean, decent looking stuff to take to the race track for a change.

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https://i.postimg.cc/c415smS4/IMG-7048.jpg

Re: JP1738's Stocker and S/G car
 

I noticed my AR3934 plugs doing the same thing last season.... I dont know the cause, as nothing had changed with my combo after the dyno. Switching back to NGK this season.

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https://i.postimg.cc/gcHTF71T/IMG-7046.jpg

Re: JP1738's Stocker and S/G car
 

Yeah I need to do better about checking these plugs. I've been running that brand for a while and the center electrode always wears down like this after a period of time. Mine gets quite a lot of abuse between quarter-mile racing and nitrous for index racing. Not to mention if all goes to plan, I'll make 200-250 runs in it this year. I try to change them out twice a year to avoid the engine breaking up as it often does when the gap grows to this size. If I haven't changed them out in time, it'll typically let me know.

Re: JP1738's Stocker and S/G car
 

Well, going along with the theme this year, I just cannot seem to pull into the lanes right at all. Rode over to my local track Shadyside this past weekend to double enter in 6.0 index and the bracket race and was rather rudely shown the door in both classes third round.

.015 take .001 no good in the bracket race as my man was .003 dead 4.

.006 dead 6 no good in the 6.0 race as my man was .008 dead 1. .012 total package and .003 behind for the bye to the final. A bad beat and a tough pill to swallow.

Once again, I just have to keep making good laps and hope that the little numbers will start to go my direction so I can start coming out on the winning end of these good, tight races.

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Re: JP1738's Stocker and S/G car
 

So curious minds want to know, is the left headlight up a speed secret? Would think you are giving up 1 to 2 mph. Just having fun Dawson it is fun following your journey, it is nice to see other broke racers doing the best we can with what we have. Love the grocery getter wagon too.

Re: JP1738's Stocker and S/G car
 

Thanks man!

LOL the real reason I only have one headlight is that the scrap yard I raided to find headlight pieces only had the driver's side assembly. I've got some of the parts to mount the other side but not enough to make it work. The headlight I do have does work and folds up and down. I have the motor wired to a momentary switch on my switch panel and the headlight itself on the other side of the same switch. If you notice, the headlight is sticker bombed because the trim piece on top was off a grey RX7 so instead of painting it to match, I just covered it with decals. Now I can see where I'm going and wink at people at the same time.

Here's a pic of the car before I cut out the cover that was just welded in place and then another pic of what it looked like before I bombed it. Before I added stickers, it just looked like the car had a black eye lol.
https://i.postimg.cc/K8b7dzWR/IMG_4124.jpg
https://i.postimg.cc/kgyN9Crw/IMG_7063.jpg

And here's a pic of the headlight on just after I jerry rigged it all together and before I painted and installed the plastic trim that surrounds the framing.
https://i.postimg.cc/6Q5rpPtK/686812...B23998FCA0.jpg

I know you didn't ask for all this and was just kidding, but I thought it was pretty neat so I figured I'd share.

Re: JP1738's Stocker and S/G car
 

Little update on my build thread here:

After struggling mightily with the car's consistency I decided to take a few steps towards sorting that out. I hit up a good friend of mine in Jerry Cline and had a front end alignment done on my Mazda. I noticed it had begun to hunt really bad down track at speed and I felt like the car had none or positive tow in the front end. My suspicions were confirmed and tow was added and the alignment was corrected. I also threw some new to me tires on the car. I discovered the rear slicks on my car were much older than I previously thought and I think the sidewalls of my MTs were completely destroyed. The car was much much more consistent at the most recent race I attened but I ran into the buzz saw that is my father for the loss at 3 cars in the 6.0 index race.

