Summit wk 10, Wally award Nite, yeh I wish too!

Mike Puckett

SCCoA Member
One day a season an NHRA track can give away Wally awards and today was the day at Atlanta Dragway. I thought it was my nite (I always do) but, alas, I fell short in the quarterfinals on a red light. After the July 4th weekend attendance was down but the heat factor was up. It was about 99` all day long but cooled to 85` by 9 pm. I had the 76mm MAF with the correct sample tube installed and opened the day with a 13.434 against a 67 Chevelle/350 running a 14.236 so I knew that the combo was good. My next time trial was against a 99 or so Mustang. Dang if I didn't miss 3rd gear again, what is wrong with me! Oh well, I managed to stick it back in 3rd to run a 13.917 against the Mustang's 14.397 and win anyway. I just really hate hearing the motor bouncing off of the rev limiter, you know. That's 6200 rpm I believe. My 1st elimination run was against a 95-98 Mustang. I dialed a 13.4 and the Mustang dialed a 15.30 I was 1 up on this guy and now I'm 2 up as I ran a 13.569 on my 13.4 dial and he broke out with a 15.279. We have our races about an hour apart so it's about 5:30 now and it's still 93` in the pits. My next run was against another Mustang, 2001 this time. He dialed a 14.60 and I dialed up to a 13.43. We exchanged my bad .774 reaction time and 13.478 for his lousy 14.799 time on a nice .572 reaction time and I came up .0511 secs short. Whoops, buy back time, off to rm 103 with $10 in hand. At 6:30 it's time for round 3 and now it's only 91`. I match up against a Rodge Dam truck with a 16.68 on his window this time. Easy kill I'm told in the staging lanes and indeed he red lights and I putted out a 14.747 to take an easy win. Picking my timeslip I recalled the time when I worked my buttoff to run a 14.7. Times, how they change! With the temps finally starting to fall into the hi 80's My next race matches me up with my good friend Mel and his 69 Camaro. We dial nearly identical times, his 13.35 to my 13.40. This time he prevails as I red light with .486 and don't bother to run it on out and just drive on down the track, my day's over. No Wally today! We go again next Sat. I picked up 40 points today but will have to wait till next week to know where I'm at in the points standings. On the way home, I stop to get gas at my exit and 2 young guys come up to me asking for ride back to their hotel a couple exits up the interstate. They're here from Boston working on a job and I know a Bostonian accent. Well, normally I don't pick up any hitch hikers but I could tell that they'd had a couple too many beers and seemed harmless enough and I remembered being in that position myself about 30 years ago so I said "Alright, come on I'll take you." They couldn't get over the car so I then proceeded to give them the ride of their life to 3 exits up the interstate. I kept it under 100 but they know the car is really fast and enjoyed every harrowing second. I kept it safe but I'm sure the other drivers I went past thought I was a total nut.
 
Nice runs Mike, I'm going to have to make it up there to see you run sometime in the near future. What time do they start on Saturdays anyways? I keep thinking it's early in the day.
 
Gates open at 11am and I try to get there around 11:30 so I don't have to wait in line. Time trials usually start at 1 and eliminations usually start around 4. and run until whenever. Last night it was over by 8:30 but usually it runs until 11.
 
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