Here’s a little update on how things are going in outlaw land as of last night. I guess you could look at it as a photo essay of sorts…which is by design since I’m too tired to write much of anything coherent.

Only 16 days to go until qualifying at ORSCA Montgomery, AL…and I’ve been doing some research on rain dancing. However, if there’s one thing that you can’t count on to cooperate in the South, it’s the weather. With that being said, the great news is that we now have 80% of the parts we need and should have everything by next week. So, the thrash is on like donkey-kong.

Look for proper recognition to all those companies and individuals who’re making Project (Panic) 5.30 a reality in the next post…the shout-out list will rival a gangster rap video!

Proverbs Chapter 3 vs. 5-6

God bless,

EG

It’s always great to see a racer do well on Phoenix Race Tires, but one team that sticks out in the drag racing world is the DeFrank family and their Super Stock supremacy. Jim DeFrank has been in the game for a long time, and the drag racing bug is obviously hereditary as his sons followed closely in his foot steps. Jim and his sons Jimmy and Tony are dedicated to the sport and prove the undeniable performance of Phoenix tires every time they hit the track. World championships, national events wins and all around great performances speak volumes of DeFrank’s world class operation and the consistency of Phoenix tires.

Jimmy DeFrank qualifies his California Car Cover Cobalt at the 50th Annual Winternationals. Thanks to Bobby Bennett at Competitionplus.com for the photos.

The DeFranks are a racing family, but Jim does a great job of balancing his racing habits with his business, the California Car Cover Company. You’ve probably heard of the company, as it produces way more than just car covers–everything from memorabilia, apparel and car care products are available from California Car Cover, so check out the website if you haven’t already. The DeFranks obviously did their homework during the winter months and started off the 2010 season with a runner up finish at the 50th Annual NHRA Winternationals in Pomona, California.

A scene from the finals at the Winternationals. Jimmy is in the far lane. Thanks to Bobby Bennett at Compeitionplus.com for the photos.

When you hear about a racer fighting through the brackets, you might sometimes think of a 16 car field like you see in the Pro ranks, but the Sportsman series are generally packed with many more racers. This past weekend in Pomona, the Super Stock field consisted of 79 entries. That makes for a long weekend at the track, especially if you make it all the way to the finals. The weekend started and ended great, as Jimmy qualified his California Car Cover Cobalt in the 12th position with a time of 8.67. After battling through 7 rounds of racing, and taking out some of Super Stock’s biggest contenders, Jimmy DeFrank lined up in the finals against Jeff Lane. And though Jimmy didn’t take home a Wally, he certainly represented Phoenix Race Tires in a positive way.

A couple weeks back I had the opportunity to road trip it back down the hillbilly highway (I-75 S) for a little bit of nitro racing with the Texas Jungle Team in South Florida. You really get to know your teammates after a 13 hour one-way car ride. Take for example, Nitro Nick from Cleveland, OH. Nick drives a truck during the day, plays lead guitar in a band at night, and works as a crew chief on a nitro funny car as time permits…talk about a diverse and interesting dude! We hit if off straight away, and were immediately swapping jokes & stories like a couple of reunited high school homies. When he told us the story about a dingy Cleveland pet store operated by a drunken Cajun transplant that specialized in biting Ferets…I was laughing so hard that I thought my sides were going to split open, and it was all I could do to hold the car on the road. Army Armstrong…what can I say? He’s a rock solid dood, man of his word, and fearless. With tens of thousands of fans present for the most attended IHRA race in history, and every eye in the house on the Jungle Jim car, Army was the epitome of quite strength. Racing really is (for me anyways) all about friends, fans and the journey…

Nick, Army, EG, Gator Alley, and Nitro

Friday - It became apparent, that every funny car team on the premises had it loaded for bear…high budget, low budget, it didn’t matter, just throw the nitro at it, crank up the timing, pack the chute, and hope for the best. It was wild. Cars were sideways at 230 mph, blowing up, burning down, you name it. Nick said it best, “what we’re asking these engines to do on nitro methane is sort of like skinning a cat…there’s a thousand ways to do it, and the cat doesn’t like any of them.” The Jungle Jim car had handling issues on both passes, but Army being the seasoned veteran that he is, kept ‘er out of trouble and we lived to fight another day. Crew chief Rudy and team member Martin patiently showed me the ropes and a system for between round maintenance was established. We worked late into the night, long after the satisfied fans had gone home, making sure that JJ2 would have the goods come Sat.

