2025 so far has had it all for me so far.
The Good:
In February I won the Sick Week Street Race 275 class and set a new record. In June I won both Rock Mountain Mega Week Street Race and Big Sky Race Week Pro Street classes and also set a record at both of those races. Drag Drive Repeat compiles points from all cars competing in all eligible Drag and Drive events and gives extra points for setting a new record. When computing their "champions" for the year they use only the results from the best 3 events for each competitor so by setting a record at all three of those races I actually maximized the points possible for an 8.50 car for this year.
I was planning to attend Hot Rod Drag Week and was scheduled to get both hips replaced July 24th but the Surgeons office had overbooked him and they rescheduled the surgery for August 7th, 2 weeks later. I had calculated the July date would give me 8 weeks to recover from the surgery and I would be able to attend Drag Week but wasn't sure if 6 weeks would be enough for me to physically get in/out of the car and endure the long drives. As it turned out by working hard on the rehab exercises daily (going to the gym plus home exercises) I was doing well enough to attend Drag Week though physically I was still dealing with the recovery.
The first 2 days of Drag Week went well, I ran 8.507 and 8.504 and was a very close second behind Rick Steinke (Honk If Parts Fall Off) who had posted an 8.506 and 8.502 those 2 days so we were neck and neck with 3 days to go.
The Bad:
On the first pass of the third day at Maple Grove the car lost power just after the 1000 ft mark. After slowing it shut down and stopped running and I was barely able to clear the track. I wasn't able to restart it and had to have someone tow me back to my pit area with a strap. Judging by the engine sound when trying to start it I figured I had hurt a head gasket which meant Drag Week was over for me. Back in the pits I called a local car rental agency and rented a car so I could get my truck/trailer back at Maryland International Raceway. Turned out there were 2 other racers there that needed to get back there also so my co-pilot, I and those 2 racers all drove the 4 hours back together to get our tow vehicles.
The next morning when my co-pilot and I got back to Maple Grove we had another problem left to solve. I don't have a working winch on my trailer so we had to figure out how to get my 3600lb car up on the trailer. As luck would have it, the staging lanes have a hill at their entrance and we were parked just a few hundred feet from there. We flat towed the car up the hill, turned it around and parked the trailer with ramps ready at the bottom. I steered the car down the hill aiming for the ramps and judging the speed needed to get up all the way on the trailer. Not something I've ever done before but hey, if it were easy children would be doing this right? Hit the ramps dead center and up on the trailer the car went. Stopped It only 12" short, a little push forward by my co-pilot and a track worker who was there in case we needed more help and the car was ready to be tied down and towed. Unfortunately, my co-pilot lives in Ohio so I had to make the 19 hour drive home by myself. I did arrive safely Friday afternoon around 2pm, almost exactly 2 days after the engine quit. Then to get the car back in my garage, I have to roll it off the trailer and, since I have an uphill driveway, get 4 guys from across the street to help push it up into the garage.
The Ugly:
Saturday morning I started removing the engine. To remove the engine, I take both it and the transmission out together so it's quite a task. No lift so 7 weeks after having both hips replaced I had to put the car up on jack stands, then crawl around on my back GI Joe style underneath the car to drain all the fluids (engine, tranny, Gear Vendor's OD), remove the full exhaust, driveshaft, disconnect all wiring and unbolt a handful of other items before I could get on top and take things apart there that needed to be removed. It was a physically challenging but yesterday (Sunday) afternoon I finally got the engine out with my picker. Separated the transmission from the engine and put the engine on the engine stand. That's when I saw the real UGLY - a hole in the oil pan. Not big but it was there and I knew it wasn't just a head gasket. On the other side of the oil pan was a bulge and the spark plug from #7 cylinder came out damaged.
That's as far as I got yesterday and boy was I tired. One thing about major surgery is your whole body has to recover and at 71, those 2 days of work were tough. But honestly, I feel fortunate that I was physically able to get the work done. Not being able to get things done like this would bother me more than all of the "fun" I've had over the last 5 days.
