PDRA Richmond and season wrap

      Richmond's PDRA race was a long, wet weekend and then some, but when the Beast finally hit the track on Sunday for its final pro boost qualifying run, it ran a  4.14 (start of run above) -- best with the new automatic transmission, and (if memory serves) third best in the car's history, after two 4.07s with a clutch setup.
     As good as it was, Paul and the Beast team know how good it could have been. About 200 feet out, Paul said the Beast started to spin the tires and the rear went left. "It started making big power there all at once. I got it corrected really quick. It would have been a 3.98 or .97 if I hadn't had to lift."  It would have taken a 4-flat to get into the super-tough 16-car field.
    With that, the Beast will be parked until next season. "We ended on a note of really knowing where we are now. The converter is right on now, and hats off to Kenny Ford at PTC," Paul said. A couple more races for the Beast were possible this year, but Paul said the team decided to save its money and concentrate on getting the car better for next year -- particularly a continuation of a weight-loss program the Beast has been on for a few months. He said the car is still 70 pounds overweight, and he has some ideas to pare that away.
The engine has been serviced and will be good for the first 2-3 races next year.
    Of course, the next year's races are uncertain at this point, other than big interest in PDRA events, and probably no-screw-blower races in the Carolinas. Along with work on the car, the team will be looking for sponsors to join those on the masthead above who are helping the team. "We're in dire need of sponsors," Paul said.
   We'll be back as developments warrant, up to the start of the 2015 season. 
      

PDRA weekend/ update Saturday

    Saturday update: Paul called from the track while the crews work to dry and re-prep the surface after a lot of rain. He's still hoping for three rounds of qualifying -- at least one shot today, maybe a couple of hours from now. PDRA is committed to getting the race in, going Sunday for sure, and even into Monday if that's what it takes. The best thing is to tune in Motor Mania TV, MMTV 1, which is live-streaming, and it's excellent.
    Happened to catch round 1 of pro boost qualifying Friday, and saw the Beast fail to leave the line. One account said used the word "broke," which usually connotes bad stuff, but Paul said the Beast tossed a blower belt at the hit. He said that's unusual for a roots blower car, unlike the screw cars that go through them like candy, so he decided to look for a cause. The bottom crank pulley was loose, basically held on with bolts at finger-tight, and ready to come off. Anyway, all is well.
    The pro boost class has the biggest field, 27-28 cars, and right now the cutoff at #16 is about 4.05. That's tough; the Beast could run a career best and not get in. Paul said he's not expecting much movement, maybe to a 3.99, so he's going with a 4.0 tuneup for today. The track is being prepped by the best in the business, so it should hold just about anything.
    Tune in Motor Mania TV; it's a great show.
  
     Friday morning: The racers are gathering in Richmond, and Paul and the Beast should be among them. Early tests indicate the track is super fast, so the competition will be great. The team is looking to build on its PDRA experience in Memphis earlier this year.
    Richmond is hours and hundreds of miles away? Not to worry. On the promodifieds.us message board, click on the PDRA championship thread and you will find a link to Motor Mania TV live-streaming all the action. It's excellent, even with an Internet connection as lousy as mine.
    Also, this site

will have info on qualifying and elimination ladders. Let's hope the weather cooperates, and everybody gets down the track swiftly and safely.

PDRA up next

  
     The Beast remained in its garage last weekend, forgoing the race at 710 Dragway in Rowland, N.C., after the team earlier indicated interest in it. Paul was also interested in the PDRA race in Richmond, having enjoyed the Memphis PDRA race earlier this year. So efforts have been directed toward that race, which could be the last one of the season.
    Though the EOPM race in Atlanta a couple of weeks ago was challenging, Paul said they learned a lot. He thinks the torque converter setup is finally where it needs to be, and is planning a fluid change to loosen it up just a bit. Also, the race tuneups have been based on info before the blower was refurbished. The revitalized huffer is really helping to churn out the power, so the team is paying special attention to it. The car is doing well in the first 60 feet, and then blowing the tires. On the back end, the team is running more air in the Mickey Thompsons, and Paul is pleased with the new wheelie bar.
    If the weather stays warm, Paul said he'll look at the calendar for maybe one more race after Richmond. He said the engine rods are getting near their limit.
    Richmond should be a good race.The PDRA Pro Boost class the Beast will run in has proved very popular with racers, so there should be a ton of them vying for one of the 16 slots.

