HOT ROD Drag Week 2018

JRS

JRS

JRS

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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.
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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
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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!
 
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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.
 
HOT ROD's day 4 recap.

Day 4 results are in. And it's looking pretty interesting. Tom Bailey's 7.469 pass after the engine rebuild thrash was enough to retain a slender lead going into today. Street Machine Eliminator is tight, as always. And Mike Finnegan is inching up on Jarrad Scott in A/Gasser, 0.0493 seconds now separating the two cars :eek:

78 cars were confirmed out. Been checking out Dave Newbern on Instagram as they thrashed to get a 'new' motor in the '71 Nova. 'New' meaning old 350 Chevy out of a junkyard, because even that is better than an engine that you fragged the pistons in. Too much nitrous! They'll make it to the track in Atlanta, but they'll be running on no sleep. Typical Drag Week experience...

Day 5 stream link. Be advised that unlike previous years, this is starting at the same time as days 1-4 (8am Eastern, 1pm here)

 
He's apparently back in staging for another go, this time with the 'party pulley' fitted (smaller supercharger pulley for mo' boost). Think he may find the limits of traction on this go.

At least if he breaks something on Blasphemi with this one she can go straight on the back of the Roadkill Ramp Truck...

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Looks like the party pulley blew the motor up :o
 
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Ceryndrion said:
Transmission failure. engine survives.
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That's somewhat of a relief.

Those GF-5R 'boxes are normally unburstable. Makes you wonder what kind of horsepower Blasphemi was sending out with the party pulley on - with the engine in 'normal' trim she was making 900 horsepower at the tyres...
 
According to his last Insta post he's letting the car sit for a week (presumably while he basks in the afterglow of an 8.97 pass with many cold beers :D) before he pulls the transmission to figure out exactly what went on. I don't blame him, he's earned at least a short break!

He's got to fix it to be ready for a match-up in November at Pomona with the 'Tri 5 By Fire' car that the Hoonigans are building - same kind of Chevy gasser as Blasphemi, but with LS power instead of a second gen Chrysler Hemi design. That car back in May was being aimed at 700HP and 9 second passes. They may need to consider up-gunning it slightly...maybe spray it with *all* the nitrous.

As far as results for Drag Week 2018, I haven't seen the full sheet posted yet. But the class winners are as follows (ETs and MPH are averages for the week):

Unlimited - Tom Bailey, 1969 Chevrolet Camaro, 6.85 @ 202
Ultimate Iron - Bryant Goldstone, 1973 AMC Javelin, 7.07 @ 204
Pro Street Power Adder - Les Smith, 1967 Chevrolet Nova, 7.65 @ 189
Pro Street Naturally Aspirated - James McEntire, 1968 Chevrolet Camaro, 8.67 @ 155
Modified - Dan Saitz, 1988 Ford Mustang, 7.71 @ 187
Super Street Big Block PA - Frank Saponaro, 1967 Chevrolet Nova, 7.81 @ 185
Super Street Big Block NA - Randy Heinselman, 1970 Plymouth 'Cuda, 9.37 @ 142
Super Street Small Block PA - Clark Rosenstengel, 2010 Chevrolet Camaro, 7.98 @ 175
Super Street Small Block NA - Curt Johnson, 1991 Ford Mustang, 9.11 @ 149
Street Race Big Block PA - James Karger, 1979 Ford Mustang, 8.60 @ 163
Street Race Big Block NA - Scott Miller, 1968 Mercury Cougar, 9.25 @ 145
Street Race Small Block PA - Randall Reed, 1993 Ford Mustang, 8.52 @ 163
Street Race Small Block NA - Jason Tabscott, 1970 Chevrolet Camaro, 9.29 @ 145
A/Gasser - Jarrad Scott, 1962 Ford Falcon Ranchero, 9.16 @ 149
B/Gasser - Dan Chisholm & Ken Stasiak, 1955 Chevrolet 210, 9.80 @ 134
Hot Rod - Timothy Hall, 1947 International KB-1, 9.97 @ 130

Street Machine Eliminator results to follow.
 
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Still haven't seen the full results posted yet, but the Street Machine Eliminator competition was won by Jerry Barnes in his '67 Chevrolet Camaro. They ended up having to run the competition to 1/8th mile, as the track 1/4 mile timing system broke. The stick shift shootout was also ran in the 1/8th, Frank Romano winning in his '55 Chevrolet 210.

The schedule for next year is as follows:

Sept 8th (tech), Sept 9th Day 1 - Virginia Motorsports Park, North Dinwiddie, VA
Sept 10th Day 2 - Cecil County Dragway, Rising Sun, MD
Sept 11th Day 3 - Atco Dragway, Atco, NJ
Sept 12th Day 4 - Maryland International Raceway, Budds Creek, MD
Sept 13th Day 5 - Virginia Motorsports Park, North Dinwiddie, VA

Drag Week final day on Friday 13th...that ought'a be fun!
 
So, that Barra powered Cresta from MCM that Mechanical Stig was clicking 9 second passes off with? Currently in Finnegan's garage in Georgia waiting for Hurricane Florence to bog off so that she can be put on the boat back to Australia.

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