Daughters first weekend drag racing!!

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motorpirate

serial mopar owner
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My daughter had her intro to the world of drag racing this weekend.
We went to Edgewater in Cincy fri night and due to the rain right at 5:00 when the track opened she had the track TO HERSELF after they got it dried off for almost 2 and a half hours!!
She ran "hot laps" with about 6 to 8 min between passes until she was too tired to do it anymore!!
She has a lot of work to do on her reaction time etc but she had a blast!!

Then Saturday we went to Thornhill in KY and she entered in Bracket 2 where after 2 test passes she got picked off in the first round.

She had so much fun both nights I doubt you could stop her from going again!!

The car is a '66 Barracuda (my first car) with a 273 2bbl and a 904.
BBP conversion/disks/8.25 w/ 3.55's
I have a 5.9 Magnum to swap in now that she has gotten a little seat time and i think she will stick to it.
Her biggest problem was burnouts. Brake on, line lock on, foot off brake throttle on in 1st, shift to 2nd, let off line lock THEN let off gas.
If she could just do the whole thing in 2nd I think she would be fine, but i guess the pressure of doing it in front of a crowd and my "Front Drum explosion" lecture has her intimidated.
So all of that said, does anyone know of a shift kit that will allow manual selection of 2nd, but still has automatic function in Drive??

(i have some video, if i can figure out how to post it)

Thanks guys!!





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Here are her first few timeslips. note time in upper left corner!!

Wiz Timeslips.jpg


Wiz first Bracket night.jpg
 
Nice!! Glad she enjoyed it. What was her best run? I know how you feel, my son made his first pass this year.... :)
 
Videos, Pictures, and timeslips.... Love these kind of post.
 
Thornhill, man it’s been 30+ years since I’ve been there. Used to be a bit rough and tumble there. It’s great to see the young lady having an interest. Nothing beats that family time. As far as your question on the manual 2nd gear selection, may call John at Cope Racing Transmissions (CRT) he may be able to put you onto a kit or set you up with a valve body.

About CRT Transmissions | Cope Racing | Cope Racing
 
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Hey, tell her she´s a cutie ;-)

Regarding the front drum: imo with a 904 you don´t have to worry about that. It´s not that the sprag can´t fail, but the drum is much smaller diameter and therefore the centrifugal force is much less than with a 727. As far as i know such catastrophic damage never happened with a 904.

Have fun!

Michael
 
I have a cope auto shift with low band apply. Cope advised and I have been doing manual low burnouts for 8 years. 4:10 gear and still get enough heat in the tire with just 1st gear. Most people over heat the tire anyway. Oh its a 904? You can still hurt the trans but they won’t explode.
 
Thornhill, man it’s been 30+ years since I’ve been there. Used to be a bit rough and tumble there. It’s great to see the young lady having an interest. Nothing beats that family time. As far as your question on the manual 2nd gear selection, may call John at Cope Racing Transmissions (CRT) he may be able to put you onto a kit or set you up with a valve body.

About CRT Transmissions | Cope Racing | Cope Racing
We found Timeslips in the glovebox from Edgewater and the Hill from 1986, so we must have been there about the same time!!
And yes, it's still a bit "rough and tumble" there...lol!!
 
I have a cope auto shift with low band apply. Cope advised and I have been doing manual low burnouts for 8 years. 4:10 gear and still get enough heat in the tire with just 1st gear. Most people over heat the tire anyway. Oh its a 904? You can still hurt the trans but they won’t explode.
Then that is what I'll have her do. 1st gear, hit the linelock and watch the tach.
All she really needs is enough heat to get the water off them!!
 
Dany 66 Cuda Thornhill Test 1.jpg
Dany 66 Cuda Thornhill Test 2.jpg
Dany 66 Cuda Thornhill Race.jpg
Here are her slips from Thornhill. 2 Test passes and one Timed run.
The Blue Mustang was a "Bracket 1 W/ Box" car but they let him "buy down" to Bracket 2 No Box.
He basically caught up to her,stabbed the brakes and paced her to the finish.
If you look at the 3rd slip she was going 60 MPH and he was only going 69 MPH.
But I told her it's more about consistency... You had traction issues and cut a poor light and he didn't. That gave him the window to catch you.
So Fun!!
 
You need to know if the trans has a low band apply. So the sprag and the band are holding the drum, but as to having enough wheel speed in 1st gear. I spin it to about 5000, in first which is enough speed to heat the tire. 4:10 gear.
 
You need to know if the trans has a low band apply. So the sprag and the band are holding the drum, but as to having enough wheel speed in 1st gear. I spin it to about 5000, in first which is enough speed to heat the tire. 4:10 gear.
It's a stock trans so it should have low band applied in manual low.
And the 3.55's are spinning the tires faster than your 4.10's at the same rpm so I think I'm good??
Told her still to release the line lock while the tires are spinning, then ease out of the throttle.
That should keep the shock to a minimum
 
A .7, .5, then a .001 reaction is great. I would suggest to her try and remember how you "felt" at the line when you nailed the tree that last one. I say that because reaction times can be related to mindset or emotional feel at or just before the start line.

Congratulations young lady!
 
As mentioned 904's don't explode like a 727 will. They will roll the sprag if you aren't careful. Maybe tell her that as their might be some "fear" from that. No need to scare her from something that won't happen.

If you want to know if the trans has low band apply, put shifter in first gear and accelerate. Let off the gas. If there is engine braking and no freewheeling, the trans has low band apply. This really is a non issue with 904's on blowing up the drum.

Nice on cutting an .001 light.

Didn't see tire being used, but, get her in the habit of getting in high gear if the car will do it. You got to get wheel speed for burnouts. She'll have to adapt later. If it's got a street tire on it, too much burnout just makes them greasy.

Hope she has fun with racing and stays with it.
 
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Thornhill let her around, Edgewater said no..." you drag too much crap onto the track"...
I thought it was weird, but their track their rules??
our strip wants everyone to spin (dry hop) before the water box. No problem going around then....
but, your correct, their track = their rules
 
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