NOPI Nationals / Monday meet wrapup

Here's the first round. Looks like a tough one for the Beast and most of the others. Hope they can pick it up in the later rounds. No other info, but the refitted Beast looks good.Got the pic and qualifying sheet from the Extreme Outlaw Pro Mod facebook page. It's being updated from the track.

    Saturday night update from Paul: Round 2 of qualifying was still tough for most of the field, and was no better for the Beast, with a 6.51. He said it seemed to be a fluke to get down for the few who managed. The Beast has a new set of tires at this race, and the setup was blowing them right off, so Paul said they plan to back the power way down with timing adjustments and change the air pressure to try to make a clean pass, and then build back up for the eliminations. It's a 16-car race and 14 are on hand now, so a huge qualifying run isn't necessary, just a good/decent one to get a baseline and a feel for the track. Paul said he thinks it may be better Sunday.
   That's it. A round of qualifying Sunday and then into the race. Check the EOPM facebook page, and the message board at promodifieds.us is always worth a look.

Sunday noon update from EOPM page: Dialing back the power proved the right strategy for round 3 of qualifying, as the Beast cruised to a 4.22 at 170, good for 11th in what is now a full 16-car field. Paul's first-round opponent looks to be No. 6 qualifier Marcus Birt of Gray, Ga., in a 63 Vette, who ran a 4.04 at 181. He ran a 4.07 Friday night. Check the EOPM page on facebook, and the promodifieds.us message board for more info.

Monday wrapup: Paul went out in the first round against Birt, who got taken out by meet winner Chris Rini in round two.

 More racing this coming weekend may be on hand at the Big Chief Shootout at 710 Dragway in Rowland, N.C. We'll let you know.

Late starter / Sept. 13 update/mea culpa

Sept. 13 update: Oops! Big red light on this one. The race was postponed until Sept 27 because of an unfavorable weather forecast, and I missed that bit of news. So, no racing this weekend, but maybe next weekend at Atlanta and the following weekend at the Big Chief. Sorry for the confusion. I'll get it all sorted out.

And the Atlanta race:

Weekend update: Rained out

   
It was Scenic City Thunder storms (probably an embellishment) Saturday at Brainerd Optimist Drag Strip, washing out what could be the last event of the series. A big screw-blower race at Woodstock, Ala., was also doused.
    Four cars showed -- the Cuda Beast, Jimmy Sandefur, previous SCT winner Rick Murray, and one car that isn't a pure promod. The dismal forecast no doubt kept a lot of Dixie Pro-Mod nitrous racers, who live 4-6 hours away, at home.  It also kept spectators away -- bad for an event that has no sponsors and depends on the gate to fund the purse. Paul said the track was going to cut the already slim purse, so it was probably for the best that the rain came.
    The future of the series next year is murky at best. If the track is truly committed to a promod program, then it will need sponsors to draw racers -- and spectators. Paul said he's willing to hit trade shows to line up sponsors if the commitment is there.
    Otherwise, the Beast is back in top shape, with a new nose and wheelie bar. Paul said he worked until 4 a.m. Saturday to get the car ready. Good thing the tow was not much over an hour away. The team won't make this weekend's PDRA race, but will return to Commerce, Georgia -- scene of this season's bizarre shutdown area collision that necessitated the new front end -- Sept. 19-21 for an Extreme Outlaw Pro Modifieds race as part of the NOPI Nationals. Paul said he's also looking at another four or five races in the fall -- all no-screw events in the Carolinas.
   Stay tuned.  

