GEORGIA ON MY MIND

Paul Marston as usual spent the second two weeks of October in the States on one of his bi-annual fact and parts purchasing trips to Florida. This time however Paul Marston was not accompanied by Drag Race Engineering Proprietor Gary Springford, business commitments at the shop meant that Gary had to pass this time. Paul Marston has sent in this report of what he found and how he spent his time. ‘Every time I visit the States it feels like you get a snapshot six months down the line on how things have progressed since your last visit to the racetracks of the Southern States, Florida, Alabama, Georgia, The Carolinas, and Kentucky. I have spent the past six years visiting twice a year, and am always surprised as to how quickly things change. The motors that are used in the upper Sportsman Classes just get bigger and bigger, 572ci BBC is an average size in Super Comp Dragsters with 170+ terminal speeds, these things are land based rocket ships. Silver Dollar Raceway in Georgia is a great ¼ mile Dragstrip and hosted the last Division Two Event of 07, there was for the first time I can remember not one Super Comp door car out of 70+ entries, they were all Dragsters. Doorslammers have now nearly completely disappeared from Divisional NHRA Super Comp classes. A far cry from the UK Super Comp Class from where you would obviously draw a comparison. These Dragsters are fast too, most of which are 4-Links (with rear suspension, the same as the Paul Marston Racing Ugly Stick Dragster) some very brave drivers run a slip joint chassis, that makes for a wild ride sometimes, you really have to be on your game to tame one of these babies, this to his credit is what our buddy Tony Morris drives. You may well ask why are the Doorslammers leaving Super Comp, the answer is very simple really, competitiveness. With the current level of competition at NHRA Events, it is perceived that you have to give yourself the very best chance of winning, the fastest, lightest, most stable racecar allows you to be more repeatable and more capable of driving the finish line at tremendous speed. You simply cannot do that as accurately and safely in a Door car, try standing on the brakes at 175mph in a door car and you will begin to understand why most people use 4-link Dragsters! Super Gas is no different evolution wise, although you do still see Chevrolet Vega’s and Monza’s there is a clear trend to larger and larger displacement lightweight roadster style entries. The Brogie Roadsters that began that trend having been slowly replaced with more swoopier and very attractive looking early and late model Camaro, Mustang, Cavalier and Corvette Roadsters. 555ci BBC being a popular Weapon of Choice, again with terminal speeds in the 160+ mph range. Even Super Street is seeing Racecars with terminal speeds approaching 150MPH for a Super Street Car?? Its pretty obvious to see that the Super Comp doorslammer drivers are now in Super Gas and the older Super Gas Cars are more plentiful in Super Street. This cavernous gap in choice for Doorslammers that opened up between Super Gas and effectively Pro Stock/Pro Mod obviously lead to the inception by local Track Operators (quick 16 or 32 Bracket races) and eventually adopted by the NHRA. Called Top Sportsman it fills the gap nicely between Super Gas and Pro Stock/Pro Mod. Doorslammer Teams can race on a Sportsman budget without having to use a Throttlestop and remain competitive. Top Sportsman is a Doorslammer only class with a 16 or 32 spot qualified field, you have to run a minimum of 7.99 and the field comprises of the fastest 16 or 32 Top Sportsman entries on the property. It runs as a bracket class on a Sportsman Tree with Full Electronics, which makes for close racing with some stunning machinery, it is a winner on all counts. What was absent from this NHRA Divisional Event was thankfully no big crashes, this has been of growing concern over the past few years, with competitors going faster and faster, the dice had been rolling and the wrecked car count was growing, it seemed to average 2-3 cars an event. This Silver Dollar Lucas Oil Divisional bucked the trend and will hopefully be the norm from now on. No-one who is a driver or a true race fan goes to the track to see some poor guy reduce a $130,000.00 racecar into scrap in one run. It costs a lot of time, money, sacrifice, bravery and dedication, mentally I always feel a little piece of what makes a driver dies when they endure a bad crash. That makes returning to the drivers seat a little more difficult for them, providing he or she escapes uninjured. It was good to catch up with all the Racers, a majority of which are the same anywhere really, real friendly, nice people who are totally committed to racing hard and having a great time doing so. The Silver Dollar Event was affected by rain from Wednesday to Saturday morning, but from Saturday the sun shone on the righteous and the 8.00am Sunday Morning Chapel Service in the Grandstand was greeted by a beautiful Sunny Georgia sky and a packed house! The event was completed, my good friend Steve Deatherage driving his JW Transmissions backed Super Comp Dragster, made it thru 5 rounds. Everyone else, Tony Morris, Scott Dickens, Tim Hutcherson, Mike Mixed Nuts, Mike Ruff and Scott Lamar, some went some rounds, others had a very early bath! Edmond Richardson was in town with Kurt Damron Senior and Junior of Undercover Chassis. Edmond needed to win Stock to take the World Crown and in Super Comp he needed to go 4 rounds to become World Champion for I think the 3rd time, which I believe has never been done before. Well this was not to be Edmonds day as he was eliminated in the first round in both classes, in Super Comp by his own team mate no less (Super Comp first round is random pairing in NHRA eliminations), that said Kurt Junior did go on to win Super Comp and for that matter also Top Sportsman as well. The level of competition is so good that even the very best can go out any round. Whilst at Silver Dollar I got with Brent the Goodyear Tyre dealer who looks after all the Southern Drag strips and placed our tyre order for 2008 and of course picked up the obligatory event t-shirt. That was all in the first week, the end of the second saw us at Orlando Speedworld and the Fastest Streetcar Shootout. With the World Famous Race rock Restaurant now sadly closed, the Fastest Street Car Cruise, normally held there was hurriedly moved to a Hooters some distance away. Although well (read overrun) attended with fans the racecar attendance was poor to say the least and the night was disappointing for everyone who managed to find the place, shame really because traditionally it’s a great night and all the Drag Race Brits in Florida to meet up to see who made it over this year. Prior to the Fastest Streetcar I decided I would only visit the track Friday, this actually turned out to be a really smart move as the event was washed out and abandoned Monday night, already a whole day late. This is not to say that there was not some stunning racing over Saturday and Sunday but it is true to say it was weather affected. Friday not only bought the best track action after a good walk around the pits, but with the extra grandstand seating amongst the long list of improvements that Speedworld has enjoyed, it really is looking good. There qualifying was very smooth too, plenty of track time with nearly no downtime, a start contrast to past years, it looked like most teams had their act together right off the bat. It was also good to meet up with some real good friends whilst there, Tony Morris’s sister Andrea and her husband Renne from Germany who were over visiting Tony and Lynn . For those who have yet to sample what is Drag Racing in Florida, you are missing a great time, for those who have been, see you there next year. In closing I must thank the following in no particular order, Vic Fera - Brevard Cylinder Head, Tony & Lynn Morris, Larry Nadeau – Pro Mod PT Cruiser, Everyone at ARTS Deli (The Best Cheeseburgers in Orlando and probably the World), Everyone at BLP who make the very best Drag Racing Carburetors in the World, Robbie at Automotive 1, all the Division 2 Race Teams.’