Lena WI Pull

Lena WI
Well after getting rained out for two nights of pulls, Lena had beautiful weather for there pull. I left home for Lena at 1:00 p.m. to get the Lena a 40 min. drive away For the Pull that Starts at 5:00 p.m. so I could get my prefect parking spot next to the Community center. As I get there Craig was already set up in that area, He beat me there by an hour.

So after getting the Trailer all set for the nights sleep over I got ShaZam off the trailer and spiffy her up a little with the California Car duster. Everything was ready to go for the nights pull. So over to the Food booth to try out the world best Truck Pull burgers. Had two Cheese Burgers and headed back over to the trailer.

At 5:00 p.m. they called the drivers meeting and Lance told us that Seymour would like to reschedule there pull for next Saturday. Quick check of my calendar showed it was an open weekend with only a pull happening on Thursday night in Door County. So he was going to let them know it's cool on our end.

We had the Whole club here tonight so Lance asked that we keep on top of things to keep the show rolling. Super Stock was the 8th class of the night and Mod was 11th out of 13 classes.

As the pull started I noticed that the Stock trucks where having a hard time getting rolling and they where bouncing a lot. One of the pullers Dad told me they had to pull 150 pounds out of the truck that they never had to take out before, So I took a stroll over to the scale and talked with the guy over there to see what the Norm's been with the trucks coming over the scale. He said most of the trucks where coming 150# heavy but there where a couple of truck that where light. So I mentioned that this scale has been known to be heavy, so go with what ever the first truck weights and let all the trucks weight that for each class. This seemed to work better for the pullers, for the most part the guys know what they have to put on there trucks for weights to make each class, Just cuz the scale is messed up should make them any more or less then what it usually is.

So I been standing by the fence watching the track as each class was pulling and there was this hump on the near side of the track that was just getting drove over by the leveling tractors and but everyone was staying on the far side of the track, and the sled was digging some what of a hole over there every time the last stage would hit. The guy on the Cat would come out and take his bucket and drag the clay back and then the leveler tractors would come and run over it and drag some more clay away with each pass.
I was thinking that if I was to go right and get the sled on top of that hump I might just be able to get a few more feet out of my pull seeing how the pan wouldn't be making full contact with the ground, and it would be harder then the track over on the left seeing how it's been getting ripped up all night. In the mind of a puller any advantage is good for the puller who see the advantage. But then there's always the Hero to Zero theory. So with Super Stock finally up it's now 8:15 p.m. ShaZam was the 6th puller out of 8 trucks tonight.
First truck in the class was Mike Kauss with Shoot to Thrill, Mike came out of the hole great and had a good first pass with Pat stopping him at the 327.02 mark with a speed of 23.70 mph.
Next up was Derek Peetz he's really getting a handle on his gearing and came off the line with tires a blazing and had a good run Pat stopped him at the 324.98' mark with a speed of 23.90 mph.
Next up Bruce Wagner was going to let his Daughter Brittany drive Bad to the Bone tonight, she has driven before but it's been a while. So she gets hooked to the sled and got the chain tight and as she brought the r's up Bruce must have told her to hold the clutch in till it hits 6000 then let it go. she took off a little slow but the motor finally got out from under it's self at the 100' mark and zinged up the 8000 and she drove it like a Pro. Stopping at the 327.33' mark with a speed of 23.20 mph. Moving into 1st place.
Next up was Tom Scheffen he pretty much drove the truck like he has all season and Pat stopped him at the 319.38' with a speed of 22.90 mph.
Next up was Ben Holtger he Laid down a good run being stopped at the 319.56' mark with a speed of 22.40 mph.
So Ok it's ShaZam Turn and Nobody has yet tried the right side of the track. So It's Hero or Zero time. I get hooked to the sled and pull the chain tight all switches are on and I hold the clutch in till the Rpm's come up to 5000 and I let the clutch start to work and by the time I hit 6000 I took my foot off the peddle and gave ShaZam a hand full of throttle and the R's climbed up the 7000 then 8000 and then the little light started to flash at me at 8500 telling me I was once again one gear to low for this track and Sled combination, So at mid track I turn the wheels right and headed to no mans land and had a pretty good head of steam going, I thought anyways, We hit the 300' mark and it was like I hit a wall and I came to a stop at the 304.27' mark and had speed of 22.80 mph.
OK big Zero in this class. Later in the night sitting around the camp fire, Pat asked me just what the Hell where you thinking going to that side of the track. When I told him he laugh and said I bet you don’t that mistake again.
OK Next up was Steve Swanson I was over changing tires on ShaZam when he ran but he stopped at the 297.87' mark and had a speed of 21.40 mph. Turns out Steve seen the hump too and had the same Idea I had. Didn't work for him either.
Last truck in the class was Junk Yard Dog with John driving he pulled the sled 295.02' with a speed of 21.50 mph.
So with this I changed tires and got ready for Modified 4x4 class. Just before the Mod trucks ran they pulled the Working Stock Semi's and they seemed to work up the track pretty good between the 310' to 340' mark. But this time I'm just going down the middle No wondering.

