DRAGS: Forget the bows and arrows, race the track at Nitro Nationals
15 April 2000
by Cole Coonce, NR Mojo WireSanta Rosa, CA--Agincourt. Waterloo. Sears Point. Three battlefields with a common denominator: Utter befuddlement by those who have battled there. Okay, okay, maybe that's being a little dramatic, comparing watershed moments in Western Civilization to a drag race, but the point is this: History reveals that these battlegrounds were marred by confusion and miscalculation, even by the victors. Traditionally, for the WW2 team and their AA/Fuel Dragster competitors, the Goodguys Nitro Nationals at Sears Point is as equally confounding as Waterloo was to Napoleon and Agincourt was to a battery of French Knights who never saw the bow and arrows coming.
At Sears Point, the bow and arrows come in the form of cool ambient temperature and an adjusted altitude that can read *below* sea level. I.e., tremendous boost and oxidation with a co-efficient of inadequate traction can mean futility via blazing the hides...
"We've never had great luck at this track, it's always been right on the edge," is how Jim Murphy, Commander-in-Chief of the WW2 AA/Fuel Dragster, explains the challenge and the frustration that they must overcome at Sears Point.
The team is coming off of a successful sojourn at the March Meet in Bakersfield whereupon they runner-upped to the Ground Zero entry and set Low ET of the Meet at 6.04, but all of that is rather moot this weekend: "The track here isn't as kind to us as Bakersfield," Murphy explains.
Nevertheless, Murphy is inspired by last month's results: "Down at Bakersfield we made six runs and never even began to turn a tire," he said. "Some of the changes we made seemed to be for the better...Our computer graphs were smoother than is the past and we were encouraged by all that.
"We are real well balanced now," he continued. "We have no weight on the front end and we are just bobbling the tires and that means the thing is balanced pretty well."
Murphy also emphasize that is the first appearance of the WW2 machine in its new lean trim. "The lighter car is helping," he acknowledges. "It's less mass coming off the starting line, right? It's got to be easier to move it and go down the track. It seemed to stay hooked a little bit better."
Last year at this race, WW2 qualified #2 and made it to the semi-finals before smoking the tires and bowing out to Ground Zero. In their pursuit of Top Eliminator status this weekend, Murphy and his braintrust, Ron Rapadas, Barry Byrne, David Thornhill, Gary Grisel and Jeff Shamrock, did some minor tweaking of the fuel system.
Less mass, minor fuel system tweaks. Will this be enought to avoid an ambush by delicate track conditions? Stay tuned.
MORE WW2 NOTES FOR THE NITRO NAT'LS:
This weekend the WW2 Womens Auxiliary wil be gracing racefans with some outtasite 8" x 10" handouts, featuring some superlative photography of the racecar in action by Tom West. For those attending the event, be sure and come by the WW2 foxhole and get yours...
Between 18 and 22 AA/Fuel Dragsters are expected to compete for 8 "A" and 8 "B" positions a this event.
The 12th Nitro Nationals Nostalgia Drags will go down April 15 & 16, Sonoma, CA. Saturday Pro Qualifying will be held at 11am and 2pm. Sunday eliminations at Noon.
Sears Point Raceway is located at the intersection of Hiways 37 and 121, north of San Francisco.
Editors Note: To view hundreds of hot racing photos
and art, visit
The Racing
Photo Museum and the
Visions
of Speed Art Gallery.