Big Crowd at PBIR for the IHRA Nitro Jam

Saturday morning - Nick and I went on a mission to find a fresh air refill for the JJ2 on-board breathing apparatus. After airing up at a local scuba shop, we got back to the track, and established a plan of attack. Between rounds, Rudy and I would service the clutch, Martin would run the valves, and I’d do the tires, oil and fuel…it doesn’t sound like much, but cram all that into 45 minutes or so, and it gets stressful…even if everything goes according to plan…which it never does. At 6 p.m, the “IHRA Fanfest” started, and we got mobbed by all shapes, sizes and ages, clamoring for posters, stickers, etc. It was a very different scene than I’m used to. There must be something in nitro that alters peoples’ brains…there was a guy running a Tennessee waterfall haircut, wide open (I’m not exaggerating), wearing a muscle shirt, and tight-tuck rolled Levi’s that literally ran towards the header pipes, as if the antidote were in it, every time we started the car. While most casual fans were about 30-60 ft. back, covering their ears, eyes, nose, and hoping that it would stop soon, this lunatic was inhaling every bit of spent fuel that the BAE 526 had to offer. I apologize for not capturing this moment on film, but it was similar to watching a car crash plus I had my hands full.

Dunn & Gone Say Thanks

At the end of the evening, we had 4 full passes down the racetrack, and didn’t blow anything up too badly (with the exception of a few push rods). Most of the other teams weren’t nearly as fortunate, therefore I’d call it a success. After words, Team Owner Henry Gutierrez very generously offered to make me a crew member for the invitation only NHRA 50th Anniversary Winter Nationals to be held in Pomona, CA this weekend and to stay on with the team for the following weekend’s national event in Phoenix, AZ. Although honored, after much consideration/deliberation, we decided that it’d be best to stay on the farm and push forward with Project 5.30. I’ve got 5 weeks left, and the clock is ticking….loudly.

The Jungle Jim Funny Car with Army Armstrong behind the wheel.

After staring at the windshield for another 13 hours, Army and Nick dropped me off in sweet home Chatta-vegas, mid-night Sunday, where the locals had weathered about 6-8 inches of snow during a freak storm over the weekend. Before I knew it, I was at work 8 a.m. on Monday, and I felt about as woozy as a deep-sea diver that hadn’t properly decompressed before coming to the surface. Oh well, it was definitely worth it…and I can’t wait to do it again. Maybe next time I’ll get myself a muscle shirt, Levi’s and a 10/90 haircut/wig just for the occasion.

That’s it for now, look for plenty more on project 5.30 in the next week or two.

EG

“Honey, you’re never going to believe what I saw at the race track today…”

I met Bobby at the ORSCA event held in Montgomery, AL last November, and I immediately took a liking to his style. He’s pretty much been the man when it comes to making huge horsepower and mud racing. However, after conquering that world, he felt compelled to do what any true-bloodied outlaw innovator does…look for a new challenge. So, he decided to “give this drag racing thing a try.” I’m sure glad he did. Check out his site:

www.msmisery.com

At PRI Orlando, the topic of tires came up. I told him that 4wd drag trucks aren’t exactly our specialty, but if he’s up for it…so am I. Look for Ms. Misery to be wearing some Phoenix test sneakers sometime in 2010.

Click for video of Bobby testing his 4×4 Outlaw 10.5 Truck

EG

Ps- I just got back from the IHRA Nitro Jam in FL, look for the full 411 in the next few days.

Well, it’s official. Johnny and the outlaws at ORSCA have finalized their classes for 2010, and there’s a new 5.30 E.T. index class. Here’s the rulebook (don’t worry it ain’t that long):

1) No throttle stops
2) Car must have doors

Man, you’ve gotta love anything goes outlaw racing! Now, all we’ve got to do is change everything we’ve ever learned about car set-up and racing in the 6.0 class. I’ve had several people question the wisdom of making a change this late in the game (racing starts in 7 weeks). But then again, nobody’s ever accused me of being smart to start with, waiting for ideal conditions is rarely an option… and I’ve never seen a statue made of a critic either. So here goes:

The two primary differences in the classes are that 6.0 required the car to weigh 2,800 lbs and run a 10.5 inch tread width tire…there are a few other rules regarding appearance, safety, etc., but the weight and tire were essentially the limiting factors in performance. Welp, you can throw all of that out of the window for 5.30. Since weight equals horsepower, the first order of business was to get rid of everything non-essential, and lighten up everything else. Since the car didn’t exactly have a CD player and air-conditioning to start with, the weight savings challenge on what was a fairly lean race car was a formidable one. Out came the entire drive train for an evaluation and preliminary game plan for more power…more on that later.

