“SFI announced late last night that 3.2A/5 suits made prior to 2009 by Impact Racing have been decertified effective immediately.
“As a result, and per NHRA’s Rulebook, those products are no longer allowed for use at NHRA-sanctioned events.
“NHRA has spent the morning speaking with the division directors who will be conducting events this weekend as well as manufacturers and suppliers of certified products. There is limited inventory available, and the manufacturers and suppliers can overnight product to racers for use this weekend.
“NHRA will work on-site at planned events with racers to do everything possible to assure that racers can comply with NHRA’s Rulebook.
“For more information regarding SFI’s action against Impact Racing, log on to www.sfifoundation.com.”
Spring is here and both the ’57 and ’71 Chevelle are now ready to hit the strip. Over the winter we freshened the old 331 in our ’57 with new bearings, oil pump, rings, valve grind and valve springs and replaced the rods. We replaced our clutch that had a warped pressure plate after 90+ runs and clutch disc. Installed new Aldan Eagle rear coil-over shocks (our old rear shocks were “dead”) and have installed new slicks.
The Chevelle now has a new air-shifter installed with an updated delay box and we replaced all the pushrods and one rocker arm and checked the seat pressure on the valve springs. Our goal with the Chevelle is to run just a tad bit slower by softening the leave slightly but be more consistent thru a broader range of track conditions to make the dial-in more predictable.
Weather permitting, we’ll be able to get both cars out for testing at Pacific Raceways in April.
Here’s a much stronger pass on May 8th, 2010. The old car ran great running a 10.602 @ 125.90 MPH on this pass and leaving the starting line at 8,000 rpms. Too bad this old man was asleep on the starting line and gave the first round away! This was our quickest pass for the ’57 ever at Pacific to date, 2nd quickest pass for the ’57 in its history. Again, this marked improvement over the video above all came from chassis adjustments we made prior to going back out.
We hope to get Chris back out in his Chevelle soon, and get the proper shift points set for the new air shifter! The future is for Chris & Paul, my days of driving the old ’57 have become a time of personal enjoyment & reflection of the days of Modified Production which are long forgotten except by a small few when the small-block Chev’s with a clutch thrilled the crowds! It’s good to see the old Chev once again flying down the track, an anomaly from the modern race cars we see today.
15 May 2010 – Pacific Raceways – ’71 Chevelle
I’m very happy to report we feel like we made excellent progress this evening. The air shifter is working properly and life is good again! Chris did a excellent job in the first round leaving the starting line with an outstanding .010 light and running a 10.491 @ 122.22 MPH [on the brakes] on a 10.47 dial-in to take the win light. On to the 2nd round where we lost breaking out with a 10.424 on a 10.44 dial-in. Again Chris did his job and left on our competition but our opponent ran a 8.863 on a 8.86 dial-in to take the win light. There’s great races here in Super Pro!
Top Sportsman cars were also out this evening at Pacific. Here’s a video Paul took of Barry Hobson (far lane) & Joe Loch [near lane] on a qualifying hit. Hobson runs a 705 Sonny Leonard engine in his GrandAm. Loch runs a 800+ Sonny Leonard wedge in his Cavalier – both normally aspirated.
Edwards & Young comment: If the facts are never uncovered and not publicly disclosed, what’s to prevent this from happening again at tracks across the nation? – Roger Young
“…All competitors are required to complete an online training program by logging into their accounts at www.nhraeventreg.com. Those who fail to complete the training in advance will be prohibited from completing the registration process on site and will be subject first to on-site training…”
I figured due to the tragic accident during the latest NHRA National Event now would be a good time to reminisce about the most memorable race of your short/long racing career.
Me personally, it was during the Sportsman Nats @ Pacific Raceway in 2008 beating the 8 second dragster with the Pontiac with a killer light and running the number. I managed to make it to the 3rd round until red lighting by a narrow margin but it was definitely fun! – Paul Young, Edwards & Young Racing
Final round: (W) Tom Brown far lane, '66 Chev II, (R/U) Chris Young near lane, '71 Chevelle
“A woman who was struck by a tire earlier today at the NHRA Arizona Nationals at Firebird International Raceway was pronounced dead at Good Samaritan Hospital this evening. The tire became detached from Antron Brown’s dragster following an incident during the first round of eliminations. Brown was not injured.
“NHRA is investigating the incident. The entire NHRA community is deeply saddened by today’s incident and sends its thoughts and prayers to the woman’s family and friends.”
“…As far as I can find there isn’t another instance in history of professional drag racing where a wheel and tire assembly have gone into the pits causing injury or death. As far as why the wheel came off, that is being investigated but the general consensus among the racecar builders I’ve talked to is that it was a random failure and not the start of a trend…”
Edwards & Young comment: Random failure? If that is the “consensus” look forward to future such “failures” which our sport can ill afford!
“…Before Roush became one of the most successful team owners in NASCAR, he worked as an engineer with partner Wayne Gapp in the early 1970s in the NHRA, IHRA and AHRA. The duo competed under the name Gapp and Roush and one of their cars that Gapp drove was ‘The Tijuana Taxi’…”
Comment: This story is misleading in my opinion. The reason Don Garlits designed the rear engined dragster was because of safety issues, not for improved visibility! He lost part of his foot in a clutch explosion and decided that moving the engine to the back would greatly enhance the driver’s safety from fires and explosions.
A short read by Hot Rod magazine helps set the record straight:
“…The 1970s opened badly for Garlits when a transmission explosion — in the fatefully tagged Swamp Rat XIII — in the final round of an AHRA national event in Long Beach, Calif., cut his car in half and took a portion of his right foot with it. That was the last straw for Garlits, who had been sitting behind the oil- and fire-spewing supercharged, nitro-burning engines for more than 10 years. Having already reached a speed of 240 mph two years before, Garlits was faced with quitting or making the novel rear-engine dragster design competitive. He chose the latter, resulting in his second major accomplishment…”
“Responding to an unpredictable economy, drag racing icon John Force on Thursday outlined a plan to ensure both the competitive and financial viability of John Force Racing Inc. for years to come. The plan has been a work in progress for more than a year…”
It’s good to hear Mike Edwards will be back in 2010 to defend his 2009 Pro Stock championship. Clearly it is becoming much more difficult to acquire major sponsors as the recession continues to impact major racing teams. – Roger Young, Edwards & Young Racing
Pam, U.S. Navy – YN2/E5
CINCPAC Joint Command
Vietnam-Era Veteran Operation Homecoming
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The Early Years
We wish to acknowledge the invaluable photo contributions by the following talented individuals that make our photo galleries possible: Candy Caldwell, Jim Doyle, Robert Fedyk, Mike Gardner, Tony Hutchison, Gary McMillian, DataMutz, Larry Pfister, ProStreet Photography, Dave Stenhouse, Dave Stoltz, Mike Ward, Gary Wells, Troy Williams (Purple Nurple) and our family, Chris, Pam & Roger Young
