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 1-2nd.
Bryan will be running AGas and Mark will be running 7.0 Pro.
