June 1, 2013:
Paul got his 2nd win in Sportsman at Pacific Raceways driving Torri’s ’66 Pontiac Tempest. Paul switched to the Pontiac as the ’68 Mustang of Ron West was not yet ready for the track. The new TCI converter in the Tempest really woke the car up and it was putting up strong numbers on the way to the winner’s circle.
The bad news was in the 1st round, Chris’ Chevelle appears to have damaged that converter after 169 hits. So the team has more transmission related work in the future.
Congratulations to Paul and my thanks to the entire Edwards & Young team getting the Tempest operational for this race. The work paid off for Paul and his 2013 quest for the Track Championship. Here’s Paul’s report:
This was the 1st race back at Pacific Raceways with the new converter in the Pontiac and it couldn’t have gone any better to say the least! We set new ET records across the board with the quicked pass ever @ 12.278 107.93 mph with the best ever 60 ft of 1.659, talk about a huge difference.
I had a few opponents red light against me that sure helped the cause as I wasn’t at my best on the tree at times but that is one of the cool advantages of having the faster car. One of the closer races was in the 2nd rd when I took the stripe by .0153 as I had a .004 rt to my opponent .051 rt which gave me wiggle room to back into him just a little to run 12.376 on a 12.35 dial. In the final round it was a rematch of myself versus Jerry Durant Jr, the difference this time was I beat him with Mac’s 67 Mustang at the 1st points race of the year and I knew that I needed to be on my game especially for this round. I had a .016 rt to his .072 rt and once again that gave me some wiggle room at the stripe as I caught him and just fendered him to the stripe running a 12.362 on a 12.32 dial with a margin of victory of .0212 for the 2nd win of the 2013 season.
This will put me back in 1st place going into the next race which hopefully will be the long awaited debut for 68 Mustang owned by Ron West, we are expecting good things for the remainder of the season. It will be a big adjustment on my part driving my 3rd car for this year but I like challenges and will be ready to go. My buddy and teammate Mac West went out in the 2nd round in Sportsman by the narrowest margin of .003 driving his 67 Mustang, he will get em at the next race for sure.
I want to say thanks again for all of the support from everyone in getting the Pontiac fixed so quickly and just can’t believe how fast the car went, it is sure fun to drive to say the least.
Sincerely,
Paul
Congratulations again guys!!!
Sounds like you are off to a great start this season !!!
Keep it Rollin!!!
Todd
Harrisburg, NC
After looking at the data, it is clear the new torque converter made a substantial improvement in the Pontiac. The engine is running out of wind in high gear but it is a great street/strip bracket racing combination!
The Edwards & Young Team moved quickly to get the new torque converter in the Pontiac because we expected there would be be some issues for Team West to get the ’68 Mustang up and running. All involved have attempted to be supportive of Paul both in the past and in the present.
Chris has already been in touch with TCI concerning the converter in the Chevelle, and the possibility of using a tighter converter which should improve the MPH in the wagon.