The newest drag racer gears up!

[YENKO DEUCE REGISTRY]

<div class="ubbcode-block"><div class="ubbcode-header">Originally Posted By: earntaz</div><div class="ubbcode-body">I think this is how Erica Enders started out ... look at her now! </div></div>

Yes, Erica and her sister Courtney started out in Jr Dragsters - and she is doing fantastic! Many of the big car racers are very aware when a Jr Dragster kid 'ages out' and starts driving in their class, they know that a Jr Dragster kid is not to be treated lightly - they have youthful reflexes, and have been whacking the tree for 9-10 years already! And, by the time they age out - they've been driving the stripe for most of their Jr career. Look out Benny, just do the math on this one.... [img]<<GRAEMLIN_URL>>/naughty.gif[/img]

[YENKO DEUCE REGISTRY]

Well, it's that time of year again! Another Jr Dragster - Eastern Conference Finals event is in the books. Not the same degree of success as last year, but a fun week none the less. Benjamin's City/County baseball team had 2nd round playoffs Thursday night till 8'ish, which gave me very little time to finalize the prep for the trip. So, with 2.5 hours sleep, Benjamin, Danny and I pulled out at 4:30AM on Friday - Mom and Amanda were set to arrive the following Tuesday (Amanda couldn't miss Acting Camp!!).

A second round playoff loss allows Ben to focus on the week of racing!




It's early! Danny was the first one up, dressed and shaking me awake at 4AM - and he's not even racing yet!



No trip is issue free! So, this year it was a massive trailer tire explosion about an hour from Bristol, TN. In 10 years of towing, this is the first time I've had a blown tire. The boys were quite excited as it broke the boredom of the 9+ hour pull. Of course the jack I keep in the trailer was rusted up, so after unloading the trailer to get the spare we had to unload the back seat of the truck to get the jack! Danny was mesmerized by the old tire! As we start up to continue, the truck throws a code....some days.





We get there a little later than we wanted to, but easily got our desire pit spot - but with 800+ kids racing for a week, it filled up fast!



Benjamin's final round photo has been used in numerous NHRA publications and on their website throughout the last year, so we had high hopes of repeating the success from 2014 - ignoring the fact that we had changed classes, are running a full second quicker, 10 mph faster, and put a fair amount of work into the chassis... ie; we have zero historical data to work from!

[PxTx]

I look forward hearing more.

FYI, this is worth keeping on the trailer.

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[YENKO DEUCE REGISTRY]

We typically don't do well in the various build up races that happen from Saturday till Thursday, and this year was no exception. We struggled by running just a tad under 7.90 in the index race (with .5 pro tree), the bracket race (red light), the $5k High Dollar race (tree'd), and the Fun Race (2nd round, broke out). But we were gathering valuable data.





Benjamin's head is no longer 4+ inches from the roll cage! While the car has a high cage and extended foot box, it's now too narrow - he'll need another car for next year. He's all broken up about it (not!).


Part of the deal here is to keep Danny occupied, at 7 years old this can be tough! So, I pretty much give/get him whatever he wants - as much italian ice, deep fried twinkies, orange Fanta, fans, Oakleys, ipads, water bounce park, bowling, then a day at Dollywood water park (had to drive right past Floyd's Museum (again!), and couldn't stop in [img]<<GRAEMLIN_URL>>/eek.gif[/img] ).







Playing 'heads or tails' with these new Oreo cookies, amazing how quickly they went through the entire pack!

[YENKO DEUCE REGISTRY]

Thursday rolls around pretty quick. NHRA shows up to run their race, and the entire tone of the event becomes a lot more serious. The starting line is always near bare concrete till NHRA shows up, but this year they didn't prep it like they normally do. Good thing we had our shock chassis (essentially a 3 link car) made functional again over the Winter, because we really needed it. We set it up for full travel, and just 5.5 #'s of air pressure, and did not have tire spin the entire week - this while other competitors were running to the tower, blowing up facebook etc...

Bottom line, Benjamin pulls a .001 light in Round 1 on Friday afternoon and runs a 7.92 on a 7.90 dial vs. his opponent's .011 light and 7.954 on a 7.94 dial. The MOV was but 35 ten thousandths, tight! First round is the hardest, but now the pressure was off and it was time to enjoy the Track Cookout!

Round one - tires are still wrinkled as they pass through the beams!



Win Lights!

[YENKO DEUCE REGISTRY]

There are trophies for each age group for the best reaction time and best package in Round 1. Ben had the best best R/T, and was thrilled (and surprised) with a nice trophy and a photo that will make it into the next National Jr Dragster magazine.



Yea, he's the tallest kid in the bunch - and just 13...


Not sure what he's doing here, other than realizing that Round 2 is first thing Saturday morning - nerves were kicking in already. [img]<<GRAEMLIN_URL>>/grin.gif[/img]

[YENKO DEUCE REGISTRY]

With half the field gone, Round 2 came up fast - with far different weather.

Trying to keep him calm in the staging lanes


Some last minute advice; I started pulling his car 2' in front of the other right before we get the instruction to start them up. I have him look over and find a spot on that kid's car, that's 2' in front - if you aren't at that spot by the time you hit the first mph marker, back off... It was working since we were dialing a 7.90 every run for the entire week (and holding a few, still having to add 65+/- #'s of weight to the car).



This is stress point for me, as there is nothing more I can do - I have to give one more visual check to the engine/clutch/rear and then step away and send him down the track. Sometimes I can't even watch the entire run! He pulls off Round 2 with another tight finish line win.



Support group!


Alas, Round 3 was not to be. We went out when the weather changed, we added weight to compensate - just not enough and he ran under by .003. The good news - he got paid! $50 is still a good thing! [img]<<GRAEMLIN_URL>>/biggthumpup.gif[/img]





So ends another year, wouldn't trade these trips for the world. Next year we'll have 2 racing as Danny ages into the program - doubles my odds! [img]<<GRAEMLIN_URL>>/grin.gif[/img]

[Xplantdad]

Awesome Marlin, thanks for keeping us up to date for the future of top fuel. Go Ben, go!

[earntaz]

Marlin -- that is so cool!!

[kwhizz]

<div class="ubbcode-block"><div class="ubbcode-header">Originally Posted By: earntaz</div><div class="ubbcode-body">Marlin -- that is so cool!! </div></div>



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