July 12, 2005

The car show judging drew a lot of nice cars.  Three of us from the NASSA group (Huntsville, AL) won in our individual classes.  I took First Place in 1994 B-Body, Street, 100,000-150,000 miles.  That's me on the right.  On the left, Bob Nobling took Second Place in 1996 Impala SS, Modified, 50,000-100,000 miles.  In the middle, Gary Reas took First Place in 1996 Impala SS, Modified, 0-50,000 miles.

Finally got the car on a dyno with Bryan Herter doing the tuning!  Bryan did a lot of tuning at Mountain Madness, ISSCA's annual get-together in the Pocono Mountains in PA.  I had PCMFORLESS "install it yourself" tuning in the PCM and the only thing Bryan had to adjust was the air-to-fuel ratio.  Results were satisfying, 302 RWHP and 308 RWTQ, and in line with what had been estimated.  The only suggestion Bryan had was for me to install a 2.5" exhaust system.  I have the parts out in the garage, but didn't have the time to get them installed before leaving for PA.

Drag race results at Island Dragway were limited by the lack of "grip" I had with street tires.  See 60' times.  I suspect it's time for a set of drag radials.  Plus, I had a full tank of gas and a substantial amount of weight still in the trunk.  Engine and transmission performed flawlessly.  Shifts were solid at 5,800 rpm and the engine pulled hard all the way to the finish line.

The road racing at Pocono Raceway was a blast!  We had the use of the road course at the East end of the track from 7 AM to 7 PM.  That's the end of the track with the steepest banked turn.  We also had the use of the NASCAR garages all to ourselves.  Pretty cool!  Again, "sticky" tires would have been a big advantage.  My measured time was 01:12 and my speed in the high banked turn was around 93 mph.  I saw speeds in the high 90's during our practice laps, but that was with a "rabbit" to chase.  :-)