So with the Mod trucks getting lined up I followed Derek Peetz 2nd from the end of the class with just Bruce Wagner behind me.
First up was Junk Yard Dog with Sheila Driving After tighten up the chain Sheila Brought the r's up and dumped the clutch and as she hit the 100' mark the truck hooked to the track and Pat stopped her at the 305.07' mark with a speed of 22.90 mph. She kept the pull and headed back to her trailer.
Next up was my Beer drinking Buddy Craig Emmes in Cold Ethyl he had his favorite gear in the box and as he left the line the Truck ran good all the way down the track and Pat stopped him at the 318.18' mark with a speed of 25.30 mph.
Next up was Steve Swanson he pulled the sled to the 303.11' mark with a speed of 23.10.
Next up was Derek Peetz he pulled the sled to the 306.53' mark with a speed of 24.80 mph.
OK ShaZam's up next and I started to think the track was going away seeing how the last two trucks had piling up in the 303 to 306 mark.

So I get hooked to the sled running the same gear I had in the box in Super Stock and the plan was I was going to baby it till I hit the 100' mark then Run it hard down the middle till Pat stopped me. As I left the line ShaZam started to get a Traction Bounce at the 50' mark and I got out of the throttle just a bit to get that under control and then I hit the 100' mark and it was time to go so I hammered the throttle down and ShaZam was Still bouncing a little but it was controllable out of the throttle a bit again and then back to hammer down tach saying 7800 to 8000 just where I like it. As I hit the 300' mark I knew the last stage was Coming and I could see the Score board reading 310 then 315 Craig had 318 so I need to get better then that then I seen 320 and Pat stopped me at the 320.62 mark, Putting ShaZam in 1st place leaving the track.
Now last Truck in the class My other Beer Drinking Buddy Bruce Wagner, He left the line in the same place I was and he almost mimicked ShaZam run down the track with the Same Traction Hops ShaZam had only at mid Track Bad to the Bone had just a little more Speed then ShaZam had and Pat stopped him at the 332.67' with a speed of 25.60 mph.

So in the last Two Mod Pulls ShaZam has taken 2nd Place. That's ok for me, it pulls me into 3rd place for Points.

So this Thursday Night we'll be at the Door County Fair with 5500 Stock, Mod 4x4, Mod Diesel, 9500 LTD, Miss Fits, Stock Diesel and Working Stock Semi's.



Hope to See ya there


Dan and ShaZam

Good luck at your next pull Dan.... Always enjoy reading about them. Thanks for posting.---RED

Good job Dan, we're proud of ya.

Uncle Charlie

P.S. Proud of Ben Holtger too, he's running a BB Ford.

Yes I think Ben has a set of P51's that you did for him .. for a little 480 Deal it's working pretty good ..


Dan

Dan,

If my memory serves me well, I've done two sets of heads for Ben over the years.

Also, I've done some cast iron heads for another Wisconsin Ford puller by the name of Jack Peters. I've got another set of his cast iron heads here that I'm working on now.

Jack Austin, Lawes Mayfield and myself went to a pull Tuesday night and watched Indiana's Nick Burger pull with his 2 wheel drive Ford truck and finish in third place. All I can say is, that you pullin' boys are mighty hard on engines

Uncle Charlie

You know Uncle Charlie: I was raised on Pulling Trucks and for me a 28 Sec. run is short. But in a Drag racing world that's like almost three runs.



Dan