No racing

    Paul and the Cuda Beast team had hoped to return to the track these past two weekends, but were unable for a couple of reasons, the most serious being health problems for Paul's mother that have required her to be hospitalized. That occurred last week, between the Southern Shootout race at Montgomery and this past weekend's PDRA event in Richmond.
    Before the Montgomery race, Paul said the car was all set to go with a refurbished motor, and the only remaining task was to get the overhauled transmission back into his Dodge dually. The transmission has proved tough to get fixed, and Paul said he tried to borrow another truck to make the Montgomery race, to no avail. Then came his mother's hospitalization.
   Between  that and the long health struggle for Keith Dockery, the team's computer guru and Paul's brother-in-law, this year has been emotionally draining for everyone in the Gibbs family. They can certainly use all the prayers and good wishes you can send their way.
   Paul did mention the possibility of a race in Bradenton, Florida, but that's way off in December.  

It's race day!

     Paul and the Beast will be at Montgomery this weekend for the promodifieds.us Southern Shootout finale. That point series has already been decided, but it should be a terrific race nonetheless, as Montgomery and the Southern Outlaw Tour always put on a great show. It's a screw-blower series, but Paul is eager to try out the Beast's new tuneup at a track where he has run well before.
     Thursday, the Beast was all ready to be loaded up. Paul was in the process of putting the refurbed transmission back into his truck. That will mean he'll miss tonight's qualifying, but will have two shots and a test run or two Saturday. Since he was really busy, I didn't get into plans about next weekend's PDRA race. One at a time.
     Crew member/computer guru Keith Dockery is still having a tough go with medical issues, so keep him in your thoughts and prayers.
     As this is a promodifieds.us - affiliated race, the fantastic Brian C will be trackside to provide his peerless reporting and photography all day Saturday. Check the message board at promodifieds.us frequently. It's almost as good as being there.
    OK, everybody -- be fast and be safe. 

Into the homestretch

       As you might have guessed by now, Paul and the Beast did not make it to last month's Open Outlaw race at Huntsville. The engine was still out of the car then, but should be back in and ready to go for a possible visit to Montgomery this coming weekend.  It's the final race of the promodifieds.us Southern Shootout series, which has already been decided by Dwayne Watkins' dominating performances this year. But it should be a strong field, and Paul is eager to try the Beast's new tuneup against the screw-blower cars.
     In this downtime from racing, Paul has also worked on his hauler and the transmission in his truck. Paul said he's also interested in the season closer for the PDRA, which would be in Virginia. Paul ran pretty well there last year in the tough pro boost class. The PDRA would mean back-to-back racing weekends for the team, so we'll see.
     Paul said crew member and computer guru Keith Dockery should be going back home this month, finally after months of medical issues.
    We'll have an update on the end-of-season races as Montgomery approches.  

Next race?

   Haven't been able to talk with Paul, but last time I did, he indicated this would be the next race. Open Outlaw Racing has a Facebook page that might have some information, and there's a slim chance the message board at promodifieds.us would have some. Hope the weather is good, and that everyone is fast and safe.

Refresher course

        The Cuda Beast will be at home in its shop this weekend, its engine out and apart. Even though it's a PDRA weekend, in Memphis, Paul says it's time for him to go through the 526 hemi and freshen things up, especially since he's going to reset the tuneup baseline and try some new things. "I'm going to need a good engine under me," he said.
      Based on a conversation with former top-team pro-mod tuner who is now working with the identical engine setup as the Beast's and is in the 3.90s, Paul says he has new strategy for programming the timing on the hemi to get it launched and fully powered all the way down the track.
     The Beast's best runs, a couple of 4.07s, came when the car ran a clutch. It has come close to those with the new automatic trans, but consistency and even lower ETs have been elusive. So, Paul is going back to the clutch tuneup that yielded the 4.0s, and starting from there with the automatic.
     The new engine plan involves starting out with less total timing than has been used, taking less of it out at the start and putting it all back in more quickly, after a second into the run. With the old clutch setup, Paul said the timing did not change during the run. From this new baseline, Paul said it will be a matter of adjusting until the car gets up on the tires and gets down the track -- and into the 3.90s.
     The Beast's computer tuning guru, Keith Dockery, has had a difficult recuperation from surgery. Paul said he will likely be in the hospital another week to 10 days, and then into a period of rehab.  Please keep Keith and Louise (Paul's sister) in your thoughts and prayers.
     With Memphis now off the calendar -- bummer, because I was looking forward to seeing the Beast in person as I did last year, but health, physical and mechanical, always comes first -- the next race will be another Open Outlaw Racing event, again at Huntsville on Sept. 12. At the last one, Paul qualified No. 8 with a 4.57 and smoked the tires in a first-round loss to top qualifier and eventual meet winner Rocky Flanagan, who had a 4.0 bracket car all day.
     The next PDRA event likely will be at Bradenton, Florida, the first weekend in October, and maybe the season closer at Richmond a couple of weeks later. If the Huntsville Open Outlaws race gets the tuneup nailed down, Paul said he might try another promodifieds.us Southern Shootout event, likely Sept. 26 at Atmore, Ala. 
    