Back to racing

    This Saturday, Paul and the Beast return to action, as does the Scenic City Thunder Pro-Mod Series at the Brainerd Optimist Dragstrip just outside Chattanooga, Tenn. The Beast has been idle for a couple of months, partly because of damage the Beast incurred when it was hit in the shutdown area at Commerce by another driver, but mainly because of a serious medical situation involving Paul's mother. It was touch-and-go for a while, but Paul says she has been out of the hospital for more than a week and is starting to regain her strength.
    So now the repairs to the car are coming off the back burner, and Paul has a lot to do in the next couple of days to get the car ready for Saturday night. The new front bodywork from Larry Jeffers Race Cars is being primed and painted by crew member Gregg Cash of C&C Collision in Cumming, Ga., and Paul has to install the new one-wheel wheelie bar and replace a steering arm that was bent in the collision, in addition to all the necessary bits of maintenance the engine needs to be ready. Paul said the shop will be a "madhouse." 
    Saturday's race will be the second under the Scenic City Thunder banner, a series initially envisioned as six races. The first one, in April, was won by Rick Murray, who tamed a decent field and some awful track conditions. Paul was still recovering from a broken back he suffered on the job, so the Beast did not race. In the ensuing months, for various reasons, the series was idle, so Paul ran a PDRA event in Memphis and an EOPM event in Atlanta, where the Beast got hit.
    Paul said he has been told the Brainerd track is scraped and ready, which should mean a better racing surface. A September race was on the initial SCT calendar, but its status is not known. The schedule for Saturday will be a bit different, pushed back and compressed to avoid as much of the daytime heat as possible -- two rounds of qualifying, 6 p.m. and 7 or 7:30, and then racing. There probably won't be any coverage from the track, as there is a big race in Alabama that includes screw-blower cars, which will get most of the attention online.
     A PDRA race is set for the following week in Rockingham, N.C. Paul has his eye on it and would like to go, as he enjoyed the Memphis event, but isn't sure at this point.
    I'll pass on anything I might hear, and it wouldn't hurt to check the message board at promodifieds.us.
   

Crash diet

    Finally caught up with Paul, and he explained the bizarre finish to his first-round qualifying run (above) at Atlanta against Charles Terrell at the EOPM race. As the picture shows, Paul did his usual good job on the starting line. Not long after, he said the car started to haze the tires and went left. "I got out of the throttle, got it squared up and hit it again," Paul said, clearing the traps at 166 mph and a 4.50 et that was good enough for fourth.
     Atlanta has a half-mile shutdown, and Paul was letting the Beast coast on the chutes. Paul said he never saw Terrell and figured he had aborted the run. Terrell's et was a second slower than Paul's, and his trap speed was only 85. There is etiquette for the shutdown area: Paul said the faster car -- in this case, the Beast -- has the right of way. Rolling to a stop, Paul realized he was not going to make it all the way to the last turnoff, so he began easing to the left to indicate he was going to use an intermediate cutoff, about 250-300 feet closer. He was just across the center line, doing about 5 mph, when Terrell hit him going much faster. The header caught the Beast's front clip and did this --

   
    Needless to say, Paul was stunned. "I thought, 'How can he hit me?', Paul said. That led to a second-round qualifying attempt sans front bodywork, and has put racing on hold until August. It will take a couple of weeks to get the new front end from Larry Jeffers, and crew member Gregg Cash, owner of C&C Collision and Rod Shop in Cumming, Ga., will paint the new piece and fit it to the car. Though the car escaped chassis damage, Paul said there is one suspension piece he'll replace.
    Hard to find a silver lining in a costly, unexpected setback, but there is this one: The new front end should shave a good 20 pounds from the car. Paul said the old front end had sustained minor damage in a couple of incidents last year, and each repair has added weight, as the fiberglass needs a lot of reinforcing.
    Since the Memphis PDRA race in May, Paul said he has been trying to put the Beast on a bit of a diet. At Memphis, the car was about 90 pounds above the minimum. One other area of weight saving is expected to have a direct impact on the car's performance. Paul has been getting good video of every run this year, and has found that the wheelie bars aren't doing everything they are supposed to.
    Besides keeping the front end from rising 10 feet in the air, Paul said, the wheelie bars work with the rest of the chassis and suspension to help the car stand up on the tires -- one of the keys to big runs. The bars on the car are a two-piece design that is proving to be weak; the car isn't up on the tires until around 330 feet. Paul said that should happen in 100 feet. So the Beast is getting a new wheelie bar (just one) from Tim McAmis that will be stronger and probably 20 pounds lighter. Coupled with other random bits of weight saving, Paul said the Beast should be at least 50 pounds lighter for the next PDRA race. The Beast's bests -- a couple of 4.07s two or three years ago with a clutch setup -- came when the car was well over 2,600 pounds.
    The Beast's next race is up in the air at this point; it won't be this month's Scenic City Thunder event. Paul said he's still trying to make the series happen, but does plan to run any PDRA events that are close enough, plus a couple of no-screw-blower series in the Carolinas. The team didn't learn much about the new torque converter configuration, some data pointed in the right direction.
    So, no racing until August. Paul said the Farmer's Almanac is forecasting a cooler-than-normal August. If that is the case, Paul said they'll try to race as much as they can.