I have had a pretty rough go since my last post on here. Still struggling to string enough winlights together to get in the winner's circle. Made the wrong decision at Rockingham dragway in there 6.0 index class at Duck X Production's Battle For the Thrones first round for the loss. Then the next race I hogged the finish line up on my dad in the semis of the 6.0 race at Shadyside dragway shortly after turning it -.001 red 4th round of the bracket race. Still turning loose like a hero and driving pretty good, just keep running into good runs or making the wrong call on the big end. My worst light at Shadyside outside of my -.001 red was .014 through 3 practice hits and 8 total rounds of eliminations. I'm thrilled by that to be honest but haven't seemed to be able to get the job done. I'll keep plucking away, I know my luck will turn around at some point.

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Getting new tires mounted and bubble balanced at our shop
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Semis with my dad. .009 5.996 taking a pile for the breakout loss.
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Great lick here, .005 dead .004 taking .009 stripe after killing about one hundredth at the finish line

Re: JP1738's Stocker and S/G car
 

Dawson no sub for more laps in a car, great job. You should have told your Dad that if he wants a fathers day gift then he should have let you win the round...Hey just kidding. I am sure that was fun racing him, am sure there will be some trash talking at the dinner table LOL.

In 05 when we started running TS, the car we bought and was advertised that the tires looked new....NOT, we went to a race first time with the car at the track, damn near wrecked it on the top end started skating around. Come to find out the tires (Hoosiers) were old (no I did not check date code and that is on me). After putting new tires on went from running 7.80's not hooking and skating to hooking up and running 7.20's. After that we went to Hughes (through Donnie Pedan helping us) and they built us a converter then car started running 7.0's and dipping into high 6.90's. Keep digging love following you!

I am old and retired now but the memories are taking to the grave. Now the most exciting thing a do everyday is taking my Beano Pill for excessive Gas!

Re: JP1738's Stocker and S/G car
 

Hope you are having fun at the 4 Wide in Charlotte !

Re: JP1738's Stocker and S/G car
 

aaaaand I'm back on my build thread after a brief hiatus.

It's been an awesome last few weeks of racing and I'm really excited about the way my program is trending! Had a great showing at the national event at Charlotte in my stocker making it down to the semi finals where I lost a double breakout to the runner-up Dennis Bargeron.

We would tangle again the following weekend at the Double National Open at Carolina Dragway. I managed a 3rd round appearance in Stock on Saturday, losing to the eventual winner and good buddy Kenny Anderson. Then I turned around and made it to the Super Street and Stock final on Sunday where I failed to get it done in both classes. Dennis Bargeron got me again in Stock where we had a really great race. .046 to his .050, he drops to dead three giving me .007 to get in. I out-stopped him to get .004 behind to go 7.941 off my 7.93 dial for the loss. Missed the tree to Chip Johnson in the final in Super Street, then failed to get far enough behind him to lose a double breakout by .004.

Not a bad weekend at all considering it cost me $840 to roll in the gate with two race cars in tow, entering all 4 National Opens as well as a pair of SGAS races that were being contested in conjunction with the Opens. Managed a 4th round showing in SGAS Friday night while the Saturday race was rained out after the completion of the open. After all was said and done I managed to break even on the entry fees after cashing in 3 out of 4 of the opens I entered.

I plan to keep the road hot this spring and summer! Two race cars for a one man band ain't easy but I'm still giving it 110%. I'm headed to Roxboro Motorsports Park to compete in there 6.0 index class and bracket race with my Mazda. I'm definitely due with as well as I've been driving, so I'm looking forward to tomorrow's races. Got the valves lashed and some maintenance done on the index ride, locked and loaded for the weekend!

ZMAX Dragway!
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Sunday drive down the 1/4 mile!
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Getting everything ready for Carolina Dragway!
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The complete rig with essentially my entire life's work in tow.
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My heaven.
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Getting my act together for this weekend!
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Re: JP1738's Stocker and S/G car
 

Another update coming in hot before another full weekend of racing!

