9/5/05 - Lots of Labor Day!

eality has sunk in. I'm not in the winner's circle holding the well-deserved Wally, surrounded by an exhausted, excited, inebriated crew celebrating our hard-fought victory. We will skip the next National event in Maple Grove and regroup for the Dallas race. We hurt a lot of parts and will need to send blocks back to be welded, cylinder heads to be repaired, crankshafts to be checked, and new parts need to be ordered. We will have four complete short blocks plus enough extra parts for two engines before leaving for Dallas.  

We will be basing our race operation out of Indianapolis for the next month or so. Larry Dixon has built an impressive industrial complex across the street from John Force's Indy shop, and we are renting space from him. Crew chief Jim Walsh, car chief Brad Tuttle, and Matt Thompson will ensure that we have the best possible chance of winning before the rig pulls out of Indy in 2 1/2 weeks. The rest of us will head back home to resume our "normal" lives. I doubt anyone on our team averaged more than four hours sleep the entire time out here. I'm am so grateful for the hours and dedication of the Menards/Mail Terminal Services crew that it is difficult to thank them enough. Dexter Tuttle is one of the most "hands on" people that I have ever met. He is mechanically savvy, brilliant engineering-wise, and cooks a hell of a shish-ka-bob! His wife Diana and son Zach help out whenever possible.

Jenna and I arrived at the track just after 8:00 a.m. Once we warmed the car, I headed up to the starting line for the pre-race ceremonies. This is totally new and very interesting to me. As a fan, I usually would be in the pits until just before they fired the first pair of Top Fuel, so I rarely saw the driver intros. POWERade does a great job of making us feel very special, and each qualified driver comes out on stage while being introduced. What the fans don't get to see is the behind the scenes activities: We all sign event posters and charity items, and it's the best opportunity to chat with fellow competitors or other Pro drivers. I'm still a little overwhelmed at all the pomp and circumstance surrounding Top Fuel.

After the ceremonies, I walked back to the lanes where the car was waiting. Round one run order is determined by qualifying position. The No. 1 qualifier typically chooses to run in the eight, or last pair. That's why the first race almost always is the No. 8 and No. 9 cars -- all of the other spots have already been picked. Surprisingly, Schumacher's team decided to run as the fifth pair.

I suited up and stood for the invocation and national anthem, and Bobby Mirizio strapped me in as the first pair were doing their burnouts. We then tow all the way up before disconnection from the tow van one pair out. I am pushed up towards the burnout area, and Jimmy directs me where to center the car. Once stopped, after the goodluck handshakes, we "windmill" the motor; to ensure that no residual fuel is in the cylinders from the warmup, we spin the engine over several times with the ignition grounded. I hold the brake and push the clutch in for safety. We then wait for NHRA to give us the "start" command. Brad will open the injector slightly and prime the engine with gasoline. He will then connect the burnout rpm limiter to the throttle cable, and Chris McNicol spins the engine over. The motor will fire as soon as the ground wires are pulled off of the mags, and we continue to feed gas until Jimmy turns on the fuel pumps. This is where you hear the distinctive pitch change and unmistakable cackle of nitro!

When first switched from gasoline to nitro, the rpm jumps up quite a bit, and you really feel the clutch pedal pushing your foot up. Once Jimmy "trims" the pressure back to about 65 psi for the burnout, the pedal feel is much softer. When motioned forward, I release the brake handle and control the car speed by modulating the clutch. When signaled, I take my foot off the clutch and push the throttle down. Due to the limiter, the pedal only moves about a quarter inch, plenty of power for a smoky burnout to the Christmas tree. As soon as I lift off the throttle, I push in the clutch and begin to slow. As I stop, I reach down and put the car into reverse. Backing up, I again control speed by working the clutch pedal, careful not to drag it too much and heat the 5 clutch discs.

Chris guides me back and tells me when to stop. I then put the car into forward and pull up six inches. Clutch in, brake on. . .wipe the sweat from my eyes. Jimmy adjusts the barrel valve to get the proper fuel volume, and I pull up to within six inches of pre-stage. Clutch in, brake on, inch up and stop at pre-stage.