Rather than ruin the paint job that my buddy Chad did for my birthday a couple years back, and gut the car’s all steel body, we decided to keep the shell intact and convert the bolt on stuff. Namely the bumpers, grill, rear deck lid, all went to fiberglass, and a new light weight rear spoiler that is a one-off aluminum set up was installed (courtesy of Mr. Randy Petet, and his bad-to-the-bone Porsche Outlaw 4.70 car that the wing was formerly attached to). Also on the Jenny Craig program; new steering rack, battery (yes, you can even get a light weight 16V battery), and a re-designed 2 gallon fuel cell. Initial weight savings to the chassis – about 150 lbs.

The next order of business was to get what’s left of the car over to my buddies Greg and Josh at the Honest Charley Garage for some touch up paint/body work. My sled got worked over like a borrowed mule last season and was in dire need of some touch up work/cosmetic surgery and the guys at HCG were gracious enough to lend a helping hand.

At the body spa.

Hmm...wonder what I should put in here?

No junk in this trunk!

As for power, here’s this keyboard crew chief’s theory: The car will need to run a 5.15-5.20 E.T. to be competitive in the class, therefore at 2,550 lbs, on a Phoenix PH455 17.0/33.0-15 tire we will need to generate 1,100 horsepower. That’s a lot of donkeys. So my buddy Steven and I disassembled the engine, and took the internals to our friend Lance’s machine shop where everything was magna-fluxed, mic’d and tested. Lance is a trip, we went over to his place out in the Georgia countryside on a Sunday night, opened the door, and he’s in there grinding away while rocking out to the Blues Brothers “Sweet Home Chicago”…on 8-track! When asked to see his music collection, he opened up a 4’x8’ steel file cabinet packed full of slammin’ 8-track cuts. Talk about soul!

Everything on the engine bottom end came back in fine form. Now it was decision time…should we take the existing, heavy-Chevy iron block, bore it out to .100 over, use my existing 4.25 crank and make a 505 cu. In. power plant? A 505 would leave us a little light in the loafers with about 900 h.p., and we’d need to rely heavily on the n2o to make the additional HP, needed to run the ET, plus it’s heavy, HV (that doesn’t really mean anything, I just thought that since we’re on initials I’d through that in there ☺…).

OR…….step up to the plate and build an all-aluminum, king dog, 565ci big block using a DART block, heads, intake and my crank. You know where this is headed…the thought of an engine weighing 150 lbs less and making 200hp more, really isn’t any kind of decision at all. As we speak/write, somebody in Detroit most likely shoveled out their driveway this morning, headed into work at DART, and is behind closed doors doing final prep work on an all aluminum Big “M” block, 4.600 bore, with Pro-2 CNC Ported 380 Aluminum heads and a port matched single plane intake. Kinda brings a tear to my eye just thinking about it…

Next on the list will be getting the behemoth big block breathing. Just like DART, COMP Cams is the best in the business at what they do. A call to their tech guys resulted in a cam, lifter, timing belt and shaft rocker system combination that ought to get us somewhere north of 1,100hp on motor…and just for additional insurance, we decided to go with one of their ZEX nitrous plate kits, good for another 500hp, that’s 1600hp total if we lean on it!! I get the feeling that we’re headed into Wiley E. Coyote territory here…and I couldn’t be happier about it. More updates on project 5.30 as the pre-season progresses.

Memphis says...”King dog what? When do we get to eat around here”

Speaking of being shot out of a land cannon, my good buddy Army Armstrong is coming down from frozen Pennsylvania next week, and picking me up for a road trip to West Palm Beach, FL where the season opener IHRA Nitro Jam will take place. Army will be driving the “Texas Jungle 2” nostalgia nitro funny car, owned and operated by Henry Gutierrez of San Antonio TX (see June 2009 blog archive). I can’t wait to see mi amigo’s from TX, the Trevino’s, Big John Dunn of Dunn & Gone, some 1/8th mile burnouts and get to a warmer climate.

Texas Jungle in Action.

Before I wrap it up for this time around, I’d like to give thanks to the good Lord above, who makes all things possible, and to Coker Tire, Dart Machinery, Comp Cams, Farrow Motorsports, and everyone else who’s working hard to make project 5.30 a reality.

