Re: Wrecked the dragster tonight... Pics Added 5-1-11

richter69 April 28th 2011, 10:10 pm

....................dammit man!

cool40 April 28th 2011, 10:15 pm

sorry to hear. Sad

we all have some bad luck but it's never fun.get er fixed!

D. Sea April 29th 2011, 12:29 pm

Bummer! What a screwed up week Evil or Very Mad

jbozzelle April 29th 2011, 12:39 pm

We took it out the trailer last night and put it in the shop. Haven't pulled the body off yet but it's tweaked all the way back to the front of the cockpit. The very back of the top rail on the pass side is tweaked too. Going to start pulling it all apart next week. Going to see how much it'll be to get this one fixed and go from there. There are some nice rollers for sale on the net as well as some really nice new chassis!

Engine and trans appear to be fine. The scoop pulled off the rear vent tube and squirter on the carb. It was running good too. 70lbs of oil pressure, no carb problems, etc... Timing was low too. Hate to see what it would've done on a good tune up!

I took some more pics. I'll post them over the weekend. The cage did its job. Driver is fine!!!

BigDave65 April 29th 2011, 7:49 pm

Really hate to hear that news John, glad no one was hurt. Man it really sucks to tear stuff up like that, been there myself!

jbozzelle May 1st 2011, 1:37 pm

Guys,

I added some more pics back in the first post. Thanks for the words of encouragement. we'll get it stripped down and get it to the chassis guy to see what we can do with it.

56Tbird May 1st 2011, 1:50 pm

John ,that thing is tore up all over. That's a bad deal,looks like almost everything is tore up some. Wow. If there's anything good ,it's that the driver is ok physically. I'm sure he feels bad otherwise. Good luck to you guys!!

Tommyj466 May 1st 2011, 2:00 pm

Holy Moly! What a mess. Sorry to hear about the wreck. Those pictures are sickening. Glad your buddy is OK.

TJ

c.evans May 1st 2011, 3:35 pm

John,

Just a question on my part, but was the driver "new" to a dragster, or to that quick of a racecar? In other words, was he an experienced dragster driver, or was he stepping up in his learning curve also?

Uncle Charlie

QtrWarrior May 1st 2011, 4:35 pm

John,

OUCH !!!!!!!

In as much as you know that car was my baby, I got 2 words for ya..."Start over".
Like we talked about the other night..Strip off what is good and be done with it.

After seeing this, I'm VERY glad Renee' walked away !!!

Doug Rahn May 1st 2011, 6:23 pm

I'm glad your friend is okay. After see those pictures, there's alot to be said for a well built car.

fastracecars May 1st 2011, 8:35 pm

John,I HATE ALL CARNAGE!! Yours or anybody else's. If it will will help, I have three sets of used upswept headers in stock that I would be able to sell cheap. Two chrome, one bare. Call me if you are interested. Seems like we have a few air pans somewhere too. Free with header purchase,if I can find them.

www.dragsterheaders.com

QtrWarrior May 1st 2011, 8:48 pm

John,

I'll probably have a set of rear wheels and tires available here soon..

jbozzelle May 1st 2011, 9:56 pm

Thanks Mike. Let me know about them. I still have the front set I got from you as well.

Charlie, yes this dragster thing was new to him. We're really scratching our heads as to exactly what happened. I think it spun the tires. He said just before it hooked left it started vibrating. I'm thinking it was hazing the tires. The tires have some rubber from the track built up on them. They don't look clean like they normally would after a clean pass.

I really don't think there was anything he could've done to save it. By the time he felt the vibration and lifted he was already sideways. There's always the chance there was something on the track but as far as we know it was clean.

c.evans May 1st 2011, 11:12 pm

John,

Back in the late 80's I had an engine building buddy of mine tell me to always fire up a new race engine (speaking of NHRA Stockers) with a "known" distributor, and a "known" carburetor, in order to get a quick and clean fire-up and cam lobe break-in. Then after we broke in the engine and everything was okay, we could switch carbs and distributors if need be, and start getting after some horsepower.

Likewise in that same vein, I would have simply preferred that your new dragster be driven by an experienced dragster driver who had already gone that fast (or faster) before and could have helped you sort out any possible new car bugs. For example, Phillip made several initial passes in the American Racecars dragster he bought from David Cole, before he put his daughter Morgan in the seat. Her fastest ride prior to that time, had been a slower door car.

Uncle Charlie

jbozzelle May 5th 2011, 9:31 am

I hear ya Charlie. Problem is there aren't any dragster guys we know down here. But hindsight is always 20/20 too!

The chassis is toast. It's tweaked on both ends. We'll be stripping it down and transferring most everything into my Mustang over the next few months.

c.evans May 5th 2011, 10:57 am

Man it's tough and I feel for you. I just wish that y'all would have brought it up here to the Ford Bash, and then as you know, there are several experienced dragster drivers from Krisse, to Phillip, to Scott, to Bobby, to Mike (and the list goes on), but they could have helped you out, and would have been more than willing to do so. Touch base with Phillip Oakley, I'm sure he knows where there's another chassis if you want one.

Uncle Charlie

dr's wife racing May 5th 2011, 11:39 am

Sorry your car is a loss,but @ least everyone is ok.Hope every thing works ot for you to another dragster.

QtrWarrior May 8th 2011, 10:39 am

jbozzelle wrote:Well, it wasnt the outcome we were expecting. One the fourth pass the car drifted out of the groove, hooked left and barrel rolled several times. It'll need a front clip and a cage top for sure. It also broke off the right front wheel and tore up both rear wheels and tires. Not sure if the back is tweaked or not. It's torn up pretty bad and we'll have to see just how bad it is once we get it in the shop and get the body taken off. Engine and trans look to be OK. It's still holding water, oil and trans fluid so nothing seems to be broken with that. It did break the mid plate loose from the chassis yet the engine is still in the chassis and the front saddle mounts still have the clamps on!

A good friend of mine was driving and I'm glad that he's OK. The car ended up laying on the pass side. He was already out of the car and standing by the wall when the track personnel arrived. Bottom line is that the cage did its job. My buddy walked away unhurt.

It was on a fairly good run too. It clicked a 5.50 @ 102 in the eighth while all hell was breaking loose... All we wanted to do tonight was make a clean eighth mile pass. Oh well. I guess things don't always go as planned. The track does have a video of it so I'm going to try and get a copy of it to see what exactly happened.

Here's a rundown of the passes:

First pass - Eased it off the line and when it shifted into high it rattled the tires BAD!!!. My buddy said his teeth hurt and he'd like to never experience that again. Lift and coast...

Second pass - Dropped the air in the tire and raised the launch rpm. Broke the tires loose when it shifted into high. Lift and coast...

Third pass - Dropped the air again and raised the launch RPM. Hazed the tires and broke loose after it shifted into high. Lift and coast...

Fourth pass - Dropped the air again and raised the launch rpm. It was on a good run until the eighth mark when all hell broke loose. There is a transition from concrete to asphalt right there. We're not sure if that maybe upset the chassis and caused it to break the tires loose or what. It all happened so fast.

Rest in Peace old friend...You served us well...

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