's Roger
Bloor is
in the USA, working on Larry McBride's Top Fuel Bike team, here's
part 3 of
ROGER'S STORY
This is part 3 of my pro drag racing USA tour, 01-August-2006.
Well this week we head off to the track, a 12hr
trip one way. On Tuesday Patrick O'Daniel flew in from Arizona. P -Daddy as
he is known, is Jimmy Brantley's crew chief. We serviced the trucks and
loaded up on Thursday and we were off. Bobby (Jimmy's partner) flew in on
Wednesday to drive with the girls in the Winnebago.
Today was going to be long but I was looking forward to seeing the
countryside. I jumped into the Kenworth with P - Daddy whilst Steve and
Larry went in the topkick. Driving though Virginia I was finally getting to
see the size of the freeways / interstates, most were three to four lanes
wide. Western Virginia was the next state we went though and after 3 hours
driving the country side finally started to change, but no sheep yet.....
The number of trucks on the roads was incredible! Another hour later we
entered Maryland where I finally got to see some cattle on the fields (about
20 in one paddock). Looks like the grass here is to be mowed not eaten. We
just caught the corner of that state, and 45 minutes later came
Pennsylvania. This state was interesting and everything was huge. Train
tracks everywhere with 4 engine trains and over 150 wagons behind them.
The interstate had bridges going everywhere and this region was mountainous,
the major US coal region. The area which amazed me most was the Allanghe
valley. The interstate went up and into the mountain then popped out into
the Allanghe valley. We crossed the river about 200 metres in the air on a 6
lane bridge, next to us and another 50 metres higher was the Allanghe 2 line
rail bridge. Below was the river, huge coal trains and factories on each
side of the river. We drove 5 hours through this state, stopping at the
truck stops for lunch.
Steve had been on the cb radio welcoming me to each state and finally he
said "Roger you're well traveled today, here's your 5th state of the day,
Ohio....."
This state was flat in comparison to Pennsylvania with lots of swamps. By
now it was getting dark so sightseeing was getting harder. Turning off the
interstate meant we were getting closer and at 11.30 pm we arrived at the
track (the sheep count for the day was zero, about 10 horses, and about 100
cattle. But bridges numbered in the hundreds and lost count of the thousands
of trucks on the road).
We were met there by Jimmy Brantley , Roland and Chuck Stuart, and Billy
.Naturally we had a few beers to calm every one down. Then at about 1.30am
we went to bed.
Early next morning we were woken up to go to breakfast (eating, my favourite
pastime...) Norwalk was an old town and most of the main street was built in
the early 1800s but everything was like new and very clean, not like LA.
We weren't able to set up in the pits until 12 and we wanted to get a pass
in today, so as soon as we got into the pits we all got too work. The trucks
were cleaned, this was good and refreshing as it was about 35 degrees at
midday. Getting wet didn't worry me, Jimmy thought it was good on the hose
wetting every one. Three hours later we were set up to run. By now it was
close too 40 degrees C, Something this Kiwi boy is not used too. Right about
now I should be telling you about the 1st test pass, but not today....
We warmed the bikes up, then I noticed the temperature dropping fast. Real
fast from around 40 degrees to about 20 degrees in about 25 minutes. In our
pit area we never saw the thunder storm coming but I looked up to see this
huge cloud come racing across. You can guess what was said. Then down it
came and half an hour of good West coast (south island) rain, lightning and
thunder. I was impressed by the rain and lightning bolts until our pits
started to get flooded. There was about 6 inches of water all around us. We
were on a slight rise so the bike area only got an inch through it. Then 1
hour later the sun came out and it was blue sky again. No runs in today.
Jimmy was ready to go and the rain was not going to spoil his day, but there
was water flowing everywhere and Jimmy found a plank of wood. Pit bike,
water and wood mean only one thing.... skiing.... Tie down in 1 hand plank
under feet and an underpowered pit bike equals wet Jimmy. With not enough
power to get him going over he went. Upon picking himself up he noticed the
plank had broke. Great real skis... by now the audience was rather large so
Larry brought out the 100 mile per hour tape. Jimmy sat down and the boards
were then taped to his feet. Well water, two planks taped to feet and a
underpowered pit bike still equals a wet Jimmy. Still this didn't deter him.
