MAY 12TH

OCT 3RD

DOWN BUT NOT OUT

A bit late with this report, the TOTAL ECLIPSE CAR WENT TO SHAKESPEARE COU NTY RACEWAY we were part of the supercharged outlaws exhibition race so we opted to do a shakedown pass early on Saturday morning the car sounded good in the pits so out we went we did a good burnout and I knew the car was making a lot more power than at York because I could not hold it on the brakes when I went into prestage I had to shift into neutral and the same when I went into stage so my reaction times were very slow, on the green I shifted into drive and the car took of very fast and at about the eight mile mark I heard a loud boom and the power dropped right off I thought the blower burst panel valve had lifted but on closer inspection we had broke two con rods two liners cracked the block and broke the cam shaft into 4 pieces, we were still doing 107mph at the eight mile so the car was on a charge we learnt alot this weekend and one thing is don't use stock rods on a blown alky engine .meanwhile the other part of our pit johhny mental went and run an 8.7 in he first round ,but lady luck ran out after that with the car seemingly down on power at the top end we ran 0s and 1 11 sec pass but it was good enough for 3rd place to keep us 5 points behind Roy wilding in hemi hunter with one round to go.

we will not get the 50 bonus points for attending all rounds as we missed the mini showdown weekend and this could cost us the championship.

maybe next year with two cars who knows.

check out the photo page for engine damage

SEP 9TH

Shakespeare county for the nostalgia nationals again crewing for Johnny with the happening slingshot. This was a round of supercharged outlaws and in round one on sat we were up against Roy wilding in the hemi hunter slingshot this was a needle match up Roy has yet to beat Johnny this season in competition so on the lights Roy was over eager and pulled a red but Johnny was on a roll after all the damage at York raceway he was in no mood to take it easy Johnny passed Roy two thirds of the way down the track and recorded his personnel best of 8.69 @152mph to take the win

Top man was Pete Radcliff who ran 8.61 just to pip Johnny for the no 1 spot. I n the next round we paired up with Pete so it was no 1 & no 2 to run against each other ,Pete cut a good light a .5 reaction to be away first Johnny wheel spun of the line but quickly caught Pete and passed him at the 1000 foot mark to take the win.

AN incident in the pits put an end to the racing for the supercharged outlaws when an explosion an subsequent fire in the northern spirit alcohol funny car pit area this was a very series fire and attempts by Chris hartnel Roy wilding and many others with fire extinguishers failed to put out the flames, the fast team then arrived and extinguished the fire with the trackside fire engine 3 people were taken to hospital by air ambulance hopefully they are not to serious burnt at the time of writing this I do not know of there condition.

We think this means Johnny could be at the top of the championship with one round to go this is the Donny no limits tour at shaky when the total eclipse car will also be out so mark has got his work cut out crew chief for two cars looking forward to this also the total eclipse car could do some more shakedown runs at York on the 15th sept

AUG 31ST	LOTS HAS HAPPENED SINCE OUR LAST UPDATE we have finished the car and we took it to York raceway on the aug northern nationals meeting the intention was just to work on the car between rounds of crewing for Johnny hall but a disaster struck the happening slingshot on our first pass we blew a head gasket and broke 3 sets of valve springs this put the car out of the meeting. so we decided to work on the total eclipse dragster and it was finished by 8-30 sat night and was duly fired up for the first time all seemed well so it was of to the beer tent to celebrate or in johnnys case have a cry into his beer Sunday morning with hangovers the car was refired to check it out and the gasket out the bottom of the blower blew out a new gasket was quickly made and fitted and the car refired again this time all was well and the car was ticking over at 3000 rpm with this Roy wilding jumped in and took the spanners of mark and set up the bugcatcher for us a big thank you to roy We then decided to give the car a test run just a burnout and a 60 foot launch all went well on the burnout and a second burnout was done (because i enjoyed being back in the car after nearly a year) the launch was soft because the tune up is very soft and it netted a 1.9 sec 60 foot and 8.3 at 87mph at the eigth mile not bad for a first run with no parachute or trans blanket and the blower leaking at the base but all is fixed and we will be back out in september maybe york 14/15 sept and shaky 21/22 sept
MAY 7TH	just got back from shaky what a weekend for us we were crewing on Johnny mental halls slingshot dragster spent all day sat putting then finishing touches to the car so we missed qualifying but we were ready for Sunday and what a day the car sounded really strong on the first burnout and Johnny left the line at 4000 rpm with the new trans brake then it all started to go wrong the car veered left with the wheels about three feet in the air he carried the front end like this for about 150 feet before they touched down and when they did the car turned hard right and from the start line were I was stood I could read the side of the car .Johnny was at this point heading for the armco but some excellent driving he managed to bring the car round and only glance the armco with the back wheels (phew!!!!!) The second run was not without incident instead of a hard launch we opted for a idle launch the hit the throttle all was well until he hit the throttle and the wheels came up and Johnny was heading for the Christmas tree so he shut of and we did nit qualify but a lot was learnt by me and mark about blown alcohol engines
MAY 23RD	After super series one we went home to think what to do with Johnny's car for the American nationals and we decided to calm the car down put the lead back over the front axle and increase the rear tyre pressure. What a difference this made off the trailer we ran a pb of 8.99@ 144mph. By the end of the weekend we had lowered the et to 8.81 and top end speed up to 149.5mph so it was a very successful weekend for Johnny and me and mark on the way we picked up 6 trophy's plus one from the American nationals organizer for top speed look out there is more to come!!!!
MAY 25TH	Not much to report on the total eclipse dragster things are moving on slowly the material is here for the rest of the bodywork and mark is progressing the cylinder heads, the blower is still at the polishers .Our sponsor colourfast coatings has promised us he will do something special with the front wheels we are looking at the august meet at York to debut the new car but if we can we will try and make the mini showdown weekend at shaky
JUNE 6th	Another great weekend crewing for Johnny (mental) hall the first round of supercharged outlaws saw Johnny take the honors at Shakespeare county raceway running consistent 9.2 at 141mph at the close of play due to rain on Monday Johnny was awarded the first place and trophy well done . on the other side of our ops the final parts of the bodywork have been made and are now on the total eclipse dragster the car is beginning to take shape. we also have fitted the new steering rack and have picked up a parachute so hopefully we will make august at York raceway check out the new picture of the happening and crew on the photo page.