Had fun at Firebird

[Kurtis500]

Had lots of fun over the 5 days. Good to meet you Jetboatguru. It would have been nice to sit around and talk about the drama on this forum. Nice ride too!!Thats a lot more boat than I would drive..
I was given this picture by my mother on Sunday (birthday) who had stored away for years, in fact since 1977. She said I have a thing about red boats.
Me in 1977 at Firebird when they used to let you swim at intermission
http://www.***boat.com/image_center/data/500/7me-med.JPG
Me last weekend
http://www.***boat.com/image_center/data/500/7Darren1-med.jpg
I guess she was right. Bad part is, for my birthday, I got eliminated first round, lost the gambler after going from 43 boats down to three, and was loosing the motor the whole day. Dont want to tear into it to find out why. All this after we lost the other one Thursday. To boot, I got pneumonia this week:mad:
Anybody else here race at Firebird this past weekend?

[126driver]

We ran with the circle boats. Sorta. :rolleyes: Something went wrong, broke or flew off every round. :mad: At least I didn't get sick. Just hungover. :yuk: :rolleyes:
http://www.***boat.com/image_center/data/516/95On_Fire.jpg

[LeE ss13]

Yikes Scott .... you know it's not necessary to go to those lengths to get Tom to take your picture ????? Hope everything is OK. Anyway .... have you heard if Thanksgiving is going to be a SSRA points race ?? And what's with this pneumonia stuff .... I came down with it last Thursday. Not fun.

[Terminal Velocity]

Scott I'd hate to know how well you could be if it wasn't for all your damn bad luck. shee-it! Although I like the fact that you are still trying to start the damn thing. I'm thinking this is another reason for me to have a radio.
James
SS-75

[126driver]

Yeah, no kidding. :rolleyes:
Thanksgiving won't be a Series race. I'm thinking of going without the boat. We're losing two holes and are going to have it torn down this weekend.

[Kurtis500]

Speaking of the Thanksgiving race, is it going to be the same format this year? K's - PS's - SS's GN's - crackers? We started going in 1996 (bad race :( ) and have only missed the last two years. Usually we drive up to the Havasu lights display also at the same time. Plan on doing the same this year unless there is changes.

[SERIOUS ISSUES]

hey 126, just be happy you boat didn't look like mine after the fire or you lookin like me after the fire.:eek:

[CircleJerk]

?We want to know how it was running, before, the flames. That's still a spectacular shot! I'm sure everyone agrees with me on this one! And he's pushing the start button! Amazing......:D

[Jetboatguru]

Kurtis 500,
It was good to finally meet you. I have sat on the rope with you before and did not even know it. Sorry to hear about the bad luck in PHX. That place really sucks the life out of people. To go as far as you did in the Gambler deal is bad ass. That class is tough and it is a great race within a race. Good luck on the pneumonia deal.
We struggled all weekend chasing down a problem. It turned out to be the fuel pump eating itself. Got it figured out late Saturday night and hopped her up for first round against Ermshar Sunday morning. I red lit and ran 6.80 @160. It was the low et of the race for the class but I was out. Ermshar cut a .01 light and ran 7.00. Oh well, next year will be interesting to say the least. Off season............................
:yuk: :yuk:

[PGF545]

Kurtis, I saw that boat last weekend and was checking it out at the gas station...lol. I think that you put gas in that thing every pass. I was with the Madness TFH and we were pitted in the out back.
Tony, I guess you guys found a pump...Kevin came back there and asked me, but Ron was no where to be found at the time. I heard that run that you red lit on and that would have won the class for the weekend...too bad about the red eye. Good seeing you and Carrie again...see you soon.
Bernie

[Sangerboy]

Originally posted by Jetboatguru
Ermshar cut a .01 light and ran 7.00. Oh well, next year will be interesting to say the least. Off season............................
:yuk: :yuk:
Guru- Ermshar can be tough at the lights, didn't he cut an .01 light during one of the rounds at Phoenix last year also?