Thanks for reading,
EG

Congratulations are in order for Steve Cox of Southern California who recently won the PSCA (Pacific Street Car Association) Bracket-1 championship on Phoenix, PH336 9.00/30.0-15 tires.  Steve took the 8 race series title that started in March and ended in November, touring Southern California and Nevada.

http://www.pscaracing.com/ChampChase/champlistbracket109.html

2009 PSCA Bracket-1 Champion, Steve Cox

Steve is no stranger to the winner’s circle and is a long time customer of Coker Tire Performance Division VP, Mike Crutchfield.  For more information about his accomplishments please check out his website http://stevecoxracing.com/default.aspx

Speaking of winners, check out the Phoenix Tire 2009 national honor roll;

•Jimmy DeFrank (NHRA Super Stock World Champion),

•Mike Crutchfield (multi-time NHRA Super Stock, divisional race winner),

•Charles Fitzimmons (NHRA Super Street divisional race winner),

•Emmett Mikolajczyk (NHRA Super Stock divisional race winner)

•Byron Latino (NHRA Super Stock divisional race winner)

•Bub Miller (NHRA Competition Eliminator, divisional race winner)

•Johnny Labbous (IHRA World Champion, footbrake, former champion “Million Dollar Bracket Race”)

•Davey Boyd (IHRA “no box” World Champion)

Well done gentlemen.  With an expanding Phoenix radial product line that is geared towards the NHRA sportsman ranks, as well as brand new outlaw 10.5 tires for ORSCA, UORS, PSCA, NMCA…plus contingency $ for racers that get it done in the winner’s circle, 2010 is shaping up to be another banner year for the brand that is rising up from its 40+ years of Firestone racing heritage.

Stay tuned for photo’s and an update on project 5.30…my old ghetto cruiser has lost a few lbs., picked up a few hp., and might possibly have acquired a new sponsor or two along the way.

Until next time…

EG

the goose is getting fat…
OK, sit down, strap in and hold on for a top-fuel-type review of what’s been going on for the past couple of months.  The season finally came to a close on November 22nd in Steele, AL at ORSCA the same way that it started back in March, with a rainout.  Oh well, it was still a great rookie season for many reasons. By the grace of the Almighty, I was able to advance to the semi-finals or better in over 60% of the races I attended…which ain’t too bad considering I really didn’t know what I was doing for most of the time.  As I alluded to in a previous post, we’re planning on coming strong with it for 2010.  ORSCA is adding a 5.30 ET class, with no restrictions on weight, tire size, engine displacement, power adders, noise/mufflers (I hated that rule in 6.0)…so it looks like I’ve found a new home.  Look for picts and posts of project 5.30 as we progress through the winter.

As much as I enjoyed getting acquainted with the ORSCA outlaws, I would be remiss in my duties if I didn’t acknowledge the tremendous success of some other competitors who’ve won in various race classes on Phoenix for 2009.  Jimmy DeFrank clinched the NHRA Super Stock title at Pomona last month.  This would mark the 3rd time that the DeFrank’s have won a national title on Phoenix drag tires!  Check out what Jimmy and his Dad, Jim, had to say about it in this upcoming add for NHRA’s National Dragster magazine.

Also storming through NHRA Super Stock was Coker Tire Performance Division, VP, Mike Crutchfield, who finished the year just outside the top ten in points.  Mike won 4 Lucas Oil series events along the way, and remains a threat in Super Stock anywhere he goes.  With regard to bracket racing, a couple of fellow Tennessean’s had late season stand-out performances also worth mentioning.  Former “Million Dollar Bracket Race Winner” and long time Phoenix race tire customer Johnny Labbous of Nashville cleaned house in the Florida Winter Series, taking home several wins in Super Pro, and Davey Boyd of Spencer capped a successful weekend of IHRA competition in Rockingham, NC by winning a world title in the “No Box,” bracket category on Phoenix tires.  Hat’s off gentlemen for these awesome accomplishments!!

So last week I loaded up the van with our race tire display and headed down the “inner state” going southbound for the annual PRI (Performance Racing Industry) trade show held in Orlando, FL.  PRI is a manufacturer’s who’s who (kinda like Cindy Lou Who, who was only two…when the Grinch made her go boo, hoo, hoo) and is a great way to showcase new products to prospective buyers from around the country/world.  It’s also a time to catch up with old friends (in my case 2 year old friends), and share some good old bench racing stories.  However, before I cruised into Orlando and PRI, I decided to make a stop along the way at Don “Big Daddy” Garlit’s museum of drag racing in Ocala, FL.

This is what the trophy case of the NHRA’s #1 racer of all time looks like.

Big Daddy’s Hardware!

Don Garlits started racing in 1950, and he’s got two warehouses full of memorabilia to prove it.  Big Daddy has the reputation of being an innovator, and it truly was a privilege to look at the progression of the sport through the eyes of the NHRA’s all time best.  If you’re ever passing through Ocala, do yourself a favor and check out.

