October 10, 2004 - The end of another year.  Seems like we only started 2004.  I trust that all of you racers are registered to vote and will exercise your right to do so for the candidates of your choice in the upcoming national, state and local elections.  You give up your right to complain (not really) if you don't vote.  But all joking aside, please go out and vote.

Bracket Masters team election will be held on October 24, 2004.  All team members are asked to attend the meeting and vote for your choice.  Mr. Willie Beathley is running for team president along with myself.  We will select Vice-President, Secretary, Treasurer, and all of the Board of Directors. 

I purchased a new 14" K&N Air Filter assembly for the car.  I get a lot of dust and debris under the hood of my car because of the way my exhaust are turned down to the ground, and the air pan was not sealed correct to the carb.  This new K&N air filter has a flow device (called a filter charger) built into the unit, and is suppose to flow 1200 CFM.  I run a BG 1090 carb, so my air flow should not be effected.  After experiencing the big improvement after taking the air pan from under the carb, I can only hope this unit will give me even better air flow.

Before everyone goes out a purchases one of these things, let me complete my testing.  I have used K&N products before on my 383 SBC, and never had a problem.  In fact, coupled with the K&N air straightener inside the filter, for the 4150 style Holley, the car got better times with the unit than without.  I only hope this unit performs as well at that one did.  This unit is made to fit a Holley Dominator.  A few modifications had to be made to lengthen the supplied bolt that secures the unit to the center of the carb, because the BG does not have the 1" high center boss for filter attachments that is standard on the Holley. 

10/11/04 - Installed the new filter assembly today.  It fit under the large 15" wide hood scoop, with the top of the filter just touching the underside of the filter cover.  There may be some restriction on the sides of the filter where it comes very close to touching the inside of the hood scoop at 90 degrees and 270 degrees.  I will keep a close eye on the times to see is this may have some effect.  I have no idea how to measure that effect, but it is a concern. 

10/12/04 - I will not test before going to Shreveport. I'll just go with what I have and hope for consistent numbers.
Have you seen the price of a gallon of diesel fuel?  It is above $2.00 per gallon here in Louisiana.  Regular fuel is $1.85 at Circle K, which is about the cheapest we have.  Racing Fuel, VP C-12, ranges from $5.75 to $6.00 per gallon.  My car burns approximately one gallon each round.  It is becoming even more expensive to race than it already was.  I have to start counting the cost of generator fuel in my expenses!
With crude oil selling for $54.00 per barrel yesterday at the close of trading, we can expect higher fuel cost.  Is there anything we can do?  The war in Iraq is contributing to the cost, and the recent hurricanes in the Gulf of Mexico are a factor, but it seems we are being taken for a ride by the oil companies (and OPEC).  I can do one thing to help.  After this trip to Shreveport, I will only do local racing, and not much of that.  The total cost of racing is why I have decided not to test before going to Shreveport. 

10/16/04 - Skip, Barbara, Little Barbara and Liz went to race at Red River Raceway in Shreveport, LA.  We had a very good trip and a good time while there.  We talked to many of the team members from the Shreveport Racing Team and the Monroe Drag Team.  I found out that the Monroe Drag Team has been in existence for approximately 30 years!  That is quite a track record. 
While we were in Shreveport, we talked to members of both organizations about forming a  Drag Racers Association.  This is not the first time such a coalition has been discussed.  Mr. Willie Beathley and Mr. Moses Branch are the combined driving force behind this new association. United Drag Racers of New Orleans Association is also a part of these discussions.  One benefit a larger association would offer would be purchasing power, at a discount.  We will sit and put a prospective organization together and let everyone know how to join and what the organization goals and regulations will be.  Right now we are looking at t-shirts and caps, and web pages for members with profile and photos of the member and/or their rides.  The web site would be similar to the Bracket Masters web site.  All of this would cost a to-be-decided membership fee and additional fees for the t-shirts, caps and web site pages.

