California Hot Rod Reunion - Hall Bros.Race Report

The dirty chute packer’s tour!

Yes I know that is a weird way to start the race report but it will make sense before we get to the end of this long race report.

This report is about the NHRA Heritage Series, Hot Rod Reunion 2013, at Famoso Raceway in Bakersfield that the Hall Bros. Race Team just competed in. 

Mark and Bryan both took their cars to compete in Nostalgia Eliminator which runs on a 7.60 index.

This is Mark writing the report. 

For those that don’t know, I am the old man with the red 23T blown BBC altered and Bryan is my son and he has the black 32 Bantam with the blown 392 Hemi.

The dirty chute packer’s tour started a few weeks before the race when I went out to test my car to run the 7.0 Pro class.

Bryan’s car was running good and he has run real close to the 7.60 number so he was ready to go. Bryan just bought an enclosed trailer and he was getting that ready for the trip.

I went out to test and tune two weeks before the Bakersfield race and pumped up the horsepower to get ready for the 7.0 Pro category.

 The track looked good and when I left the line the car hooked hard but didn’t go very far.

It blew up the planetary gears in the transmission. It was a mess!

We pulled the trans out at the track so I could leave the car in the trailer.

I was bummed but I was glad I tested.
Imagine that happening at the track on the first run especially with no spare transmission!

I tore the trans down the same day and found that the pinion gears in the planetary were blown to bits. 

Now I had to make a decision.

I had saved enough money to go to the race but was not expecting a blown up transmission!

I figured that in order to step up to go 7.0 I would need some stronger straight cut pinion gears.

So my decision was easy...put some stock pinion gears back in which work good for 7.60 class or not race.

Bryan says that the 7.0 Pro class is the devil!

So...I cast out the devil and decided to race the 7.60 class.

My planetary housing was beat up but not ruined so I scavenged some stock gears out of another planetary and I was back in business.

Every little piece had to come apart in the trans including cutting the converter open to make sure there was no debris.

I finished the trans on Wednesday morning and me and Cliff had it in, running and in the trailer by 2:00 pm ready to go.

Cliff said we were done too soon and he did not know what to do with his hands!  (Think “Taledaga Nights” here...)

I had to get to the track on Thursday because my chassis needed certification and Bryan was going to come down on Friday for first rounds of qualifying.

This was a three day race Friday, Saturday and Sunday.

Bryan couldn’t hold out until Friday so he started out at about noon on Thursday and made it in enough time to get there Thursday night.

Both cars were tech’d and ready to go.

Friday we headed to the lanes for first of 2 qualifying runs for the day.

On the first pass my car ran good and I could tell it was going pretty quick so I lifted and ran 7.66 at only 147 on the 7.60 index.

Bryan ran 7.59 which was so very close to the index.

I qualified 12th out of 33 cars.

On the second qualifying pass me and Bryan were paired up.

Video streaming by Ustream

We both left the line straight and true.

Bryan cut a .005 light and I cut a .028 light.

Bryan ran a 7.50 @181and I ran a 7.53 @176 so he beat me to the finish line.

We both had some slowing down to do for the index!

Saturday morning was the 3rd qualifying pass and we both backed our cars down.

I backed off my timing to 26 degrees from 30 degrees and richened it up and Bryan backed off his blower overdrive.

I spun the tires and Bryan ran a nice 7.68 to qualify 18^th in the field.

The fourth and last qualifying run on Saturday was cancelled because they started running late with the program.

So we were both qualified and we ended up on the same side of the ladder and would meet in the semi’s if we both made rounds.

Bryan left his car alone but because I was not able to make the last run I got skittish and leaned my car back to where I had it.

I did however leave the timing at 26 degrees.

Saturday morning we were called to the lanes and we each found our opponent and headed up. 

Bryan pulled up before me and as we were pulling to the lanes the Densham group decided to back out there big rig and hold up the mix.

They couldn’t pull out at 7am when nobody was pulling in the lanes? Rude!!!!

As I was stuck waiting...I heard Bryans' name and he was already racing!

Then we heard the announcer say someone was shutoff because they were leaking.

I was hoping it wasn’t Bryan but it ended being him.

The front of the oil pan had leaked two drops on the ground.

The starter shut him down.

Wow! I have seen cars leave the line with a big puddle behind and not get shutoff!

Anyway, lesson learned.

My opponent left the starting line before the lights even came down and I got the win with a 7.71 to his foul start.

The good part about having two cars is we increase our chances of making some rounds.

Bryan’s car is on the verge of being a spectacular 7.60 car but is just testing him to see how bad he wants it. These cars will do that to you!

I was glad to have won that first round so as to try and salvage the day.

I know how disappointing it can be to make all those runs and then not be able to compete.

In the second round of eliminations I bumped the timing to 29 degrees.
I ran a 7.57 but luckily my opponent ran a 7.56 so first or worst I got the win.

The day was looking up.

 For the third round I backed the timing off to 28 degrees and told Cliff 7.61 is what it would run.

The car left the starting line nice and straight and I ran….7.61!

That was win number 3 for the day.

When the crew got to the finish line Jeff said….it is quiet down here, you are missing all the celebrating on the starting line!

I had made it to the semis which means there were only 4 cars left.

I was feeling pretty good about my chances to win the entire deal.

So before we get to the semi final round let me tell you why we named the race the “Dirty Chute Packer Tour”... since we didn’t get to the races until Thursday the pits on the asphalt were already full by Wednesday and we had to pit down at the end in the dirt.

We also slept in our trailer for 3 nights which was real fun!

So between one of the rounds I was folding my parachute and it had a bunch of dirt on it.

As I was dusting it off I said something like “I have a bunch of dirt on my chute and I don’t want to pack it dirty”.

I can't remember who it was but either me, Bryan, Cliff, Jim, Jeff or Don said “you don’t want to be a dirty chute packer!”… and it was on!

With 6 guys you know what happened next...every other statement was about the dirty chute packer and I thought I was going to bust a gut!

I didn’t think I was going to be able to actually finish packing the chute because I was laughing so hard!

I know this may sound a little crude but we couldn’t help ourselves.

Then you throw a Greg Means in on the deal and we were cutting up almost the entire time!

This was a fun event...I am laughing right now as I write this!

Yes….We shall call it...the "Dirty Chute Packer Tour"!

Now...Back to the semi final round...I left my tune-up alone and with my 7.61 previous run I figured I would get lane choice but my opponent had run 7.60 on the 7.60 index in the previous round.

As I staged I brought the rpm up too high and I red lighted.

It was a too quick -.018 red light.

The bad part was my opponent ran too quick 7.58 on his run which would have given me the win. (First or worst). 

All in all it was a great fun event and one that I will remember!

Both cars are in one piece and running good.

It was real cool having Bangshift.com with their live feed covering the event.

My wife Lisa was really talking up the Hall Bros. on the chat and social media...while talking on the phone and cheering with Bryan’s wife Kelley and our friend Les Stripe.

Bryan and I were both waving to the camera after each burnout to everyone watching.

Our two year old Granddaughter Claire watched one of the runs and when Bryan waved she said “Hi Daddy!”
(By the way...she calls me Poppy!)

We wish there was another race soon but we will have to wait until the March meet in Bakersfield next year, though Cliff will be racing on New Year's Day, so that will be cool along with our Hall Bros. mini-dragster "Cackle-Fest" that we are planning then also!

Thanks for catching up with the Hall Bros. Racing Team...If you'd like to see some more photos from this race, check out our facebook page where there are several of the "Pro" photos posted.

Until next time,

Mark