I'm back from the track!! Aaaand.........

Let me start off by saying, this truck NEVER ceases to amaze me. While I'm waiting for the vids to load up on photobucket, I'll give you a little rundown on the action. As you'll see in the vids, I had a BLAST with the Banana last night and today. And I'm tellin' ya, it wasn't too difficult to hand out all the spankin's the Chevy boys could handle either day. Except last night, when I missed my T-brake button and rolled the beams to a red light during the semi's of the Gambler Bracket. Which, the way the Banana was runnin', I had it wrapped up too.

To start, last night's action began with me having a pretty rough time cutting ANY kind of light. (I haven't raced in a year) I originally went with intentions of trying to back it down to run in the 6.90 index class. My 1st time trial pass, (no video) I left on a .137 light and just destroyed a 69 Chevelle with a 565 in it. I shut it down short of the finish line and stood on the brakes, and still ran a 6.661 @ 98 mph. So, I went to the tower and had them put me in the Gambler Bracket instead, 'cause I didn't want to try and slow it down that much. Like I mentioned above, I made it to the semi's of the Gambler before missing the T-brake button and rolling through the beams causing a red light.

The Banana ran like never before, knocking 2.4 tenths off from last year in the same conditions. The D/A last night (before dark) was 8500'. I ran mid 6.50's all night and one 6.51 for a best, compared to a best of 6.76 last year. I only have 2 vids from last night 'cause the people I had to run the camera, had alot of trouble figuring out how to use it.

Today, the 'ol Banana was DEADLY consistent, and set on KILL!! Running within .066 all day! With a best of 6.498 and a worst of 6.564, with 3 1.49 60's in a row, then 3 1.50 60's in a row as it got later in the day. I lost 1/10 on my 60's from last year. I'm thinking it was due to having to change slicks, and the new ones are 33" vs. 32" last year. The D/A today was still around 8000' All in all, this is ALL that mattered at the end of the day.

When I got this picture taken, one of the Chevy guys told me "Take off that hat, you're gonna make us all look bad!" It's a Ford Racing Hat. My brother told him, " He already did that!" I told him, the name on this hat is why I did what I did today. The vids are done. Here they are in order of runs.
Time trials last night:


1/4 finals from last night:


This is a nasty SBF Mustang II:


Here's the eliminations from today in the electronics class:


I drew a bye in 2nd rd.:


In the semi's, my M.O.V. was .006 over an Indy Headed BB Mopar. I think he said it was 528" He had a 3/10 leave on me, and he was NOT a happy camper :


The finals: I got me a dragster!





Doug...

Doug,

Nice going and great times you ran in the Banana way to make the Ford guys proud.

Later Mark.

Congrats there bud, you deserve it for all of the hard work you put in on that ride. Where is Wain, he could learn a thing or two here on how a Ford can beat the competition.

Congrats Doug. and yes you deserve it.

Great report there Doug!! Glad she was running so good for you.

That thing just flat LEAVES!! Works great.

Is the handling any better with the R+P steering now??

Bill

8000 da .....you got her moving Doug ....great job man !!!!

Congratulations Doug! Very indeed!

Good work Doug,it's paying off.

Good job Doug i bet their gettin up thismorning scratching their heads wondering how that big yellow banana handed them their asses

Now you have to get it back to Mission this year for a big blast at sea level!!
I know I'll be after my sponsors to get there again.
Good driving there Doug

Looking good Doug.
Every improvement you do works well.
I hope my changes work out like yours have.
We may be taking mine out for some TnT this week.
mike

billandlori wrote:Great report there Doug!! Glad she was running so good for you.

That thing just flat LEAVES!! Works great.

Is the handling any better with the R+P steering now??

Bill

Thanks Bill. You should be in the seat when it leaves. Even though my 60's are about 1/10 slower, I've never had it make my neck and upper back muscles as sore as it did this weekend. I can't wait to get the 60's back down where they belong. Oh yeah, the steering is alot tighter with the rack vs. the stock manual steering, and this thing goes down the track straight as a laser.

bruno wrote:8000 da .....you got her moving Doug ....great job man !!!!