Weird weekend

           This first-round qualifier at the Extreme Outlaw ProMod race at Atlanta last weekend against Charles Terrell was the start of a strange day for Paul Gibbs and the Cuda Beast team. I haven't been able to talk to Paul yet, but at the end of this run, the cars collided in the shutdown area at the first turnoff  for the return road. It was a left turn for the cars, and the Beast got the worst of it.

I don't know if there are any understandings/unwritten rules that sort of dictate who does what and when in the shutdown area. Anyway, the Beast ran a 4.50, which was fourth quickest in a round when the track was 140 degrees and grip was elusive. It was also the Beast's first run with the reconfigured converter, so it's doubtful the team was able to build on it.
     Apparently, the damage was limited to the bodywork, because the Beast turned out for the second round of qualifying, against Terrell again, but not looking its usual sleek self.

Both had traction problems, and the Beast somehow wound up in the sandpit at the end of the track. The team answered the call for the first round, but was shut off after the burnout.
      A lot to be filled in. I'll update this when I talk to Paul.

Battle of Atlanta

      Friday, June 27 update: The Fantastic Brian C at www.promodifieds.us says he's going to try to make the race, so be sure to check the site's message board for race info, pictures and commentary. If you can't be there, following the race online with Brian C is the next best thing.

      With the June Scenic City Thunder race at Chattanooga canceled, Paul and the Cuda Beast team will be going south to Atlanta Dragway at Commerce, Georgia, this weekend for the "Night of Fire" race. It's an Extreme Outlaw ProMod series event

that promises to be a fast 16-car field. It's a no screw-blowers series, so it mirrors Paul's SCT races. It's an NHRA-sanctioned track, so the racing surface should be conducive to lots of speed.
     It will be the team's second race of the year, after May's PDRA event in Memphis. There, a lot of the pieces seemed to be coming together, but the torque converter appeared to need a different configuration. That has happened, and the car is all buttoned up in its trailer, ready to go. Paul said PTC removed some fins to improve fluid flow.
    It's a one-day race that will likely be a long, hot one, but at least the track is just down the road for the team. There will be three qualifying rounds, and I'm not sure if there will be any online coverage at www.promodifieds.us . I'll try to pass on anything I might find out.
    The SCT is scheduled to return in July, with a big 275 race along with the pro-mods.
    Be fast, and be safe. We'll have a recap next week.

Memphis in the meantime

        The 2014 racing season is officially under way with the Cuda Beast's appearance at the PDRA event in Memphis this past weekend, and the first outing of the year lands on the positive side for the team. Paul and the gang decided to go to West Tennessee after canceling the second Scenic City Thunder race when another track scheduled a race right on top of them at the last minute. It was a good move, and a vastly better outcome than the team's last trip to Memphis in 2009.
       Paul ran the Pro Boost category -- no screw blowers -- and qualified 15th out of 15 entries with a 4.25, put down on Friday. The team had made a bunch of changes right near the end of last season but couldn't get that one last race in to test them. The normal winter hiatus was unfortunately extended a couple of months after Paul's workplace accident that broke his back, so the Beast was idle for about seven months. (Paul's back is healing well -- some stiffness still, but Paul said he survived some nasty tire shake on one run with no ill effects.) A couple of test runs told them that the torque converter still did not have the right configuration, so the team tried some computer tweaks to the various engine controls to compensate, and did pretty well.
      With 15 cars running in a 16-car bracket, Paul drew No. 2 qualifier Joe Baker in the first round. Paul said he expected Baker to go a bit easy on the tree, but the start of the race was a stunner -- I'm embarrassed to admit that I missed snapping a picture of it. Paul cut a good light while Baker was nearly unconscious. Paul still had him at 330 feet, but Baker caught him on the big end, with a difference of .12 at the finish.