I've had a whale of a time at the races the last few weeks and won a ton of rounds, I think I'm really hitting my stride this year. Coming off two final round appearances in Stock and SST at the D2 Carolina Dragway National Opens, I kept the road hot and eased up to Roxboro Motorsports Park 5/10/25. I doubled entered my Mazda in 6.0 index and Top Eliminator and made it to both class finals! Ended up taking the runner-up in 6.0, while my final round opponent and I in Top elected to split and quit. A good lick for me financially and a huge confidence booster after driving really good all weekend. I'll put a pic up of all the time slips, but during eliminations, I think the worst I let go of the button in either class was .024, otherwise it was mid-teen or better. Awesome Awesome weekend and I was so proud of the results.

Fast forward to this past weekend I went to Union County Dragway for another round of double entry in 6.0 and Top where I had similar results. Tuned it -.001 red second round of 6.0 index, but ended up making it to another final in Top where I was .022 dead 7 to be .001 behind a 4.60s dragster. A tough runner-up but good race overall. Once again, extremely proud of the result and the way I drove all day long. The car has been amazing since I put new rubber on all 4 corners and my 6.0 nitrous tune-ups have been on the money.

Tomorrow I head to Shadyside dragway to run a class called Baby Gangsters. It is a 6.30 index race on a .400 pro tree that is limited to 28/10.5 tires, door cars, no electronics, and no wheelie bars. It's a challenging class, but I threw the small tires back on my Mazda to do a little grudge and outlaw racing. I'll try to sneak back home and swap cars out in favor of my station wagon to get a few hits in on Sunday in preparation for the D2 double divisional coming up next week at SGMP. Really excited to get back to class racing and join my friends over there for a few days, it's gonna be a blast!

Roxboro staging lanes. Trying to get some of the heat out of the car after hot lapping it and being deep in both classes the entire day.
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Lots of laps! I didn't include a few by-runs I had in this pic, I believe I made 17 runs in total, all in a span of about 10 hours.
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Finals at Union
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Comically small car
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Winner's Circle with the entire rig!
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Re: JP1738's Stocker and S/G car
 

Since my junk is still in pieces, I'll live vicariously through you! LOL!! Awesome summer and it's just starting, great job!!

Re: JP1738's Stocker and S/G car
 

Thanks brother! I'm trying to strike while the iron is hot! Historically, for whatever reason I tend to lose the feel for the tree through the middle part of the year every year, so I'm trying to race as much as I can before I start to struggle. I know that's not a great way of looking at it, but like clockwork for the last 8 years I just absolutely suck from mid-June to mid-August, so I'm trying to capitalize while I'm still driving good!

Re: JP1738's Stocker and S/G car
 

Well I did end up making it to Shadyside Dragway for the Ronnie Buff Memorial King of the South race on Memorial Day weekend but I didn't make much noise. Ended up turning it -.001 red second round of the small tire index race and lost at 7 cars in the bracket race after missing the tree pretty badly. I returned on Sunday with my Stocker wagon in tow in an effort to get some seat time before taking it to SGMP for the double divisional 5/29-6/1. Didn't do great in it either but was glad to make some laps and get comfortable in the car after letting it sit for several weeks.

At the double divisional with my wagon... things didn't go great. The car was pretty good but the driver wasn't driving amazing and pulling in the lanes even worse. I qualified near the bottom of the sheet in both races and fell on the ladder poorly in both.

In the first race, I made a great lap against Darrel Bargeron first round, .012 and 3 above my dial to get the win. Than I ran into the race's eventual winner and absolute buzz saw Terry Taylor. My .007 reaction time and 12.801 off my 12.78 dial was a whopping .021 margin behind Terry's .003 11.235 off and 11.23 dial run. What a drag race but an extremely tough break after I felt like it was going to be my day. You can't get mad about making a good run and just flat getting beat, but it is frustrating nonetheless.

