Went bracket racing last night...

[Project1970]

First Run, Time Trial
Left Lane: Pace-Arrow Motorhome
Right Lane: 1970 GMC
That is not a typo or a joke. We ran after they were sure the RV wasn't going to take out the cable holding the Christmas Tree up. I got a glimpse of the board as I passed through the traps (nearly 10 seconds ahead of the motorhome; he got me by two tenths at the light but I had him by 1.2 seconds at the sixty foot mark!) and I thought I saw a "xx.15" ET...low sixteen, I figure. I get the slip and look at it...I just cut a 15.759 at 86.26, to the Pace-Arrow's 24.465 at 56.94. Holy crap. That's two tenths down and two MPH up from my previous known best at Firebird.

Second Run; Round 1
Left Lane: C5 Corvette, 13.10 dial
Right Lane: 1970 GMC, 15.70
I shouldn't have been bragging about not having to ice my intake like the dry-intake fuel-injected guys. I let it idle too long in the lanes right before I ran...half-track it stumbled hard trying to find enough fuel thanks to some mild vapor-lock. I shouldn't have won, seeing as I ran a 16.17 to my 15.70...but the C5 ran a 13.64 to a 13.10, on top of my .182 light to his .286! (Best light of .000 in this case.) Won it by nearly two tenths.

Third Run, Round 2
Left Lane: 1970 GMC, 15.70
Right Lane: Dodge Ram 2500 crew cab with the new Hemi, 16.00
I knew I had this one the second I launched; I caught him even more asleep than myself, with a .286 light to his .555. There goes his three tenth head start right there. I was on the brakes at the end to make sure I didn't break out (probably wouldn't have) and I took it by a quarter second.

Fourth Run, Round 3 / Semifinals
Left Lane: 1970 GMC, 15.70
Right Lane: 1994 Camaro Z28, 14.50
This is where it really gets interesting. Why?

My dad is in the Camaro.

He's been cutting sub-0.100 lights all night. He could run as fast as he wanted...all he had to do was beat me off the line. I went first, of course...cut a nice .186 light...he blew by me at the top end of the track. I figured he'd won, but found it odd that he didn't pace me like he did the last guy he raced against (they both trapped at 77mph). I didn't look at the slip until I got halfway back to the staging lanes...

He red-lighted.

He blew by me because he knew it was over, so he decided to end in style; he ran a 14.156 at 97.96. Not bad for a car with a crappy ignition. I ran a 15.756 at 86.60.

Fifth Run, Finals
Left Lane: 1970 GMC, 15.70
Right Lane: 2002 Corvette, 13.80
So here I am, in the finals...with my dad's new boss, Madeline, and her 'Vette. This one would be interesting...
I cut my best light of the night (and my life!) with a 0.058; she promptly did me one better with a 0.040. She passed me right before the traps as I finished the night with a 15.762 at 86.48...

...to her 13.778.

So here I am...youngest winner of the QMC Trophy Dash (they've been running since '85, when I was 2), only winner of the Dash to not be an employee, and the only time the trophy has gone to the same home for two years nonconsecutively - my dad took it home in '96, when the Bronco he was racing against red-lighted. And a whole new set of best times, all the way down the track...

Best times (from all runs combined):
R/T: 0.058
60': 2.283
330': 6.566
1/8: 10.083
MPH: 70.11
1000': 13.114
1/4: 15.756
MPH: 86.60

Worst part? The best 330, eigth, and 1000' times were from the run I got on the brakes.

For comparison...a slip I still have on the bulletin board from Jan 28, 2000:
R/T: 1.344 (on a .400 but it still sucks)
60': 2.633
330: 7.416
1/8: 11.354
MPH: 62.83
1000: 14.783
1/4: 17.737
MPH: 76.12

I've cut 2 seconds and gained 10mph over the past three-odd years thanks to a new transmission, new heads, new intake, new ignition, new tires, a steady diet (down to 4110 lbs!) and a bit of exhaust reworking. I figure some headers on that very exhaust restricted engine should really let 'er loose...

