Thought for fuel.

[Ron Ortiz]

So I go to Bradenton for the divisional and I need "race fuel" for my 171 HP rated small blck 2 bbl Chrysler 273. I like Sunoco as it is usually cheaper and available locally at the track here in Bradenton. With the vast amount of horsepower that I generate there is no difference in ET with VP or Sunoco. Besides everytime I run VP it seems that they do not have the VP that I would currently be running. ie C-11 vs C-12, and you cannot mix them. So after all the aggravation, I just run Sunoco. Sometimes it sits in my car for over a year and it still passes fuel check.

Well this year I go and get Sunoco from the above tank at Bradenton the day of the Divisional opener. Ten gallons at $10.00 /gal. Go to fuel check after a run and it comes up going off the charts. I explain that I just purchased it and they understand about the local tracks availability of legal fuel. I am allowed to run it but am warned not to run it in Gainesville the following week. I have 5 extra gallons of Sunoco on my hands for testing.

Gainesville comes the following week and I purchase C-12 from the track as it is supposed to be the cheapest with the lowest octane rating. Vast amount of HP, you know. The VP trailer does not have C-12 on it so I purchase it from the above ground tank that was tested in the morning for legality. Make a run, they check it, it is really close I am told. Again I explain that I just bought it from the track at $10.00 per gallon. They say they checked it but it will not pass at the Gators. That I have to purchase it from the trailer for it to pass.

Are you all getting this picture yet.

I expect to get at least 5 heads up runs in the next 20 years, that is when I will bring out the pump gas.

Ron Ortiz
U/SA it's a gas

[art leong]

Originally Posted by Ron Ortiz

So I go to Bradenton for the divisional and I need "race fuel" for my 171 HP rated small blck 2 bbl Chrysler 273. I like Sunoco as it is usually cheaper and available locally at the track here in Bradenton. With the vast amount of horsepower that I generate there is no difference in ET with VP or Sunoco. Besides everytime I run VP it seems that they do not have the VP that I would currently be running. ie C-11 vs C-12, and you cannot mix them. So after all the aggravation, I just run Sunoco. Sometimes it sits in my car for over a year and it still passes fuel check.

Well this year I go and get Sunoco from the above tank at Bradenton the day of the Divisional opener. Ten gallons at $10.00 /gal. Go to fuel check after a run and it comes up going off the charts. I explain that I just purchased it and they understand about the local tracks availability of legal fuel. I am allowed to run it but am warned not to run it in Gainesville the following week. I have 5 extra gallons of Sunoco on my hands for testing.

Gainesville comes the following week and I purchase C-12 from the track as it is supposed to be the cheapest with the lowest octane rating. Vast amount of HP, you know. The VP trailer does not have C-12 on it so I purchase it from the above ground tank that was tested in the morning for legality. Make a run, they check it, it is really close I am told. Again I explain that I just bought it from the track at $10.00 per gallon. They say they checked it but it will not pass at the Gators. That I have to purchase it from the trailer for it to pass.

Are you all getting this picture yet.

I expect to get at least 5 heads up runs in the next 20 years, that is when I will bring out the pump gas.

Ron Ortiz
U/SA it's a gas

When I was buying C12 I overheard them talking that they were going to use what they had in the tank as a baseline. I bought 5 gallons extra I hope it passes at Atlanta next week. I've been buying C12 from my local dealer and it has always checked good even though I left it in a half full fuel cell all winter. If they are going to start to be track specific that is BS.

[Mike Pearson]

Ron,

The Sunoco Blue that I bought at Bradenton passed fuel check at Gainsville with no problem. Jay Slane was also using the same fuel with no issue. You might have some contamination in your tank from another fuel that is making your fuel check funny.

[Ron Ortiz]

Mike, yeah, probably, NOT. Since it checked high from my fuel cell, and the two different jugs that it was in. And that is not counting the amount that I wasted driving aroung the pits. The lines had to be totally flushed. The cell was rinsed with VP and then wiped down. I just do not get it. I buy new fuel and it barely passes. I use fuel that is over a year old and it is OK.

You know, it could be a conspiracy.

Ron Ortiz
U/SA what a gas

[M&M Motorsports]

Ron,
We had the same problem last year at Gainesville when we bought 30 gallons of VP out of their pump. Passed for that race ONLY! Later said it was no good. Spent the rest of the year trying to burn it up warming up engines, T&T, and finally in the golf cart. No more!

[Daran Summerton]

Tech should only need to check #1 Qualifier and Heads Up runs period! The rest don't matter. I have also started on the Sunoco Blue and I like it. Much cheaper -- might have to start selling it out of the trailer LOL Never buy fuel out of a Tank!

[Michael Beard]

I just picked up a drum of Sunoco Blue from Bradley Auto Parts (Charlotte area) tonight, supplied by Bearden Oil. Never once had a problem.

As a side note, conventional wisdom would say that less octane would be faster, but at least for how I've got the car jetted, I've found the Blue is a little faster than Purple, so I've stuck with it. We've back-to-backed Sunoco Blue with C11 and C12 in Fisher's Mirada, and saw no ET difference... and it's cheaper.

[Dave Gantz]

Ron: Forgive me if I'm behind, could you answer this for me-? Why won't NHRA accept pump gas as legal? I knew Mike Smith when he ran the car he bought from Dick Moreland. He loved the car because he could take EVERYONE to the hamburger stand, oh, and race it too! That gas thing never made any sense.

[Michael Beard]

Pump gas probably has too many variations to be able to test properly - and the meter they use isn't going to tell you "what's" in a fuel, just if there's something in a fuel that shouldn't be there -- but only if you have a consistent baseline.

[Billy Nees]

Oxygenated fuel! It won't check.