In race two, I struggled to hit the tree as good as I had in the first race. I was .054 and .046 in qualifying, a whopping .050 first round to Brent Wheeler's .019. Brent struggled to run his dial, running a little over 3 above wide open, but I could not run my dial either, going 1 above, quitting to 4 above. Still had a great time hanging out with all my friends and was thankful they decided to run 1st round of race 2 on Saturday afternoon so I could point home and get to church the next day. I didn't capture many photos, I'll post what I have.

I was very pleased to see they were actually performing a good amount of tech during this race, having people do some small tear-downs. They were checking several things like carb/throttle bodies, valve trains and cylinder heads, as well as cross checking casting numbers. I even heard they checked a Super Stock car and warned it for having a wheelbase that was .2' too short. I love to see tech making a resurgence in D2!

Tough race right here!
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Getting a small tear-down at tech after my second round loss on Friday!
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Speed-handles are my friend
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Fifth blown trailer tire this year. Sh!t is getting old. This happened at 1am on my way home later Saturday night
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Re: JP1738's Stocker and S/G car
 

5th tire....is it punctures or wear etc? I'd be concerned after the second let alone 5th. Something rubbing, axle bent, etc?

Or is it the loose nut behind the wheel hitting potholes? LOL!!

Love the pic of you pulling the carb, in the whole picture, there's NO GRAY HAIR?? LOL!!

Re: JP1738's Stocker and S/G car
 

There have been several posts about trailer tires in the past. My trailer averaged about 1 tire a trip sometimes 2. I was using trailer tires, cheap, expensive didn?t mater. The final straw was changing a tire on the shoulder of i40 with 18 wheelers driving past at 75 mph. I switched to light truck tires and my tire problems disappeared. Still gives me the Willies! This is my experience.
Good luck!

Re: JP1738's Stocker and S/G car
 

I honestly don't know what the issue is. Never blows the same tire twice either side or either axle. The tries were all new at the start of last season, but I do race a lot to be fair. Now I'm putting old spares on it as I blow them, some from my trailer before I put new on and some from my dad's pile of spares.

And yes, no gray hair... yet.

Re: JP1738's Stocker and S/G car
 

I've thought about going to a passenger/truck tire moving forward because I can't keep blowing tires over and over. I do suspect I have found a big issue though. When I mounted my tires in the winter of 23 into 24, I did not replace the valve stems. Two of the 5 tires I've blow also had compromised valve stems when I went to dismount them. I've since replaced all the valve stems to try to avoid a loss of tire pressure and over-heating.

Re: JP1738's Stocker and S/G car
 

I got tired of blowing trailer tires, I put 14 ply tires on this year, should solve the problem.

Randy Wells
I/S 5628

Re: JP1738's Stocker and S/G car
 

If you can switch to 16 inch, do so and use a 14 ply tire. the tires I use are like for a logging truck. They?re 100 psi pressure, you have to put in good steel valve stems too. I go for five years and sell them for $200 a set. I haven?t blown a tire in the last 10 years.
Oh yeah, forgot to add: and Slow down! high speeds create lots of heat in the middle of summer on these ever smooth highways

Re: JP1738's Stocker and S/G car
 

Make sure they are heavy duty/high pressure rated metal valve stems.

Standard rubber passenger tire valve stems will not hold up.

Ruined two NEW tires on a Ford Excusion after the installer put in regular stems before I realized the issue.

Re: JP1738's Stocker and S/G car
 

No pics this time around because I've been traveling alone for the most part and just don't think to take any.

Still grinding but still quiet. Took my stuff up to Roxboro a few weeks ago and didn't have any luck. The car was ok but the driver was struggling. I started the day completely lost on the tree, anywhere from -.020 to .050 in the first 4 hits or so. Girlfriend called for an update where I explained it was getting ugly in a hurry. She gave me a little pep-talk and I ended up making a semi-final appearance in 6.0 index after bulbs of .006, .008, and .015. Unfortunately at 3 cars I lost .02 to 60ft and couldn't run the number. Had my man up front 15 to his 30, but ran 2 above wide open, he lands dead 3 and I'm .007 behind.