     The Beast ran straight and true; one bobble and Baker's day would have ended (he went on to the final, and lost). It was an exciting race, and ended the weekend on an upbeat note.  Now attention will turn to getting the right torque converter setup. The next outing for Paul and the team will be the third race on the SCT schedule, Saturday, June 28.
     The Memphis track is nearby for me, so I got to visit Paul and the team and finally see the car make a full pass. I mentioned the 2009 trip to Memphis; that was an ADRL race and the first time I met Paul. It was a Saturday morning and the Beast was done for the weekend, having made a hard left turn into the wall on a qualifying run the night before. Some nifty driving by Paul kept the damage from being a lot worse. I made a Huntsville race in 2010, but the Beast shook the tires at the start in the first round. Here are a few pictures from Saturday's race; they don't begin to capture all the work the team put in during a long, hot weekend.

    Back from the last qualifying run ---

Time to check the engine ---

Heart of the Beast ---

Doc and Paul talk tuneup, after having analyzed and noted all the computer data ---

Young fans stop by for some Cuda Beast stickers ---

Getting ready to go -- programming the engine control systems and cleaning the windshield ---

Cuda Beast to staging ---

This is after the burnout; at this point in the race, the positions were reversed ---

The finish line ---

Back to the pits ---

"Tell us all about it' ---

Timeslip details ---

Change of plans

       Hey! Isn't the second Scenic City Thunder race this coming weekend? Well, yes, it was supposed to be, staked out for weeks on the southern promod race calendar painstakingly assembled by Brian C. on promodifieds.us. But another track just a week or so ago decided to hold a race right on top of the SCT. That, and some other stuff left Paul no choice but to cancel the event. However, when life presents you with jerks, you make jerky-- something like that -- so Paul and the Cuda Beast team are heading to the PDRA event in Memphis.
     It will be the first 2014 race for Paul and the Beast. The window for healing of his broken back will have passed, so it's time to hit the track. Paul will be running in the Pro Boost class -- down from the Extreme cars -- no screws -- but with plenty of cars and action. Pro Boost drew 22 entries at the last race, at South Georgia Motorsports Park, and a 16-car field spanned 3.89 to about 4.15. "We can get in this," Paul said. "It's a nice track, and it will have the best track prep (the Traction Twins) in the world. We'll be able to throw some horsepower at it."
     At the track, Paul will make a new form-fit carbon-fiber seat. A form is placed in the car, and covered with a bag that is filled with the composite material. Paul, wearing all of his driving gear except his helmet and neck device, will sit in place for 20 minutes or so while the material sets up. Another 4-5 hours later, and it's ready for racing. Paul says the custom-fit seat will be a lot safer because it will serve to better keep him from moving around in the car. As tight as all the safety belts are, movement happens. The more you can reduce it, the safer you'll be. Though he doesn't need his back brace any longer, Paul said he's going to wear it while racing.
     Seems like it has been eons since the Beast has raced. Weather of this writing looks good. We'll keep our fingers crossed. As usual, check promodifieds.us for any coverage. Not sure if Brian C. will be there, or whether there will be online streaming.