Once my opponent pre-stages it's a deep breath, visor down, pull the fuel pump lever back for full volume, brace my left foot against the firewall, and inch slowly into stage before pulling the brake handle. Yellow. . .GO!

I release the brake and floor the throttle. This time the car doesn't go more than 10 feet and blows the tires off. I attempted to regain traction by "pedaling" the throttle, but no dice -- we just had way too much power for this lane. I coast downtrack and shut off the fuel pumps, gliding off the early turnout onto the return road. Steve and Brad quickly hook up the car and turn the engine backwards with a breaker bar to extricate any nitro from the cylinders. We cover the motor, Brad hops in the car, and away we go past the stands and back to the pits.  Jeff, Dexter, Rodger and Karen, as well as the rest of the crew await the car in the pits and go right to work. Unfortunately, there is no more racing for us this weekend.

We will have to wait until Dallas to see our win light come on. Though we didn't perform as well as we wanted, I hope that I was able to share some of the intricacies and emotions surrounding our Indy. Thank you for staying tuned.

9/5/05

ear up the script, we'll do it another way! This is certainly NOT the way that I envisioned my Top Fuel debut at the U.S. Nationals. Today was basically a "write off" for the Menards/Mail Terminal Services fueler. Going into session one today (4th overall qualifying run) we were sitting precariously in the 16th and last qualifying spot. We figured that we could lay down a nice high 4.5 pass and move up in the ladder, but we never even got close. In the right lane against my buddy Scott Palmer, problems set in before the 330-ft mark. The car started to "haze" the tires, then did something very unpredictable: it hooked up again and kept accelerating. My joy was short lived, however, as the motor soon let go, banging the blower sideways and generally making a mess. Four runs, three destroyed engines, and a low inventory of spares -- we were in trouble.

Crew chief Jim Walsh is as meticulous as anyone I know, and he takes pride in his ability to run quick without hurting parts. The crew works as hard as any in the sport and isn't willing to accept defeat, but the mood was pretty low back in the pits while surveying all of the damage. It didn't make sense to throw new parts at a problem we hadn't diagnosed. All of the guys dove in and started looking for any anomalies, any clue as to why the car suddenly became possessed.

After stripping the entire chassis and doing much deliberating, we finally found the answer! Here's the background on what happened: Recall Tony Schumacher's exciting Seattle adventure where his Army car nearly folded in half at the top end? NHRA immediately mandated that all Hadman chassis be fitted with a bolt-in cross brace for the bottom frame rails behind the cockpit. No problem. Our issues began shortly after installing the brace. The aluminum fuel log, a "Y" shaped piece that connects the fuel pumps to the main line sits very close to the new brace, and the significant amount of flex these cars go through each run created an invisible crack in the "Y." This created an air leak, leaning the engine to the point of throwing the whole tune-up out of kilter, blowing up three engines!

Now that we had traced the problem, another major issue became apparent: we had survived the bump spot thus far, but the odds of doing it for the last session were very slim. AND. . .we wouldn't be running! Time had run out, and all we could do is hope the ELEVEN cars behind us wouldn't better our 4.701. There were several quality teams that I was really concerned about, including Palmer, Cullinan, Smith, Litton, Lagana, and Baca. Imagine standing at the line watching as all of these great teams take a shot at your VERY vulnerable E.T. But, like a good horror movie, I had to watch! In fact, I went into the announcers' booth with good friend Bob Frey and Bob Unkefer. It was tough to even speak, but I do enjoy announcing.

I was shocked that none of the other teams were able to bump us, but I'll certainly take the luck. We are now ready to "play" tomorrow, taking on the nearly invincible Army team, the No. 1 qualifiers.

Jimmy was actually smiling as he prepared the clutches with Jeff, and he thinks we've got some mojo for eliminations. I am so relieved, excited, and anxious to be able to compete in a Top Fueler at Indianapolis Raceway Park. Right now it's 9:30 p.m., and I'm going to run back to my room to catch ESPN2 and the days activities on TV. I sure hope our adventure keeps you interested. We only have four more runs before we can go pick up our trophy!

