Well, we're back from our match race against Bob Gilbertson in Bristol on Friday night. I gotta say, I was very, very impressed with the crowd they had up there. To be honest, I was a little worried that since the NHRA was just there a couple weeks ago, turnout would be low. Wrong. We were supposed to make our first run at 7PM, but due to the huge turnout and long lines waiting to get in, we didn't make our first run until after 8PM. And the fans were great. I must have signed over 1,000 T-shirts. All I can figure is that there is a big unfulfilled demand out there for Top Fuel drag racing.
Anyway, we took advantage of the match race opportunity to test a new cam, and all I'll say is I think we'll go back to the one we'd been running. First pass we were running well, but pushed out an intake gasket at half track and had to shut down. The second pass we ran a 5.30, but I shut down at 1000'. The car just felt sluggish past half track and I didn't want to push it and have another "roman candle" (as the announcer in Milan put it). But I'm glad we had a chance to get some data on this alternate cam in case we need to run it in a pinch later this year.
Aside from the technical stuff, Bob and I put on a great show for the fans. We did long burnouts before our runs, past the 330' markers. The track is beautiful, the facility is great, the track management is first class, and the fans were awesome.
Next up is the IHRA Presidents' Cup Nationals in Budds Creek, MD the weekend of June 13-15. With the NHRA going through a nitromethane shortage, and outlawing Monday test sessions, the rumor is that some of those teams may come out to Budds Creek and use the IHRA event as a test session. Should make it fun!
Monday, June 2, 2008
Monday, May 26, 2008
Motor City Nationals Update
Wow, that was a long layoff. Five weeks is just too long to go without racing during the season. But we got alot of work done on the car, like getting our blocks repaired. I'll bet you didn't know that we can patch small areas of our aluminum engine blocks with JB Weld. Yep. But we got them fixed the right way in the down time.
The weather in Milan this weekend was great, and once again we came oh so close to having a great weekend. Friday night qualifying, our opponent had some issues at the line, causing a delay after the burnout, and we were on a very good run until we started to suck the tank dry at around 1000'. We managed to go 5.19 but we all knew as strong as the Nitro Funny Car fields are this year that a time like that wouldn't hold up.
The track was interesting. Most of the teams had their tunes backed off and most of the NFC racers had tire shake issues on Friday night because the track was GRABBING. Tim Wilkerson's son Dan ran a 4.83 in his Dad's car, so the track could hold a big run.
On Saturday afternoon we ran a 5.18 and my motor let go just before the finish line. We went lean in the #7 cyliner and burned through the head into the lifter valley. All that cylinder pressure entering the lifter valley caused the intake manifold to blow into about 20 pieces!
We got the car back together for Saturday night, had to replace all our wiring and replaced the motor, and really had to thrash to be ready to go. Came out on my last run and ran a great first 200' then I had some tire shake, I tried to pedal it real quick and when I got back on the gas the tires bit and I did a wheel stand with the front tires about 3 ft in the air. Our buddy Bob Szelag from Bob Z's photos got a great shot of the wheel stand that I hope to have up here soon. Luckily it didn't do any damage to my front end when it hit.
Then we had to sweat, because we didn't think a 5.18 was going to keep us in the field. But we got lucky and made the field on the bump spot.
On Sunday we faced Matt Hagan in round one. I had him by a couple hundreths off the tree, and another couple hundreths at 60 foot, and around 330' we were ahead by about half a car length but my blower belt broke and the motor went dead. And just as soon as that happened to me, his motor quit and we both coasted through the lights, but his extra few tenths of a second under power gave him the momentum to coast to the victory.
We have a match race next Friday night in Bristol, TN against Bob Gilbertson. If you're in the area come out and check us out. We'll run at 7PM and 8:30.
The weather in Milan this weekend was great, and once again we came oh so close to having a great weekend. Friday night qualifying, our opponent had some issues at the line, causing a delay after the burnout, and we were on a very good run until we started to suck the tank dry at around 1000'. We managed to go 5.19 but we all knew as strong as the Nitro Funny Car fields are this year that a time like that wouldn't hold up.
The track was interesting. Most of the teams had their tunes backed off and most of the NFC racers had tire shake issues on Friday night because the track was GRABBING. Tim Wilkerson's son Dan ran a 4.83 in his Dad's car, so the track could hold a big run.
