2000 S10 Xtreme Drag Truck

[D.B]

Ok, well it's been a few weeks since the last race. The weather has not been good to us. We had to postpone our last race and reschedule it. So, if all goes as planned, I will be back at Thunder Valley on Sunday June 1st to see if I can pull off some wins. The little S10 is all cleaned up and getting ready to be loaded up on the trailer. Gates open at 9am, it will be an early start in the morning.

[SCOTI]

Fingers crossed it goes as hoped!

[D.B]

My trip to Thunder Valley didn't go as expected. My race friend got hit by deer around 7 am Sunday morning just south of Marietta and totaled his truck. He was fine and not hurt, just a little shaken from it. I watch the whole think as it happened. From when the deer came across the south bound lanes through the median, over the safety fence and right in front of him. I can tell you this that when that Ram dually hit that deer at 75 mph, there was nothing left of it but mangled up truck and hair. There was nothing I could do; it happened so fast. We got it to a weight station one mile away, that was at 8 am. Then we noticed his left rear trailer tire was flat. On top of this it started raining, I mean flooding it was coming down so hard. We were a little over 80 miles from the track. I got the tire changed and he called the insurance company to see if they could schedule someone to come get the truck and to tow his trailer with drag car. They told him they were on their way. So, I left and headed to the track about 9 am. The track was 82 miles away and I called another racer to see if maybe they canceled because of rain, He said no, the rain stopped, and sky was clear. The track would go live in about 1 hour. All I can say is I drove into the gates at 10:09. Don't ask me how fast I was going I was trying to keep my eyes on the road because most of the way it was still raining. I did make it to the semi-finals but screwed up royally at the launch. It was my race to win, and I gave it up. I fought grimlins all day, the little S10 is still having issues getting to the finish line.

[D.B]

Cont:
I forgot to pick up my semi-final award because when I called my friend, he said he was still at the weigh station waiting for the tow truck. This was around 5 pm. 10 hours after the accident. He had to schedule and reschedule tow truck 5 or 6 times before he finally got one to do it. All of this was done through the insurance company and not directly with a tow service. The tow truck was due at 6 pm. I told him I was on my way to get him and was to have another friend meet us there with a truck to tow his trailer with race car back home. We did this because the tow driver said they were not allowed to tow the trailer with a car on it. Just to let you know, my race friend is 80 years old and hardheaded. We left the station and went to get a bite to eat, neither of us had meal and was plenty hungry. Not much of a choice in Marietta to pick on a Sunday afternoon. It was either a Sonic or McDonalds. He wanted McDonalds so that is where we went. The on the road heading south back to Texas and just north of Gainsville we hit major traffic die to construction. Down to one lane and the backup was miles and miles at 2-3 mph. We finally made it to his house at 12 midnight got him unloaded and I went home.

[D.B]

Did more work on the S10, hopefully I will get a chance to go to XRP for TNT on Sunday. I really need the seat time. I had to fix the alternator belt. It looks like I will need to get a new one. The belt is worn out. I also replaced the MSD Digital 6 box. This box controls the ignition, rev limiter, and shift rpm switch. I did get something from the Thunder Valley race and that was some inside the cab video footage. What I found was interesting. On all the passes that seemed to be hitting a rev limit, it actually was not shifting into high gear. You could actually hear all the runs and hear each shift. What I think is happening is that when it is in 2nd gear pulling hard it is not getting to the 6500rpm shift setting. I know it's not hitting my rev limiter because I lowered my shift light down to 6800rpm and my rev limiter is set at 7000rpm. The light never comes on in 2nd gear. I know the light works because it comes on during my burnout. Maybe my new box I installed in December is bad. I called MSD, explained what was happening and they shipped me a replacement at no charge. When I installed this new box, I separated all of the wires apart from each other. I want to make sure there is no electrical interference of some kind going on. We will see if I can get to the track for TNT or at the next race.

[HO455]

It's been awhile since the last time I was to live vicariously through your track adventures. I hope all is okay.