Jack

9/4/05

hree down, two to go. . .on the bump! This isn't where I visualized being when I thought about the ideal U.S. Nats weekend, but we're optimistic for tomorrow. At all national events except for Indy, the Pros get four qualifying attempts and alternate lanes each run. Also, the run order is determined by how you ran in the prior session. The last session run order is based on current overall qualifying position. Indy adds a fifth opportunity, which means our first two runs we stayed in the right lane. Today's opening run yielded instant tire smoke, and not much useful computer data to use for the evening run. However, there was so much more to my day than "just" my two runs in the Menards/Mail Terminal Services Top Fuel dragster....

At 10:30 today I did an autograph session at the DRAW booth. DRAW is such an asset to drag racing, and I appreciate what they do for those of us in need. Three or four drivers at a time signed autographs and the fans were great about donating to the DRAW fund. I signed at the same time as Ron Capps, Kenny Koretsky, and Clay Millican. We joked around with each other and the fans and had an enjoyable time. Then it was time to head back to the pits to make some noise!

One of my duties on the team is to mix fuel. These cars consume more than 20 gallons between the warm up and the run, and we cannot run more than 85% nitro. My job is to blend alcohol with the nitromethane and try to get close to 85% to make maximum power without going higher and being disqualified. I shoot for 84.8% to stay safe. Also, because nitro weighs 115% of water, the fuel jugs get extremely heavy after mixing 40 gallons at a time. Combine that with all of the autographs that we get to sign and you can get some tired arms!

After topping off the fuel tank, which holds about 18 gallons, including the huge 2-inch fuel lines, we back the car out partway so that the fumes don't linger under the awning. NHRA mandates that the engine and rear tires must stay within the confines of the pit space during the warm-up as a safety precaution. Our warm-ups usually last between 2 1/2 to 4 minutes, and we do several things; the timing is checked and the magnetos adjusted if necessary; both forward and reverse are checked, and the clutch is "seated" by holding the brake and "smacking" throttle -- that bad-ass roar that makes the fans cheer!

After warming, we change the oil, check the valves, retorque the heads, and reset the clutch clearance. Then, off to the racetrack!

Our second pass today yielded much frustration over what could have been. We had our fastest 330-ft time yet, and the car just felt like a monster, pulling harder then I've ever felt early in the run. An exhaust pushrod failure, causing extreme overboost in the remaining 7 cylinders and head gasket failure resulted in that "blowtorch" look that you all love to watch on highlight reels. We hurt another motor, and still only ran a 4.70. That puts us No. 16 (the bump) and in serious jeopardy unless we can run significantly quicker tomorrow. I'm so fortunate to be in a competitive fueler, but it can be so stressful not being solidly in the field. We're better than our position shows.

One of the things that I do miss is being able to watch all of the classes run, now a rarity with the added tasks of representing a Pro team. I haven't seen any other runs this weekend, but I think we did something today far more important. The moment we got back to the pits after the first run, we loaded up Jenna, Karen Comstock and I to head to the hospital. We had a friend to visit! Last year at this race I was approached by Joyce Bond, whose 10 year-old granddaughter, Brittany Knisely, was suffering from cancer, as was I at the time. The three of us visited Brittany last year and hoped she would be far enough recovered to see us race this weekend. Brittany still has one treatment left, and was devastated she couldn't attend, so we took the races to her. Jeg's provided enough goodies for us to distribute to many ill children, and seeing Brittany smile made the hectic trip completely worthwhile. NHRA provided tickets so that her father and grandmother could come out and watch us, and they will have plenty of pictures and video for Brittany by Monday-hopefully from the winner's circle!

After leaving Brittany and the hospital, we negotiated more traffic, arriving with about 10 minutes to prepare before warming the car for session two. The warm-up attracted dozens of fans to the pit area. The best part of signing autographs is getting to meet people from so many walks of life. I have spoken to many cancer survivors and their stories help inspire me, and I see tons of former students of the Frank Hawley School. One of them, Greg Mabe, is even putting my dad up for the weekend. Greg is an example of the quality of people I've been fortunate enough to associate with through racing and teaching.

I stuck around after the last run to help while the crew removed another dead aluminum elephant. I removed the front and rear wings and cleaned the chassis while the guys did the heavy work. Then Jenna, Rodger and Karen Comstock and I headed out to Steak N' Shake for dessert. We were joined by some of the Amato team: Eddie Fischle, Bob, and "Wop." We told lies and had a bunch of laughs before heading back to the hotel for my "writing assignment." The crew just rolled back into the hotel, so it must be time to get some sleep. As it is 1:35a.m., I will sign off for now and look forward to giving all of you some good news tomorrow.