This past weekend I took my stuff locally to Shadyside to run their 6.0 index race and had similar results. Letting go great, 12, 13, and 19 in my first 3 hits between qualifying and first round, but lost focus pretty badly and let the tree go by me 2nd round. Let it go .053 and got locked out unsurprisingly. Gotta say that's fairly out of character for me, still not sure what happened. The most frustrating part about it was that I had the car to beat. On spray, the car moved .005 to half track in those 4 hits, which is unbelievably good for my equipment, but I fell out of the seat and let it down. I was disgusted with myself and very frustrated. Happy for my dad though, he picked up the win in the index class and is not 3 for 3 on the year at Shadyside and the points leader even after missing the first race.

So it's back to the drawing board. Gotta say I know I still have a lot of good racing left in the tank this year, but it's getting harder and harder to convince myself I do. What's weird is I swear I'm turning loose and driving as good as I ever have, but just have absolutely nothing to show for it, which is very disheartening. I may go back in my log book to last year and see if I can figure out what I'm doing differently. Maybe I'm not driving as good as I think I am. The car has definitely given me the weenie on several occasions this year which hasn't helped, but I feel I can still overcome a mediocre car, just like I always have.

Anyway, pity party over. Just needed to get that out of my system. I'm going to try to slip down to SGMP this weekend for a big 1/4 mile index race where I'll run 10.50 and 11.50 index. I hope it will pay decently well and have, perhaps, a bit softer competition. Only one way to find out.

Oh, and I blew another tire on the way home from Roxboro, bringing my season total of tire mishaps to 6.

Re: JP1738's Stocker and S/G car
 

Dawson in the heat 65 mph max. We did switch to 16 inch 14 ply like Keith did, then we slowed down from 80 to 65 problem went away LOL

Re: JP1738's Stocker and S/G car
 

I'm not exactly setting land speed records as it is. I usually set the cruise in my truck at 69-71 because that's where the diesel engine is happiest. Also, I never blow the tires in the heat of the day, always at night near the end of the drive. I blew the tire coming home from Roxboro at 11pm and the one before that coming home from SGMP at 1am.

Re: JP1738's Stocker and S/G car
 

Also, in the spirit of the build section, I've been doing a moderate amount f work to my cars. This week I did a quick oil change on my Mazda at it was nearing it's run limit as well as lashed valves and remounted and rotated the rear tires. When I mounted the tires a few months ago, I only put wheel screws on the outside bead of the tire, but noticed that they had all started to loosen and get pulled all the tire's rotation. I dismounted the tires, remounted and balanced them, and put screws in both beads. I don't think it was causing any issues but I wanted to correct it just in case it was.

When doing the oil change, I noticed that the alternator pulley was busy sawing my lower radiator hose in half and was about to become a BIG issue. I took it off and went to the auto parts store in search of a close replacement, or at least something I could hack up and make work. That was fun lol. They let me go through there entire catalogue of fitted hoses to find one that I could make work. It took about an hour of searching, but I did eventually find one I could cut the ends off of and make work.

https://i.postimg.cc/BbLYcBPZ/IMG_7380.jpg

Re: JP1738's Stocker and S/G car
 

Well I made my last trip with my enclosed trailer last weekend down to SGMP for the big outlaw quarter mile index race. I ran 10.50 and 11.50 index, won 2nd round in both classes, and then it rained it out. Ended up getting a decent lump of cash after they split all the money up so I'm not too bothered about it.

I listed my trailer for sale and sold it yesterday, so I have no trailer to race out of for the foreseeable future. I was tired of it eating tires over and over, so I just got rid of it all together. I think the axles were messed up on it to be honest, the tires were consistently overheating and getting out of round. Not to mention it was ugly and the tail lights didn't work. I also never tagged or insured it the entire time I had it, so I'm happy to be starting over. Sold it to a guy who needed to haul lawn mowers around, at this point I think it's better suited for that.