Racing this weekend: Huntsville Open Outlaw

    Paul and the Cuda Beast return to the track this weekend after almost two months, heading to Huntsville for an Open Outlaw Racing series event Saturday. It is described as a series "for 3.90-4.60 race cars to run heads-up at two great tracks in Tennessee and Alabama." U.S. 43 is the Tennessee track. The series has a Facebook page.
     The purse is small, so the race will be basically a test session for the Beast as Paul looks to get dialed in upcoming PDRA races. At of this writing, more than 16 cars, from promods to dragsters to fuel altereds, have indicated they'll be on hand. Not sure if there will be any online news from the track, though the Cruzin-USA reality TV show will be filming the event for an upcoming show.
     While the team will be focused on racing, they'll also be thinking about team member Keith Dockery, the Beast's computer guru and Paul's brother-in-law, who had surgery this week in Chattanooga and will be in the hospital into next week. Keep him in your thoughts and prayers. Paul said crew member Gregg Cash is past his medical problems and should be at the track this weekend.
     Paul said he has added two new crew members -- Greg Parker and Toby Collins, a Top Sportsman racer from nearby Blairsville, Ga.-- to help on race weekends. Paul said he's hoping to make the remaining PDRA events this year. First up will be Memphis, in my neck of the woods, Aug. 20-22, so I'm looking forward to seeing the car in action again. Then it's Rockingham (Sept. 10-12), Bradenton, Florida (Oct. 1-3) and the world finals in Richmond (Oct. 22-24), where the Beast ran well last year. The Beast's class, Pro Boost, is the most competitive at PDRA events; the last one had some 30 cars vying for 16 spots. At the last event, in Maryland, the field was all sub-4 seconds, separated by less than a tenth of a second.
    I'll have a Huntsville recap next week. Be fast and be safe, everyone.   

Steele-ing away today

   Just found out online that Paul and the Beast are at Steele, Ala., today for the Shoot Out at Steele, part of the promodifieds.us Southern Shootout series. It's not an series Paul was planning to run, as it allows screw blower cars. The focus this year is the PDRA pro boost class, which ran last weekend at St. Louis. Paul had that date on the calendar, but did not go.
  Health issues have left the Beast team short of crew members, but Paul has added some equipment -- a starter device and a backup camera -- to enable him to be more or less self-sufficient on the starting line.
Since I just found this news by accident, I don't know who is with him or have any updates on crew members Keith Dockery and Gregg Cash.
   There will be racing updates, however, on the message board at promodifieds.us, so check there. Brian C. is at the track, and will be providing his peerless analysis and photography to the finish. Qualifying is supposed to start at 1 p.m., probably two rounds, and then racing. It's an eight-car field, and lots of heavy hitters are there. Let's hope the Beast is among them. Fast and safe racing, everyone.  