Thanks for spending Saturday with me at Indy!

Jack

9/3/05, 2:35 a.m.

e're in! (At least for now). Friday was a very hectic day, despite only one qualifying run. Let me share a typical Top Fuel day with all of you:
Because most of our crew works "regular" jobs, we arrive at the track at different times. The logistics are interesting at some venues. The rig is already pitted, and the car usually has been teched and unloaded.

Today we refitted me in the car, as the seatbelts weren't locking my legs in as tightly as needed. Our car was built for Tony Schumacher, who is several inches shorter than I. My head is so close to the top of the cage that any tire spin results in an instant headache. Rewelding the seatbelt anchors made the problem slightly better, but I'm looking forward to debuting the new car as soon as NHRA has finalized the chassis specs (Schumacher's Seattle "frame-bender" has created some concern in this area). The new piece is a much better fit for my tall frame, and will save me having to shorten my neck an inch and a half!

As the car was being modified, Jenna took our press kits up to the tower. Promoting your team is vital in the Pro ranks, and I print about eight complete kits per National event. You never know where the next sponsorship may come from.

At 1:15 I attended my first driver's meeting for the Pro drivers and car owners. At my table sat Chuck and Del Worsham, John Force, Robert Hight, Phil Burkart, and Dexter me. VP of racing Graham Light and NHRA President Tom Compton brought us up to speed on several issues, including oil-downs (more on that later!), extension of the ESPN2 contract, and POWERade purse increases for 2006.

Sponsor Rodger Comstock then took several of us to the Indianapolis Mail Terminal Services site, the largest by far of those that I have toured. I signed several hundred handouts for the employees, and I hope we gained more NHRA fans -- they seemed very enthusiastic about having a Top Fueler. So far, an uneventful day. . . .

I guess we should have figured that Friday afternoon traffic would be heavy, even in the suburbs of Indy. With a scheduled qualifying time of 8:15, we would be warming the car up about 5 o'clock. We barely made it back in time -- and I had to rush to get into the car -- but feeling all of that power (even on the warm up) is enough to put a smile on anyone's face.

At 7:45, we rolled to the lanes. Twenty-seven Top Fuelers are here, and the first qualifying run order is based on current NHRA points. We would be in the right lane, 7th pair against Scott Palmer. Scott is an extremely likeable gentleman, and we wished each other well before suiting up. I had watched several pairs of Funny Cars run, and the track looked fast. As we rolled closer to the front of the lanes, I visualized the run in my mind, trying to go over all the steps necessary to do my job well.

I had a front row seat to the best fireball of Friday. Clay Millican, the driver right in front of us, lit up the Indy sky big time and a 20-minute cleanup followed. Boy, did I get a chance to visualize now! And sweat! And watch my visor fog! And feel my legs start to tingle! Still, it's Indy, and I AM in a Top Fueler. . .good stuff.

We fired, did the burnout, and I did my best not to drag the clutch through all of the staging procedures. I try to be consistent with all these steps and not put excessive heat in the bellhousing. Once we both prestaged, I took a deep breath and exhaled, flipped my visor down, pulled the fuel lever for "full volume," took my foot off of the clutch and anchored it against the firewall, and staged as shallow as possible with the handbrake. YELLOW. . .GO!

The car launched, HARD. We were .001 away from the second quickest 60-ft time, and our 330-ft time was .012 quicker than our 4.563 in Brainerd. The car carried the front wheels and tried to move out of the groove when it settled. I probably overcorrected slightly, and the car wiggled about 200-ft. Still pulling hard to 350-ft, that's when problems began. One cylinder "dropped," followed 225 feet later by a second cylinder failing to fire. Compounded with the fact that the No. 4 cylinder never achieved proper combustion, we basically had a 5 1/2 cylinder Fuel car.

Somebody forgot to tell the Menards/Mail Terminal Services car that it was down over 2000 horsepower, and we still managed a 4.70 as a connecting rod let loose due to the extra strain of dropped cylinders.

