Weekend update: Red-light blues

    Paul and the Cuda Beast team had a couple of one-and-dones this past weekend in the Central Alabama Pro Mod Series, red-lighting both times against Jimmy Sandefur, who went on to the finals in both races. Tim Segars won at Lassiter Mountain on Friday, and John Sullivan on Saturday at Holiday Beach. Haven't seen a points list, but Paul and Segars were tied for first going in; Segars should be on top alone after his win, even though he had mechanical problems the next night. No one was within two-tenths of him during eliminations.
    The team barely made the first round of qualifying at Lassiter after a fuel line came loose on a test run, causing the engine to lean out and blow a burst panel. Paul got an ovation from the crowd for a great save on his first qualifying run when the Beast got sideways at 450 feet. That run was 4.515, for fourth place. Round two improved to 4.477, and the first round red-light was a 4.41 that had Sandefur's 4.64 covered easily. An observed noted that the Beast seemed to have trouble staying in the starting beams. Paul said the trans brake was having difficulty holding the car, and that he most likely staged too deep, which led to the red-light. Next outing, the car will have line locks front and rear.
    Paul said Holiday Beach was pretty slick on the top end, but he still powered to a weekend best  of 4.33 in round two of qualifying, down from a 4.38. He said the Beast started hazing the tires about two-thirds of the way down, but he stayed in it all the way, to the crowd's delight. "It wasn't that big of a pass, but I got tired of lifting," he said. Though the red-light determined the first-round outcome, the Beast also lit the tires immediately into the run.
     The next race will be at Montgomery, a Southern Outlaw Tour event on June 29, followed on July 3 with a midweek makeup of a rained-out points race at Lassiter Mountain. Some new tires are on the way from Mickey Thompson, and the team continues to work with the fuel management system to help the car get through a tire-shake zone when it shifts into high gear, about 2.7 seconds into a run.
    Paul is also getting his Dart street car ready for its closeup at the drive-in in Blue Ridge, where filming is going on for "Need For Speed," a movie about a cross-country race based on a video game franchise.