"Live" from Atlanta double points race 2013

[Larry Hill]

Well we have left the track and are not stopped at Exit 137 on I-85 at the QT for $3.55 diesel. That is the best price we have seen on this trip. Thank you to Mitch Kight and Johnny Fisher for helping us get out of our pit spot this morning. It is always bad to be the first one to lose and try to maneuver out of your spot.

This wasn't a very good weekend for us. First off the car was slow. Then the track didn't hook until yesterday. And then the first day we got here and I opened up the medicine cabinet, I found out about that saying "contents may shift in flight". Larry's after-shave fell out and broke into a thousand pieces! One positive thing about that--our bathroom has smelled great all weekend. Then I broke the bottle of Absolute. Then Larry lost 1st round of Race 1. Then someone stole my phone. Then Larry lost 1st round of Race 2. The only good thing about the weekend was spending time with good friends! We had a great time with the Hidalgos and Marshalls! Jimmy cooked some great food once more--crawfish one night and deer from KY stew last night!

So anyway we are on our way home. Going to get the pool ready for Grandma and the granddaughters this week~

We plan on being at Bristol in a couple of weeks. See ya then!
Oh, if anybody hears from Mickey, please post.

[Jack Zimmerman]

At the track chapel service this morning the chaplain said that Mickey Whaley was very dehydrated yesterday but he returned to the track last night and then headed home to NC.

[Toby Lang]

I can see how quick the tree starts might effect a racer using the pro tree, but it shouldn't have any effect on a full tree ... unless you are leaving off the top bulb.

I'm pretty sure this is how autostart works:

Stage minimum: 0.6 secs (The time both cars are staged before autostart begins.)
Staged to Start: 1.1 secs (The time before the tree starts.)
Variance: .2 seconds

So from the time both cars are staged until the tree starts varies from 1.7 secs to 1.9 secs. Someone correct me if I'm wrong. Of course the starter can override autostart also.

If there is only supposed to be .2 variance, I think it would be pretty hard to tell a quick tree from a long tree.

[Stephen & Horace Johnson]

Originally Posted by Toby Lang

I can see how quick the tree starts might effect a racer using the pro tree, but it shouldn't have any effect on a full tree ... unless you are leaving off the top bulb.

I'm pretty sure this is how autostart works:

Stage minimum: 0.6 secs (The time both cars are staged before autostart begins.)
Staged to Start: 1.1 secs (The time before the tree starts.)
Variance: .2 seconds

So from the time both cars are staged until the tree starts varies from 1.7 secs to 1.9 secs. Someone correct me if I'm wrong. Of course the starter can override autostart also.

If there is only supposed to be .2 variance, I think it would be pretty hard to tell a quick tree from a long tree.

If you have video its very easily to tell, my dad records from burnout until the end of my run....and there wasnt a 1.1 sec delay.... congrats to my opponent for his win....

[Larry Hill]

Well we are back home safe and sound. And with all the crap that happened this week, I am truly grateful just to be here safe and sound.

I wanted to tell ya'll about a really nice man I met yesterday at Commerce. His name is Freddie Cain and he reads Class Racer all the time and he came over to thank us for our posting. He used to race Stock back in the 70 & 80s. He would come up from Georgia to Union Hill and Bowling Green to race. He was asking about Dickie Ogles, Jimmy Bridges, Don Wolfe, Richard Carter, Cotton Perry and a lot of others that used to race in Nashville. I caught him up as much as I knew about all those guys. Of course, I had to tell him how Jimmy Bridges used to say he was my boyfriend when he would call our shop when we were in Nashville. My secretary wouldn't know what to say when he asked to speak to his girlfriend and Larry would be sitting right there! LOL

Well congrats to Bo Butner for winning Stock and Jake Sealy for winning Super Stock. Great job guys!

And how about that race with Bo Butner and his girlfriend, Randi Lyn Shipp. .005 light to .001 light! Wonder who is sleeping on the couch tonight! LOL

[Larry Hill]

Larry just talked to Mickey Whaley and he is back home and feeling lots better. He said he was dehydrated and they gave him 5 bags of fluid. He is planning on going on vacation and then being at Bristol in a couple of weeks. We told him not to scare all of us again like that! Looking forward to seeing him in a couple of weeks!

[Bench Racer]

I had a great time at Atlanta this weekend. I went down with my brother David Jackson to help out with the car. Made some new friends, met some old ones too. We could not complain about the track prep. The car hooked like a bear all weekend. He got number one qualifier for the second race in Super Stock, ran 1 sec + under in the heat with 60 foot times in the high 1.20'S at 135mph while running heavy in GT/FA. No complaints with Atlanta Dragway, and thanks to Joey Wilkes, Platinum Engine Design, And Gary Wisecarver chassis. Bench Racer, Don Jackson