Scenic City Thunder -- Race 1

         The inaugural race of the Scenic City Thunder pro-mod series is in the books,  and the winner was Alabama racer Rick Murray. His 1953 Vette was the top qualifier with a 4.23, and made the quickest pass of the day, a 4.19, to beat Keith Baker in a blower v. nitrous final.
       Paul, who is continuing to make good progress recovering from a compression fracture in his back, said he was pleased with the race -- fans turned out, things went smoothly after a slow start, and they got done before the curfew.
       Every new undertaking comes with a learning curve, and the SCT is on one for the next race, on May 24. The next event will go with just two rounds of qualifying, eliminating the morning round and starting the first round at 3 p.m., second at 5 p.m., and racing at 7. Track prep will get attention, too, particularly in seeing that the starting line area is scraped of old rubber a couple of weeks before the race, allowing a couple of meets to put down new rubber on the track.
      Car count was down from expectations. Paul said at least four racers didn't get their cars finished in time to make it. The Dixie Nitrous gang had a good contingent. If his recuperation continues well, Paul expects to have the Cuda Beast on the starting line next month.
     So, a lot was learned on Saturday to make the next race better, and that's everyone's focus. Here's one more shot of Murray's team (sorry, I don't know who took it). Rick Murray is second from right.

Let's get it going

      Saturday, this new promod series will debut, culminating a lot of hard work by racer Paul Gibbs and the folks at Brainerd Optimist Dragstrip, just outside Chattanooga. As detailed in the previous post, Paul is recuperating from a broken back suffered in a workplace fall and won't be able to race the Cuda Beast, but he is planning to be there with the Beast to welcome fans and racers, and maybe do a burnout (my .02: I'd forgo that).
    A big hurdle for this series has been sponsorship. One sponsor has apparently bailed on the series, and most other possible sponsors have already committed what sponsorship dollars they have to other races. So this series, at least for now, is launching without sponsors, but the track says it will increase the payout if spectator support enables that.  It's a bit of a Catch-22, but if you like good promod racing, this should be a good show. Paul said he had a tough decision on the payout -- whether to make the purse levels as big as possible, or guarantee $500 for qualifying for the 8-car field. The qualifying guarantee won out.
     It has been awhile since these cars have run at Brainerd, so it should be a treat for fans. The track has new management, and has made a series of improvements, as shown in the before/after pics below to the racing surface, guardrails (that old one had seen too much use), and shutoff area (they are real low-res screenshots, but will give you the idea). The weather is looking good, just a slight chance of precip Saturday night, but it looks like, at this writing, the only thunder should be on the track.
     The Fantastic Brian C from promodifieds.us will be in the house, providing his usual peerless race coverage. Here's hoping for a harmonic convergence of fans and racers for a fast, fun, safe event.

'Better than I was'

     That was Paul Gibbs' assessment of his condition Monday after last week's worksite accident that has put his 2014 racing season on hold.
    As you may already know, Paul suffered a broken back last week when a ladder slid out from under him while he was working on a house. As bad as it was, it could have been much, much worse.
    I talked to him yesterday, after he had been released Friday from a Chattanooga hospital, where he had been taken after the accident last Wednesday. Paul said he dropped about 10 feet to the ground, landing on his feet, which resulted in a compression fracture of his spine.
      The pain, of course, was excruciating, but Paul said doctors at the Fannin County hospital were really alarmed by bone fragments they feared could move into and damage his spinal cord. So he was taken to the trauma center of Erlanger Hospital in Chattanooga. After a couple of days of observation, doctors there determined that the fragments were moving away from the spine, thus averting the need for surgery.
     Paul is back home in Mineral Bluff with a back brace that he will have to wear for six to eight weeks. In subsequent rechecks, doctors expect to see the fragments become encased in scar tissue -- sort of a natural protective response by the body -- which will neutralize them. Paul was also fortunate that no discs were dislodged; time and rest will let them heal.
    All this occurred less than three weeks from the start of the 2014 racing season and the launch of the  Scenic City Thunder pro-mod series at Brainerd Optimist Drag Strip in Chattanooga, a no-screw-blowers competition Paul has created. That inaugural race is April 25, and Paul said he plans to be there with the Cuda Beast, to welcome fans and racers, do an invocation and maybe a burnout. If all goes well with the doctors, Paul said he hopes to be back on the track for the series' second race, on May 24.
    Details are still being hashed out for the first race. One big sponsor has suddenly gone incommunicado, so the structure of the race payout is not yet finalized.
    "It's a real big disappointment," Paul said of his setback on the cusp of a new racing season, one that carries extra anticipation at being able to race at his home track and pride in a fast, fairer series he has developed. A race preview and coverage of the first event will be here, and I hope fans and racers turn out in big numbers for a real grass-roots, local racer-focused event. 
     

