I qualified for the NHRA Div 3 ET Finals...BARELY!

[ATaylorRacing]

Yesterday was do or die for me to make the Indy team for the NHRA Div 3 ET Finals. I went into the race #9 in pts and after winning 5 rounds I clawed my way back up to #5! (Indy takes 6 Sportsman cars this year) I thought I was dead meat before the race even started since I blew out one of my DOT slicks before I even made a pass and had to race on my street tires, itty bitty 185x80x13s compared to the 245x40x15s DOT road racing slicks. I was shocked that the street tires hooked, but them having a larger diameter took away some gear. The problem was to cut a light...1st pass with my normal shallow stage was a .107 rt and the next (last) practce run I red lit by deep staging with a -.070...ended up staging and bumping it in which resulted in a worst light of .046 and my best three were .001, .006, and .010...which allowed me to get a computer picked bye run into the final four.

For those of you not familiar with this HUGE bracket race (Sept 18-20)....the 25 tracks in Div 3, from 5 states and Ontario, send their best 32 drivers to race as a team against the other track teams. Indy will be packed with 800 bracket racers that had to prequalify. The winners go to Pamona to duke it out on a Div vs Div race with $3500 spending money up front to each contestant.

I won the Sportsman class in 87 with my 5 speed Shelby powered (non-turbo, one of 84 made...only one built with no A/C and radio delete!) Horizon. After 3 days and 8 rounds I was the winner out of 189 cars...NO practice passes at all on the last day of the event. Back then my average rt was a damn good .012 and my worst was a .020 in the final. The purse was $1000 and my contingencys totalled another $3000, not bad for a daily driven 15 second street car! That car is the one that I will be using...now it have over 270,000 miles compared to the 33,000 it had back then.

Today I had a set of Hoosier road racing slicks mounted that are tiny 20x6x13s and that combination saves 20 lbs compared to the tires I mentioned earlier...and they are stickier!

I was only able to use the Horizon (Matchbox) at 3 pts races since it had issues to be worked out...finally got them fixed and just need a little more fuel, more cam advance, and less timing to be 100% ironed out. The other 9 or 10 races I used the 12 second SRT4 Stage 2 named Pit Bull.

[SlicksMH]

A Big CONGRATS!!

SlicksMH

[Blackbird1084]

Congrats man. That's the kind of racing I'd like to get into. I've done it a couple of times at my local track during some of TNT nights. I do great in my ta as I've won the bracket class the last two years at the ltx shootout in kc mo. It is consistant within .01-.06 most of the time. Maybe I can get into that kind of racing next year and with some luck end up at the race your talking about.

[Neon Nick]

I'm in the same racing, we still have I think 2 or 3 races left until the division race down in Valdosta, GA. I don't know how many sportsman cars they are taking this year I think they usually take 3 and right now I'm close but I need to pick up the slack at the end here to qualify for that race. Then, just like with you, whoever wins that divisional race gets to go to Pomona and compete. Who knows, maybe we'll meet each other there! haha I hope so!

Good job man, and good luck at the division finals

[nutz]

nice work I was never a big fan or bracket racing (as a spectator) but it shows how consistant of a driver you are

[BOOSTINSRT04]

Wow congrats!