[D.B]

Well, HO455, it goes like this. We thought maybe the shift cable had gone bad; it only had 40 passes on it. And found that was not the problem. But it does seem to be the transmission. My last race I went 3 passes. It shifted fine in two but not in one. Maybe it's the 2-3 shift valve hanging up when it gets a little heat into the trans. After speaking to ATI, I removed the trans because I have approx 600 passes on it. ATI recommends a re-fresh at 250 to 300 passes. I have it torn down in my shop at the moment. I found a little metal in the fluid, nothing major. Upon disassembly I found one of the clutches started getting hot. I also found the rear thrust washer had a groove worn into it. This was from the rear planetary had a bur. I cleaned that up and will put new thrust washers in it. I will also put new frictions and steels. I sent the converter to ATI for a re-fresh and when I was talking to them about the valve body. They said send it with the converter and they will re-fresh and wet test it at no charge. I ordered the parts and hopefully all it come in next week when the valve and converter arrive. I did install an external transmission cooler in front of the radiator for added insurance. I was relying on the small internal cooler that is made inside of the custom radiator. I will plumb from the transmission out to the radiator cooler. Then from the radiator cooler to the external cooler, then back to the transmission. This will keep any temps down that may come up. Next race is August 24th, I am still in 3rd place, but a distant 3rd place.

[HO455]

You can't seem to catch a break lately. But it good to hear that the weather nightmares have missed you.
I went through several transmission cooler setups years ago looking for the best way to get consistent oil temperatures at the start of every pass. I ended up with the aftermarket cooler before the radiator cooler so I could get more heat into the oil just before first round.

[D.B]

Today was my first race back from fixing the truck. It runs great and made all three passes. I did break my alternator mount on first time trial pass. Easy fix and went for 2nd time trial pass. First round didn't go as planned. I had a glare on my windshield from my aluminum dash that kept me from seeing the tree. I need to fix that. Regan and I will talk about this and see what can be done. I may need to paint the dash or put some type of cover on it. I am just glad everything is running and now I can think about making rounds.

[HO455]

A buddy had a vinyl wrap outfit put a scrap piece on his dash. I seem to remember it was
like $40 bucks just before covid.

[D.B]

Originally Posted by HO455

A buddy had a vinyl wrap outfit put a scrap piece on his dash. I seem to remember it was
like $40 bucks just before covid.

Thanks HO455, I will keep this in mind. I may be able to go that route.

[D.B]

It appears I fixed my windshield glare. I ended up using felt and two-sided tape. Looks good and there is no glare at any time.









I also had a race today and lost 2nd round. I did have two good TT runs. A 6.23 with a .001 light and a 6.24 with a .009 light. I need more set time to string along more good lights. Other than that, today was a very good day.

[HO455]

Good to hear you had a fun day at the track. Your dash looks nice. Well done!

[D.B]

Went back Sunday to Xtreme for more TNT. Made 4 really good passes. Was hoping to get more in but we had severe storms come through and they closed the track around 8pm. The truck and I was on a roll.

[D.B]

No updates on fixing or adding anything to the S10 since my last post. I do have a race this Sunday Oct 5th at Xtreme Raceway. Looking forward to it. October will be very busy with three events. Then I plan to hit some TNT's until the tracks close up for Winter. I may try to run an event that is outside of TMCCC. I have not done that yet, could be interesting.
I do plan to work on the S10 this Winter. I want to clean up my wiring and also the dash/gauge panel. The felt cover on the top of dash has been working out great. No more glare.

[regan wilson]

Good luck this weekend! I'll be at the Tx Motorplex from tomorrow until the 12th.

[D.B]

Thanks, I will need all the luck I can get. Be safe at the Motorplex and win a few for us.

[D.B]

Race day was not too bad. Made tree passes in the S10. Pass 1 ran 6.248 with a -.0022 redlight. On Pass 2 I changed my delay and I guess I went the wrong way. I ran a 6.249 with a -.0224 redlight. Oops, my bad. Changed my delay back to what I originally had. Pass three they paired me up with my good friend who is number 2 in points. I flubbed and he won. The points leader lost and now my friend is 5 points from taking 1st and we have two races left.

Next race is at Little River outside of Temple, Tx. It will be my first time to race the S10 at this track. It's been running really well, and it looks like my dial in will be 6.24 most of the time.

[D.B]

Heading to Little River today for an event. Hope the driver is on. If so, it could be an interesting race day.

[HO455]

Good luck!

[D.B]

I made it to the Semi-Finals. Truck ran great, track not so great. I have one last race event for this season, it will be on 10/26 at Xtreme Raceway Park.

[HO455]

Good job! It's always nice to get that far and take a bit of coin home.

[D.B]

The 2025 season is over and now I will be doing maintenance on the S10 and a couple of upgrades. Nothing serious, mainly tiding up some wires and putting in a new gauge panel.

Here are a few pics from the last event.

[SCOTI]

Looks nice & even!

[MellowYellow70]

Darrell

How big of a tire are you running on the rear?

I like the track photos by the way