Ready for his close-up

     Here's a bit of fun to get you in the mood for the upcoming race season. This action movie, about a cross-country auto race/chase, made a stop in Blue Ridge, Ga., last year to film at a drive-in movie theater there. The locals were asked to bring their cars out, and Paul obliged, with his pro street Dart. It was filmed, along with Paul giving a fist bump to star Aaron Paul. Now, it just remains to be seen what made it into the final cut. At 2 hours and 10 minutes, the movie would seem to have plenty of time for lots of footage from north Georgia. Anyway, look for this Dart

     Progress continues on the new Scenic City Thunder pro-mod series that Paul has organized this year at the Brainerd Optimist Drag Strip just outside Chattanooga. A flier for the first race, April 25-26, should be ready soon. Though races are starting to turn up on the March calendar, at Montgomery and elsewhere, Paul said the six-race Chattanooga program will fill his season this year. Plenty of racing, without a lot of travel logistics. Chattanooga is less than 90 minutes from his home, and qualifying and racing will be confined to one day. That, and the ban on screw blowers, promise a great event for local pro-mod teams and drag fans alike. Paul said the Optimist strip has already run two regular events this year, and the new surface is providing lots of grip.  
     Paul is getting his blower refurbished, which will let him run less overdrive while boosting power, and the Cuda Beast is all set with a new torque converter configuration. Paul hopes to test at Chattanooga between now and the Scenic City Thunder opener.

New racing series for 2014

 

    The 2014 season for Paul Gibbs and the Cuda Beast is starting to take shape, anchored by six races in a new promod series Paul envisioned and has brought to fruition, called Scenic City Thunder. The "Scenic City of the Southland" is a nickname for Chattanooga, Tenn., and  the racing will take place at the strip run by the Brainerd Optimist Club of Chattanooga. It's Paul's home track, less than two hours from his home in Mineral Bluff, Ga. "It's like a dream come true to race locally," Paul said.
     The track, which is just over the state line in Georgia, has been operated by the club since the late 1960s, first as a quarter mile. It was refurbished last year with a new surface and guardrails. Paul said the improvements led him to start pursuing the track to host a promod series. He said promods have raced there before, but not in a while. The last race there Paul remembers (he was sidelined with back problems and didn't enter) had David Elsberry beating Bil Clanton. He said the promod track record is 4.15, which should fall quickly.
     The structure of the series, Paul said, is as follows:  Quick 8 format, paying $3,000 to win, $1,500 for runnerup, $750 for quarterfinals, and $500 to qualify. If there are at least six cars that don't qualify, they can run in a consolation race for $1,000, winner take all. The races will be held the fourth weekend of the month, starting in April and ending in September. The track will open Friday for parking and testing, with all qualifying and racing on Saturday. Paul said the racing will unfold in two-hour intervals: three rounds of qualifying -- 11 a.m., 1 p.m. and 3 p.m., first round at 5 p.m., second round at 7 p.m., and finals around 9 p.m. The three rounds of qualifying should give Saturday arrivers at least a couple of shots at making the field, and shooting for a 9 p.m. final would get everyone loaded up and headed back home at a decent hour.
    The big distinction for this series, and what Paul says will be a big part of its appeal, is a ban on screw blowers. Paul said this will give teams without sponsors or deep pockets a much better shot at winning. Scenic City Thunder is in a good position to fill a void created when a no-screws series in the Carolinas ended its run last year.
     The Beast is ready to go, set up for a late-December race in Florida that didn't work out. Paul said he has one valve in the engine he wants to replace, but that's it. The Beast's first definite appearance will be the Scenic City opener April 25-26, but there is a no-screws race in the Carolinas in March that is a possibility.
     It's shaping up to be an interesting year. The race fliers should be ready soon.