Pinks All Out Epic FAIL in progress.....

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LXguy

LXguy

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Hey All:

Well, got some tickets to Pinks All Out in Indy next month. Woot!

I've been trying to get my '71 Dart set up to go. It was an all stock 318 904 car when I started.

Between bad luck and the economy taking a crap (so very limited money to throw at the car) , the issue is in serious doubt.

I was putting together a Magnum engine for it. Cracked heads. #8 leaks down 35%, but otherwise it's all under 20% otherwise.

Sooo...

"Buddy" of mine set me up with a "known good" 360 for decently cheap. Of course turns out it's not good. Leaks down 35% or more on every cylinder, machine shop says the heads need surfaced and a valve job too. And from looking at the combustion chambers it's an oil-burner. "Buddy" won't return my calls. LOL!

I've even thought about trying something crazy with my stock 318, but that's probably a non-starter. The heads on that need work too, and Pinks requires 12.99 or quicker. I'm NOT getting kicked out for running too slow! LOL!

I've got some great parts in this thing (part of the reason the wallet is tapped out). Built 904 with a trans brake, great stall converter, 4.11 8-3/4, mono leafs, etc etc. But it ain't going anyplace with no motor.

Sorry for the rant. It's just frustrating.

Steve
 
Put your 318 in and spray the hell out of it. It will either blow or go, either way you will probably make the highlight reel. I wish someone here had an extra motor they would let you use in exchange for a little $$$ if you win.
 
I may get some gas for this.... but isn't Pinks just convoluted bracket racing ?

I mean , if you're at a drag strip why not use the tree ?? And if you're going to end up giving a guy car lengths , why not just use a dial in ??? It essentially turns into "who can sand bag the longest"

Just my .02 cents. sorry
 
mbaird said:
I may get some gas for this.... but isn't Pinks just convoluted bracket racing ?

I mean , if you're at a drag strip why not use the tree ?? And if you're going to end up giving a guy car lengths , why not just use a dial in ??? It essentially turns into "who can sand bag the longest"

Just my .02 cents. sorry
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That sounds more like the regular "Pinks" show. That's why I like the "Pinks All Out" format. I hardly ever watch "Pinks" anymore. Are they even still doing it? "All Out" is an all around better show IMHO. As far as using an arm drop instead of a tree, I think that's just to give it a bit of the street racing feel.
 
I haven't seen the "all out" version. I'll try to catch it sometime.
 
If the 360 is leaking through the valves, you can probably just lap them and replace the seals to get you by for a while.

Rich Christensen will be at my local track ( http://www.firebirdonline.com/ ) doing an "Armdrop Live" event. Hopefully it will be be a heads up, no tree event.
 
C130 Chief said:
If the 360 is leaking through the valves, you can probably just lap them and replace the seals to get you by for a while.

Rich Christensen will be at my local track ( http://www.firebirdonline.com/ ) doing an "Armdrop Live" event. Hopefully it will be be a heads up, no tree event.
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I hope I make it. If not, there are a bunch of local guys going (one of them even has a Mopar) and I'll tag along as a spectator/crewmember.. I'll give the valve lapping a shot. thanks

dusted72 said:
I wish someone here had an extra motor they would let you use in exchange for a little $$$ if you win.
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At the rate I'm going, I'd end up owing someone a big favor *and* a motor. LOL!

mbaird said:
I haven't seen the "all out" version. I'll try to catch it sometime.
Click to expand...

Best drag racing on television. Its worth a look. Probably the only thing that keeps me sane during the long winter around here.
 
mbaird said:
I may get some gas for this.... but isn't Pinks just convoluted bracket racing ?

I mean , if you're at a drag strip why not use the tree ?? And if you're going to end up giving a guy car lengths , why not just use a dial in ??? It essentially turns into "who can sand bag the longest"

Just my .02 cents. sorry
Click to expand...

I totally agree. At first it seemed like they wanted to emulate street racing, but then all the whining and giving car lengths bullshit got out of hand. I got annoyed and changed the channel after 2 or 3 shows.
 
I'm talking about Pinks All Out, not Pinks.

I'm sure my car will be fast and all, but I'm not puttin it at risk of rolling off on someone else's trailer!

trying to raise funs so I listed some parts for sale. Check it out in the classifieds!
 
The all out fields are a gamble. A buddy of mine did it in Vegas, and I think he's got another one coming. But his duster runs 10.30s on the spray. Most all out fields are at least 10.50 cars. I think you may just be aiming for the moon with a .22. It is a wicked cool event. But maybe go to race knowing you're not going to be in the 16.
 
Saturday a friend went to ORP for last chance to get in to Pinks All Out. He had his SRT4 neon and dialed in at 12.029, both brokeout, he was closer to his dial @ 12.018. So he won but due to the fact they had 67 winners the 3 that was in his situation was out.

