One other item that keeps oil from ending under your tires at speed is transmission fluid. The BTE transmission overflow can fit great and is a requirement in Top Dragster.

The next week we headed for our first IHRA Top Dragster race at the Mr. Gasket Pro-Am event at Cordova Raceway Park. We had some updates to get done to “Project 4-Link” and RCI and BTE came through for us in the nick of time. RCI finally got caught up on engine diapers, required for IHRA Top Dragster, and BTE provided us a trick little overflow catch can for the transmission, another required item in Top Dragster. With those two items we rolled through IHRA tech with no problems and got ready for the first of three qualifying rounds. Our first run was our best ever, a 7.535 at 175.80 mph. Our 60’ was 1.076, another best, and we backed it up with a 7.540 a couple of hours later. Then we passed on the third qualifier as we entered the Quarter-Max Top Dragster Shoot-out. This is the type of thing I really like about IHRA races; you get to do more racing! Andy drove really well and we were the fastest Mopar qualifier again. We got to the final five cars and Andy lost a close race to Jeff Ledford with a .006 breakout. I didn’t notice the breakout because all I saw was the “Project 4-Link” disappear into the darkness in a huge cloud of smoke. I thought it was definitely an engine eating itself up, but since I was still in the No Box race with the “Back-2-Basics” Vega, Barb had to go get him with the golf cart.

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This is the RCI engine diaper after the run when the oil filter failed. It contained all of the oil that would have sprayed under the rear tires. If you race a fast car I recommend you get one of these. The cost is minimal especially if you oil the rear tires at any speed over 150.

When I got back to the pit area the car was sitting there with oil dripping from everywhere. The first time we used the RCI engine diaper we needed it. The oil filter had shaken loose and the o-ring was pushed out. No engine damage, thank goodness, and no oil under the rear tires at 175 mph thanks to RCI, but it was a slimy mess. We spent until 2:30 a.m. cleaning it up (sort of) so we could run the IHRA Top Dragster race on Sunday. We ended up going out in the second round with a foul start, but if you aren’t trying on the tree then you aren’t winning. I was happy to get out of there with Andy and the engine in one piece.