My apologies to the Safety Safari for the delay. Hurting the car is never intended, never fun, and always more work. I did the mature thing that any good driver would do. . .hid from Jimmy on the starting line and watched the rest of the Fuelers run. ("Shoe's" 4.45 was mighty impressive, .06 quicker than anyone else).

Back in the trailer, the crew went to work yanking the "dead soldier" out to install a fresh bullet. Jimmy sometimes travels with the car, but we really only have one full-time crewmember. Brad Tuttle, our car chief, is responsible for the overall maintenance and crew duties. Brad drove the Nitro Bandit F/C in the 1980's and works for Dexter's Colorfast company in sales. Our truck driver, Jerry Boone, is tending to an ill family member this weekend, and my prayers go out to him and Cleown. Chris McNicol is our cylinder head specialist and has enjoyed huge success in his 20 + year career, winning a Championship with Cruz in 1992 and close to 30 Wallys with various teams. Steve Epling, our "utility" guy, has known Brad since they were 10 and manages a heavy truck repair facility. Jeff Baehler, the clutch man, also works for Colorfast during the week. He's big, and I think Jeff throws VWs around for fun!

Bobby Mirizio is our "diver" and also works with me at the Hawley School. Bobby is starting his career as a firefighter (no, not on the race car!). Zach Tuttle assists at several races, and this weekend we also have help from Kevin Bryant and "East Coast Danny," who goes back a long way with Jimmy's older brother, Bill. Bill is a three-time world champ in TAD. Our newest hire, Matt Thompson, is the only full timer on the crew. Matt came to us after working with Gary Densham.

As the crew did their thing, Jimmy showed me the run on the computer and we talked about what had happened. Mike Dunn, who I think is one of the best all-around talents in racing, stopped by to give some advice. I really appreciate when Jimmy shares things with me, and having Mike's direction on driving issues hopefully will shorten my learning curve.

Though I felt the car lose power on the run, the best thing to do after the second cylinder stopped firing would have been to lift. Some damage to the engine could have been prevented had I made a better call and been more in touch with what the car was doing. Sounds easy, but at the rate these things accelerate, I find that the car usually is "ahead" of me for the majority of the run. My goal is to learn from the run, Jimmy, and the video we now are taking of each pass and try to improve a little every race.

We had a quick dinner in the pits, where we have set up a hospitality trailer to entertain some of Dexter and Rodger's clients, as well as some of the Menard's VIP's. After dinner, Jenna and I got a ride back to the hotel from two of our NHRA/National Dragster friends, Kevin McKenna and Jill Caliendo.

As I write this, it is 2:35 a.m. and the crew returned only and hour ago to get some well deserved rest. Time for me to catch up on sleep. . .got a "BIG" day tomorrow!!!

Thanks,
Jack

9/1/05, After Midnight

ey, race fans. Right now it's past midnight in Indy and we've been in town for about an hour and a half. I still find it odd flying to the races; as a sportsman racer, I am so accustomed to working on my racecar all week, working a full day at the Frank Hawley School, towing all night to get to the race, and repeating for the return trip.

Pro racing isn't necessarily better or worse, just different. Another big difference between the Pros and Sportsman is the fact that the schedule is so regimented with Top Fuel. As a Sportsman, I have become used to being "flexible," knowing that NHRA often has to make adjustments to our run time. With Top Fuel, this hardly ever happens. A couple of times I have had to rush suiting up and strapping in simply because NHRA is so precise with our run times.

My at-home pre-race ritual for Top Fuel isn't much different than it was in Super Comp -- I pay all of my bills, get laundry done before packing up, ask the neighbors to watch my house, and take my dog Peaches to someplace where she'll be spoiled until my return.

My post-Indy routine will be fairly hectic. I will return to work straight from the airport Tuesday morning, and that's the easy part. I need to install the transmission in the Blackbird Tuesday, load everything back up, and leave Thursday for a Lucas Oil Divisional in Fallon, NV. After that race, I drive straight back to Fontana, CA on Sunday. By 5:00 p.m. Monday night Thomas Bayer, Bobby Mirizio and I will have everything set up for work. We are conducting a Reaction Time Clinic through the Hawley School, and my seminar begins promptly at 5. Tuesday we'll be on the racetrack all day, evaluating students and their cars to help them perform better. It's an incredibly interesting program, and I enjoy interacting with all of the racers. We scheduled the clinic to coincide with the Lucas Race at Fontana, but I most likely will not be able to race.