[Kurtis500]

JBG, The Finals does suck the life away. 5 days of getting up early and going to bed late. That sucks about the red light. I would guess if your going to take a shot at the tree the finals is the race to do it. BTW, how did you guys find out the fuel pump was going away? Those are the kind of problems that take experience to find before the parts get hurt. Also a 6.80 is truckin in a flat and seems just plain scary to me. Do you have a harness for your nuts too? You wouldnt want to get them hurt:D
PGF 545, I ran the boat down the track 17 times over the weekend. I only have a single 5 gallon jug and a 3 gallon fuel tank. I think I blew a $50 voucher over the weekend at the 76 trailer. Congratulations to you guys, Braaksma is looking like he did 10+ years ago. consistant.
Good news is, since the motor needs repair I'm going to finally give it what it needs. The short block is worthy of a N/TF rail. But to keep it simple I kept the stock heads on with no porting. Includes the original 1958 exhaust and intake valves. The cam is a mere .510 lift with a 310 duration. Also has electronic ignition on board. Pretty small stuff and I still managed consistant 9.4's w/o a tranny. So on to the roller stuff, probably a mag, and may put the aluminum Donovan heads on. Then I'm getting both boats painted for free by a sponsor and will polish or anodize the motors and running gear during the off season. Of course I'll have the new style valve cover for the 392 next year also. Along with the 392, TFX and KB oil pan/windage tray, valve cover, BBC timing chain cover, CF stack injector tubes and 3-5 gallon fuel tanks built as a solid piece without seams. oops! did I say that out loud ;) For those that know Gene Adams rail, you'll notice his car is going to look alot the same at the March Meet next year.....but some of the parts wont be the same:wink: :D:D

[Jetboatguru]

Kurtis 500 and PGF545,
we could not figure out why the egt's were dead on but we kept loosing blower belts and burst panels. The boat would come out clean then drop the nose just pass the tree. Usually the boat will hang a wheelie until 1/4 track and then march from there. But at Phoenix it did not have the power to carry the nose. Our Crew chief told me to pull the pump off and look at it because he suspected it was going away and sure enough.....We picked up 2 tenths to the 1/8th.
17 passes? Holy shit! That is a almost a season worth of runs. You got your moneys worth.
Bernie, it was good seeing you and Mrs Dust. Sorry things were hectic and we couldn't chat more, but you see it was a thrash.
Tony

[469 the coyote]

Dont let tony fool all of you. The god work on a boat. What ever. HEHE. Know he was there tell the end. on his back changing the bearings in the motor. Him and Joey where tring to get me to do it, but my wheelchiar was a little softer than the rocks. Tony are you going to be at kivens shop any time soon? I will be back in lodi next saturday. I'am going to try and get started on my boat. If I'am up to it. The start of next year will be here before we now it. And I have alot of work ( new paint, hardware, and my new big bad pro limited motor ). What do you think Tony 8.50's off the trailer?

[Jetboatguru]

Lester,
You just get healed up before you start hitting the boat stuff. The boat will be there when you are ready. If Joey is doing the motor with you it won't be a problem running 8.50s off the trailer. If you can't get there, tow it behind the truck and run 8.50's on the trailer :D :D
Glad to see you are gettin around again.
Friggen Spiders:mad: :mad:

[469 the coyote]

Originally posted by Jetboatguru
Lester,
You just get healed up before you start hitting the boat stuff. The boat will be there when you are ready. If Joey is doing the motor with you it won't be a problem running 8.50s off the trailer. If you can't get there, tow it behind the truck and run 8.50's on the trailer :D :D
Glad to see you are gettin around again.
Friggen Spiders:mad: :mad:
Tony, I'am doing alot better. I have started to walk a little on my own. But I still have 3 months til I will be a 100%. So are you ready for next year? If you guys can run the whole season, I think singleton will have to give up that #1 on his boat and put it on old whitey. Well I 'am sure I will see you around kevins, or joeys. P.S. my truck would tow that boat 8.0's!!!!!!!! HEHE