Thanks Nick. It's a good thing when you can make them run up here in heaven's land, 'cause if you ever go to sea level, or even down where you guys are, these things really get it on.

nuclearcobra wrote:Good job Doug i bet their gettin up thismorning scratching their heads wondering how that big yellow banana handed them their asses

Probably. But when I left the track last night, I was gettin' the look that's for sure. That's OK though, if they really want, there's more where that came from too. I just have to keep doin' my part.





Doug...

WTG Doug.

Good job friend..............

Just think, I don't belive you realize what a monumental task you have overcome. Taking an engine that is so inferior to the chevy engine and handing their ass's to them like that.

That's one BADFOMOCO.

Proud for you, thanks for the updates last night I enjoyed it...........

Awesome Doug! I'm so glad you had a great time at the track, and everything is going well. That truck is a beast!

Good job Doug.
Nice to see the truck running so well.

Later Mark

No problem Blake. I believe it I that owes you a big thanks for all of your help as well as the Coug, Jason (Northwest outlaw), schmitty, and everyone else that I'm forgetting. None of it would have been possible without the knowledge I picked up from the awesome people of this site. I'm already workin' on the next race and trying to figure out how to get my 60's back.



Thanks guys.







Doug...

that makes it all worth it! givem hell Doug

good job Doug

cool40 wrote: that makes it all worth it! givem hell Doug

Yes sir! Yes it does. I had 4 guys ask me on Friday night, how much I was sprayin on the 'ol Banana. I told them, none. One guy said, "Awww, come on now" I told him to look all he wanted. I also noticed a very interesting observation on Friday night. I made 2 runs, 10 min. apart. After the 1st pass, I came back to my pit, threw the charger on real quick, topped off fuel, checked tires, and headed back out. Temp was the same, both runs were AFTER the sun went down, and the 60's were 1.518 & 1.516. But, I ran .07 quicker, 6.568 to 6.498, and MPH went up from 107.633 to 108.807. I found this to be a pretty interesting comparison. Could also explain why it ran the same or a little faster on Saturday, than it did on Friday night.





Doug...

good job Doug

I have always found it interesting how some engines like being heat soaked and some run better cold.

ThndrChkn wrote:

cool40 wrote: that makes it all worth it! givem hell Doug

Yes sir! Yes it does. I had 4 guys ask me on Friday night, how much I was sprayin on the 'ol Banana. I told them, none. One guy said, "Awww, come on now" I told him to look all he wanted. I also noticed a very interesting observation on Friday night. I made 2 runs, 10 min. apart. After the 1st pass, I came back to my pit, threw the charger on real quick, topped off fuel, checked tires, and headed back out. Temp was the same, both runs were AFTER the sun went down, and the 60's were 1.518 & 1.516. But, I ran .07 quicker, 6.568 to 6.498, and MPH went up from 107.633 to 108.807. I found this to be a pretty interesting comparison. Could also explain why it ran the same or a little faster on Saturday, than it did on Friday night.









Doug...

what was the trans temp? oil temp?

richter69 wrote:
what was the trans temp? oil temp?

Unfortunately Jon, thosre are 2 guages I just don't have. All I did was get the engine temp down below 140* in my pit, run the burnout & get staged at about 160*. By the time I make my pass, I'm about 185-190* when I hit the return road. I know those 2 guages would give me more data to go on, but I just haven't gotten them in there yet. So I just try and do everything the same every time. I do know that the trans temp isn't out of control, 'cause when I check it, it's not much more than good and warm, there's no hot odor, and the stick isn't even "hot" to the touch. The Hy-Gard may have something to contribute there, I'm not sure. I know the trans temp is obviously a bit hotter than my fingers are telling me. I take great care to make sure I'm not ridin' the converter for 3 or 4 seconds on the starting line. I'm only on it about a second after the lights start coming down. My methods may not be 100% correct, but it's what I got, and I do the best I can with it. I'll have to try and get those guages though. The trans temp will probably scare me to death.

Thanks for the comments guys.



Doug...