After a thrilling Aarrons 499 in April '09, my friends Throttleneckracing and Checkeredflagstilettos kindly took me back to Atlanta and put me up in a hotel using TNR's loyalty points and we had a great meal at a local Cracker Barrel.
That night my head still buzzing from a combination of jet lag, 3 days of Alabama sunshine and hundreds of laps of 200 mph racing action I found my self watching drag racing for the first time on the Speed Channel.
Despite the fact I was physically exhausted, I was enthralled and fully engaged mentally by the sight of earth shaking top fuel drag cars spitting flames a good 10 to 20 feet into the air.
A couple of weeks ago I mentioned that I met Drag Racer Chris 'Backdraft' Hartnell on a Bristol Pegasus Motor Club trip to Race Retro at Stoneleigh and such was his enthusiasm for the sport I am determined to go and see a drag race at Shakespeare County Raceway this year.
If I am lucky I hope to catch site of this outrageous pro modified Corvette C1 run by Ian Hanson and his family team comprising his wife Pauline son Richard, brother Colin, sister in law Karen and nephew Tom.
Chris tells me that Ian's car has this outsize magneto to deliver charge to the spark plugs in place of a battery which would be run flat by the electrical requirements of this humongous motor.
The blurb on Ian's motor read something like "8860cc / 540 cui all alloy New Century Chevrolet Big Block, with forged Arias pistons, Brooks alloy rods, Howards billet crank, and Aviade dry sump oil system that is hiding behind an Enderie 'Big & Ugly' injector hat and fuel system with an 8/71 Teflon Stage 4 Littlefield Supercharger".
Last year Ian set a new Supercharged Outlaws UK et record of 7.29 seconds over a distance of 402 meters.
The record was set with the engine in a 'mild state of tune' producing around 1,700 (Seventeen Hundred) hp !
This year Ian will be turning up the boost a little further...
and attempt to cover the 402 meters in under 7 seconds.
I am sure you will join me in wishing Ian all the best, with a little luck I'll be there to see it, with a bit more luck I might just have time to take a photograph.
Thanks for joining me on today's 'mild state of tune' edition of 'Gettin a lil' psycho on tyres', I hope you will join me again tomorrow. Don't forget to come back now !