Mr. Skip Racing - 10/16/04 at Red River Raceway - First of all, I Highly Recommend the K & N Flow Control Assembly! 
With no other changes, except the air up there was excellent and the new air filter, I had a best time of 9.337 @ 143.43 MPH.  The first run off the trailer was 9.392 @ 143.05 MPH with a temp. of 74 degrees, RH = 61%. BP = 29.84 and DA = 1389.  It got better as the night progressed.  The final run had Temp. 69 F, RH=69%, BP = 29.85 and DA = 1038.
I could still use another 1" on the wheelie bar height, but I will live with what I have for now.  The car is not bouncing up and down and loading and unloading the rear tires on launch any more, so I guess I will take it.  My best 60' time  of the night was, 1.352 on the 9.337 sec run.  The worse 60' was, 1.369 sec. on the first pass (9.392 sec.).  I was very pleased with all the runs.  This car has had 1.333 sec. 60' times before the wheelie bars were installed.  I will try some shock adjustments later (again).
I found a new way to lose. After winning in the first round, running a faster car, I decided to cross-over in the second round against a slower Duster.  I entered the time for the other car in my time window and vice-versa.  When I reacted off of his top light, we both left at the same time and I got the big red eye!  Anyway, I was so happy with the times and the way the car ran all evening, it did not hurt so bad after all.  I can't wait to do some tuning to the carb to find the right jets for the filter set-up.  I am running 96/98 jets, which is too rich, verified by the car getting quicker as the temp. dropped all night and looking back at old data for this time of year.

October 24, 2004 - It was a wonderful morning service at church.  It was Men's Day and I was the Chairperson for he event.  Willie, J. C. and Big Man came to support the Men's Day celebration and they donated $100 to the event.  Willie gave $200 of his own to equal the asking for men of the church.  The support and generous donations were greatly appreciated. The program was excellent!  The music was great and the speaker, Mr. August, Principle of Glen Oaks High School, delivered a very nice message.

October 24, 2004 - I won re-election as President of Bracket Masters Racing Team!  Willie Beathley is Vice President and together we will work on expanding the racing team and doing more work in the community. 

October 29, 2004 - Tuned up the car by checking the valves.  While in Shreveport, I noticed the "Rhythmic Sound" of the roller cam was not there after changing the valve lash from .028"/.030" to .022" each.  So I decided to change the exhaust to .024" and leave the intakes at .022".  I also had a leak on the drain plug of the trans. pan.  I had to put an oversize plug in to stop the leak.  Everything else was left the same as it was in Shreveport.

Took the car to State Capitol Dragway to the Friday night Test & Tune.  The first run was 9.49 sec. @ 142 MPH.  The temp. was 88 degrees F with 90% Hum. and Bar. Press at 30.10.  On the second run, I had 9.43 @ 142 MPH, with most of the difference coming from improved 60' time.  As the temp. fell to around 83 degrees, the Humidity increased to 99%.  On the third run the car made a 9.40 sec. @ 142 mph pass.  Again the 60' time was the big difference.  After that time trial, I spring a leak on the freeze plug directly over the starter on the pass side.  For the first time I really enjoyed having the flip type front end and changing the freeze plug was very easy.  I missed first round, but got the new plug installed.  Oh bye the way.  I got my "Rhythmic Sound" back!

Oct. 30, 2004 - Went back to State Capitol Dragway for their Bracket Race.  The car was running just like the night before with runs between 9.46 and 9.40 @ 143 MPH.  No leaks!  Houston and I both won in the first and second rounds.  Houston lost with a red light in the third round and I hooked up with Tommy Tallo for what must have been the 20th time in our racing careers.  This time I cut a little better light and got to the finish line first for a third round win.  I lost in the 4th round to another driver that I have run many times, Mr. Perry Comeaux in his beautiful black dragster.  This was in the semi-finals and paid off in cash!.  This was my 2nd highest finish for the year in competition.

Oct. 31, 2004 - Skip and Jeremy took Mr. Skip to the Old School Car Show at Man Dunn's Place, 12 miles North of Clinton, LA, Hwy LA 67 at Hwy LA 422.  This was the best car show I have attended in years and the best one that I have ever entered.  Some great "old school" cars were on hand.  I won a 2nd place trophy for the Race Car Division. 

Here are 125 photos from the car show.
 

Repeat Request - Racers, on Tuesday, November 2nd, exercise your right to vote for the candidate of your choice in the upcoming national, state and local elections.  Please don't let you right to vote go to waste.  Many young men and women (and old ones too) have lost their lives fighting for our right to live in a free USA and to have the right to vote. USE IT!

