|
Welcome to the October 15th, 2002 edition of "On The Road with Kenny
Racing," the bi-weekly newsletter featuring the Landa Pressure Washers Super
Comp Dragsters of Alan and Jason Kenny.
We left the shop Wednesday evening and headed for S&W Race Cars. When we
woke up Thursday morning, it was raining. We picked up our new headers and
mufflers, as well as finalized the locations of some little things on the
roadster. After lunch at a local restaurant, we left S&W for the short and
rainy, 45-minute trek to Maple Grove Raceway in Reading, Pennsylvania for
the Pennsylvania Dutch Classic.
Our usual parking spot was already taken, so we searched for the next
highest ground, also wanting to save 2 extra spots for the Dorr family. It
had already been raining for about 6-7 hours; so finding high ground was
easy . wherever the puddles were minimal looked good to us.
Needless to say, Thursday's test & tune was a complete wash out. Friday was
pretty much the same as Thursday . more rain. To give you an idea of the
Friday forecast, an announcement over the PA at 8:30am Friday said: "We'll
start racing as soon as we can Saturday." The Dorr's arrived early Friday
morning, so we invited them in for some coffee and bench racing. Realizing
that the day was a wash, we headed for lunch in Dick's Dualie. I think the
restaurant was called 'Pisanos' . a great meal.
The rain actually let-up for a couple hours Friday evening . becoming a
light mist as opposed to the usual drizzle/heavy rain. But it was becoming
more clear (definitely no pun intended) that even Saturday morning racing
was doubtful.
As it turns out, the first pair of Super Streeters went down at 1pm Saturday
afternoon. The Top 32 race was converted, somewhat, into a best package
race. To qualify for the Top 32, you had to be among the Top 32 after the
first session. Then, before the second session, the Top 32 would complete
round one. NHRA would then give the money to the racer with the best
winning round one package.
Super Comp 101 - A package is your reaction time combined with your elapsed
time on the track. .400 is a perfect reaction, while 8.900 is the perfect
elapsed time.
All four members of the Kenny-Dorr group qualified for the Top 32. However,
before any of us got the chance to run, someone posted a .002 package .
combining a .400 light with an 8.902. I've made 550+ runs in my drag racing
career, and I've never had a .002 package or better. To make the run a
little more interesting, there was a constant mist falling from the sky. My
visor was wet the entire trip down the quarter mile, with the 165 mph wind
acting like wipers. Dad red-lighted . Rich ran too quick . and Dick had
transbrake troubles. I managed to put up a .032 package, combining an 8.905
ET with a .427 reaction time. Not even close.
First round was run Sunday afternoon, after more mist delayed the start
Sunday morning. As is usually the case, Dad went up when Super Comp was
called. Right after he went up, there was a Comp crash that delayed the
racing about 30 minutes. Both drivers were ok. I went up to the lanes
about 45 minutes after Dad, and still ran just one pair behind him. What
made it interesting was that we were in different lanes, and therefore, we
were one car away from running each other.
Rich had earlier led off the group with a win. Dad then went .399 red.
After seeing him go red, I added .005 to my delay box. He also went 8.871,
which meant he was .03 faster than he dialed. Rich had told me he was
pretty much dead on what he dialed, so I wasn't really sure what to expect.
Franklin DiBartolomeo was behind Dad . so he was my first round opponent. I
got the jump off the line .420 to .424. I knew before hand that Franklin
would be in front of me the entire race. However, I never saw Franklin
after the tree . so just after I passed half-track, I started throttle
dancing and ran a 9.20 to take out his 9.40. After the run, I asked John
(his father) what had happened. Apparently, just 5-10 feet off the starting
line, Franklin freewheeled, spinning the tires so quickly that they began to
smoke.
The reason I took it to half-track before lifting was so that I could get a
good idea of what the car was going to run. I was about .04 fast, meaning
that both of our Landa dragsters were responding the same. Dick later
rounded out first round with a win.
The rains came and went, and then came one last time forcing Division One
director Bob Lang to call the race and announce that it would conclude
Saturday, November 2nd. We'll be in Las Vegas that weekend, so we won't be
able to return.
We now have four days to prepare for the 'Big Go West'. We'll be out of the
country for 40 days. In this five-week span, we'll have to be beaten a
total of 26 times before we come home. Yep, that 13 races each. Three NHRA
8.90 races, plus two separate 5-day bracket races. We'll have a cellular
phone with us, so I'll do my best to send reports while we are gone. If you
think these past reports have been too long . you'll probably be very
disappointed in the next few !!!
2002 Schedule
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.
|
