Horse Sense: The Texas Motorplex began the trend of massive, stadium-style drag racing venues when it was constructed in 1986. The 'Plex features a coveted all-concrete, quarter-mile surface, which has resulted in a number of milestone performances in professional drag racing, including Eddie Hill running the first-ever four-second quarter-mile pass and Cory McClenathan breaking the 320-mph barrier.
What the heck is going on? I know May was a busy race month with Columbus, WFC6, and Ennis. Sure, Ennis, Texas, is a long way from everywhere but Dallas-and, of course, it was hot.But we're talking the first-ever NMRA race at the Texas Motorplex! OK, I have a soft spot for the 'Plex because I organized one of the fabled 5.0 Shootouts there during my past life at Super Ford magazine, but I would have thought that 1,320 feet of concrete would be a big enough lure for any red-blooded Ford drag racer.
Unfortunately that wasn't the case. The weather was blistering and the turnout was lukewarm, but those racers embroiled in points chases showed up to do what they could. In all the power-adder classes but Outlaw, the nitrous cars used the weather to their advantage. The naturally aspirated guys just dealt with it. We melted out by the track for a round, then scurried for A/C and water whenever we could. As it turned out, the racing was really good. Michael Washington continued his streak, Darin Hendricks had his streak snapped, Shane Long scored a win, and Don Walsh and John Urist continued their good fortune.
Next up on the roster to contrast with the dry heat of Texas is the cool air of Joliet, but to see what you missed in Ennis, check out the captions.
Why the heck not? The race was right there in Texas, the Pro 5.0 fields were modest, and Travis Franklin had really been turning up the wick on his FFW-spec Outlaw. So at Ennis he simply strapped on the big shoes and went for it. Amazingly, Travis was actually at the top of the qualifying sheet for one round, as the Pro boys were struggling in the Texas heat. Once the qualifying was over, he still put himself ahead of Pro regulars Randy Eakins and Bill Rimmer. He even took out an ailing Randy Eakins in round one, before Don Walsh busted a full second on him in round two.
It looked as if Mike Keenan had the Ennis Wild Street field locked up. He's fromNew Mexico, so his ride should have been used to the heat. Alas, after surviving the 30-mile tour and running one round, Mike broke his silver Saleen-alike in round two. And, yeah, we did shoot the car for a feature the previous day, so the 5.0 curse might just be back again.
At least the NMRA had the common courtesy to pitch a tent for those unlucky enough to fall under the teardown microscope at Ennis. There one of the lucky winners was none other than Uncle Robin Lawrence. Robin tore his motor down to the short-block and Thom Bates inspected all the measurements. In the end, Robin was declared legal and had to put his ride back together for qualifying. After thrashing late into the night, he did make qualifying, but he also discovered some lingering bent exhaust valves from a free-revving incident at the Columbus race were killing power.
Rick and Linn Erdman of Amazon Racing [(410) 404-1413; www.amazonracing.com] teamed up with Borla Industries for the '03 NMRA season. Linn gets support for her efforts racing an '03 Cobra, and Borla gets some exposure for its products. Rick showed us this new 3-inch system for the '03 Cobra, which features Borla's new Stinger mufflers. He reports the standard Borla system was good for 19 hp on the '03 and the Stinger added another 7 ponies to that rear-wheel total.
...
>>next page