On Saturday afternoon we ran a 5.18 and my motor let go just before the finish line. We went lean in the #7 cyliner and burned through the head into the lifter valley. All that cylinder pressure entering the lifter valley caused the intake manifold to blow into about 20 pieces!
We got the car back together for Saturday night, had to replace all our wiring and replaced the motor, and really had to thrash to be ready to go. Came out on my last run and ran a great first 200' then I had some tire shake, I tried to pedal it real quick and when I got back on the gas the tires bit and I did a wheel stand with the front tires about 3 ft in the air. Our buddy Bob Szelag from Bob Z's photos got a great shot of the wheel stand that I hope to have up here soon. Luckily it didn't do any damage to my front end when it hit.
Then we had to sweat, because we didn't think a 5.18 was going to keep us in the field. But we got lucky and made the field on the bump spot.
On Sunday we faced Matt Hagan in round one. I had him by a couple hundreths off the tree, and another couple hundreths at 60 foot, and around 330' we were ahead by about half a car length but my blower belt broke and the motor went dead. And just as soon as that happened to me, his motor quit and we both coasted through the lights, but his extra few tenths of a second under power gave him the momentum to coast to the victory.
We have a match race next Friday night in Bristol, TN against Bob Gilbertson. If you're in the area come out and check us out. We'll run at 7PM and 8:30.
Sunday, April 20, 2008
Semi-Finals in Rockingham!
Our DNQ in San Antonio seems miles away after a good showing at "The Rock" this weekend. The weekend got off to a great start when I made the first 4 second pass of my short nitro career on Friday night when we went 4.995 at 299.5mph. The track temp was 80, the air temp was in the 60's and we had the car set up pretty average. It launched hard and straight and our .902 60-foot time was amongst our best ever. At the thousand foot mark the car made a hard move to the right, and I needed to steer hard left to stay off the wall.
Saturday we only made one pass, as there were showers off and on during the day. On Friday night we cranked up the blower boost by changing pulley's, and put more timing in the motor, especially after the 60 foot mark, to try to run in the low 4.90's or high 4.80's. The car launched hard, but we dropped the #6 cylinder almost immediately. A couple hundred feet later we pushed the head gasket out, torched the head and put a small hole in the block behind the #8 cylinder. Oh well.
We ended up qualifying third and faced Steven Macklyn in the first round. We set up the car to go about 5.05 and didn't want to be too aggressive because track temps were in the mid-90s and we wanted to make a clean pass. Macklyn smoked the tires at the hit and we ran a clean 5.08 at 291 to take the win!! The team was ecstatic and I was happy. Steve Macklyn exemplified the class of all the guys we race with when he came by our trailer to congratulate me. Despite the disappointment he must have been feeling, he had a genuine smile on his face and offered to help if we needed anything.
In round 2 we had to face Paul Lee who has been driving a Paul Smith tuned car to some great times this weekend. His 4.77 on Saturday night was a great lap. Anyway, we just tried to come out and make a clean pass rather than try to chase the #'s he's been putting up. He got a couple hundreths of a sec jump on me at the line and was pulling away down track, so I clicked it off at around 1000 feet rather than risk blowing something up and eating parts. I still ended up with a 5.25, but it was no match for his 4.88.
The thing we're happiest about so far, is that we've made 9 passes this year. Two in testing. three in SA, and four here in Rockingham, and haven't smoked the tires once. That was our biggest problem last year and it seems, at least for now, that we have it figured out. But we've not had the 120 degree track temps that we'll see during the summer. Those hot greasy tracks get real tricky.
Saturday we only made one pass, as there were showers off and on during the day. On Friday night we cranked up the blower boost by changing pulley's, and put more timing in the motor, especially after the 60 foot mark, to try to run in the low 4.90's or high 4.80's. The car launched hard, but we dropped the #6 cylinder almost immediately. A couple hundred feet later we pushed the head gasket out, torched the head and put a small hole in the block behind the #8 cylinder. Oh well.
We ended up qualifying third and faced Steven Macklyn in the first round. We set up the car to go about 5.05 and didn't want to be too aggressive because track temps were in the mid-90s and we wanted to make a clean pass. Macklyn smoked the tires at the hit and we ran a clean 5.08 at 291 to take the win!! The team was ecstatic and I was happy. Steve Macklyn exemplified the class of all the guys we race with when he came by our trailer to congratulate me. Despite the disappointment he must have been feeling, he had a genuine smile on his face and offered to help if we needed anything.