So if anybody has a beat on a cheap 24 ft enclosed trailer with 5k axles, let a guy know. I spoke with Michael Scott of Right trailers while we were at SGMP last Saturday and he could build me a bare bones new one fairly cheaply but I'd have to run his sticker, which I don't really want to do. I'm not above it, I just don't want to

Re: JP1738's Stocker and S/G car
 

Been a few weeks but I'm still out doing my thing. Made my way to the Jegs Sportsnationals at SGMP a few weeks ago with my station wagon.

Pulled in on Tuesday night about an hour from the track where I nabbed a hotel stay, then made my way on the the track Wednesday morning. It rained most of the day that day so we were only able to get one time-shot in for Stock. Ran class eliminations and first round on Thursday.

I ended up in the Auto Combo for class eliminations where I ran Cody Philips, I only managed a .20ish under pass and was swiftly dispatched out of class run-offs. Had an extremely tough draw first round of the national event in Joe Santangelo. I got a bit too aggressive on the starting line and unfortunately turned it -.004 red ending my weekend. I was really pleased with the car though. it ran extremely consistently in the 4 hits I made, running 12.764 off my 12.78 dial-in after my red-light first round, which is pretty much exactly what I thought it would go.

I left that evening to come home for a local points meet at Roxboro on that Saturday, more on that later because there was serious drama. I don't want to clutter this post with it though.

https://i.postimg.cc/cJnv9Jrj/IMG_7406.jpg

https://i.postimg.cc/y85JyRYc/IMG_7413.jpg

Re: JP1738's Stocker and S/G car
 

So... Roxboro, 7/12/25.

I left SGMP (400 miles from my house) on Thursday after I turned it red first round of stock eliminator, drove all the way home, worked Friday, swapped cars and trailers, and drove to Roxboro Motorsports Park (another 200 miles away) to race 6.0 index and the bracket race with my dad.

For those of you counting at home, that is a grand total of 1000 miles to make this race after leaving the Sportsnationals early to get to and from RMP. At that point I had made quite the sacrifice to make it there for the points meet. My efforts were not rewarded at all.

As you all on here well know, I class race both of my race cars, competing my wagon in STK and my Mazda in SST and SG (depending on how I feel that particular weekend) on top of all the bracket and index racing I do . Therefore, on my Mazda, I have a throttle stop and all of the accompanying technology to make it operate. That car runs anywhere from mid 6.0s to mid 6.1s depending on the air and track conditions on motor. I typically have to spray my car with nitrous to make it fast enough to run 6.00 index. I am not the only one using nitrous, of course, and it is perfectly legal in the class. What is not legal are throttle stops. The spirit of the class is side-by-side, heads up racing, with no stops or drive shaft sensors. It doesn't really apply to me given that my car isn't fast enough to use a throttle stop in 6.0 index, so I just run it wide open and spray it just a tickle to get to the number.

Well for one reason or another, all of the remaining cars 3rd round (8 total) of the race were protested, of which two were my dad and I. We were made to take the hoods off our cars so that the engine bay could be inspected. It was discovered (obviously) that on both mine and my dad's car, there were throttle stops. Now everyone who knows the two of us knows that neither of us are actively using them, in fact, my dad's car's throttle stop isn't even wired or plumbed, it's just sat there to make the throttle linkage and hood scoop all workout out right. I leave mine on for the same reason, plus my wide-open-throttle-switch for my nitrous wont work without the carb being that height.

My car IS NOT FAST ENOUGH TO USE THE THROTTLE STOP IN ANY MEANINGFUL WAY, AND ED'S ISN'T EITHER. PLUS IT WASN'T OPERABLE. This justification and lobbying fell on deaf ears and we were disqualified from the event.

