My Racing Journey now has it’s own website!

Go to:  Life is a Drag Race Wally’s World for the most recent updates and happenings!

 

Once upon a time ….

Not so long ago …

I reunited with a friend from our younger high school days, Jeff Berdahl …

 

Jeff has racing in his veins as he grew up in a racing family. He invited me to become part of his “Pit Crew” and “Wham!”, I was hooked …

Photographing his experience, living and breathing the sights and sounds around a race track soon infected me with the urge to participate. I found that drag racing had a lot more to it than just a scant second or two shooting down the track. It takes dedication, determination and talent to race. There are many nuances associated with developing the skills necessary to become a successful drag racer. I could no longer watch from the sidelines. I had to become a racer myself to fully experience it!

This year, I officially become a drag racer! I found an excellent deal on a car to start with from another great new racing friend, Tom Ratliff, who has been incredibly supportive in helping me get my start into the drag racing world. Tom is the Southeastern Division Director for Racers For Christ ministry where he serves the drag racing community overseeing as the Chaplin to those in need all across the southern United States.

Both Jeff and Tom have been a true Blessing in my life. The character of these individuals is beyond reproach and reflects the type of people found in the racing community. By His Grace they have opened a new door for my life. I am deeply grateful…

The car: ’91 Camaro Z28

With Tom’s help, the car was quickly brought back up to racing ready…

My Z28 Camaro and me the first day at the track getting ready to race!

OK, I finally got this video done and up for viewing. Gee, I’ve been busy doing other things? There is a lot to do getting ready for drag racing.

Remember I am just starting my racing endeavors and very inexperienced to actual racing. This is a test and tune night where everyone runs a full 1/4 mile. This particular run is just a time run and doesn’t count in the actual racing season. Bracket racing is a bit different than the uninitiated would think. The fastest car is not always the winner in the end. Timing is essential and skill is needed to be competitive.

This all for shifts and giggles….Enjoy!

Be sure to expand this video to full screen mode, (little box in lower right corner), for a better viewing experience…

http://wojack.net/video/Test%20%26%20Tune_1.mp4

21st January, 2012

Drag Racing 101

E.T. Bracket Racing

Isn’t it as simple as the fastest car that gets to the finish line wins?

Not necessarily. There are many types of drag racing as there are many types of drag racing cars. In my case, I am competing in what is called “Bracket Racing” version. In this type of drag racing you race against yourself as much as you race against another racer. Drivers estimate their individual times and must try to be as close as possible to that predicted time without going over. Otherwise, the race is forfeited to the other driver. This is called a “break-out“. The Christmas tree starting lights at the start of the race will off set the starting times for each racer based on their predicted times. A faster car will start later than the slower car as seen in the video below. This evens the racers chances so the slower car can compete fairly with a faster car. By “bracketing” the racers more drivers have a better chance of winning.

 

http://wojack.net/video/Red%20Light.mp4

 

The short video above shows what I am talking about to some degree. It also shows, embarrassingly so, my lack of experience by starting too quickly and loosing the race at the starting line. A “Red Light” means that I anticipated the light too much and jumped the gun. This automatically looses the race for me. In this situation because the other car is much faster than mine, the other car still races but starts out much later than I do.  He could still loose but only if he crosses the center line or crashes against the wall. Otherwise, the worst offense is to red light. Yea, makes me scratch my head too but it does all work out. The main thing is to have fun in a fair as possible race.

Race cars are also divided up by racing classes. The exact distinctions are technical within NHRA rules but generally go from slower to faster at Orlando Speed World as follows:

Junior Dragster, Sportsman, Super-Pro, and Pro-Stock Motorcycle

There are significant difference between classes based on factors such as engine size and speeds. There are more classifications that are better described on the NHRA web site that explains them in detail. It can all get somewhat confusing but like any sport, as you learn more about it, it begins to make more sense. The best way to understand it is to come out to the races and ask questions. Most everyone will be glad to help you understand how it all works.