Hopefully, I'll be flying out to Reading to drive the Fueler again! Reading (Maple Grove) is the only question mark for the remainder of the year for the Menards/Mail Terminal Services dragster. If we leave Indy with a decent parts inventory, we're on.

Speaking of Indy, did I mention how anxious I'm getting? We just repainted the car, and I understand it's a big improvement over the vinyl coated "dull" look that the car had.

Tomorrow's itinerary is full: At 8:30 Rodger and Karen Comstock, along with my girlfriend, Jenna Lucy and I will head out to the track. After picking up care packages from the Jeg's group, we'll go straight to the Riley Children's hospital and spend a couple of hours with the kids in the cancer center. We'll sign handouts, give each child a hat and Jeg's car, and hope to put some smiles on faces and some hope in their hearts.

Well, I should get some rest so I can perform well on our first qualifying run tomorrow night. I will update everyone on the details after we run, and I sure hope to share some good news with all of you.

Stay tuned!
Jack

8/31/05, 12:13 PM

hank all of you for tuning in for my Indy adventure. I hope to give some insight into the emotions as well as the mechanics of Top Fuel, and the U.S. Nationals is probably the best place to help you experience this. Though I did race at the 50th anniversary race last year as the defending world champ in my "Blackbird" Super Comp dragster, I already feel more revved up knowing that this year my horsepower has increased by about 6,500!

Though I am a technically a rookie, I am far from inexperienced in the world of Top Fuel. For 30 years I have marveled at these machines and the people who make them cackle. I am a huge fan of the sport, and when it comes to Top Fuel trivia, I can certainly hold my own. On the wing of my Super Comper are the names of ALL of the “Nationals” winners in the "Top" category. (The race wasn’t moved to Indy until 1961, and wasn’t known as the US Nats until then. Also, there was no "Top Fuel" contested during the nitro ban of 1957-1963. Top Eliminator was the name given to several years of victors). In fact, Melvin Heath, winner of the second Nationals in 1956, sat in my Blackbird last year. What a treat!

There are so many great Indy Top Fuel moments--moments that have been watershed events in many racer’s careers; Garlits sh aving in the '67 winner’s circle; Nicoll blowing his car in half against Prudhomme in the '70 final; the Hawaiian winning back to back in '65 and '66 with two different drivers. The list goes on, but the two that I’d most like to join as far as great achievements at Indy would be Gary Beck and Marvin Graham. These two came seemingly out of nowhere to win the biggest race of the year, and I couldn’t think of a better place to get my Top Fuel career "started!"

Though some may think this is a pipe dream, I think that with a bit of racing luck you’ll like our chances. We have all of the necessary elements in place. Crew chief Jim Walsh has over 20 years experience in the Nitro ranks, and guided Darrell Russell to his first Top Fuel win. Car owner Dexter Tuttle has assembled the baddest "part time" crew in motorsports, and these guys are hungry! We have the knowledge and the budget to put the Menards/Mail Terminal Services car into the winner’s circle.

I never understood when people referred to Indy as a more important race than any other.  Now, with 7 races under my belt in the fueler, I get it. Indy gives you more chances to qualify than all other races, and more runs usually means more broken parts. It’s amazing how much attrition teams are willing to sustain to "get it done" at Indy -- it’s the ONE race where no one seems to care about money, just get that Wally!

I still have several things to do before I hop on a plane Thursday for Indy. For one, I have to go in for another CAT scan in the hopes that my cancer is still in remission. Part of the reason that I raced at Indy last year, other than for the fact that I wanted to show off the big #1 on the side of my car, was because I wasn’t totally sure that I ever would get another chance. Fortunately, the chemotherapy went very well and my health continues to improve. Secondly, I still have a “regular” job: I have been the instructor for the Frank Hawley School in Pomona since 1998, and I truly love my job. Lying underneath the school cars changing oil reminds me of what I love about this sport -- this is as “hands on” as life gets! 

Stay tuned. I hope we can make history together this weekend!