What a bunch of F#CKING BOLOGNA. This was almost three weeks ago and I am still beside myself upset. The craziest thing is that I have a really good relationship with both the head of the series and the track manager, both of which stood quietly while I was tossed out of the race after driving 1000+ miles to be there to support the series. Every rule in drag racing for the most part can be enforced at the discretion of the track operator, and neither of my "friends" came to my defense to lobby on my behalf. What a bunch of fake, cowardly, spineless, pieces of human debris.

I believe I handled the situation as well as I could have, but I was devastated for a number of reasons. The money and time I spent to be there was wasted, I missed the opportunity to race the NHRA Divisional at SGMP for it, the friends I thought I had simply aren't my friends anymore, I've lost a race track that I genuinely enjoy going to because I cannot justify going to race there after this fiasco, and a host of other things. It wasn't that I got thrown out of one race, I now have lost an entire race track and group of friends over it, friends I spent years cultivating a relationship with, just for them to throw it away at a moments notice.

I am infuriated, devastated, and heart broken over the whole deal and I still don't really know what to think. Let me know what you guys think if you read this far.

Re: JP1738's Stocker and S/G car
 

Dawson, I always look forward to reading the latest updates on all of your racing and wish I had the gumption to put all of my racing escapades on a forum so please do not take this the wrong way. If the 6.0 rules specifically state no throttle stops allowed then I believe the promoters did the right thing. On the other hand I also agree with your logic of the car is not fast enough to use one and your dad's car not even being hooked up. In the end the rules should be enforced as stated. Please keep updating us on your racing endeavors and good luck!

Re: JP1738's Stocker and S/G car
 

i am just seeing Dawsons post about the roxboro fiasco.

here is my take. a few weeks earlier at a 6.0 race at shadyside two brothers came up to me and said, and i quote, there is this one guy at roxboro we cant beat and he will win the points if he continues to win. why dont you come to roxboro and jump on him for everyone so we will have a chance at the points. now, i typically dont race there as it interferes with my on call schedule at work and it is 200+ miles, but i decided to go and help my so called friends out. not saying beating the guy was a guarantee but whatever. so i do what i say, followed the dude first round, land beside him, he gets pulled for bye. follow dude second round, land beside him, i get pulled for bye. third round is when me and Dawson get tossed for stops on car. everyone in this series know we are not using a stop and rules most of the time says no operable stops but they say it can not be on the car. it is my fault that i did not ask to see it in writing. any way, we asked them if could show them they were disabled in a way that would make them happy and we were asked to go back to the trailer. these two brothers who typically cant beat anybody were ram rodding the whole show. the track was in the middle of it and was completely blind sided by the whole thing.

i will state some facts here, they have not beat the roxboro dude once and they have not beat me yet this year in 6.0 racing locally. either. and they usually dont beat Dawson.

i ended the situation like this. i looked at the two brothers and the other 4 dudes and said, quote, i will take it on the chin, go home and get my car right. but make NO mistake, it is NOT going to save you from the azz whippings you are going to continue to receive from the Pauley camp.

my beef was the inspection occurred in the middle of the race nor were we given the opportunity to prove the stops were inoperable. i am not opposed to checking my car. just check it before the race when i have time to make you happy or get my $ back. the way this went down we lost entry $ and potential win $.

ep-my car is "legal" now and the beat downs will continue. FACT

Re: JP1738's Stocker and S/G car
 

Dawson,
Hang in there kid. You got screwed and it sucks.
Frank

Re: JP1738's Stocker and S/G car
 

i get what you are saying here BIGG. the working understanding is, no operable stops. there was another local series that said no stops allowed. if he looked at your car and you showed where the stop was disabled it was good. you are basically using a $500 spacer plate at that point.

my mistake was not asking to see said rule in writing. then asking for the tracks interpretation of the rule in writing.

ep-they had me flustered and i didnt think fast enough.