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 ---
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