Getting Ready...

It's hard to believe with the weather the way it is (I still haven't put my winter coat away yet) that some lucky people have actually been racing since February.

 

With the St. Patrick's Classic at Virginia Motorsports Park being the place to be for most bracket racers, the IHRA Pro Am Division 4 races at Pine Valley Raceway, and the Gatornationals national NHRA event this weekend, we figured it was time to start getting the cars ready to race...

 

Cause it's not like we have our wedding coming up in three weeks or anything!

 

So we set wedding projects aside this weekend for one that I much prefer anyway...

 

Here's Andy, draining the oil in my dragster so he can put 9 fresh quarts into the engine.

 

On top of changing the oil we changed the transmission fluid and filter, and put fresh valve springs in the heads.

Here's Andy and his dad changing the valve springs.

 

While they worked I spent most of my time playing practice tree inside the dragster.

All practice tree does is help you work on your reaction time. I'm lucky enough to be able to play right inside the cockpit of the dragster, using a full tree. This is really helpful for me because the reaction time is so crucial to the race, and I take all the practice I can get. The transbrake button I use is the small silver one on the right of the steering wheel.

 

If you don't have a full size tree, it's ok! You can still practice on this:

That is the small practice tree you can buy on any drag racing website, or straight from the manufacturer. There are a few different brands, but this one is made by Biondo Racing Products. So while the travel practice tree is nice for the road, it's also nice to take advantage when you're home to hook everything up and play inside the car. Anything to make it feel more real!

 

The cars should be ready to go by Tuesday. I am hoping to have some video footage to post here soon, as well as our personal racing schedule for the year.

 

We may also have some real racing updates to post as early as next weekend! Let's just hope everything goes according to plan, and the weather cooperates of course...

 

All in all, it was a very productive weekend. I have to admit I am really itching to get out there and lay some runs down. I am so eager to see what this season has in store for us!