He sat on the ground and was pulled around in the puddle and grass by the
bike (I have a video). By now everyone just couldn't stop laughing- the Hulk
won!
The day's racing was canned, time for a few beers and dinner. The next
morning was a little cloudy but it looked promising. Two runs today and at
9:30am the bikes started to put in qualifying runs. There were four fuel
bikes and we were due for an 11am run. This came fast and next minute I knew
we were out there. The first pass Jimmy laid a 6.18, Larry ran next with a
peddling 6.70. Back to the pits to do the usual top fuel service. Then at
3:30 we were out again, Jimmy laid a 6.13 and Larry a 6.30 with a one second
de-throttle at half track. We had engine problems so it was back too the
pits for an engine swap. The huge crowd of about 10 end up near our pit area
(this is were I was not impressed - about 250 bikes competing and no
promotion to draw the spectators. Tomorrow would be the same, but there were
a lot of road bikes turning up).
Guess what, after the motor change and a bit of maintenance it was time for
dinner. Boy I was hungry. It was over 42 degrees C the track was 132 degrees
F (55.5 Celsius) and it was far too hot to eat during the day. I went up for
three helpings, so much good Poquoson delights. This entertained Bobby as he
couldn't believe how much I could eat. I had a bit of heat stroke and had a
EARLY NIGHT.
The next morning was finals day. Jimmy got presented the Top Qualifier plate
and made sure Larry knew he had it. Then it was down to business. Jimmy was
up first with Steve Sorter on a nitro Harley. Steve had problems at the
launch and Jimmy was through to the finials with a 6.42. Larry was up
against Korry Hogan and needed a good pass. He did the job. A 6.20 to
Korry's 6.55. Larry had lane choice and he let Jimmy know it, Jimmy's bike
was hurt and the decision was to leave it in (leak down on one cylinder was
70%). We were last to run in the finals and it was back to 135 degree track
temperature. Too hot. At the launch Jimmy was gone, Larry on the other hand
red lit but he didn't see it. The bike smoked the tyre from the launch and
all the way down the track. Larry had a ball, a quarter mile burn out
peddling the bike 19 times....
Jimmy might have won the race but all people wanted to talk about and see
was the Spiderman's run. We had people at the pits waiting to see Larry.
After all this is where he had is stroke last year, so it was great to see
him back. The Hulk might have won on the day but the Spiderman won the day.
As for me the heat was getting to me again. I had to sit down in the air con
for a while before relaxing.
During the 2 days I had a chance to take lots of photos which I will sort
out when I get back. I was disappointed with the crowd numbers. The point of
crowd numbers was emphasised when I said to Larry I was going to the
winner's circle to see Jimmy and them get their prize. I walked over there
and there were no people anywhere to see the pictures or to hear the
winner's presentations. But in saying that it was really hot and sitting in
the stands would not have been much fun.
Back home on Monday - we unloaded the bikes the night we got back. And Larry
told me we would go to the dirt drags on Sunday, so it was back to my corner
to make more alloy chips. By now my drum of chips was just about full.
Sunday came fast and I was looking forward to the dirt drags. After all
there was going too be 4 nitro bikes there. We arrived there about midday
and there was people everywhere. This was a great family day as they had
classes all the way down to the little moto x bikes.
One pass made me think where the future racers come from. There was a 4 year
old on his dirt bike - complete with training wheels - as he went down the
track. He was not the fastest pass of the day but everyone leaning against
the fence cheered and clapped for him. As for the nitro bikes, wow, this was
dirt they were on. As for track preparation this was the two big tractors, a
plough behind one and a leveling bar behind the other. Again the photos will
be the best way to describe the track. Oh and by the way the fastest pass
was about 4 seconds so they were getting traction on the 1/8 mile track.
This would be a great event to do in NZ to get some more racers onto the
tarmac. As there was every class you could think of there, moto x bikes,
quad bikes, 2 stroke triples, road bikes, dirt bikes with 4 cylinder
engines, Harleys, extended quad bikes, alcohol bikes, nitrous bikes and
nitro bikes. This was a great day, After all I don't get to watch the drags
that often, usually working on a bike "somewhere in the pits".
Roger Bloor