Now these 64 cars get added to the 400 that they registered already for 16 spots.

It was to be a 2 day event this past weekend but not that many cars showed up Saturday so they all run and field set, but it cost them 60 to enter, and his wife had to pay 25 for 2 day pass for a one day show.

I doun't watch pinks much anymore. I think it is BS. Pinks all out is better, but still, use the tree and show the numbers ............. Too Much SANDBAGGING for me
 
I'm just going for fun. To see what its like behind the scenes, and hang out at the track. If I get in the field that would be GREAT. But I'm not even really considering it as a possibility.
 
Never thought much of most of the episodes I have seen, but that one from the first season with the guy from Texas in the white '70 Camaro playing rope-a-dope with the guy with the high-dollar orange Nova was the drag racing equivalent of watching Mohammed Ali take care of Sonny Liston. Absolutely beautiful! Cant remember the last time a "reality" show made me laugh that hard!
 
Drag racing is not what it use to be. Pinks all out is about the most easy to watch but it is always the same s*@% if you are better than 10.6 or so you won't get in. As for bracket racing, what the heck started that? If I think my car is faster than your's then it should be faster than your's, period. Line up head to head and may the best car and driver win. What is this crap of car lengths and breaking out of you time slot. I always thought that a car race was a match between two people who thought their car was better than the other person. If you give me 1 or more lengths and I win then I have proven only that my car isn't up to racing you heads up and I knew I would lose. So in reality, I loss before the race started that's why I had to cheat and ask for an advantage.. Just my 2 cents.
 
Pinks All Out is by far better than Pinks. We registered for Z-Max at Charlotte. Filled in 14 minutes, over 500 cars. Last few races have been 11 second range. They are picking cars that will be the closest races. If 16 cars have almost the exact same et then those will be, more than likely, picked. Recent races have been decided by a margin of .009 seconds MOV.

Charlotte will be the first ever televised 4 car drag race. Field is to be picked to 32 cars. Those will run 4 at a time until narrowed to 8 cars. Then it will be back to 2 lanes to the final.

See you there.
 
It's still very possible for someone to sandbag a much faster car to get into the chosen group. All one has to do is ask to run a later time trial, then watch the field run. If you see alot of mid 10 cars then set your car to run those numbers. Sure it would be hard to know exactly which time range they choose, but I'm just pointing it out as a possibility and i'm very sure i'm not the first to think of this.

Any time you have a certain time that everyone should be running, this problem will eventually pop up.
 
If you go out there with a turbo'd car with an electronic boost controller, you can dial in a different amount of boost for each race. There are just wayyy to many ways around the rules in that show. Now that we have cars with computers and programmable ignitions it's just impossible to believe that no one will take advantage of it.. Street racing will always be street racing, and the track will always be the track, you can't synthesize the two..
 
I,ve entered to be in Arm Drop Live up here in Toronto.It,s being held at Cayuga Speedway(Toronto Motorsports park)This will be the second time Rich and his crew have been here.(not televised)Last year 500 cars,lots of equipment,girls,cars!I probably don,t have a hope in hell,but it,s a blast and exciting to be invloved.It,s being held the first weekend of June 5,6,7/09.Bands,camping and just a great time with racing friends!Good Luck to you LXGuy,and hope you get your car there!
 
cuda67 said:
Drag racing is not what it use to be. Pinks all out is about the most easy to watch but it is always the same s*@% if you are better than 10.6 or so you won't get in. As for bracket racing, what the heck started that? If I think my car is faster than your's then it should be faster than your's, period. Line up head to head and may the best car and driver win. What is this crap of car lengths and breaking out of you time slot. I always thought that a car race was a match between two people who thought their car was better than the other person. If you give me 1 or more lengths and I win then I have proven only that my car isn't up to racing you heads up and I knew I would lose. So in reality, I loss before the race started that's why I had to cheat and ask for an advantage.. Just my 2 cents.
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Bracket racing was created for this very reason so cars of unequal performance could compete against each other. Otherwise the guy with the most money is going to win 99% of the time. If that's you go for it, but just remember there is always going to be someone faster than you.

Just for the record though if you haven't gone bracket racing maybe you should give it a try. It's not as easy as it sounds and you have to race both ends of the track. There are a lot of good racers out there, and it takes more skill and talent than you imagine.
 
Guitar Jones said:
Bracket racing was created for this very reason so cars of unequal performance could compete against each other. Otherwise the guy with the most money is going to win 99% of the time. If that's you go for it, but just remember there is always going to be someone faster than you.

Just for the record though if you haven't gone bracket racing maybe you should give it a try. It's not as easy as it sounds and you have to race both ends of the track. There are a lot of good racers out there, and it takes more skill and talent than you imagine.
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Exactly! When I started racing at my local track, I was running 14's and 15's and racing against dragsters running in the 7's and 8's - and winning. I was 2/3 of the way down the track before they got the green and they couldn't judge where I was by the time they got to the top end so they'd break out.