Nov. 2, 2004 - During the last two outings, I noticed some reluctance for the shift from low to high to occur unless I really hit the shifter hard.  Checked the shift cable and found it to be adjusted correct, but when the cable was disconnected, there was a lot of play in the shift lever in the low and high positions.  For now, I adjusted it so the play is removed.  I must have some wear in either the shift lever or whatever it is in contact with inside the trans. 
I noticed after charging batteries all night, one battery was warm and the other one cold.  I cleaned all the connections in the trunk from the cutoff switch to the charging posts and including all the connections on each battery.  Charged both batteries and they seemed to charge equally.  These are the no-maintenance Optima spiral batteries with no way to check the charge of each cell.
I put another coat of wax on the whole car.  I had waxed it at the car show on Sunday, between rain showers.  I need new front tires.

Nov. 12, 2004 - Loaded up and went to State Capitol Dragway.  Almost turned around when I saw a light mist on my truck window, but continued on anyway.  The weather was dry at the track and I came off the trailer with a 9.395 @143 MPH, which I was very happy with.  After some adjustments of shift point, filling the gas tank and getting the air correct in the tires, I ran a 9.291 @ 144.36 MPH, the best ever with this body.  The 1/8 mile time was 5.914 @117.21 MPH, which was also a best ever.  I won in the first round of eliminations and then the mist returned and the race was cancelled.  There were only 3 cars left and I felt like it was going to be my night.  Well, another rain check, but I am very happy with the way the car is running.

Nov. 13, 2004 - Traveled to Eunice, LA to Louisiana Dragway.  Racepics.net is sponsoring the "Battle On The Bayou".  We entered one of the many classes, most of which were heads-up racing classes, but they did have a Bracket Bonanza Electronic Class, with a $1500 winners purse, that I entered. 

We came off out of the trailer with a 9.267 @ 144 MPH, and everything was working perfect!  We made a second time trial after the temp. warmed up and the humidity was climbing and had a 9.285 @ 144 MPH.  In round one, I had to run Arnold Jordan, one of the best drivers around, and I won with a 9.283 @ 135 MPH, on a 9.26 dial-in, slowing to a win!  This run would have been close to 9.24 had I stayed in it.  The 1/8 mile time was 5.874 sec!  Then the mist returned.  The race was stopped after waiting for about an hour.  Everyone left running was paid a part of the purse, which got my entry fee and gas money back.  I was pleased, but again, I felt like it was my time to win!

More Photos from Battle On The Bayou

Nov. 19, 2004 - Went back to State Capitol Dragway to resume running in the money race that was rained out last week.  This week there were 13 cars.  The orange Nova that had the bye was given the bye this week and I had to win my way back to where I was last week.  The car had come out of the trailer with a 9.331 @ 144 MPH, but that was when the air was dry.  Just after sunset, the damp dew fell all over the place and the best run I could get after that was 9.371 @ 143 MPH.  I was really on tonight, I had a perfect light in the first round, and won all the way thru the finals for a $200 purse!  I had to run Arnold Jordan, again, in the finals.  The winner of Non-E run the Elect. winner for an additional $100 at State Capitol on Friday nights.  The Non-E car cut a .001 green light and ran 10.91 on a 10.88 dial in to my .042 light (I needed that perfect light) while running 9.381 on a 9.38.  The MOV was .0078 sec!  I was still very happy to win S/P.  Who knows, if the rain had not come in Eunice, maybe...

I did experience a problem in the shift linkage for the transmission.  I had to adjust it for the 2nd time to get it to shift into 2nd gear.  I made that adjustment between round 2 and round 3.  Two more turns out.  Over the Winter, I will replace the shift arm and whatever else in needed to make it shift correct.  Everything else in the trans. is working perfect. It has 95 runs on this overhaul.

