Welcome to the fourth edition of “On The Road with Kenny Racing,” the bi-weekly newsletter featuring the Landa Pressure Washers Super Comp Dragsters of Al and Jason Kenny.
We arrived in Chicago the Tuesday before the event … thankfully the trailer hitch held up. Wednesday morning, just prior to pulling in the gates, we received our complimentary Powerade cooler. Since we carry two cars, they gave us two coolers. It seems as though the folks at Powerade do this for the first national event in each of the seven divisions. We hit the first national in three of the seven divisions (Gainesville, Englishtown and Chicago). Five coolers now sit in the shop, as we donated one to Earl Datweiler (the ‘E’ in T&E Auto Haulers). After looking at the price of our new trailer, Earl appears to have valued the cooler much less than we do.
The car count was down at Chicago, including the complete absence of alcohol dragsters and funny cars. It’s just not the same without them. Due to the low count, we received four time trials, including two on Friday. The fourth and final time trial took a long time to complete, as we spent a couple hours underneath the state-of-the-art tower, trying to avoid the rain.
First round for Super Comp came between the professional qualifying sessions Friday evening. I was all strapped in and ready to go, but the line wasn’t moving. Weird music was playing over the PA, so I took off my helmet thinking there was a delay. Minutes later, the Budweiser Clydesdales came marching through the staging lanes. Behind them was some poor sucker on a golf cart with a bucket and shovel. You think your job is bad?
We received qualifying sheets from Tami Fuller, wife of “Hot Rod” Fuller. Those sheets told us what each and every Super Comp racer did in their four time trials. This info was good for two reasons. One, it told us everything we need to know about our opponent, and two, it showed us that we weren’t the only ones having trouble cutting lights.
I cut a .441 in the opening round, and my opponent was .500. I tapped the brakes several times and took the win. Dad’s opponent took a .030 advantage at the line, and was on the better end of a double breakout, sending the yellow car to the top of the trailer. Round two Saturday morning went ok. The car slowed down a bunch, but I had enough of an advantage at the starting line to push my opponent to breakout. Round three was better as the car responded like it should have, and I pedaled my way to an 8.91 to 8.89 victory, taking the stripe in the process.
This marked the second time in my career that I had made it to Sunday at an NHRA national event. The other being Atlanta, where first round was run on Sunday. What made this more fun, was that I got to see my name on the Super Comp ladder Saturday night. I’ve looked at that ladder at every national event, just hoping that someday I would make it.
My opponent for round four was Greg Tucker, a 178 mph dragster. It’s harder to judge the finish line against faster cars, so I wasn’t as confident going into this round. Well, after a perfect .400 reaction, I was in good shape. I tapped the brakes twice and then swapped feet at the finish line, taking an 8.91 to 8.94 victory. I took the finish line by .052, which is way too much, and I knew it. I breathed much easier when I saw my win light come on. That .400 scared me a little, so I put .010 more in my delay box. The next round I went .464, and my opponent was .437. We both believe our lights were better than that, but the bottom line is he was first off the line by a bunch, and put me away.
After the national event, we took our trailer to T&E for some repairs and additions. Todd and Earl invited us to the track Monday morning, to witness the testing of their brand new A-Fuel Dragster. Those nitro burners are a ton of fun … but also a ton of work. They had the oil pan off more times in one day than we would in a whole year!
On Tuesday we spec’d out our new stacker trailer with Earl, agreed on a fair price and put down a deposit. Doing business with T&E is indeed a pleasure both before and after the sale. I highly recommend them for all your trailer needs. Little did I know that we would soon encounter the opposite end of the customer service spectrum at Kinsler Fuel Injection. Tuesday evening, we left T&E and headed back to Canada for the 3rd annual Mopar Parts Canadian Nationals at Grand Bend Motorplex. Along the way we stopped in Troy, Michigan to pick up some fuel nozzles at Kinsler Fuel Injection. I’ll let Dad type the next paragraph.
