comp cams best racing story ever told

[wheatlandbrawler]

hey guys comp cams had a entry where you submit a racing story you have experienced for a chance to win 500 bucks and some other stuff... well i submitted one and i attached my email of my story. they picked me as a weekly winner and put me in the finals. thought you guys might get a kick out of my story. and wish me luck in the finals!






Kenneth,

We have chosen you as a weekly COMP Cams banner winner! and you have been entered in the finals for a chance to win 500$ in comp cams products Please reply with your full mailing address and we will get you a banner shipped out ASAP. Thanks for the story, it was great!

Sean Mogridge
COMP Performance Group




On Wed, Mar 17, 2010 at 9:46 PM, kenneth watson <raceimpalla@hotmail.com> wrote:

hello, before i get to the story i will give some info on my self and the car i race.

my name is kenneth watson i am a 22 year old college student currently getting my associates in computer aided drafting for mechanical engineering. the car i race started out as my moms daily driver. its a 78 malibu. my mom blew the engine in it and its life as a drag car began.

1978 malibu.
back halved with a comp fab 9 inch, full spool, 4 linked, 12 way adjustable comp engineering coil overs.

10 point cage.

fiberglass deck lid, hood, and lexand windows.

2" drop spindles up front with, comp drag shocks and moroso trick springs.

now what you guys want to hear. the goods.

388 ci small block chevy 4 bolt main block.
eagle forged stroker crank
eagle forged rods
JE 8:5:1 forged slugs.
COMP CAMS CUSTOM HYDRAULIC ROLLER CAM.
COMP CAMS VALVE SPRINGS, RETAINERS, LOCKS.
COMP CAMS GOLD ROLLER ROCKERS.
COMP CAMS PUSHRODS
COMP CAMS BELT DRIVE
dart pro 1 cnc heads
weiand 6-71 teflon stripped roots style blower
2 holley 850 cfm boost referenced carbs.
MSD pro billet distributor.

transmission. gm th-400 with a TCI manual valve body, TCI trans break, TCI 4,800 stall.

(i have attached some pictures of the car, the engine and me at the actual race where that im going to tell you about)

THE GREATEST RACING STORY (that i have to tell)

it started out one late may morning, as my father and i hooked up to the trailer loaded the car up, loaded the slicks up, 10 gallons of race gas and the extra blower pulleys. we leave salina ks and head south bound to wichita international raceway in wichita ks. im nervous the entire trip. why? (because im only 19 years old and i have never raced before on a track, let alone in a 9 second street car. i had drove it a few times with my dad on the street but never getting crazy with it just putting around.) we pull up to the gate to pay our registration fees at the 2nd annual mid night street drags. (all heads up racing) were running slicks and power adder class wich is a tough class as is. so we get in park the trailor and unload the car and put the slicks on, uncork the exhaust, adjust the timing and set the launch controller rev limiter.

i get in the tech line and the guy asks me what i think the car will run. i said i dont know, because we had the overdriven pulleys on the blower, and pulled some timing out of it so i would go slow... first time at the strip ya know. so they run through the usual tech stuff and say your good to go. at this point my mind is running a million miles an hour my palms are sweating i cant set still. guys are looking at the car and vice a versa. so my dad sets me down and tells me to calm down sets me in the car runs me through the steps of the burnout, how to set the linelock for the burnout, transbreak procedures and what not. i get in the staging lanes strapped in door open so i can breath and knees just shaking. its finally my turn to make my first test and tune pass. i get in the water box i set the line lock and do my burnout. my dad is out front guiding me to the lights. i hit the trans brake and set on the pedal. were on a pro tree lights flash and i just let go of the button and boom! it feels like i just got smacked in rear end by a semi truck doing 50 and all i see is air... it settles down the shift light comes on i slam into second then drive and its all over...... i coast back to our trailer and my dad has the biggest **** eating grin on his face. he said what you think you ran? i said who knows it all happened so fast. he said i think it was 12s.... i was kinda heart broke. if thats what 12s feels like i dont want to know what 9s feels like. i looked at the time slip and it said 10.19 at 133mph. i was amazed. we checked the car out made sure everything was in tact and avoided the tech guys haha.

elimination round. with a 100$ single buy back if you wanted. so we get in the staging lanes and im looking at the car next to me a mustang fox body. we pull into the water box and i just start shaking again. we set the lights i let the trans brake go again and im off...... never looking in the other lane to see if i had won or not. i had! so we go a few more rounds and im blowing them away left and rite we finally get to the final round. this alone is a achievment in its self for me. in my mind i have allready won. my dad was proud of me and i was happy.

