We went to Dunn-Benson Dragstrip last weekend to do some testing/Top 
Dawg racing. It was a long day for me. I live three hours from Sandy, so my day started at 6 am and ended at 3 am Sunday morning. I was on the road at a quarter till 7 and sitting in his drive way at a quarter till 10. Let’s head to the track. Well, it got real cold the night before and apparently the batteries in the big truck only last a year. So off to AutoZone we go for fresh batteries. An hour later we are on the road to Benson where our clutch advisor, the one and only Jeff Dobbins is waiting.
Sandy had already removed the clutch prior to arriving to the track. When we unloaded the car, Jeff took the clutch to his pit area to surface the clutch. We then assemble
d the car to get ready for our shakedown run. On the first run, Sandy was real smooth doing the burnout. He staged and brought the rpm’s up and dropped the clutch. It bogged again, but came to a stop with no problem. He backed it up and staged again. Same thing but it rattled the tires real hard. He shut it off and coasted off the track.
Back in the pits, we went over everything and made a few adjustments to the clutch and went back up for the 1st round of qualifying. Again, Sandy did a great burnout. I backed him up and check the wheelie bars and he is ready to stage. He drops the clutch, with a .034 light I might add, and the cars leaves better, but again goes into severe tire shake. He clicks the engine and coasts off the track.
Once back in the pits, the service begins again.
Now Dobbins and Sandy both have a theory of what is happening with the car and the clutch. They know what needs to be done, but we can’t make those adjustments at the track. So, Jeff thinks we need to surface the clutch again so it want be so aggressive. We took the transmission out again to service it while Sandy made some engine adjustments. Just as we buttoned everything up for the 3rd run, Jeff noticed that the steering rack bar was broke at the weld. This is not good. So racing/testing was over for the day.
Even though we did not get to make another run, I do think it was a blessing in disguise. Sandy could have wadded his car up if he had gone down the track. He now has the steering rack fixed and has the clutch ideas he and Jeff discussed implemented, so testing may be in order this coming Saturday. Hopefully this will be the weekend he gets to pull the chutes.
Here is a recap of some of the pictures. 1. The first pic is of the new and improved hood scoop that had to be replaced after the first test session at Piedmont Dragway. We will get it painted after we go down the track succ
essfully three of four times. 2. The second pic is where the steering rack broke. This is never a good look on a race car. 3. This pic is the world’s largest business card. This sign was along the wall in the staging lanes. Sandy didn’t even know that the sign had been put up and was a pleasant surprise. 4. Here are the two master minds, Jeff Dobbins and Sandy Wilkins, talking it over in the staging lanes. 5. This last pic is the winner of the Top Dawg that night, Brian Williams in his good looking Wilkins Racing Engines powered Pontiac. Congrats.
That’s a wrap. I will update you guys next week on how the testing went this weekend.
Have a blessed Easter.
Dawg racing. It was a long day for me. I live three hours from Sandy, so my day started at 6 am and ended at 3 am Sunday morning. I was on the road at a quarter till 7 and sitting in his drive way at a quarter till 10. Let’s head to the track. Well, it got real cold the night before and apparently the batteries in the big truck only last a year. So off to AutoZone we go for fresh batteries. An hour later we are on the road to Benson where our clutch advisor, the one and only Jeff Dobbins is waiting.Sandy had already removed the clutch prior to arriving to the track. When we unloaded the car, Jeff took the clutch to his pit area to surface the clutch. We then assemble
d the car to get ready for our shakedown run. On the first run, Sandy was real smooth doing the burnout. He staged and brought the rpm’s up and dropped the clutch. It bogged again, but came to a stop with no problem. He backed it up and staged again. Same thing but it rattled the tires real hard. He shut it off and coasted off the track.Back in the pits, we went over everything and made a few adjustments to the clutch and went back up for the 1st round of qualifying. Again, Sandy did a great burnout. I backed him up and check the wheelie bars and he is ready to stage. He drops the clutch, with a .034 light I might add, and the cars leaves better, but again goes into severe tire shake. He clicks the engine and coasts off the track.
Once back in the pits, the service begins again.Now Dobbins and Sandy both have a theory of what is happening with the car and the clutch. They know what needs to be done, but we can’t make those adjustments at the track. So, Jeff thinks we need to surface the clutch again so it want be so aggressive. We took the transmission out again to service it while Sandy made some engine adjustments. Just as we buttoned everything up for the 3rd run, Jeff noticed that the steering rack bar was broke at the weld. This is not good. So racing/testing was over for the day.
Even though we did not get to make another run, I do think it was a blessing in disguise. Sandy could have wadded his car up if he had gone down the track. He now has the steering rack fixed and has the clutch ideas he and Jeff discussed implemented, so testing may be in order this coming Saturday. Hopefully this will be the weekend he gets to pull the chutes.
Here is a recap of some of the pictures. 1. The first pic is of the new and improved hood scoop that had to be replaced after the first test session at Piedmont Dragway. We will get it painted after we go down the track succ
essfully three of four times. 2. The second pic is where the steering rack broke. This is never a good look on a race car. 3. This pic is the world’s largest business card. This sign was along the wall in the staging lanes. Sandy didn’t even know that the sign had been put up and was a pleasant surprise. 4. Here are the two master minds, Jeff Dobbins and Sandy Wilkins, talking it over in the staging lanes. 5. This last pic is the winner of the Top Dawg that night, Brian Williams in his good looking Wilkins Racing Engines powered Pontiac. Congrats.That’s a wrap. I will update you guys next week on how the testing went this weekend.
Have a blessed Easter.
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