By the way, that old Mopar green color has evidently been good to Labbous. When he got his first "killer" Mopar, a '70 Road Runner, it was painted that green color, and since Johny couldn't afford to paint it any different, he kept it that color. Every time he got another car, he kept it that same color.

Last question, Johnny, What are you going to do now? I asked him. "Same thing I've done all my life," he said. Meaning bracket racing and working in his shop in Goodlettsville, Tennessee.

After the 2003 B&M Million, I'd say yes, that Johnny Labbous can definitely be called a "hitter." At least by me.

Other winners at the 8th annual B&M Million included Edmond Richardson, also of Goodlettsville, who won the big $10,000 gamblers race on Thursday; Chad McKee of Tennessee, who won his third "Twin 20" ($20,000) race in a row, on Friday (he won both Friday's and Sunday's Twin 20 races last year); Lucas Bendall of Alabama, who won the Mickey Thompson Footbrake Invitational on Saturday; and Elon Spelling of Memphis, who won the other Twin 20 on Sunday.

Double-A Dale's tech tip

While researching my latest tech story on Barry Grant Fuel Systems' new "Dry Break" fuel filter, I ran across this neat tech tip from BG writer

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and tech man Steve Cole. We were talking about my new front-engine dragster and how the fuel tank should be ventilated. He had a ready answer.

"A fuel cell or fuel tank must always be vented," Cole said. "We recommend nothing less than two AN sizes down from the size of the outlet of the tank itself. If it is dash 10 line going into the tank, you must use a dash 8 vented. It's actually better to have it a dash 10. It should be equal."

The reason is that for every volume of fuel being removed from the tank, that same volume of air has to replace it, Cole said. If the racer doesn't allow that volume of air to get into the tank efficiently, then he or she ends up creating a partial vacuum in the tank, and the fuel pump then has to work harder to get the fuel removed from the tank. That's true whether you're running carburetion or EFI. "You're starving the fuel system, and can even burn up a fuel pump in the process. Or you can risk not having enough fuel getting into the system at an adequate rate to keep up with the demand of the engine," he said.

Also, BG engineers recommend that the line coming out of the vent system should carry some kind of filter on the end, to keep the dirt out. In addition, the vent line could be better served by turning it to face the front of the car, to catch the airflow in the front of the car when it is going down track. "Actually, you're pressurizing the fuel tank by doing that," Cole said. BG recommends using something like a crankcase filter; a regular fuel filter may be too small in the diameter department to do much good, he added.