[bigjimzlll]

very nice ....besides the vortecs what engine mods have you done? last week I had a best of 14.01 at 101 mph...and I was sputtering just past half track too.mid 15s feel pretty quick dose'nt it..I cant amagine 10 seconds...wow...at 101 im just about as fast as I want to be...lOl

[Project1970]

Engine-wise...it's the original, never-been-apart 33-year-old 350. 4 bolt mains, flat-top pistons with valve reliefs. Pretty decent amount of blowby thanks to the compression ratio and the fact that the rings are 33 years old..

Heads are bone-stock Vortecs, no mods to them of any sort.

Camshaft is a Comp Cams 260H, .440"/.440", 212/212 at 0.50". I want to replace it with an XE256H or an XE262H.

Intake is a plain-jane Edelbrock Performer Vortec. An Edelbrock #1901 750cfm Quadrajet is on top of that, and a huge K&N open-element is on top of that. It has a no-name aftermarket HEI.

Original ram's horns manifolds, through dual cheapo Meineke exhaust...next on the board is new headers, and probably just a whole new exhaust since the one on there is a good 15 years old.

Aside from that...I've got a 700R4 with a shift kit (that doesn't want to stay in first properly...), a single-piece driveshaft, and the original 3.73 open 12-bolt rear. Yokohama Avid S/T tires, and no traction problems to speak of, really; a 2.28 60' time is pretty good for a truck, IMO!

[SCOTI]

Congrats P.70.

Sounds like you had fun & just think, everytime you go to pop's work, you get to have that sh!t-eatin-grin (@ least for a year anyway).

[Desert Rat]

I love it when all paid for trucks,that are a fraction of the price of someones new showroom car that they think is a "hot rod"whoops there ass.Me and my $3500 truck,has spanked its share of newer expensive rides.and its ugly to boot.makes that person hang a immediate right in shame,i love it!!! Congrats on your Victory.Sounds like a blast,and some bragging rights to me!

[marcuspboldt]

Sounds like fun! I can't wait to get the Chevelle back on the track.
Congrats on the victory.

[Project1970]

Originally posted by Desert Rat
I love it when all paid for trucks,that are a fraction of the price of someones new showroom car that they think is a "hot rod"whoops there ass.Me and my $3500 truck,has spanked its share of newer expensive rides.and its ugly to boot.makes that person hang a immediate right in shame,i love it!!! Congrats on your Victory.Sounds like a blast,and some bragging rights to me!

I hear ya on that...though there's no shame in the QMC no matter who you race or what you race or who you beat/get beaten by...the way I figure it, racing the motorhome is payback for me getting lined up against the 550+hp twin-turbo fuelie 302 '66 Mustang last year...12-second car on skinny Radial T/As...

QMC honors have gone to plenty of vehicles...an '81 Bronco, a Toyota Tercel two years in a row (mister consistency...his winning runs were a 20.08 one year and 20.05 the next, on a 20.00 dial!), and I know the "Damn Truck Thing", aka "Gay Caballero" was runner-up once...hell, maybe next time I'll see if I can't get one of my (step)brothers to bring the Corsica; it'd win the title of "Fastest Car That Should Have Failed Tech".

I really can't wait to fix up that exhaust...it takes money, though...

[Yukon Jack]

Sounds like you had a blast - I have already told my oldest girl that we are going to the drag stip this year, just as spectators though.

[nate68]

makes me hella wanna go now. i need to get a radiator overflow can. don't know where to put one though

[Long Knight]

I can't believe you drag raced a motor home!!LOL Do you have any pics?!!

[Project1970]

My catch can is on the core support, just opposite the (nonfunctional) washer bottle...

I don't think I have any pics of me drag racing against the motorhome, heh...one guy did have a digital camera but seeing as he was also running the whole shebang, I don't know that he had time to take many pics (he didn't even get a chance to make a pass he was so busy, poor guy...that twin-turbo '66 Mustang would've been a crowd-pleaser)

Just think 35' Pace Arrow left lane, blue '70 GMC short/wide with a 2.5/4 drop in the right.

[MITCH1914]

our track opens this saturday. cant wait!!!!!!!!!!!!