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The Good:
In February I won the Sick Week Street Race 275 class and set a new record. In June I won both Rock Mountain Mega Week Street Race and Big Sky Race Week Pro Street classes and also set a record at both of those races. Drag Drive Repeat compiles points from all cars competing in all eligible Drag and Drive events and gives extra points for setting a new record. When computing their "champions" for the year they use only the results from the best 3 events for each competitor so by setting a record at all three of those races I actually maximized the points possible for an 8.50 car for this year.
I was planning to attend Hot Rod Drag Week and was scheduled to get both hips replaced July 24th but the Surgeons office had overbooked him and they rescheduled the surgery for August 7th, 2 weeks later. I had calculated the July date would give me 8 weeks to recover from the surgery and I would be able to attend Drag Week but wasn't sure if 6 weeks would be enough for me to physically get in/out of the car and endure the long drives. As it turned out by working hard on the rehab exercises daily (going to the gym plus home exercises) I was doing well enough to attend Drag Week though physically I was still dealing with the recovery.
The first 2 days of Drag Week went well, I ran 8.507 and 8.504 and was a very close second behind Rick Steinke (Honk If Parts Fall Off) who had posted an 8.506 and 8.502 those 2 days so we were neck and neck with 3 days to go.
The Bad:
On the first pass of the third day at Maple Grove the car lost power just after the 1000 ft mark. After slowing it shut down and stopped running and I was barely able to clear the track. I wasn't able to restart it and had to have someone tow me back to my pit area with a strap. Judging by the engine sound when trying to start it I figured I had hurt a head gasket which meant Drag Week was over for me. Back in the pits I called a local car rental agency and rented a car so I could get my truck/trailer back at Maryland International Raceway. Turned out there were 2 other racers there that needed to get back there also so my co-pilot, I and those 2 racers all drove the 4 hours back together to get our tow vehicles.
The next morning when my co-pilot and I got back to Maple Grove we had another problem left to solve. I don't have a working winch on my trailer so we had to figure out how to get my 3600lb car up on the trailer. As luck would have it, the staging lanes have a hill at their entrance and we were parked just a few hundred feet from there. We flat towed the car up the hill, turned it around and parked the trailer with ramps ready at the bottom. I steered the car down the hill aiming for the ramps and judging the speed needed to get up all the way on the trailer. Not something I've ever done before but hey, if it were easy children would be doing this right? Hit the ramps dead center and up on the trailer the car went. Stopped It only 12" short, a little push forward by my co-pilot and a track worker who was there in case we needed more help and the car was ready to be tied down and towed. Unfortunately, my co-pilot lives in Ohio so I had to make the 19 hour drive home by myself. I did arrive safely Friday afternoon around 2pm, almost exactly 2 days after the engine quit. Then to get the car back in my garage, I have to roll it off the trailer and, since I have an uphill driveway, get 4 guys from across the street to help push it up into the garage.
The Ugly:
Saturday morning I started removing the engine. To remove the engine, I take both it and the transmission out together so it's quite a task. No lift so 7 weeks after having both hips replaced I had to put the car up on jack stands, then crawl around on my back GI Joe style underneath the car to drain all the fluids (engine, tranny, Gear Vendor's OD), remove the full exhaust, driveshaft, disconnect all wiring and unbolt a handful of other items before I could get on top and take things apart there that needed to be removed. It was a physically challenging but yesterday (Sunday) afternoon I finally got the engine out with my picker. Separated the transmission from the engine and put the engine on the engine stand. That's when I saw the real UGLY - a hole in the oil pan. Not big but it was there and I knew it wasn't just a head gasket. On the other side of the oil pan was a bulge and the spark plug from #7 cylinder came out damaged.
That's as far as I got yesterday and boy was I tired. One thing about major surgery is your whole body has to recover and at 71, those 2 days of work were tough. But honestly, I feel fortunate that I was physically able to get the work done. Not being able to get things done like this would bother me more than all of the "fun" I've had over the last 5 days.
