[Cglrcng]

Back to that month of December 2023, I wasn't just staring at the car, I was doing a deep dive into all the available data from the very first trip to a drag strip with the car, all the trials and tribulations of attempting to turn the slowest budget class car in the world when it fit in FF/SA, but I ran it in GF/SA, into at least a great consistent slow bracket car (all the troubles it started having after my first half dozen wins in the Street Bracket, and those issues just about started when I started messing with the car to make it faster to start competitive Stock Eliminator racing it in early 1994, then things progressively just got worse and worse in 1995, 96, and 97. Leading me to park the car until I could get a real hold of and resolve the issues.

That part has been resolved. Since I started bracket racing in 1975, I drove a lot of slower cars, street was the starting point, driven some that were very consistent though slow, and some that were not. Some were easy to win with, and some never garnered a win no matter how hard I tried...like my very first 4 speed race car. That was a long 8 month drought, I could not sell that 62 Dart fast enough.

Then, I purchased a 63 Polara, because a friend needed cash, and lucked out into the best (wininningest), race car I
ever owned, it was built or prepped by Peter Berkuta (sold it to Richard Gabaldon, the first time Pete drove it to tempt Richard into buying it, Pete won with the car that night Heavy Bracket 3, a week later Richard won the same with it first time he raced it, and a few months later (I had expressed an interest in buying it), he called, asked if I had 3 grand cash, I did, went to the bank on the way to Terminal Island - Big Willy's LA Harbor outlaw track, met me there, and sold me the car, and in a couple of hrs. I won with the car, then a week later after a 3 hr. track rental at O.C.I.R in Irvine, CA I won a big Popular Hotrodding Magazine race with that car, and a lot of wins followed that 1, more than any racer deserved, as it was one of those fill drive it to the track, fill it up, runi it, dial down a hun and run dead on w/ a zero kind of Bracket cars.

Just drive it the same, and it was a winner, but it was an 11 flat Mopar, running 12 flat, as it hade no rollbar or cage, and I loved the 5 amber 5/10ths tree w/ flood lights. It was just a magic Bracket car, a more than a few called me Lucky!

Socal racing in those days, either driving it to/from the track, or trailering it, there were so many tracks from Carlsbad, to insland empire Riverside, Irwindale, O.C.I.R., T.I., LA County Raceway, Bakersfield, it was the heyday of Southland tracks for any NHRA Bracket racer, each track was open at least 2 days a week, and we could race somewhere, everywhere 5 to 7 days a week, and you could catch a race on the way back from wherever you raced last night, catch a few zzzzz's in the car upon arrival, and race again tomorrow.

So, looking at all the data, from 1993 forward on this slow budget Stocker, it is currently a very consistent slow Bracket car. One of the most I have ever driven of you look at it from a driver perspective (it has had a few little new build bugs since I first ran it on a quarter mile strip again last September)
, but those were to be expected to pop up. Fixed em moved on. The car is sound, the car at elevation is slow, but that trip to Pomona shocked me (- .126 under at Vegas, nearly 8/10ths under at Pomona in 3 passes -.797 under).
My deep dive said I saw those numbers before at Pomona in Feb 1995 log book showed 3 passes -.701, -.703, and -.721, then I broke a timing belt mins from E1 Sunday.

Now, the driver, I sat out of the sport completely for 26 yrs., I knew it would be a tough return at 66, no longer a kid, no longer even middle aged, and the biggest 3 challenges were, the LED Tree, no longer 11-12 spots on an incandescent bulb to choose from for a spot to leave on (crap, in my heyday of decades long gone by...mainly the 1984 season, I foot braked, and counted down on a 5 amber tree from the top bulb down, nodding my head at the center of every bulb), try that on an LED tree.