2. Now that I have used Methanol for fuel and the weather has been very cold and humid, I was encountering a lot of moisture buildup in the valve covers. I fixed that by hooking up a small Shop Vac to one of the breather inlets on one valve cover and letting it suck fresh air into the engine. It has solved my moisture problems for now.

3. I have been struggling to get my Pro-Light reaction times down to the point where I can go red at any track. I think I hit on something obvious that I was overlooking. I changed the shock setting to stiffen up the compression a little and that helped, but the obvious fix was the tires. I was so used to the 16.5x33-15S Hoosiers I forgot these are a SOFT sidewall tire. I will replace them with the 16x33-15 Hoosier and I think they will quicken the "Project 4-Link" chassis reaction enough to put me where I want to be. I will find out at the IHRA Pro-Am race in Byron, IL

4. Another shock adjustment I made after talking to Kyle Fickler, owner of the other Dragstar 4-Link chassis, was to soften up the extension on the AFCO shock to help keep the Hoosiers hooked up when the car comes off the stop on cool tracks. It worked great and my two 330' ETs were exactly the same after the change and it ended my tirespin.

I just returned from the NHRA Lucas Racing Series meet at Route 66 Raceway in Joliet, IL. It rained out (or froze out really!! 38 degree track Sunday). I did see a lot of different combinations in the Super Gas and Super Comp classes. The one thing I really noticed was the search for speed by dozens and dozens of racers.

I heard the Jeg's Corvette S/Gas car ran a 9.93 at 177 mph! Rumor has it that it has 706 inches of Sonny's Chevy under the hood. I watched a lot of S/Comp cars run 170 plus and S/Gas cars in the 160s is getting more common. Why the search for the big mph? It is easier to "see the race" if you are coming from behind. You can tell if you can get the stripe first. If you can't, you have the option to "dump" the other guy and hope he breaks out or with big speed, the other racer may have trouble judging you and take too much stripe and break out.

It is a search for personal preference and, of course, your budget has a lot to do with it. Some of these engines are costing over $30,000 and the payout is still the same at $1,200. Don't do the math on that deal...it won't compute! Do you need the mega-engines to compete? Absolutely NOT. You need a combination that will go 8.90 (or 9.90), cut a good light and repeat round after round. Sounds easy doesn't it? I am finding out it is a lot tougher than I thought it would be. With only two time runs at a new track, you have to get dialed in in a hurry. So far I am really enjoying it, but I could sure use some warm weather!

That wraps up this month's "Project 4-Link" article. It has been a little different but we have been so busy racing I haven't had much time to test products. I will be doing a converter test, some rear tire tests and chassis adjustments very soon. I hope you will stay online with DRO and be sure to check out the May edition of my other column, "Dead-On". This month's article about race track insurance will be very interesting for anyone who races at an IHRA or NHRA dragstrip.

Race safe and maybe we will see you at the races this summer.