I am bracket racing in the Sportsman (Stock) class. At the track I am racing Sportsman can include many cars that could run in the Super-Pro class if they wanted to but have a better chance of winning in the Sportsman class. Thus, many cars have a large gap in start times based on their estimated speeds. Rules are often modified depending on the local race track rules.

At Orlando Speed World all E.T. Bracket Racing is constrained to 1/8th mile (660′) runs. The NHRA has statistically determined that this reduces crashes and is less damaging to the cars as well. The racing rules are the same and the fun is still just as good.

Racers can run full 1/4mile test runs on Test and Tune nights to see the full distance performance of their cars for the Official National Event 1/4 mile races should they make the finals.

28th January

OK Here is the next in the series of me learning my way in drag racing. I did OK on the first elimination round. The car was running well and my reaction time was remaining consistent. Unfortunately for him he jumped the gun and got a red light thus giving the round to me. Well, a win is a win in bracket racing. I’ll take it!

http://wojack.net/video/First%20Elimination%20Win.mp4

I want to give credit to my daughter, aka Gryph, who shot most all the video’s and photos. I have to pass on the mantel of photographer/cinema photographer to her as I’ve been a little too busy to get behind the lens myself!

This night marked not only the milestone of breaking the 10 second barrier in my time runs but also was the first night that my friends came out to support me and Jeff in our endeavors. Thank you Evelyn and Bubba! Thanks to my family Judy, Mary Alice and my grand daughter Kristin. It makes a difference….

Not so lucky in the my next round though …

18th February

Screeching noises under the hood! Many under the hood sessions with my fellow racers narrowed it down to the air pump or water pump. We decided it was the air pump … Many scraped knuckles later and wrong sized serpentine belt brought it back on-line in time for the next race day.

 

I did alright but wish I could have done a bit better. I still have to work on my reaction times and not red lighting. My concentration needs practice!

25th February

Everything’s a blur ….

It was cool and dry night. It helped my car perform quite well. I did better than I had expected. I made it to the 3rd round! At this level I was experiencing drag racing like never before! I was making good passes. Much to my dismay though, my car engine began again screeching from another mechanical problem. Most likely the water pump, but I wasn’t about to quit yet! I lost the last round to “Crazy Dave” in his Mustang because my lack of experience did not foresee that I would actually go too fast! I “broke out” with a 9.945 of my predicted 10.00 flat. Dang! Oh well, one step forward two steps back.

I had replace the air pump the previous week due to it making too much noise and anticipated failure but the noise returned this evening to even louder levels. One of my other racing friends at the track is a mechanic and he checked it out for me. He confirmed the water pump is going bad. So, I guess it’s more wrenching before the next race!

17th March

Wow! It has been a long break. I was feeling a bit rusty, or is that dusty (as in old and gray)? I managed, with the help of another one of my racing buddies, Carl, to get my hands on a new water pump and install it without too much problem. The car is running great! What fantastic racing friends!

Anyway, getting back into the groove again was a bit tough. I did enjoy having a rider along with me this time. This young lady, Syrena, is the grand daughter of another good friend from high school and really loves Camaros and drag racing. She was a real asset and helped me get my act together as I got an extra practice run in this time. I may have spawned another drag racer!

Unfortunately for me, I managed to get paired up with drag racer who was very experienced and had a much faster car. Poop! Even with a head start I was dusted on my first race! My slow reaction time is what did me in … It still was a great night to enjoy drag racing. I just have to get my mind in gear for next week! It’s not the car; it was me!

I had to put my doors back on after this one ….

So it goes with drag racing!

 23 March

It started out with promise but as the afternoon wore on the clouds thickened and the rains ended this nights worth of racing. I did manage to get a couple of time runs in before things got damp and dreary. It revealed how rusty I was from a couple week’s away from the track! Need to really work on my reaction times!