MEMPHIS 1320 NOTES
CONNOLLY AND CREW
CHIEF GIVE 'DA GRUMP' A TIME OUT
According to the Dave Connolly team, their crew chief, Terry
Adams, couldn't determine to his satisfaction if the team's
recent slide in performance could be blamed on the chassis/clutch
combination or a supposed lack of horsepower from the Bill
Jenkins 500 inch motor. So at Memphis Jenkins stayed home
in Pennsylvania and the team reportedly borrowed an engine
for the race from fellow Pro Stock racer Greg Stanfield
who has been very competitive of late. Stanfield qualified
ninth and Connolly missed making the field by .003 of a
second. Draw your own conclusions here.
FOXWORTH
IS IN THE CAN...AGAIN
We were happy to see former Texas Top Fuel and IHRA star
shoe Doug Foxworth back at the drags. Foxworth and his driver
Bobby Rex are working with Lee Beard on the David Powers
team. Foxworth is the clutch man and Rex is driving the
team's semi for the rest of the season.
The Foxworth family, led by patriarch Marvin,
are hardcore fuel racers who funded a competitive team out
of their own pockets for about five years. Personal FOB
(Friend of Burk) Bobby Rex has been involved with Texas
nitro racers for 35-40 years. Welcome back guys.
TRACTION CONTROL?
Responding to a question concerning the MSD developed and
designed rev-limiter for the nitro cars during an interview
on ESPN2, Alan Johnson said when that if the device was
set to start detecting RPM above the NHRA-mandated limit
of 8300rpm at 3.5 seconds instead of at the newly mandated
3.8 seconds that they would then have a traction control
device. A TRACTION CONTROL DEVICE!!!
WHO GOOFED? WE HAVE TO KNOW
Maybe I need new glasses, but while watching the ESPN2 broadcast
of the race I noticed that in the promo for selling advance
tickets for upcoming NHRA events they listed Dallas, TX
on the screen as being Dallas, TN. Just a small thing but
the ESPN guys might want to fix that typo. The fact that
I'm a Texan in no way contributed to this note (hey, my
Grandmother was from Tennessee).
YOU TALK ABOUT HEAT!
The heat index for Memphis Motorsports Park hovered around
107-109 every day of the event. Over 30 people actually
were hospitalized with symptoms of heat stroke according
to the local paper. The race on Sunday, instead of starting
at say 10:30 in the morning, actually started at 3:00 PM
which any weather watcher will tell you is when the day's
temperature are the highest. What were the suits in charge
thinking? Memphis in August is ALWAYS hot and humid. St.
Louis at the end of June is ALWAYS hot and humid. Hey, guys
from California who do the scheduling, just ask anyone who
lives in Memphis or St. Louis.
SAY WHAT?
I heard something over the PA at Memphis that I never thought
I would hear at one of these open air saloons that we call
a drag race. The NHRA announce staff actually got on the
mike Sunday and told the audience to stay hydrated by drinking
plenty of water and to stay away from the beer. Wonder if
they would do that at the St. Louis race in Budweiser's
back yard?
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