Now that I'm running faster and racing in a better class (that has cars closer to my time) it's a lot more fun. You gotta be good on the tree and you gotta keep an eye on the guy in the other lane and try to figure out who's gonna get there first, and still try to stay under your dial. Takes a lot of practice to get good at it.
 
Guitar I'm With You. Lets Go Back To When I Started Drag Racing, 1958.stock Classes Were Heads Up , And You Wone Your Trophy. Then Advanced To Stock Elim. Handycaped On National Rec. Bracket Racing!!! Today If You Want To Win Some $ You Have To Race Pro Super Pro. Bracket. At My Track 1/8 Mi. You Have To Run Better Then 7.50 To Qualify. To All You Big Shots, Thats About A Run In 1/4 Mi. Of A 11.70 Or Better. Have You Got It. The Handy Cap Start Has Been Around Since The Drag Race Began. If You Don't Like It Don't Go To Races. The Tracks Had Lines Marked Off Every 100 Fdt. For That Purpus. I Would Like To Race All You Chickins But You Don't Have The Guts !!! Get R Dun . 360 Dart 6.90 On Pump Gas, 210 Shot Of Nitrus, 6.40 Come And Get It . I Hope I Did'nt Make Anybody Mad ?
 
I think bracket racing is the only thing keeping the sport alive. A lot of tracks have Sportsman classes (13.00 and slower at my local track). Sure they don't pay as much, but it doesn't cost as much to run a car either. The old factor and index system was arcane any limiting.

There weren't many snowmobiles running low nines back in the old days either.
 
Exactly. The tracks don't put butts in the seats, so they have to put cars in the pits. The only way to do that consistently is offering bracket racing.

I think the index classes are a better way to go, and a lot more fun to watch and participate in, but it also cuts car count.

I've done really well racing heads-up classes nationally. As in heads-up, .400 pro tree, first guy to the finish line wins. Those classes start out sort of strong, but always die because of no car count. Why? First off, almost none of the "heads-up or nothing" bellyachers actually have the balls or work ethic to actually field a car. Then as the class gets faster, you get a lot of dropouts from the guys that can't afford it anymore, then more from the guys that can't figure it out, then finally it becomes pointless to travel the country and spend the money to race in a class with 3-5 cars at every event.

Another thing most people don't get is that for a heads-up class you have to have rules, and they have to be close to fair. The more combinations you allow, the harder this is, and no matter what you do, someone's going to be whining, which is going to cause rule changes, which is going to cost time and money for the people doing well under the old rules.

You have to be able to prove your car matches the rules, which means you have to be ready to pull your car apart at the track (sometimes right after you tech in) and put it back together if you want to race.

Rules also make a class cost a lot more to run. The more rules, the more it costs, because you have to think outside the box on how to run faster. Then, it gets into cubic dollars and you're spending thousands to pick up thousandths.

I raced a pretty simple Mustang class at NMRA (Pure Street). 310 max cubic inches. 5 speed or overdrive trans. .500 lift hydraulic roller camshaft. EFI or carb. limited choices for intake or cylinder heads, no power adders, limits on the internals. stock style suspension, 26*10 tire. Those are the basics.

2000 was the first year. Lots of fun. One race we had a 36 car field, but we averaged 16-18 cars. I won one event running 11.70s and set both ends of the national record running 11.40s and 118 mph.

2003 was a good year. Won three races, and made the final at every event but one. Won the national championship. Car was running 10.60s at the fastest, about 128-129 mph. Biggest field was 18 cars, but all others were 10-12. Car launched and was shifted at 8000 RPM. Shortblock cost more than my entire combo from 2000. If your chassis cant pull a 1.39 60' you might as well stay home. After winning two races, tech had me pull the car apart before I was allowed to run in qualifying. Had to pull a head, remove the valves, tear apart a lifter, remove the camshaft, then put it back together to race. Won that race too! ;)

Now the class runs 10.00 to 10-teens. I've heard from the guys that you can't buy a competitive short block for less than 20K (this is a 302 btw). Cars shift at 10K RPM. Class averages 4-5 cars.

So you guys can cry all you want, but I don't see any of you building heads up cars. And as far as crying about someone dialing their turbo controller on the off chance they get in the field....who gives a ****? Racing ain't ever going to be even and it ain't ever going to be fair.

I loved racing in a heads-up series, but I don't have the time or the stomach for the $$ anymore. I'm happy if I can just get to the track, and if Pinks All Out can get you the illusion of a heads-up race without spec fuel, or having to spend $1100 on piston rings, or $1000 on hollow stem intake valves, or $1200 on X-beam stock length rods, or $3800 on a custom billet cryo'd crankshaft that takes 6 months to get *and* they can get 460 cars to show up, then GOD BLESS Rich Christensen's goofy ***.
 
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