Nov. 26, 2004 - Took the car to No Problem Raceway Park since I had a rain check since June of this year.  The track was in good shape, as usual, and the first two passes were just great, with identical 60' times in both lanes of, 1.336 sec.  The first pass was a 9.29 @ 144.5 MPH.  After that the humidity got very high and the car slowed to mid 9.30's.  I won the first 3 rounds and got a bye into the money round with 8 cars left.  I had to run Wyatt Ezell in round 5.  As soon as I left, the bottom fell out of the rear end and my night was over.  Houston Hawkins was still around, and he helped me get the car in the trailer for the trip home. 
After visiting with Tommy Tallo's family on Monday, I will work on removing the rear end and take it to Sonny at Pro-Fab for repairs. Tommy Tallo, a very good bracket racer at State Capitol Dragway and former track champion, passed away on Thursday, Nov. 24, 2004, at his home in Hammond, LA.  Tommy will be missed by all.  My family sends their sincere sympathy to Sharon and son Chad. 

Dec. 2, 2004 - Bad News!  The rear end was destroyed, well so much for the strength of the Ford 9" rear end (stock Daytona).  I ran Chevy 12 bolt for over 10 years and never had this much damage from a broken rear end.  I don't know that much about Ford rear ends, but I was told a few years ago, by Earl Zimmer, that this rear end was not the best and it could only handle about 800 HP.  I guess he was right, since the motor dynoed at 778 HP when it was new and lately it had been making some good power in the cool weather.  Sonny (Pro-Fab) will repair the damage and install aftermarket parts that can handle the increase in horsepower.  The car should be ready Monday.  While he is in there, he will 4-corner scale the car to make sure it is right.

Dec. 4, 2004 - Picked up the car today.  Everything seems to be OK now, except my pocketbook.  I had two new frontrunners installed while the car was at Pro-Fab.  Sonny explained each part that was installed and I took photos of the damaged third member and the housing.  The hole in the housing was welded.  See Photos.  After talking with Sonny about the way the car handles (good), and the sixty ft. times at Eunice and No Problem with the current 1.76 PG gears, we decided not to scale it.  The pinion angle was checked and all the fitting on the rear end were checked.  The vent in the housing was allowing oil to get out of the housing.  This was repaired.  Now I will be ready for this coming weekends final race.  This takes care of my annual Christmas present to myself. 

Dec 9, 2004 - Today I visited Mr. Lyons Auto Tech class and we finished installing the last two pistons in the SBC engine that we are building.  The kids actually put all the rings on, knocked in all the pistons and took clearances on the mains and rod bearings.  We are now ready to install the cam, timing chain and degree the cam.  This will be a challenge to teach them all the tools and do the math for degreeing the cam. 

After class, I warmed the engine in the Camaro and set the valves.  They were all very close and I only had to move a few of them. 

I was reading an article in "Doorslammers", the chassis book that came out about 12-13 years ago, and they recommended experimenting with starting line RPM.  They recommended going DOWN in RPM to see if that helps to stabilize the 60' foot times and make the car launch better.  I have read books that said to leave as close to the stall RPM of the converter as you can.  I do this when running a pro tree (4500 RPM), along with tightening the front shocks.  Normally I leave at 3800 RPM and that has been working out good.  I think it is better on parts at the lower RPM.  I have tried to leave at 3000, but the cam will not allow it. Today, I dropped the starting line RPM to 3700. 

I plan to run at No Problem on Friday night and Louisiana Raceway on Sunday.  These should be my last two races this year.  

Our web site got 87,000 hits in November!

