Race report for ANRA 6-21-14 at Bakersfield

 Bryan raced his car at this race and Kelley, Don and Mark were the crew. Winslow couldn’t make it but as always he helps buy gas to get to and from the track and I can tell you that is so very much appreciated. If it wasn’t for our family and with friends like Winslow, Les Stripe and Ron Whitman I don’t know if we would be running right now.  Mark was unable to race because Cliff was racing his car in Sacramento and is the main crew member for the red altered and Lisa is holding down the Fort with the social media and is working on our website. Look for a Hall Bros Speed Shop site soon!

 The race was in Bakersfield at Famoso Raceway. This is the track that holds the big March Meet and the Hot Rod Reunion. ANRA (American Nostalgia Racing Association) is an association that has been around for some time with several owners. It is now run by Butch Headrick and he is doing a great job. They hold a 4 races series for sportsman racers only. Our class NE-1 and AGas are the fastest classes at the 7.60 index. The last time the Hall Bros raced with ANRA was back in 1996 with the old Blue altered.

 We drove down Hwy 5 to get to the race track and crossed over to 99 by going through Wasco and I am so glad we did for two reasons that I will get to in a minute. The first reason is that hwy 99 is all jacked up and will ruin a car with all that bouncing. The second reason you will have to wait a bit. Let’s just call it Jolly treat #1.

 We got to the track around 8 pm on Friday night and the ANRA guys are still there and didn’t close the gate until 9:30! Now that beats the heck out of the other guys that put on races. You can’t get in much after 6 pm like everyone can take off multiple days to get to a race!  ANRA also tech’d cars in until 9:30…… are you kidding me! NHRA Heritage needs to take note! No wonder ANRA gets 300 sportsman cars!

 So we get all set up and get our cots ready. Yes we are sleeping on cots and it was so hot that some of us decided to sleep outside.

 Saturday morning the sun comes up and it is 6 am and it is hot! Not looking forward to this. By the way, on Friday the A/C decides to give us trouble and we roast on the way to the track.

 Saturday morning we get all tech'd in and we are ready for first round of two qualifying runs. The air is bad but we needed to see where we were so we ran it with no changes from previous race where it ran 7.61. The first pass it goes 7.79 which is nowhere close to the 7.60 index. For the second run we decided to bump the timing from 24 degrees to 30 degrees and hopefully put it in to the 7.60s somewhere. On the second run it goes 7.79 again! Darn it! The timing did not help the Hemi at all. On Marks BBC timing makes huge gains but the hemi combustion chamber does not like timing. So there we sit kind of lost for what to do for first round of eliminations on Sunday.

 Side note #1

 Kelley heard from Jim that Brooklyn was watching on Live Stream and she was nervous when her mom (Kelley) was out on the track. The announcers normally talk about the "BUGS" (Back up girls) and this announcer said that Kelley was a "BUB" which I have never heard before. "BUB" = (Back up babe!) A trend has begun.   

 Side note #2

 Between round one and round two of qualifying Mark had to run into town to get a tire pressure gauge as ours was in Bryan's other race car. We also got some new spark plugs to see where the jetting was. Our ice chests had already melted the ice so that was on the order also. So while Mark was in town he gets himself Yummy treat #2. After qualifying on Saturday night we all decide a ride in the truck with the A/C on would be a good way to kill time until it cooled down outside. Guess where we went? Yummy treat #3. More on that later! Yes it is hot! Check out how cool Bryan looks! (aka: "Stone Cold Bryan Hall")

 For Sundays eliminations we decide to put a tune up in that Bryan had run 7.50 with at a previous Bakersfield race when the air was much better. We also decided to leave it a bit richer and figured that the bad air and the richer main jet should slow it down to the 7.60s somewhere. 

The 7.79 put us at #15 out of 24 cars and put us against the #3 qualifier who was last races winner and is leading the points. Just can’t catch a break! Bryan is up for the challenge and cuts an awesome .009 light to the opponents .020 light so Bryan had the advantage. The car ran a 7.55 to his 7.56 so we got the loss. Bryan crossed the finish line first 4’4” ahead of the other guy as the margin was .014 seconds. But since Bryan ran the faster time under the 7.60 index that gave the win to the opponent.

