At The Track
Ron HildrethRon's approach to optimizing his track times came entirely from the chassis setup-the engine was properly dialed in for the conditions, the challenge was getting the power down. The track conditions were getting worse as the day wore on but by adjusting the launch rpm, tire pressure and shock settings, and evaluating what worked and what didn't, he was able to come up with a strategy that worked: going back to the original shock settings and dropping the launch rpm to a mere 750. The result was a corrected best of 11.47/118.63 mph. All in all, it was a valiant effort in an oppressively hot environment.
Maryangel CamachoLike Keith Edelen last month, Maryangel was another front-drive racer who didn't seem to be as hampered by the weather as her rear-drive comrades. The secret for her was the sticky drag slicks and the cooling effect of the nitrous oxide injection. It isn't tough for even a modest blast of nitrous to drop inlet temperatures by 70 to 100 degrees, giving her an edge that paid dividends. Maryangel's husband, Victor, added an additional level of traction-enhancement for her in the way of a nitrous delay system. By dialing in the amount of delay of the N2O's activation, she was able to get out of the hole before the shock of the added power came on. For her, the sweet spot was a 0.4-second delay, a 3,200-rpm launch, and 13.5 psi in the left slick and 12.5 in the right. With a 1.86 short time, she ran a corrected best of 11.91 at 116.32 mph.
Barry TroupBarry's strategy for success was the discovery of a high rpm miss and the compensation for diminishing track conditions. By merely lowering his tire pressure from 18 psi to 17 psi and dropping his shift rpm from 5,200 to 4,900, he was able to come up with a corrected best of 11.95 at 113.76 mph. His fifth and last run came when the track really went away, and it was at that point that he wisely called it a day.
Jerry BeaudryJerry kept his baseline run information pretty close to the vest, yet he was able to make for some very consistent runs, in spite of the track conditions. With a launch rpm of 3,900 and a shift point of 6,000, his best time was very close to his other runs, any variance owing to traction. His best run of 10.28 at 134.21 corrected to a very impressive 9.66 at 142.70 mph.
ConclusionAs with last month, the hot temperature and slick track prevented anyone from running a personal best, but the challenges the weather presented added a new dimension of tuning experience.
Ron Hildreth was able to properly evaluate the changes he made and was able to spot where his tuning went wrong. He returned to basics, went in another direction and found the simple answer-a drop in launch rpm.
Maryangel Camacho, with her husband's tuning expertise, was able to use some high-tech tricks, some old-fashioned traction remedies and a dose of nitrous to come up with some truly impressive performances from a combination that isn't supposed to work at the strip. Her GTP benefits from a simple and effective formula that runs hard without spending a ton of money.
Jerry Beaudry was able to take an already dialed in combination to the strip and make some very impressive runs with a minimum of hassle.
Barry Troup was able to detect a problem in his car, work around it for the day and maximize his performance by simply dropping his shift point and tire pressure. His vast experience with early A-cars no doubt made paid dividends in this situation.
Our racers displayed some innovative approaches to dealing with the same weather and track conditions, and adapting them to their specific applications-lessons we can all benefit from.
Once again, we extend a special thanks to the POCI Drag Race Committee, and to Dave Anderson and Pontiac Drag Days for their help in putting together this shootout.