JP1738's Stocker and S/G car

[JP1738]

From almost not making the race at all, to almost winning it all, this past weekend will be one for the history books.

After getting home from Orlando, I had a lot of work to do. I started by going to my local drag strip here in Shelby to try to get some more seat time and figure the tree out. I've been struggling mightily getting consistent reaction times in the car, and after a very sub-par performance at Orlando, I had to get back in the lab and figure it out. I made some great progress at the bracket race but there was still work to be done.

So after driving 10 hours back home saturday, I raced Sunday, then pulled the transmission out of my Mazda to swap starters and flex plates. Monday I put everything back together for that car including the trans, headers, diapers, plugs, and a few other miscellaneous things. Tuesday I loaded everything on to my double open trailer and packed the truck to head south again.

[JP1738]

Then it was time to hit the road. What an unmitigated disaster.

I left my shop around 4:30 after work on Wednesday. Everything was going well until I had a blow-out on my trailer about 130 miles from the track. Not a huge deal, I had a spare that was pretty rotten but I felt it could get me the rest of the way if I took it easy. Unfortunately, while on the side of the interstate changing the tire, the alternator on my truck quit while it was idling with the flashers on. I was able to get the tire changes and limp to the next exit. At this point it was 11pm and no part stores were open to replace the alternator on my truck.

So I did the only thing I could do. I fired up the generator in my truck, ran a drop cord through the windows, stuck my battery charger on the windshield with the cords running under the wipers, and put the clamps on one of the batteries. I drove 45 mph for the rest of the trip and limped to the track. Unfortunately, the 40 amp charger wouldn't put out enough juice to keep everything running so I could only drive about 15 miles at a time before I had to pull over and let everything re-charge for 15 minutes, then hit the road again.

My 7 hour drive ended up being 13 hours, I pulled into Gainesville Raceway at 5am and slept for 1.5 hours. Then I got up, pulled through the gate once it opened, unloaded everything, warmed it all up (I was running SST and STK, the first two classes out) and made some qualifying hits. Over the course of the weekend I was able to get 4 new trailer tires from Greg Lubben who owns a tire shop not far from the track and a new alternator and serpentine belt from an O'reilley's about 15 minutes away. I spent all of my free time at the track working on my set-up to make sure when I was ready to leave, I could.

[nickh]

Ouch! But hey Dawson whatever it takes to make it right? LOL was watching and rooting you on from Texas (we don't french kiss our sisters here that is arkansas.

[JP1738]

Originally Posted by nickh

Ouch! But hey Dawson whatever it takes to make it right? LOL was watching and rooting you on from Texas (we don't french kiss our sisters here that is arkansas.

Geez, just call out the whole state, whydontcha?

Thanks for pulling for me man, it's really nice to know I've got folks in my corner!!!

[nickh]

Was fun watching you get after it. Love the Stocker also, hopefully your next trip out is uneventful with the tow rig. That is enough to mentally take you out of the game once at the track. Nice recovery LOL!

[Pauley]

I am very proud of my son. everything he has and has accomplished is through his own dedication, hard work, sleepless nights and most of all his own $$$. it may not look like much but it is his and he is very proud. nobody on the property is going to out work him that is a fact and i truly believe a win in stock is in the future. i was disappointed in his choice of dial in the semis but he does the dialing and the driving so i stay in my lane. he was aggressive the entire race holding some and driving the stripe. not bragging on him but the first three rounds he took .003, .005 and .006.

i again would like to thank all of you who pull for him and help and support him through your positive words of encouragement and advice. i tried to teach him at an early age to listen to people who know more than you and gain years of experience from others.

thats my boy.

ep

[JP1738]

Originally Posted by nickh

Was fun watching you get after it. Love the Stocker also, hopefully your next trip out is uneventful with the tow rig. That is enough to mentally take you out of the game once at the track. Nice recovery LOL!

Honestly I think it worked out well. I was so busy working on the tow rig and stressed about getting home I wasn't even worried about the race itself. I think I drove better because I had no more mental capacity to fret over the race lol

[JP1738]

Anyway, to finally finish of this arduous story, the race itself:

I managed to qualify 94th out of the 107 stock eliminator cars on the property and miraculously had the only other N/SA car covered by about .15. First and only round of class eliminations I was .032 at the tree and went 12.47 at 104mph to my opponent's (who was also in a 305 Malibu wagon) 12.80 at 101mph off the 13.00 index. Such an awesome feeling to get a huge win and celebrate with my friends and family.