 All in all the car is running great. The pushrod problem is fixed and this car is poised to doing some winning. We did switch to Lucas Special 50 oil which has a bunch more ZDDP which is anti-wear additive Zinc and Prosperous. Most racing oils have 1200 ppm but Lucas has 3200 ppm. Much better and the oil is the same price as others. We have always been Valvoline guys but we are now Lucas guys. No wonder they are everywhere!

 So where do we go on the way home? Yes we go for yummy treat #4 and where is this marvelous place and what the heck are they selling? If any of you have ever cranked an ice cream maker you know what the delicious taste is. Yes, home-made ice cream! Well we found a little joint called Jolly Cone and their cones have what tasted exactly like homemade! So if we are going to name this tour it would be the Jolly Kone tour! If you are ever traveling on Hwy 46 which connects Hwy 5 to 99 and you are in the town of Wasco I suggest you stop in at the Jolly Kone!

     
Look for the Hall Bros at the Fox Hunt at Sacramento Raceway on Aug 1-2^nd.

Bryan will be running AGas and Mark will be running 7.0 Pro. 

Blower Parts, Hilborn Filter, Enderle Nozzles, Pete Jackson Gear Drive, BDS Elect Inj Adapter for Sale

14 mm pulley, new, 29T            $75.00

14mm pulley, new, 28T     $75.00

Hilborn fuel filter, 12AN             $60.00

Inline Dominator carburetor adapter, Kuhl style, fits 6-71 and 8-71 blowers   $175.00

BDS, electronic fuel inj adapter, 8 injector holes     $100.00

Pete Jackson Gear drive, BBC, new, #427-5C     $175.00

Enderle Fuel Injection Nozzles, 7 ea. 

1ea - #58

2ea - #61

1ea - #65

1ea - #66

2ea - #67                                     $20.00

 e-mail Mark Hall at: hallbros@comcast.net 

March Meet 2014

Yes we did name this race as something always happens that causes us to laugh and then we name the tour. Let us just say it was “spectacular”, more on that later. This report is about the March Meet 2014 in Bakersfield that the Hall Bros 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 March meet all started last year when we sent in our pre-registration to secure our reserved spaces. I had faxed them and then called many times and sent e-mails to confirm that they actually received our forms before the deadline. No responses. Then we get an e-mail confirmation that says we sent them after the deadline to get reserved spots. Wrong! So when I called the lady to tell her that we did send them in time she says“oh yeah, you guys are number 282 and 283 and the asphalt spaces end at 281”. Right…..good answer. Oh well, we can win from the dirt.

This was a four day race Thus, Fri, Sat and Sunday. We got there on Wednesday and it took what seemed like two hours for the guy to find us a spot. I wanted to ask the spotter what happened to our spaces 282 and 283 but he was a nice guy. We ended up almost at the ticket booth which actually worked out OK.

Thursday morning we got teched in and we were ready for the first qualifying round. It was me, Cliff Hall and Jim Novotny with the red car and it was just Bryan and Don Caldwell with the Bantam. Jim would need to do double duty with two cars since Bryan was short a crew member. Jeff Worms was working and could not make it. Bryan recruited Brian Reinaldo but he could not make it down until Fri morning.

So we headed to the lanes for the only qualifying run for Thursday. Bryan ran first and since I was so far back in line I was actually able to be on the line to see his run. Bryan’s car ran great and he posted a 7.619 on the 7.60 index which was # 1 at the time! I was toward the end of the 37 cars and since I was so far back in the lanes Bryan and Don were able to get back to the line to watch. I ran a 7.609 on the 7.60 index! This however was not good enough for #1 and I ended up #3 qualifier. Bryan ended up #6 for the day. This made for a very high spirited night as we went back to our dirt pit. We were really roughing it as we slept on the floor of our race trailer. That is the only way we can afford to make these events. If you take a motorhome they charge an extra 125.00 to camp besides the great fuel mileage with the MH. We also had to rough it when it came to our dinner as Cliff cooked Tri-tip and bake potatoes. The racers life is not easy!