In round 2 we had to face Paul Lee who has been driving a Paul Smith tuned car to some great times this weekend. His 4.77 on Saturday night was a great lap. Anyway, we just tried to come out and make a clean pass rather than try to chase the #'s he's been putting up. He got a couple hundreths of a sec jump on me at the line and was pulling away down track, so I clicked it off at around 1000 feet rather than risk blowing something up and eating parts. I still ended up with a 5.25, but it was no match for his 4.88.
The thing we're happiest about so far, is that we've made 9 passes this year. Two in testing. three in SA, and four here in Rockingham, and haven't smoked the tires once. That was our biggest problem last year and it seems, at least for now, that we have it figured out. But we've not had the 120 degree track temps that we'll see during the summer. Those hot greasy tracks get real tricky.
Monday, April 7, 2008
Painful DNQ
Well, not a good way to kick off the season. We made three consistent passes in qualifying; a 3.528, 3.537 and 3.518 on our last pass, and missed qualifying as the bump turned out to Jack Wyatt at 3.469, which is just about what we thought it would take going in to the race.
Last year our issue was consistency. WHEN we ran clean, we were running in the 5.0x's at around 300 but were smoking the tires way to much. We found a bad part in our clutch setup that was causing it to lock up at the hit and got it replaced, but I think as a team we're so skittish about that we're a little afraid to crank our tunes up to hot.
Going into the last session, Richard and Dad set the car up to run in the 3.40-3.45 range. We added some timing and brought the clutch in faster, but the car didn't seem respond down low at all. Our speed of 241.02 is a little bit high for the 3.518 we ran, and from my perspective it really didn't start to pull until late in the run. Maybe if we were running a full quarter mile we'd have had a good time, but even then, our eigth mile splits last year were in the 3.30's so who knows.
This really hurts us in the pocketbook. Financially, we have our operating costs setup to where we can run break even by qualifying or going a round, but this DNQ is like waking up and having someone hand you a bill for $7,000 that you didn't expect the day before. Oh well, I can PROMISE you we will be alot more aggressive in Rockingham. Richard knows how to make power, look at how he has Bruce Litton's car running...Bruce was the #1 qualifier in Top Fuel Dragster this weekend.
Last year our issue was consistency. WHEN we ran clean, we were running in the 5.0x's at around 300 but were smoking the tires way to much. We found a bad part in our clutch setup that was causing it to lock up at the hit and got it replaced, but I think as a team we're so skittish about that we're a little afraid to crank our tunes up to hot.
Going into the last session, Richard and Dad set the car up to run in the 3.40-3.45 range. We added some timing and brought the clutch in faster, but the car didn't seem respond down low at all. Our speed of 241.02 is a little bit high for the 3.518 we ran, and from my perspective it really didn't start to pull until late in the run. Maybe if we were running a full quarter mile we'd have had a good time, but even then, our eigth mile splits last year were in the 3.30's so who knows.
This really hurts us in the pocketbook. Financially, we have our operating costs setup to where we can run break even by qualifying or going a round, but this DNQ is like waking up and having someone hand you a bill for $7,000 that you didn't expect the day before. Oh well, I can PROMISE you we will be alot more aggressive in Rockingham. Richard knows how to make power, look at how he has Bruce Litton's car running...Bruce was the #1 qualifier in Top Fuel Dragster this weekend.
Saturday, April 5, 2008
Good first qualifying run
We had a nice clean pass on our first qualifying attempt tonite. Had a conservative setup and the car hooked up and ran well. Maybe we'll open it up some tommorrow.
1. Bob Gilbertson, Dodge Stratus, 3.353, 255.92
2. Jeff Diehl, Chevy Monte Carlo, 3.436, 256.89
3. Dale Creasy Jr., Chevy Impala, 3.463, 247.84
4. Jack Wyatt, Stratus, 3.514, 212.29
5. Andy Kelley, Pontiac Firebird, 3.528, 239.02
6. Matt Hagan, Monte Carlo, 4.343, 142.49
7. Jason Duchene, Firebird, 5.155, 96.53
8. Allen Middendorf, Chevy Camaro, 5.468, 72.41
Not Qualified:
9. Steven Macklyn, 5.544, 139.31
10. Terry Haddock, 7.920, 84.41
11. Todd Simpson, 11.062, 51.21
Talk to you all again tomorrow night.