Dec. 10, 2004 - Houston and I drove down to No Problem Raceway.  We both had two time trials.  Houston, taking advantage of the excellent air, had a 8.21 sec. pass and a 8.20 sec. pass at over 168 MPH. 
I thought I would get some good numbers but much to my dismay, the first run was only 9.42 @ 143 MPH.  This is almost identical to the pass just before the gears let go two weeks ago on this same track. 
When I went up for my 2nd time trial, when I got up into the staging lanes and flipped the switch to shut down the engine, I did not hear any fuel pump noise.  The switch was on, but the pump was not running.  My first thought was, blown fuse.  Then I discovered I had replaced all the fuses with Ckt. Bkrs. a few months ago.  There was another device sharing the breaker and it was operating.  So I went into the trunk to look at the fuel pump relay.  I removed the lead going down to the pump and touched the hot lead to the relay and the pump started!  Now I know the pump is working.  I have (had) a fuse in the line from the battery to the fuel pump motor which goes through the relay to the pump motor.  When I touched the fuse assembly, it sparked and the pump started and stopped.  By now there are cars in front of me, behind me and on each side.  I twisted the assembly and made contact somehow and the pump kept on running.  The fuse was still good, but the assembly had gotten so hot that I could not get into it to remove the fuse.  I had obviously put in a fuse that was too high rated in a fuse assembly that was not structured to carry that many amps.  After making my temporary alteration, I made my second pass.  This one was 9.32 @144 MPH.  Much better!  Not the 9.20's I expected, but much more respectable. 
In the first round of eliminations, after I removed the fuse assembly, I drew Velmond Brown and the result was the same as the last time we ran.  He won.  I had a bad light when I was daydreaming and my top light came on.  No Problem uses the new "Cross Talk" system.  I had forgotten that MY top light was going to come on at the same time as my opponents.  Anyway, I had a .069 to Valmond's .015 light. The rest is history.
All night I had bad lights.  I had changed two things since the last time I ran.  I lowered my starting line RPM by 100 RPM and I changed from 26" tires to 25" tires.  The tires should have made me have quicker RT, while the RPM change should have slowed the RT.    I was so upset with myself, I did not buy back.  The way I feel right now, I probably won't go racing Sunday.  This way, I know I can start off 2005 with a good running car with no problems. 
We plan to enter a couple of Christmas Parades during the Holiday Season.  Merry Christmas and Happy Holidays to all of you!

Dec. 12, 2004 - After talking to Marcus, Moses and Lawman, and running the car at the lower RPM on launch, I am thinking about shifting at a higher RPM and launching at a higher RPM.  What really capped it off was, Marcus called my attention to an article in the latest National Dragster by David Reher of Reher-Morrison Engines.  It was as though he was looking at what I am doing.  The whole thing explains the engine theory behind higher shift points, and how they can effectively increase horsepower.  There are trade offs and other things that must be present to take advantage of the higher shift points.  Take a look at the article on the last page of National Dragster, Dec. 10, 2004 issue.  The articles in this section of National Dragster, "Technically Speaking", are always very enlightening.  Some are by David Reher, some by Warren Johnson and others.  All of them are very good. 

Dec. 25, 2004 - Christmas Day (late).  Peace on Earth and the wish for happiness for everyone. 
Each night before I go to sleep I pray for God to "Bless Everyone".  This is my catchall prayer to make sure I have not forgotten anyone.  As I talk to people daily, they sometimes relate problems they are having, or I tell them of my problems.  Everyone has something that they are going through, or that they just came through, or just live a little longer and you will surely go "through" something.  I sometimes tell these people that I talk with, "I'll say a prayer for you".  Each night before I get off my knees, I try to remember all of those people that I have promised a prayer.  I enjoy praying for people and then watching as God takes over and helps people.  Maybe in the new year, you can say a little prayer for someone.  Try it, it really works! 
Mr. J. C. Floyd is home from the hospital.  All of us have been praying for J. C. to have a safe return home.  Now I am praying for his continued return to good health.
I hope everyone has a very happy and safe 2005.  May your wishes for that big engine, new tires, new fuel pump, 250 shot of NOS, new chassis, sharp paint job, nine second run (or eight second run for me), or any of the racing things you want, come true for you.  

Come join our new Message Board .  It's open to everyone.  All you need to do is have an email address when you log in for the first time.   Our section is the Bracket Racing Forum, but you can read and comment in any of the sections that you want to get involved in. 
It's easy to use.  If you have any trouble getting started, just give me a call.  When you get to the opening screen, just click on "General Discussions".  From there, pick a topic that you want to read.  If the topic interest you, you can make a comment by scrolling to the bottom and click on "Add Reply".  When the blank screen appears, just type in what you want to say.  After you finish your comment, click on "Add Reply" (only once).  From there, use your browser "Back" button to get back to the general topics screen.  Click around and read some of the things that others have written and the comments.  Once you get started, it's fun.  No teachers are going to grade your grammar or spelling (and you won't be able to hear the laughing!)  You can get to the board at the top of each page on our web site, just click on "Message Board". 
There are lots of good sections on the board.  Most of the people are from the central and western part of the state and race in Eunice at Louisiana Raceway.

Bracket Masters regular monthly meeting - January 23, 2005 - Visitors are welcome!
Shoney's at intersection of Airline and Interstate 12.

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