No Ohio Valley this weekend

    Paul and the Cuda Beast will be at home this weekend, as team personnel are still trying to get on the mend from health issues. Paul says the news from that front is encouraging for Gregg Cash and engine computer guru Keith Dockery, who is feeliing better, and will start cancer treatments soon.
   After forgoing the PDRA race in Louisiana, Paul had penciled in a race at Ohio Valley, near Louisville, Ky., this weekend, but various factors, including the availability of crew members, nixed it. Ohio Valley would have been a new track for Paul, and an interesting race. Though open to screw blower cars, the field might have been a tad more accessible with a big event at Huntsville this weekend expected to draw a lot of the South's heavy hitters.  Hard to say what the purse difference might make -- $5k vs. $3k at Huntsville to win. Huntsville is a Southern Shootout event for points, so participants in that series will likely take the longer view of things.
     Activity at the shop has been busy, despite the lack of racing. To try to make the starting line routine more efficient and more self-sufficient, Paul is installing a rear-view camera in the Beast, which should let him back up correctly after a burnout without needing someone to guide him back. It's a slick, hi-def setup that comes in at 10 pounds, Paul said. It points at the wheelie bar and can see 35 feet back. It would be great if it has any recording capability.
   Also new will be a self-primer for the motor, so the car can be started without needing anyone to squirt stuff into the injector. With these additions, the only thing that an extra person will have to do is remove the throttle stop after the burnout. For safety and performance, the Beast is also getting a carbon-fiber driveshaft..
    The other parts of the Beast convoy have also been getting attention. The fan clutch on the Dodge dually needed replacing, as did the six sets of brakes on the 50-foot trailer that hauls the Beast. You definitely want to keep that under control.
   The next race on the schedule is the PDRA in St. Louis at the end of the month. See you back here then.

No racing this weekend

   Paul and the Cuda Beast will be idle this weekend as key crew members face health issues. The PDRA race in Louisiana had been penciled in for this weekend, but not enough hands are available to do all the work that is required during a race weekend.
   Team member Gregg Cash had stents put in his legs this week, and computer guru Keith Dockery continues to deal with a cancer diagnosis. Paul said Gregg hopes to be back at work at his body shop in a week or so, while Keith's doctors have advised him to put this racing season on hold.
    If Gregg recovers on schedule, Paul said the next race will likely be May 15-16 at Ohio Valley Raceway near Louisville, Ky. It's a true outlaw race, open to screw cars, but it's also the same weekend as the Southern outlaw series race at Huntsville, which will draw the bulk of the South's heavy screw hitters. Ohio Valley will be a new track for the team, but Paul said he has heard good things about it, and that Brandon Snider ran 3.66 there last year for the track record.
   In the previous post, Paul said he's looking for people interested in volunteering to help on race weekends. There is no pay -- food at the track is it. It's a long, hard couple of days, but a good opportunity to get some up-close, hand's on experience if you are interested in getting into promod racing. Don't expect to be hanging out at the fence watching races. The only cars you'll see racing will be the Beast and whoever is in the other lane. Call Paul at 706-258-8241 if you are interested.
    We'll be back as the Ohio Valley race gets closer. Keep Keith and Gregg in your thoughts.

Rockingham, other updates

   Paul and the Cuda Beast team had a fairly frustrating time at Rockingham last weekend. Paul had originally planned to leave on Wednesday, test Thursday, and go racing Friday and on the weekend. Instead, he didn't get away until Friday, and a flat tire and wrong turn made for a long, late travel day. Two qualifying attempts didn't get out of the fives, as launches remained a problem. Here's a photo, taken immediately after the one above, in Paul's last qualifying bid.

   The left rear slick appears to be off the surface; it is not wrinkled, as it is in the top photo. Paul said that particular qualifying session was troublesome for the vast majority of cars as the track really heated up when the sun came out. In his first qualifier, Paul said he had too much power in the car. The right balance of tuneup and the timing management of that power remains elusive.
   Paul also had information about crew member Keith Dockery, his brother-in-law and engine computer guy, who is facing a serious health issue. The bad news is that a malignancy was found, as doctors likely suspected, but further tests did not find that the cancer had spread. That bit of good news means that his chemotherapy will be directed right at the site, avoiding an overall chemo regimen and the side effects that causes. Any return to races this season is uncertain, and unlikely; Paul said Keith asked his doctors about that possibility, and they told him to forget it.
   Also, team member Gregg Cash is also having some health issues, and his status could be up in the air as well.
   So, Paul said he is seeking volunteers to help the team at races this season. There is no pay; Paul said all he can guarantee is that people will be fed at the track, and that there will be plenty of hard work to be done (I'll vouch for that; I was around the team a few hours at a race last year, and I got tired just photographing them). It will also be an opportunity for people who are interested in pro mod racing to learn firsthand what is involved.
   Paul said he had good help at Rockingham from father and son Blaine and Charles Silver, and has put out a request for other volunteers on Facebook. He has received some responses; running at the next PDRA event, in Shreveport, La., in about three weeks, is contingent on having sufficient help. If you are interested in assisting Paul and the Beast team, call Paul at 706-258-8241.
   We'll be back with a Shreveport update. Keep the Beast team in your thoughts as they work through these difficult times.

