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[57boxman]

March 16, 2008
Texas Raceway
Kennedale, Texas

Texas Raceway, located in Kennedale, Texas, was the host of the opening race of the Texas Muscle Car Challenge series. Dallas Area Classic Chevy members David, Larry, Kenneth, Alan and James were in attendance.

David called it a day during time trials when his Corvette developed a tire rub under hard acceleration - a nagging problem that popped up after installing new suspension parts. David said, “Before I could not see where it was rubbing, but after today I should not have a problem.”

Larry was off to a slow start, but after some engine tuning, his 57 Bel Air hard top came to life again only to lose in the second round of elimination.

Kenneth’s 56 Bel Air had a bog in its engine in the first 1/3 of the 1/8 mile. Kenneth and his son attempted to re-tune the engine but were never really totally happy with the 56’s 402 big block. Even so, Kenneth ran consistent ETs, all within a few thousandths of a second. Kenneth was eliminated in the second round because of the nagging bog and the first round of the Race of Champions after he broke out.

Alan, on his trip to the racetrack, noticed that his flamed 57 Chevy 150 was running rough. His first two runs were a disappointing second slower than his normal ET. Alan first diagnosed the problem of his 383 mill to be bad plugs or wires only later to find out that the alternator had a loose wire that fed power to the ignition. The coil was not getting enough power to fully power the car. Once fixed, the 150 ran in tiptop shape, easily winning its first heat race. During the second elimination, Alan’s car bogged because of driver error. He forgot to set the RPMs at 3000 for his green light launch. The mental lapse made it impossible to run down his opponent thus lost in the second round. Alan’s 150 ran good in the first elimination of the Race of Champions race but lost by a bumper length. To add insult to injury, Alan broke a rocker arm in that race. Fellow club members came to his aid taking him to O’Reillys for a new rocker arm. After putting the 150 back together, Alan was good to go and made the drive home without incident.

James Carson, who races for the club in his black 1957 Chevy Bel Air, we believed went out in the second round. James bought his 57 brand new off the show room floor in 1957. The car has low miles on the odometer but the majority of those miles were put on ¼ of a mile at a time.

Sadly, a fellow racer in a primer colored fiberglass 1941 Willys lost control of his car. He was racing in the right lane and while going through the traps at the end of the 1/8, he skidded into the right wall, making his car bounce across the track in front of a 68 Camaro. The two cars were so close to hitting each other that most fans could not believe they did not collide. Later it was found the Camaro did in fact hit the Willy’s wheelie bars. After narrowly being T-Boned by the Camaro, the Willys slammed head first into the left wall bouncing off to tumble end over end two times before rolling over two times and over the guardrail to end up in the spectator fence. Amazingly, the driver crawled out of his mangled car unhurt. It was told that his first words were, “Do you think anyone got that on tape?”

All in all, even though there was some mild drama, it was a fun day for all involved. Well, maybe not for the guy that totaled his Willys, but on the bright side he didn’t get hurt and in his own words, “Now I will have some sculpture to place in my front yard.”






My Camera's battery died. Maybe some of the other guys can post some potos.
_________________
Texas Classic Chevy Experience
http://www.texasclassicchevyexperience.com/

[David Graves]

thanks for the report .. sorry I couldn't stay all day .. my rubbing issue seems to be a front yoke on the driveshaft that is rubbing under acceleration, it's a tight fit so there may be some movement there and so this is on my to do list ..

good to see the group get a few round wins .. and Alan - sorry to hear about the broken rocker, just glad there were some 'club brothers' there to help out..

here are some photos I got ..


Alan Strong, BBR (before broke rocker)


James Carson


Larry Epperson


Ken Burton

[Larry Epperson]

Additional pictures from Dianne's phone from Kennedale.......




AA[ Wrecked car
Larry's last run..breakout...ran too fast
White T-shirt...he was SAFE!


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