Idle this weekend

  
   If you have followed this race this past weekend, you know that Paul and the Beast weren't on hand.
Paul said a combination of too much construction work and not enough time to get the car fully ready  -- plus the 11-hour drive down there -- persuaded him to keep the Beast parked.
    However, the new engine and refurbished transmission are in the car, and he's close to being able to fire it up. Though the season is winding down, big races remain on the calendar  -- all at place where Paul has run.
First is the Southern Shootout series finale at Montgomery in two weeks, followed by the PDRA finals in Virginia and another race in the Carolinas, that I think is at Shadyside.
     We'll have an update closer to the Montgomery race.

At Atmore? (update -- no)

     (Update, about 5 minutes after I made the post below: I did get Paul on the phone, and he said they ran out of time to get the car ready. The engine is in, but the transmission is still off, getting some needed refurbishing. So the plan now is for next week, at the PDRA race in Bradenton, Fla.
Even though the Beast isn't racing, Atmore should be a great event to follow.)

    When I talked with Paul last week, he said he was aiming to be at this race right now. I haven't had an update, and a call to his cell just now went straight to voicemail. I'm taking that as a sign that he's at the track, busy getting ready to run the car and dial in the new engine
     I haven't seen any updates for the race on the message board at promodifieds.us, but that will be the place to go today and tonight for information. It's a Southern Shootout event, and the fantastic Brian C, the creator of the series, will be there to provide his peerless coverage. He posts video now, too. It's all great stuff.
     Fast and safe racing, everyone.

Post-Shadyside: A clean break

    
     The qualifying info from Shadyside over the Labor Day weekend didn't look good -- an 11.99 in Q1 that didn't change. It seemed like something in the drivetrain broke and was beyond repair, and that's what happened.
     Paul called today with a ton of news: The engine blew at Shadyside -- broken crank and a couple of trashed rods. It was a mess, but nothing put a hole in the block (Paul said he'll rebuild it and sell it). He got wind of an engine being available from Tim Tindle, so he started crunching some numbers to make his case for such a big purchase. Paul, who builds houses, said he has work lined up for the next two years, and is working on 4-5 houses now (sounds like encouraging anecdotal economic information).  That helped to seal the deal, so he was in Florida last weekend to make the purchase, a BAE fathead that is a proven 3.9 runner.
   It is more advanced in pretty much all respects than the engine that blew up. Paul could spin the old one about 8,500, and had been pushing it a bit to 8,800 when it failed. The new one can go to 10,000.
    A lot of work is going on to get the new drivetrain ready for the Southern Shootout event at Atmore Dragway next weekend, which is intended as a test session, but if the Beast happens to make the field against the screw blowers, Paul said "of course we'll race." The torque converter is off to PTC for a checkup just to make sure it wasn't damaged in the engine failure.
    So, Paul will be at Atmore, a new track for him, with some Tindle tuners to help get the car dialed in with the new engine. It's a huge step up in the power department. I forgot to ask if the blower hat will be different. I could lose a bunch of pictures of the car if it is. That's a small sacrifice for some sub-4 runs.
    I'll be back before the race, hopefully with a pic of the new motor in the car.