The rat that started a revolution, “Swamp Rat I”

The front of “Swamp Rat 24”

Upon arriving in Orlando, I set up shop, and we were open for business Thursday through Saturday.  Aside from the ordinary task of meeting/greeting customers and talking race tires a few PRI highlights immediately come to mind.  1) The last lap crash of the celebrity go-cart race held in the trade show parking lot.  2) Mike “Heavy C” Clayton’s rental car burnout in the parking lot of the Red Roof Inn. 3) Seeing the look on Mike Crutchfield’s face after he discovered the free passes to the “Doll House” that I’d planted inside his note book.  4) Being reunited with my old buddy and IHRA Pro Stock legend Roy “the drill sergeant” Hill…who’s school I attended way, way back in the year of 2008. (see May 2008 Blog Post)

“Roy Hill and EG having a couple of har-har’s at PRI”

Have a safe and happy holiday season…and remember if you see someone that you think could pass for Santa Claus coming at you wide open & sideways in a rental car, do yourself a favor and get off the sidewalk!
Merry Christmas and Happy New Year,
EG

So I got a phone call yesterday from my long lost dysfunctional brother from a different mother and it looks like he’s gone and made himself famous again…and this time it didn’t involve law enforcement.  Last weekend at the 2009 Bonneville World Finals, driving the Guldstrom and Jesel ’32 Ford Roadster, Jimmy set a B/ST world record of 223.623 mph on the 5 mile long course.  Consider this for a moment…since 1953 there have been 658 people that have climbed Mt. Everest, to date there are only 458 people in the Bonneville 200 mph club.  What makes his accomplishment all the more impressive is the fact that two short months ago, in the same car at Speedweek, he went through the 5 mile banner sideways at 200+mph with the parachute out, slamming into a marker and causing extensive damage to the car.  See the links below for details on that one…

www.jimmyshine.com

www.popularmechanics.com article

Jimmy’s been my pal for a while, and I feel comfortable in saying that California is probably a safer place now that the two of us are 2,200 miles apart.  No matter how hard I seem to try, I’ll never forget our Thanksgiving weekend trip of ’06 and riding a 4-wheeler across the desert in the middle of the night with ding-dong on the back, on our way to check trout lines that we’d set earlier in the day.  While cruising along flat out at 40+ mph Jimmy started singing, howling, and flailing around like a lunatic…and in the process kicked the handle bar out of my hands.  Suffice it to say, the only thing we caught was road-rash as we jack-knifed then went flying through the air planting it face first on the unforgiving desert floor.  I recall glancing up and seeing this large, green, 4-wheeler (affectionately named “Broc”, short for broccoli) going end over end, landing on its wheels and then circling around us with its lights on like an abandoned jet ski.

We didn’t say a word to each other the whole way back until we pulled into camp…at which point Jimmy reassured me that even though we looked like a couple of bloodied up Spanish-American war veterans, he would do the talking to the wives, moms, etc. and that everything would be fine.  Keep in mind, he’s a fabricator, not a diplomat, so we got grounded for the rest of the weekend and were not allowed to ride anything capable of going over 8 mph, which relegated us to the kiddy-go carts (with roll-cage).  To this day, I can’t hear him say the word “fishing” without having the side of my head convulse and my knee’s start knocking.  Good times.

Jimmy’s ’06 World Record

Congratulations amigo Shine…very well done!!!
As for drag racing, we had last weekend off, ORSCA Atlanta was cancelled due to weather.  So, it was time to catch up on all things neglected…namely grass cutting, dog washing, etc.  Look for another update in a couple of weeks…until then…
Godspeed,

EG

October 3rd – Southern Outlaw Heads Up Last Friday morning my mood reflected the weather outside…rainy, cold and dark. I’m not going to get into everything, as this aint a self-help column, and I’m a drag racer….not the Unabomber. Anyways, it had been 4 weeks since I’d gotten to race, and it appeared as if this particular evening’s qualifying session was also in jeopardy due to rain. To be perfectly honest about it, I didn’t really care whether it got rained out or snowed out for that matter. Although the weather did come around, and qualifying did happen, I finally just decided to sit it out and see how I felt about things Saturday morning. Read the rest of this entry »

It’s not every day that you happen to come across two nitro funny cars while on your way to pick up toilet paper and potato chips…but that’s exactly what a few lucky gear heads ran into last Friday morning in the Wal-mart parking lot in Lookout Valley, TN. My buddies Army Armstrong and Heath Fike were trucking it through town in a 53 ft. rig hauling JJ2 to Oklahoma where they were to rendezvous with the rest of the Texas Jungle crew. Since Chatt-a-Vegas is on the way, they decided to swing through for an impromptu visit and to pick up JJ2’s older brother, JJ1, for a family reunion of sorts to be held in Bakersfield, CA (read:NHRA Hot Rod Reunion). Read the rest of this entry »