PDRA update -- Q2 run

    Paul and the Beast finished their Q2 run about 30 minutes ago, running a 4.28 that left them way back in a crowded, tough Pro Boost field. The car sounded good on its first run with the new engine, and looked to be on a strong pass until it started to get loose. Paul did a good job to save it and get back on the gas.

   

     The team has one more shot to make the field, and hopefully they can climb the learning curve quickly with this new motor. They will need to find almost 0.4 to make the race. I'm betting Paul would say that the seat of his pants tells him that this new Beast is a different animal. The live feed is good. You can go back to about 1:36 or so -- whatever that means -- and see it.

PDRA update -- Long day Friday

 
     Friday was a long day apparently for Paul and the Beast, as the car was pulled off the starting line during Q1, and didn't get back the rest of the day as rain and huge car counts in most of the classes combined to slow things down (Top Sportsman has more than 70 cars).
    For Paul's class, 27 cars made a qualifying run, and at least two other cars besides the Beast had no time for the round. The entire 16-car field will be under 4 seconds. That is tough racing.
    I'm betting they'll spill over to Sunday to get finished. Paul should have three more chances to qualify if they run all of them. Live streaming by MotormaniaTV worked pretty well today. I'm checking early and often. Fast and safe racing for all.

The race is on

        Yes, it's the PDRA World Finals, and it's this weekend at Virginia Motorsports Park, near Petersburg. It's a long haul for Paul and the Beast, and the team will be heading out Thursday. There will be three qualifying rounds Friday and one more Saturday morning, four shots to try to get the new drivetrain dialed in..
       As this is a PDRA event, it will be live-streamed so you can watch the action wherever you are.Paul's class, Pro Boost, is scheduled to follow Outlaw 10.5, so if you tune in and see Outlaw 10.5 cars running, you'll know the Beast will be up soon. The message board at www.promodifieds.usually has the links to the streaming and to Drag Race Central, which breaks down each round of qualifying. 
      Paul is excited to hit the track again, as his new engine makes the Beast an entirely different animal. Paul had to come up with a work-around to get the car to start, as his starter couldn't crank the new engine because of its higher compression.
     Paul had planned to race last weekend at Darlington, S.C., in the Carolina Xtreme Pro Mods series, but ran out of time. He said the crew finished everything on the car about two hours before they would have to leave for the track. Everyone was already worn out at that point, so Paul decided to stay home.
    There is potentially one more race before the season ends, at Shadyside in November.
    Check the promodifieds.us message board for links to race coverage. I've had pretty good luck catching the Beast on live streaming. Be fast and safe, everyone.

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.

Racing day weekend

   This Labor Day weekend, Paul and the Beast team will return to Shadyside Dragway in North Carolina for another Carolina Xtreme Pro Mod event. Paul was there back on Memorial Day weekend, his first time there, and liked the quirky track.

 

   It's the first outing for the car in a while, though they did go to the CXPM race at Farmington, N.C., last month, but didn't arrive in time to try to qualify.  This will be the first race with a magneto in the car that is working, which should mean that tuning changes will occur and show up on the track.
    There will be two rounds of qualifying on Sunday, and a couple more on Monday before the racing. It's a quick 8 field, and this series is home to lots of fast cars. Check the message board at promodifieds.us for updates or links to the action. I'm hoping to find a live stream somewhere. I'll link it if I do.
    Fast and safe racing for all.