1. Bob Gilbertson, Dodge Stratus, 3.353, 255.92
2. Jeff Diehl, Chevy Monte Carlo, 3.436, 256.89
3. Dale Creasy Jr., Chevy Impala, 3.463, 247.84
4. Jack Wyatt, Stratus, 3.514, 212.29
5. Andy Kelley, Pontiac Firebird, 3.528, 239.02
6. Matt Hagan, Monte Carlo, 4.343, 142.49
7. Jason Duchene, Firebird, 5.155, 96.53
8. Allen Middendorf, Chevy Camaro, 5.468, 72.41
Not Qualified:
9. Steven Macklyn, 5.544, 139.31
10. Terry Haddock, 7.920, 84.41
11. Todd Simpson, 11.062, 51.21
Talk to you all again tomorrow night.
Friday, April 4, 2008
Well, after an 18 hour drive we arrived in San Antionio. Got everything set up, and it looks like the rain has moved through for good.
Today IHRA announced their blog and social networking site on www.racingjunk.com, and I' proud to say we're one of the first bloggers they invited to participate. Check out IHRA's press release at http://www.ihra.com/article/2370.html
Anyway, since this is the first officially scheduled 1/8th mile national event, I thought I'd share my thoughts on this move by the IHRA. First off, as a racer on a tight budget, I like it from a financial standpoint. We'll use fewer parts, and it's less wear and tear on the equipment. Alot of match races we run are 1/8th mile events so we know what we need to do with the car, and frankly, there's not much we'd change in the setup anyway.
On the downside, the races will be won in the first 60'. In a 1/4 mile race, if you mess up on your reaction time or smoke the tires, you have a chance to recover if your opponent drops cylinders or has issues down track. In this format, if you have a bad launch and the other guy leaves cleanly, there is a very limited opportunity to catch him.
The other negative is purely emotional. It will be easy for the naysayers to use this to make us appear inferior or "less than" the NHRA guys. Hey, last time I checked we weren't trying to be anyone but who we are, and deliver the world of Nitro-fuel drag racing to folks who might otherwise not have the chance to see it, and do it in a more personal and intimate way.
Finally, from a fans perspective, you won't see the 300 mph number flash on the board, but most of the action happens inside the 1/8th mile (which is where most of our fans are sitting anyway), so all you'll miss is watching the rear ends of our cars go down the back half of the track. At least, I hope it's not a big deal to the fans. They're (you're) the ultimate judges of whether this is a good move by the IHRA.
Today IHRA announced their blog and social networking site on www.racingjunk.com, and I' proud to say we're one of the first bloggers they invited to participate. Check out IHRA's press release at http://www.ihra.com/article/2370.html
Anyway, since this is the first officially scheduled 1/8th mile national event, I thought I'd share my thoughts on this move by the IHRA. First off, as a racer on a tight budget, I like it from a financial standpoint. We'll use fewer parts, and it's less wear and tear on the equipment. Alot of match races we run are 1/8th mile events so we know what we need to do with the car, and frankly, there's not much we'd change in the setup anyway.
On the downside, the races will be won in the first 60'. In a 1/4 mile race, if you mess up on your reaction time or smoke the tires, you have a chance to recover if your opponent drops cylinders or has issues down track. In this format, if you have a bad launch and the other guy leaves cleanly, there is a very limited opportunity to catch him.
The other negative is purely emotional. It will be easy for the naysayers to use this to make us appear inferior or "less than" the NHRA guys. Hey, last time I checked we weren't trying to be anyone but who we are, and deliver the world of Nitro-fuel drag racing to folks who might otherwise not have the chance to see it, and do it in a more personal and intimate way.
Finally, from a fans perspective, you won't see the 300 mph number flash on the board, but most of the action happens inside the 1/8th mile (which is where most of our fans are sitting anyway), so all you'll miss is watching the rear ends of our cars go down the back half of the track. At least, I hope it's not a big deal to the fans. They're (you're) the ultimate judges of whether this is a good move by the IHRA.