We received directions from ‘Mike’ at KFI. I told him we had a
75-foot-rig and he responded that we were fine. When we pulled onto ‘Maple Road’, we
drove about 500 feet and saw a sign that read “Caution – Low Clearance 13 - 2”. Well, our rig is exactly 13’ 2” tall, so there was no way we were going
underneath this bridge. We pulled off into an empty parking lot and called
KFI. I asked the guy if he would mind bringing the nozzles to us. He
replied “Well, I don’t know if I can get clearance to send a driver. Hold
on.” He then came back on the phone with new directions. (We later
learned that we were about 3-4 minutes away from KFI.) So we pulled in front of
KFI, put on the ‘four-ways’, and headed inside. Jason stayed in the rig
(we’re still pretty close to Detroit!). I walked into the office, and
nobody was there, so I proceeded to the back, where I finally found someone.
I told him who I was and that I was there to pick-up some nozzles.
He looked confused, so I told him I had been talking to Mike. He said “Oh, OK,
I’ll go get him.” He then told me I had to go back up front and wait there.
I guess he was afraid I might see the ‘secret stuff’! Thanks, pal. Mike
then gave me the nozzles and a couple business cards. After receiving
them, I asked the best way to get back on the Interstate. An old guy standing
at the photocopier tells me the way we had just come, with the 13’2” clearance
bridge. I told him we were too tall and couldn’t go that way. He shook his
head and said “They’re all built to federal standards.” I again replied
that the ‘Caution – Low Clearance’ sign was there for a reason and I wasn’t
going to take the chance with an expensive truck and trailer. The old guy
then said “Well, if you don’t want my help, then get the **** out of here!”
Not exactly the Dale Carnegie method of customer service! At that point I decided to take the last part of his advice, so I gave Mike back his business cards, and said “I won’t be needing these ever again.” I have no idea who the old man was but I’ll never spend another nickel at Kinsler. I can’t believe anyone would talk to a customer that way!
In conclusion, we highly recommend you go elsewhere (anywhere else) for your fuel injection needs.
Onto Grand Bend, where Dad ran into IHRA 8.90 World Champion Mike Fuqua in round one. Well, let’s just say there is a reason he is the champ. He is good. I met up with friend and fellow Canadian Jeff Klomps. My car was all over the place in time trials, so I dialed quick, planning to “put a wheel on Jeff” and cut a good light. Well, I did both, cutting a.426 and taking the finish line by .005 seconds. The light probably could have been better, but apparently everyone was slow in the opening round. I ran 8.904, which gave me a second round bye. I went .410 on the bye, and rolled more numbers in the box. Not enough apparently, as I went .396 red in round three.
Oh well, going five rounds and then three was a good two-week stretch. If I can only do that the next couple weeks, I’ll be a much happier camper. I like chasing points in Division 1, and have gotten off to a slow start. The next two races are both D-1 races, so hopefully we can keep things rolling.
Tentative 2002 Schedule
June 20-23 = NHRA Divisional Event @ Atco, New Jersey.
July 4-7 = NHRA Divisional Event @ West Lebanon, New York.
July 12-14 = IHRA National Event @ Rochester, New York.
July 20-21 = Bracket Race @ Grand Bend, Ontario.
July 26-28 = NHRA Divisional Event @ Numidia, Pennsylvania.
August 3-4 = Bracket Race @ Grand Bend, Ontario.
August 9-11 = NHRA Divisional Event @ Englishtown, New Jersey.
August 17-18 = Bracket Race @ Grand Bend, Ontario.
August 22-25 = NHRA Divisional Event @ Rising Sun, Maryland.
August 31-September 1 = Bracket Race @ Grand Bend, Ontario.
September 12-15 = NHRA National Event @ Reading, Pennsylvania.
September 26-29 = NHRA National Event @ Chicago, Illinois.
October 10-13 = NHRA National Open @ Reading, Pennsylvania.
October 24-27 = NHRA National Event @ Las Vegas, Nevada.
October 31-November 3 = NHRA Divisional Event @ Las Vegas, Nevada.
November 7-10 = NHRA National Event @ Pomona, California.
November 13-17 = Bracket Race @ Bradenton, Florida.
November 20-24 = Bracket Race @ West Palm Beach, Florida.