all the finalist stage for seperate classes and next to me i see 1974 nova, its got a 9second index sticker on the window and i see the nitrous bottle setting next to him in the car. he comes over to me shakes my hand asks about the car what i have been running and we just talk. while the class in front of us finishes up. i ask what hes been running and he says "ive had some jetting issues but its been going 9.90s and 10.0s tonight. i have yet to brake 10.10 the air is cooler so i know were both going to run quicker. as soon as he told us what he was running my dad went and grabbed some tools and we swapped the pulleys out rite their, played with the timing and let a few more pounds out of the slicks. they call us up and i strap in. i say my prayers and hit the water box........ at this very moment was a moment that changed my life forever. i took the far lane and when pulling into the water box the car was was yanking its self as if it couldnt wait. the throttle burping its self under the load. i smile just thinking of this moment. i get in the water box start to warm em up and roll out.. this time rolling out past the lights..... i roll back wait for him to get deep staged before i trip the second light, it trips i hit the break and bring the revs up. the light changes and all hell breaks loose i leave hard! the front end comes up and the shift light, i rip the shifter into second and the car gets out of the groove it trys walking into the wall i throttle it and dont stop almost as if nothing else matters i get back in it and yank drive. and pull him on the big end. i couldnt tell who won we was side by side. im pulling down the return road and i dont see anyone at the time booth. so i pull on around to the trailor where i see everyone with smiles.... i had won. i won my first race i had ever ran. i won a plaque, 300$ and the story of a life time. we loaded up and went home on the way we stopped to eat and the ol boy i had raced was their eating as well. we talked and are now freinds. he runs a new set up and is running 8s now. and our car hasnt changed much. as we are building two new cars. wich is of course loaded with only the best in competition valve terrain. COMP CAMS.

p.s. i also attached a picture of me by the very same car i won i my first race with. when i was a child.

[C20-67_N_MO]

Great story.

But we need pictures too!!

[camshaftgsxr]

sweet!!! pics +1

[Sinister]

That's *****en. Good luck with the contest.

[entourageguy]

good luck !!!!

[chas350]

What an awesome experience!

[CoggedBelt75]

Great story with even greater results!!! Good luck to you.

[Camaro_nut2001]

WOW!! Great story and man did it bring back memories. My Dad broke me in building starters & alternators in the back of an old ford van when I was around 13. He would take them to work with him and put them on customers cars when needed. Anycase when I was 15 or 16 I wanted to build my own street car so I graded tobacco and put up hay till I got enough saved up to start my motor as I already had my car, a monza. Dad gave me a complete 283 and said here you go. I used Papaw's 66' Chevy truck to take my block to Jefferson City to the machine shop, the same one I use today and got what block work I could afford done. I went back with stock crank, bore, pistons, rods etc... My Uncle gave me a set of 461 heads and I lapped my own valves in and put em on. He also gave me some quadrajet tips & tuning tips, taught me some about running a solid lift cam that he gave me, helped me set my first gear up & taught me some about points and dwell. Well, I got her put in & Dad wanted to take a ride but we lived on a gravel road so I really couldn't put to much foot down so he said Sat. we're goin to Knoxville Dragway. First time on a drag strip and I didn't have a clue what to do. My first trip down the strip and I didn't do what he knew I could do so he went to fussin & said we was goin back to the house. I talked him into lettin me run again and I promised to do better. Well, I hammered it off the light as he was standing right on the fence watching me and the driveshaft came thru the floor board, scared me to death. We had a buddy come get us with his wrecker and I could tell Dad felt bad. The next weekend he brought in a new set of u joints and driveshaft and a circle thing and told me to get under there. He showed me what failed and why and put the circle thing in and said now you can hammer it. He let me drive it to Maynardville and on the way back he said stop. Hammer it. I dropped the clutch, floored it & he was bangin gears and hollerin don't you let out while I was tryin to keep us out of the creek. When we got back to the barn he said son, you build a h**l of a motor. I felt like a million bucks.

[wheatlandbrawler]

camaro nut.... thats one hell of a story, my old man has brought me up up around racing and its taught me alot in this life. workin hard is the only way to go fast period. parts are not cheap and money dosnt grow on trees.

well thanks alot for the support guys and ill post a few pics up, the one of the kid is me standing by the same malibu i won the race in when i was a kid growin up. and the other pictures are of the malibu. its my old mans car but ive done alot of wrenching on it and have since moved on to my truck but thanks again for the wishes guys!