Rob Mansfield’s
Rookie IHRA Pro
Stock Season Diary

Part 5

By Rob Mansfield
11/15/04

The IHRA racing season has ended. As I write this final journal article for my rookie year as an IHRA Sunoco Pro Stock driver for the Wilson Manifolds / Dingman Racing Grand AM, we are actively planning for next season.

This has been a great year. We finished the season 14th in the points race after having attended only eight of the 12 National events, which is not bad considering the top 19 racers all attended many more, most getting 31 bonus points for racing in all 12 events. We finished the season first in the points for the 2005 Sunoco Pro Stock Shootout with seven races to come. We still hold the MPH national record for 216.62 and our 6.425 e.t. run at Epping remains the quickest Pro Stock pass ever. We remain the quickest entry in the now full Quarter Max 6.40’s club. We were the number one qualifier for three national events.

The team has been working together to handle all that comes our way. The motor, suspension and clutch programs have come together as we expected. As with many past projects, the collaboration of research and development ideas shared between WILSON MANIFOLDS and Hutter Racing Engines have helped with our early success.

Billy Dingman’s understanding of chassis tuning, acquired from other forms of professional motor sports, have allowed us to make huge gains in a relatively short period of time. The comprehension of clutch data can be attributed to Justin Elkes’ (a co-worker at Wilson Manifolds) hours of studying, as well as, to some help from a few un-named sources. Understanding what the car wants has been simplified by the feedback we get from Bob Birchmeier and his analysis of the data acquisition program. Keith Wilson has assisted Richard Bertleff with the between round engine maintenance along with Mike Baker and my wife, Denise, who handle balancing the tasks to get us ready between rounds.

In the time since the last journal we have gone to three races. The President’s Cup Nationals at Budds Creek passed with more excitement for the WILSON MANIFOLDS / Dingman Racing Pro Stock Grand Am team. Qualifying went like clock work. We were able to secure the top qualifier position for our third consecutive national event in the fastest Pro Stock field ever with a bump of 6.539. We did this on Friday night with our first pass, running a 6.480 at a track record-setting 216.06. Although this number would have stood for the event we were actually able to better the e.t. Saturday night with a 6.465 at 216.03. The next closest qualifier was two hundredths behind with a 6.485.

Some new experiences at this event were the increased presence of the media and fans in the pit. Thank God for both but their presence demands an increased ability to focus on the tasks at hand. Another distraction for us at the President’s Cup Nationals on Saturday and Sunday was that our families, homes and businesses in Florida were under attack by the fourth hurricane since mid-August. Hurricane Jeanne unexpectedly made a turn towards Florida after we left for Budds Creek. Thanks to all our friends and neighbors who prepared our homes and businesses in our absence (without even being asked)!

An additional new experience at this event, my first red light in Pro eliminations, happened in the semi-final round. That sucked but I look at it like this. In professional racing, to be on top and run in the front of the pack you need to ride the ragged edge. This includes your motor package, your clutch program and yes, your driving. If you look at the events of the President’s Cup Nationals seven of the 16 competitors had red light starts during eliminations. In fact, Frank Gugliotta, who eventually runnered-up for the event actually had a red light in the first round; however, he had the lesser red light which allowed him to advance. Additionally, four of the top ten points runners went out on a red light.

What’s the cause? How about eight elimination racers posting reaction times in the teens and single digits! There’s not a lot of room between that and a red light. Enough said.