Let's Rock

     This weekend, Paul and the Cuda Beast team will be in Rockingham, N.C., in the Pro Boost class of the PDRA's Spring Nationals. If Mother Nature cooperates, it will be the start of the team's 2015 race season that will consist almost entirely of PDRA events.
     Paul said last week the team will travel Wednesday to be able to test on Thursday. A race last month at Montgomery had been eyed as primarily a test session, but it was rained out. A car show commitment in Blue Ridge, Ga., last weekend (Paul had the Beast and his pro street Dart there) ruled out Huntsville as another possible test opportunity, so Paul decided the best thing was to go to The Rock early, pay the testing fee, and get information that could be applied directly to the weekend's racing.
    The team likely will be without the services of its computer guru, Keith Dockery, who is facing a serious health issue. Paul said the team is asking for your prayers for Keith during this uncertain period.
    The Beast will roll into the staging lanes with a new timing box to manage the Hemi's power, which has received a big shot from a refurbished blower.  Paul said he's backing down the boost and tweaking the timing to get the car launched. "After two seconds, we'll have all the power it needs all back in to the finish line," Paul said.
    The PDRA events on the team's schedule are Shreveport, La., at the end of this month; St. Louis at the end of May; Memphis in August (I should be able to make that race); Benson, N.C., in September; and Bradenton, Fla., and Richmond, Va., in October. The PDRA website has all the specific dates.
   Looking at the PDRA site, I was struck by this promo shot for the Rockingham race, and how close spectators are to the racing surface. It's not George Ray's, but it seems amazing to me despite the concrete wall and catch fencing.

 
    We'll pass along any news we learn, and you can always check the message board at promodifieds.us for any updates. Race reporter extraordinaire Brian C. will be reporting from the Southern Shootout series race in Memphis, so that will also be of interest to pro mod fans. Keep Keith and the team in your prayers.
     

2015 season: Montgomery called off

    Dang.
    The weather hex that bedeviled the season at Montgomery Motorsports Park last year is still around, as this weekend's 2015 opener has been called off because of an iffy forecast. It was going to be the first race for Paul and the Cuda Beast this year -- basically a test opportunity to check out tweaks to the tuneup that hopefully will get the car launching better off the line as the team looks to its first real race -- the PDRA event at Rockingham, N.C., April 9-12.
   Not sure what the team's plans are now leading up to Rockingham; a race the weekend before at Huntsville could serve as a test session, but back-to-back weekends are tough for them. We'll let you know.

2015 season: Ready to race

    The 2015 season for Paul Gibbs and the Cuda Beast team got off to this neat start, courtesy of the PDRA featuring the Beast in its promotion for its opening race of the year in Texas. The pic is early in the 2014 season, maybe from the PDRA event in Memphis (looks like his huge holeshot race against Joe Baker; you can go back a few posts and see pictures from that event), as the car has its double wheelie bar setup.
   The Texas event is a long shot, basically a couple of days on the road each way; Paul said the team is pursuing possible monetary sponsorship from a source that has connections that go back to the racing days of his father, Reece Gibbs. Should that materialize, the Texas race would be in play. Still, it's a kick to see the Beast get national notice. Hard to go wrong with one of the best-looking PM cars out there.
    There is a real first race on the calendar -- the Southern Shootout opener at Montgomery Motorsports Park March 13-14. The series is the South's prime screw-blower hangout; Paul didn't run the Beast in that series last year for that reason, preferring the PDRA's popular Pro Boost class and some EOPM events. He says he's certainly ready to race at Montgomery, but is really viewing the weekend as a test session for the team's first PDRA race, in April at Rockingham (unless the Texas longshot comes through). Hope its a warm weekend for a change. A brine solution could be part of track prep.
    As far as the car goes, Paul says DJ Safety (see this page's masthead) has updated all of his equipment, including a state-of-the-art engine containment "diaper" (which we hope will never see use). Paul is promising a picture, which we'll post when it arrives.
   We'll be back to set up the Montgomery race/test session.