Race of Champions Runner-Up at NHRA E.T. Finals!

Hey friends!

The NHRA Division 5 E.T. Finals in Great Bend, Kansas, have come and gone, and wow, what a trip it was. The main focus of the trip was our bid into the Race of Champions for Division 5. This race is invite-only for the Track Champions of every track in each category. What a great challenge to pit our program up against some of the best in our division!

Our weapon of choice has been dealing with some alternator belt issues, and while not the most performance-altering issue, it certainly was an annoyance. I made the final decision to simply rip it off and not allow a possible unknown to affect our program. Otherwise, the car has been solid after some jetting, air/fuel ratio, and fuel pressure changes to the lower altitude. The new APD carburetor has been a gift that keeps on giving, as I’m convinced it was a big part of our step forward this year in win/loss success.

Representing Pueblo Motorsports Park, we had tough competition at every turn, starting in round one with Fred Kaufman. I’ve known of Fred from a distance but never met him; I knew he was a talented racer and good on the tree. Talking with him the night prior at a practice tree race, he is a pretty cool guy and obviously very knowledgeable in on-track strategy. Lining up with him in round one was certainly no easy matchup. I was lucky enough to see a win-light off the line as our combination was still searching for a tighter package. Sometimes it’s better to be lucky than good! Though I tend to be neither but in this case, we will take it.

Round two saw a tough draw with Kyle Schwartz representing Julesburg in the other lane. Kyle is a buddy of mine and a very talented racer and one of the drivers I had hoped to race (along with Nick Zink, but we’ll get to that later) going into the event.

Schwartz and I left green, and the top-end was a tough one. With a slight advantage off the starting line and knowing I’m the slower car by 10-14mph going into it, I knew I had to drop it close. A couple kicks after feeling I was somewhere .035-.040 on the tree, hoping to avoid the breakout, was enough… just barely. I felt like I took somewhere around 015, but it was a tad more than that.

MOV of twelve ten-thousandths of a second on a double-breakout. Kyle stabbed the brake at the end, and it was only luck on my side that I came away the winner on this one. I’ve always enjoyed laps against Kyle and his father, and they really represent the great side of this sport. Good people who are simply just talented and passionate about the sport.

To the final we go, and we get Nick Zink. I’m well aware of the talent the entire Zink family brings and knew there was only one strategy to lean on, shoot for zero. There’s no fooling a good driver with top-end games or nonsense. The tightest package was going to win the lap, and I was shooting for 15-20 total. Nick preferred left and I preferred right that day and so I told him let’s go best-on-best and give it heck!

We both left the line, and I knew I crushed it. About 900ft, it was clear to me that he would catch me. Figuring he had to kill at least 2-3, I was hoping my job on the line would give me the leverage to keep him off me. His bye in the previous round proved to be very valuable info that he wants to get there. While the first inclination for many racers is to bail being second to the stripe, I had a game plan, and we stuck to it. My slight error in the run was the decision to dial 88 or 89. I chose .88 after watching some wind movement and underestimated its effect, running .895. Dialing for best package is a great strategy except when it’s not, and your opponent earns it, and Nick certainly earned this one.

Nick scrubbed a bit to drop it 88-ten thousandths of a second in front. His 20-total beats my 28-total. When you’re 28-total in the final of Sportsman, it’s tough not to see a winlight come on, but it’s also fuel for a better tomorrow, as it’s proof that you can be good, but you must be great to win an event like this.

Runner-up, however, is nothing to be ashamed of. While a bummer, we do get honored at the end-of-year Division 5 NHRA banquet so that will be fun to be at. Project 68 was performing solidly, but I’ll have to be better next year! I want to congratulate all the participants in the Race of Champions as it’s not an easy program to get into and certainly congratulate Nick on a terrific final and on the win!

Thank you to my partners who have supported this year, including Red Line Oil, H&M Transmission, MoPower Masters and On Track Performance.