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.

     

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 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.

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.