Monday, March 31, 2008
PRESS RELEASE 3/31/08
KELLEY MOTORSPORTS READY FOR 2008 IHRA KNOLL-GAS NITRO JAM SEASON. ROCKINGHAM TEST SESSION GIVES TEAM REASON FOR OPTIMISM.
Piedmont, SC – March 31, 2008 – After a satisfying fifth place finish in the 2007 IHRA Nitro Funny Car points standings, Kelly Motorsports spent the off season looking for ways to improve upon their inaugural season. Months of work on the clutch setup and fuel delivery system, as well as refining most of the other components on their 7,000+ horsepower nitro-fueled, Firebird-bodied funny car, have driver Andy Kelley and his team excited about the season opening Amalie Oil Texas Nationals this weekend in San Antonio, Texas.
Despite finishing in the top 5 in points, and collecting several “Last Man Standing” low-qualifier awards, the Kelley team was frustrated last season by a tendency to lose traction at the starting line and smoke the tires, short-circuiting several chances to take home a national event win.
“Last year, our big struggle was getting our car to hook up consistently” said Andy. “Our number one priority this off season was to get our clutch setups right, and Richard Hartman made a significant discovery in our clutch system that should help us run more consistently.”
A successful testing session at the Rockingham Dragway last week has crew chief and team owner Pat Kelley excited about the upcoming season, especially the season opening race in San Antonio.
“Our testing session in Rockingham went as well as we could have expected. Despite track temperatures over 110 degrees, we got the car to hook up, launch hard, and run straight on both test runs.” said Pat. “We also added a new, high capacity fuel pump that will help us make more power and top our previous record speed of 305 mph.”
For a family-owned and operated team like Kelley Motorsports, testing sessions are a rare luxury, but are evidence of the commitment that Andy and Pat Kelley have made to the 2008 season.
“Our sponsors, great companies like Holbrook Performance Parts, Vickery’s Speed Shop, General Machine of Anderson, Victory One Valves, and Impact Racing are helping us realize a dream.” said Andy. “The IHRA Nitro Funny Car field is so much stronger this year that it’s going to take significant improvement to keep up with the established teams like Creasy, Wyatt, Haddock and Gilbertson, and to fend off the new teams that are beginning to make an impact like Matt Hagan and Jeff Diehl.
Piedmont, SC – March 31, 2008 – After a satisfying fifth place finish in the 2007 IHRA Nitro Funny Car points standings, Kelly Motorsports spent the off season looking for ways to improve upon their inaugural season. Months of work on the clutch setup and fuel delivery system, as well as refining most of the other components on their 7,000+ horsepower nitro-fueled, Firebird-bodied funny car, have driver Andy Kelley and his team excited about the season opening Amalie Oil Texas Nationals this weekend in San Antonio, Texas.
Despite finishing in the top 5 in points, and collecting several “Last Man Standing” low-qualifier awards, the Kelley team was frustrated last season by a tendency to lose traction at the starting line and smoke the tires, short-circuiting several chances to take home a national event win.
“Last year, our big struggle was getting our car to hook up consistently” said Andy. “Our number one priority this off season was to get our clutch setups right, and Richard Hartman made a significant discovery in our clutch system that should help us run more consistently.”
A successful testing session at the Rockingham Dragway last week has crew chief and team owner Pat Kelley excited about the upcoming season, especially the season opening race in San Antonio.
“Our testing session in Rockingham went as well as we could have expected. Despite track temperatures over 110 degrees, we got the car to hook up, launch hard, and run straight on both test runs.” said Pat. “We also added a new, high capacity fuel pump that will help us make more power and top our previous record speed of 305 mph.”
For a family-owned and operated team like Kelley Motorsports, testing sessions are a rare luxury, but are evidence of the commitment that Andy and Pat Kelley have made to the 2008 season.
“Our sponsors, great companies like Holbrook Performance Parts, Vickery’s Speed Shop, General Machine of Anderson, Victory One Valves, and Impact Racing are helping us realize a dream.” said Andy. “The IHRA Nitro Funny Car field is so much stronger this year that it’s going to take significant improvement to keep up with the established teams like Creasy, Wyatt, Haddock and Gilbertson, and to fend off the new teams that are beginning to make an impact like Matt Hagan and Jeff Diehl.
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