First round of the race I had one of the closes races of the round. I drew Thomas Auger in his beautiful '65 Coronet. .019 and 3 above to his .033 and 2 above for a holeshot win by .005.

Second round, a little less tight of a win but one against one of my heroes and good friend Tim Stickles in his '80 Malibu sedan. .019 and 2 above to beat Tim to the finish line by .007. He was a little bit late and a little bit fast which made the race look right to me. I was sweating it until I got my win light on!

Third round I drew another gorgeous Mopar, this time in the form of Dwayne Scheitlin's 440 powered '70 Challenger in A/SA. Neither of us were in a hurry to get off the starting line, my .086 to his .104 left first however and I was able to parlay that into a double breakout win at -.005 under to his -.017 under, getting to the stripe .006 ahead.

Fourth round was a doozy. I drew Joey Shipp in his H/SA '69 Nova. Dead even up front, my .022 to his .023. He did a phenomenal job at the finish line rolling me through .007 but lost in the double breakout as I went -.006 under to his -.012 under. A nail biter for sure but I managed to sneak by him thanks to having a really good handle on the dial.

Fifth round I drew Stock Eliminator royalty in Brenda Grubbs in her breath taking AA/SA '69 Camaro. Unfortunately she pushed through the beams before her side of the tree came down and came up with an LB3A. I was .053 and went 12.418 off my 12.44 dial for the win.

My Sixth and last round came against my very good friend Orion and John Riley. These guys are some of the most dedicated and hardcore gentlemen I have ever met and dang good people to boot. I missed it a touch up front and left 2nd for the first time all day, .050 to his .024. He landed closer to the dial as I chased mine when I shouldn't have. I go 12.440 off my 12.40 prediction and end up .003 behind for the loss. Orion would go on to turn it red in the finals against Josh Decker. Congrats to both of those guys.

After a very long weekend of repairs and racing, I made it home Saturday evening and my drive was uneventful, a very welcome change from my trip down. Thanks again to everybody that followed along here on CR, FB, and on the live feed. It's been my pleasure giving some of you guys someone to root for and I look forward to doing it again soon! The stocker will be down for a bit while I wait on the SGMP double and Charlotte to roll around. In the meantime I'll have it apart again to address some persisting issues in the rear suspension.

Time to show my bracket car some love and get it ready for some outlaw index racing coming up. I'll be chasing a couple local points championships in it this year and I'm hoping for the best! I better get my nitrous bottle filled because I plan on using plenty of it!

A very special thank you, in no particualr order, to the following people, whom without, none of this success would have been possible:
Tim Stickles
Billy Wilson
Mark Lewis
"Super" Scot Lamar
Chad Taylor
Brad Plourd
Daren Poole-Adams
My dad, EP
My wonderful and understanding girlfriend of 5 years and #1 Crew Chief, Meg Mitchell

[JP1738]

Keeping the race track hot around here. Trying as best I can to keep my foot on the gas and stay as competitive as possible this year, even if it means leaving my comfort zone from time to time. I swapped out the monster truck tires in favor of some 28/10.5s for a local no prep index (6.30 index) race at Shadyside Dragway this past weekend. Made it to the finals where I was .016 take .005 to lose a double breakout by .0001. It's tough when the little numbers don't go your way after laying down a pretty solid lap, but I have to believe if I keep my head down and continue giving myself opportunities, I'll find some success.

After the race I went ahead and put the big tires back on in preparation for the first IHRA bracket series points race at Shadyside and the first 6.0 index race of the year for me. Looking forward to it greatly and hoping to win a little cash so I can afford to buy my next drum of fuel. Also stuffed some new plugs in it as the old ones were pretty tired. Now that everything is running pretty good and neither car needs mechanical attention, I finally had time to wash and clean everything, so the car got a spray wax while the truck and trailer got a bath. Feels really good to have clean, decent looking stuff to take to the race track for a change.

[cad]

I noticed my AR3934 plugs doing the same thing last season.... I dont know the cause, as nothing had changed with my combo after the dyno. Switching back to NGK this season.