 On Friday it would be the last qualifying pass. I went out first and my car drove toward the guardrail and I let off. Bryan’s car did not sound good and only went 7.80 something. When we got back to the pits after pulling the valve covers on Bryans car he had destroyed a couple of pushrods. So apart it came. We even pulled the heads to make sure one of the valves didn’t hit the piston. Bryan had left his spare pushrods at home so we needed a plan to get them here. We talked about Lisa and Kelly coming down but I found out through Kevin Aldridge that Chuck Adams was coming down to watch his son. They would be there Saturday morning. We also found a bunch of bad adjusters but found some new rocker arms at the swap that had adjusters. Problem solved, or so we thought. Brian Reinaldo and Don Caldwell got everything sorted out so it could go back together. The red car ran over something and was leaking fuel but nothing that JB weld couldn’t fix. Friday night we had a NE-1 pit party and special thanks go out to the Valencia’s for being a gracious host. It was a good feast and Cliff Hall made home made ice cream with the hand crank. It was a hit! Greg and Austin Means liked my apron that I was wearing. I can’t tell you what kind of apron it is but Austin wanted to take it to school and if he did CNN “to catch a predator” would have showed up.

 Saturday morning we got the pushrods kind of late and luckily Bryan’s friend Buddy had come down on his Harley and sped out to meet Chuck at the gas station so we could get the pushrods in time for the first round of eliminations. Now if you have been reading the previous race reports you will know that Bryan has not yet made one round of competition since he has owned the car. This thing is really making him earn it. The car is deadly consistent but it has just been mostly small stuff that has kept him out of eliminations.

We get the call and to the line we go with both cars ready. Bryan runs first and everyone is nervous and Bryan wants to get that monkey off his back. Bryan gets the green and runs 7.619 for the win and his first round win with the car. This is the start of something good. I am up next and I cut a .001 light but the car decides to speed up to a 7.55 on the 7.60 index so I wasted the almost perfect light. Now it is Bryans turn to carry the Hall Bros banner.

 Back in the pits we pull the valve covers and find a couple of pushrods that have slight damage so Bryan fixes them and we adjust the valves a little tighter and Bryan says he will keep the burnout RPM down. Hopefully this will help from beating up the cups.

Saturday evening we get the call for the second round of eliminations and the bantam is ready. Bryan cuts a good light (.038) and gets a huge holeshot. He runs a 7.64 and his opponent runs a 7.44 and Bryan beats him to the finish line! He gets past the second round! This is the first time that I got to ride down in the tow truck in front of the huge crowd. We were honking the horn and the crowd was yelling back. They really like the Bantam as it is the way a nostalgia car should look. It’s like being in the 60s again! This will make for a real good Saturday night as we rough it with barbecue spare ribs and Lisa’s macaroni salad!

Sunday we are ready to go. The pushrods were checked and they look good. Bryan is now in the third round and there are only 10 cars left. Bryan runs a 7.62 and he thinks that he reached the finish line first but it was real close and the other guy gets the win. Bryan wanted this one back as the reaction time was unlike any light of previous rounds.

So all in all it was another spectacular event. Oh yeah, so we named this race the spectacular tour. And here is the back story. All four days we kept hearing the announcers talking and when they said anything they would call out the other announcers name like “how about that Donnie Couch? or what do you think about that Mike English?” So we started doing that in our pit. How about that Bryan Hall? what do you think about that Cliff Hall? That was real spectacular Jim Novotny! Real good run Don Caldwell! So while we were sitting there listening to the announcer’s one of them put every adjective he could into his description and he said the word spectacular several times. So Jim said “man that guy got every word in including spectacular” and we all laughed. That is when we decided to name it the spectacular tour. Funny how we amuse ourselves!

These are some of the best of times for me racing. I had many good times growing up racing with my dad and going to races with my family and this ranks right up there. I couldn’t have made it to this point without the help of friends and family. Thanks to our wives, Lisa, Kelley, Jennifer, Connie and Diane for understanding our need for speed. Thanks to my brother Cliff for always being there. Thanks Jim Novotny, Don Caldwell and Brian Reinaldo. It is fun racing with you all. Bryan wants to send out a special thanks to Winslow Headrick for helping him with the gas bill. Believe me it helps! I want to thank Les Stripe for helping me the past 40 years when it comes to many things including racing. I finally got his name on the side of my car. I have been wanting to do that forever but just never got around to it. Racers are that way. Finally there is a Les Stripe, #LES on the side of the car that could be seen on the bangshift live feed. The #Les has a special insider meaning between Les and Lisa.

Next race is the Fremont Nostalgia Reunion which is actually in Sacramento. The race is on April 5 & 6. Come on out and watch the Hall Bros altereds if you get a chance!