HOT ROD Drag Week 2018

JRS

JRS

JRS

Soldato
Joined
6 Jun 2004
Posts
19,725
Location
Burton-on-Trent
HOT ROD Magazine said:
HOT ROD Drag Week is the competition where street-legal drag-race cars run quarter-mile time trials every day for five days, driving on public roads between four different drag strips for a road trip of 1,000-plus miles unassisted by support vehicles. It’s the ultimate test of a street/strip car, with trophies awarded in multiple classes for vehicles with various levels of modifications. The one car with the lowest average elapsed time over the week of racing is named HOT ROD’s Fastest Street Car in America.
Click to expand...

Livestreamed as always, day 1 at Atlanta Dragway just getting started now. Doing the briefing and introduction to the week as I type this, racing to get going in a little while.


One of the cars I'm really looking forward to seeing do well (and hopefully finish the week this time) is Mike Finnegan's '55 Chevy gasser 'Blasphemi', he ran a new best of 9.07 @ 149mph in test-and-tune yesterday :eek: Also blew out the rear window in the car, because Roadkill :D

Day 1 is Atlanta Dragway, Atlanta GA. Day 2 will be held at Darlington Dragway in Darlington SC. Day 3 is at the zMAX Dragway in Concord NC. Day 4 will be Bristol Motor Speedway's dragstrip in Bristol TN. Then day 5 is back at Atlanta Dragway.
 
Finnegan running now...and it's a bust, shift to second gear didn't happen (he's got a G-Force 5spd in it, clutchless for upshifts). Hopefully he didn't hurt it. Got to go around and queue to make another pass. Some seriously quick times so far, lots of cars hooking nicely and big power being made.
 
ci_newman said:
That was messy :D
Click to expand...

Yes. Yes, it was :D

HOT ROD has posted their Day 1 recap. The results from Day 1 are in as well - at least 25 cars are out already, and that number might increase on the drive to Darlington. The rain came in a big way, which obviously shortened the day in Atlanta and made the drive out of there for many competitors pretty dicey. There's a great shot on Instagram of Tom Bailey's Unlimited class Camaro (the current leader of the competition) clattering through the deluge :eek:

I'll pop up the link to the Day 2 stream soon as it becomes available. The forecast for the Darlington area was giving scattered thunderstorms (and Hurricane Florence is on her way), but hopefully they get a bit of racing in.
 
Day 2 coming up shortly.



***edit***

Stream started. 27 cars confirmed out. Two guys spun their cars in the downpour during the road drive last night, but everyone's okay. Weather in Darlington SC dry right now, here's hoping for a full race day!
 
Last edited:
Shame I can't watch this live. I remember watching a couple years ago whilst off work and I think Lutz and Larson were in, and Larson set the record. Was awesome.
 
Another good day of racing.

The driving route to the next stage has been rejigged - normally you have to run a route set by the organisers, with checkpoints and places that you have to photograph on the way to prove you drove it. That's been canned on account of the weather (Hurricane Florence is busy causing evacuations and the like), so it's just going to be a case of picking the most direct route to the zMAX Dragway in Concord. Sensible decision really. And doesn't exactly lessen the challenge of the week much.
 
HOT ROD's Day 2 recap.

I make it 47 cars out now, assuming everyone who started the drive to zMAX made it. Tom Bailey leads Unlimited (and overall) with a 6.702sec @ 215.33mph average. There are 12 cars with an average E.T in the 7's or better, and a further two who snuck into the 7's yesterday having ran slower on Day 1. The Audi RS3 that was running in Street Eliminator is out, which is good. The '58 Corvette gasser is out as well, which is less good - I really, really like that car. And Paul Cornman's '71 Dodge Demon is out too, which is a damned shame. He surprised everyone on Day 1 throwing down a 9.452 @ 143.84mph in a car that doesn't do all that much in the way of trickery - it's a carb'd small block and a 3 speed auto, no nitrous or forced induction. But that small block has been punched out to 429ci (7 litres in our money) with a VERY high-lift solid roller cam (0.750in :eek:) and huge compression (nearly 15:1 :eek::eek:). High octane race gas, steep rear gears and a mini-tubbed rear to get some wide slicks under it do the rest.
 
So, I must have read the overnight results wrong. Because the 'vette gasser was definitely running on-track earlier. And talking of gassers, Mike Finnegan sent Blasphemi down the track to a 9.007 ET :cool: He might just get into the 8's this week yet.
 
As of the overnight results, 62 cars were out.

So far it does seem like a lot of cars here are slowing down slightly - density altitude combined with one or two being distinctly second-hand this far into the week! Finnegan pumped in a 9.14, quicker than the Jarrad Scott Falcon Ranchero that was leading A/Gasser by a couple of tenths. Gonna be a hell of a fight when/if they both get back to Atlanta. The MCM Cresta was distinctly slower this morning than it has been, not sure if they'll bother to come back out later to try and improve or not.

Tom Bailey has had some fun - dinged a piston in the motor yesterday. It's rebuilt now AFAIK, and he'll hopefully run later when the Street Machine Eliminator session ends and it goes to All Run.
 
You must log in or register to reply here.
Back
Top Bottom