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NHRA 2012 SEASON — ALEXIS and COURTNEY WILL BE A STORY

tom — Wed, 01 Feb 2012 03:11:46 +0000

The O’Reilly’s Winter Nationals at Panoma Ca. kicks off the 2012 NHRA Full Throttle Series this weekend,Feb.9-12. Top Fuel, Funny Car and Pro Stock divisions dominate the series. For the 2012 season the Funny Cars could prove to be the most intersting division. More on that later.

Top Fuel — Among the fastest-accelerating machines in the world, 7,000-horsepower Top Fuel dragsters are often referred to as the “kings of the sport,” and with good reason. They are capable of covering a quarter-mile in 4.4 seconds at more than 330 mph. Powered by a supercharged and fuel-injected 500-cubic-inch adaptation of the famed Chrysler Hemi engine, Top Fuel dragsters can burn up to 15 gallons of nitromethane fuel during a single quarter-mile run. Constructed of chromoly steel tubing and carbon-fiber composite, Top Fuel cars are 25 feet long and weigh 2,250 pounds in race-ready trim.

Del Worsham driving the Al-Anabi Top Fuel Dragster was the 2011 Champion. Del has since retired and will be the crew chief for the Al-Anabi Funny Car that will be driven by Alexis DeJoria. The plot thickens in the Funny Car section.

Funny Car – Similar to their Top Fuel counterparts but with a shorter wheelbase and a carbon-fiber body that loosely resembles a production-based automobile, Funny Cars routinely run in the 4.7-second range and are capable of speeds in excess of 330 mph. Funny Cars are powered by the same supercharged and fuel-injected 500-inch engines as Top Fuel dragsters. Funny Cars are also similar to Top Fuel dragsters in that they do not use a transmission but rather transmit power to the huge Goodyear rear slicks through a multistage clutch assembly that is activated by timers.

Matt Hagan driving the DieHard Dodge Charger R/T Funny Car for Don Schumacher Racing was the 2011 Funny Car Champion.

Here’s where things get really fun. For the 2012 season we have Alexis DeJoria, a good driver and daughter of billionaire Paul Michell Hair Co. CEO Paul Dejoria, going againist Courtney Force, daughter of legendary Funny Car driver John Force and sister of former driver Ashley Force, for Rookie of the year award in The Funny Car series. John Force is still an active driver while Ashley has started a family and has retired from driving. Ashley was a very good driver.

ALEXIS

I regret to say that R2B2 Racing has cancelled it’s Funny Car teams so as of the writing of this article Melanie Troxel and Leah Pruett do not have rides.

Pro Stock — Often called “factory hot rods” because of their resemblance to production-based automobiles, Pro Stock cars are some of the most technologically advanced machines in drag racing. Built around a sophisticated tube chassis and four-link rear suspension, Pro Stock cars must conform to precise measurements and weigh no less than 2,350 pounds. Pro Stock engines use two carburetors and spec gasoline and are restricted to a maximum of 500 cubic inches. They can rev to more than 10,500 rpm and make in excess of 1,300 horsepower. A competitive Pro Stock car can run in the 6.6s at more

Jason Line driving the Ken Black Summit Racing Pontiac GXP was the 2011 Pro Stock champion.

Erica Enders is one of the most capable female drivers in any racing venue, drives in the Pro Stock Division. Watch for Erica to be one of the top conteners for the 2012 Pro Stock championship.

IT WAS A GREAT WEEKEND OF GRAND AM RACING FOR FORD

tom — Mon, 30 Jan 2012 01:41:54 +0000

The #61 Roush Performance Mustang Boss 302R GT co-driven by Jack Roush Jr. and Billy Johnson won, as in first place, the Continental Tire Series race on Friday. They beat a host of BMW and Porsche teams.

At the Rolex 24 Hours at Daytona Saturday and Sunday Michael Shank Racing’s Ford Riley took 1st and 3rd place while Starworks Motorsport’s Ford Riley took 2nd place and Starworks Motorsport’s Ford Riley . The picture below is The winning Michael Shank Racing’s winning #60 Ford-Riley DP.

In the GT class of the Daytona 24 hours Stevenson Motorsports’ Camaro GT.R finished in 4th place, the highest of any AmericanCar. By finishing 4th the Camaro finished a head of a plethora of Porsche, Audi, and Ferrari teams.

ARTICLE: RUN THRU THE HILLS 7 – PRO-TOURING AT ITS BEST

tom — Sat, 28 Jan 2012 03:29:15 +0000

Run Thru The Hills is held in the foothills of the Great Smoky Mt. The event includes a social on Friday night, autocross on Saturday, then drag racing and braking competitions on Sunday. Pro-Touring eventhas put this event on for the last seven years . I suppose one could safely say Bill Howell was one of the founders of Pro-Touring events. In 2012 Bill has started a series called, American Street Car Series. The Series will have at least seven RTTH type competitions through out the country.

Peter Varga’s 1972 Firebird on the autocross

In general, maybe 80% of the time Pro-Touring cars are pre 1972 AmericanCar that have some combination of upgraded engine, chassis, suspension, brakes, steering, tires,wheels etc. The cars are built for autocrossing, elapsed times on a road courses, drag strip and braking competition. In the very true sense of Pro-Touring the cars are to be streetable and be able to be driven, even long distances, to the competitions, not trailered. Camaraderie and fun are the reason for the events. I hope it stays that way.

At a Pro-Touring event there are so many great cars you need to find a theme. At RTTH 7 I decided to concentrate on Pontiacs.

Run Thru The Hills 7 – PRO-TOURING AT ITS BEST — PART 2 is in the works as you read.

(1) STEPHANIE VS. THE STANDOUT GTO — RTTH7

tom — Sat, 28 Jan 2012 01:35:03 +0000

As great a car that the GTO is the first thing I notice when look at these pictures is Stephanie. Sorry Bill it’s not even close. I didn’t get to talk to Stephanie much, her husband was wanting to go. But if I had to guess I’m saying Stephanie is a dental hygienist, played high school basketball and at the age of twenty eight Stephanie is serious, semi-competitive runner. Steph, please let me know how close I came.

(2) Thinking Outside The Box – BILL HERDER’S 1966 GTO VERT — RTTH7

tom — Sat, 28 Jan 2012 00:48:52 +0000

If there was an award for the most different approch to a Pro-Touring car Bill’s GTO would have won hands down. It’s just an awesome, stand out car.

The GTO was a featured article in the October 2011 issue of High Performance Pontiac. I have just pulled a few statements from the High Perfromace Pontiact article to give some basics on the car.

DrivetrainTransmission: Richmond Street Five-speed manual trans (4+1), 3.27 1st, 2.13 2nd, 1.57 3rd, 1.23 4th, 1.00 5th, aluminum flywheel, Hurst shifter.

Rear axle: GM 12-bolt rearend (original housing), Eaton posi differential w/3.07:1 gears, Strange C-Clip eliminators,

Front suspension: Stock upper and lower control arms w/ Herb Adams solid greasable bushings, MOOG tie rods w/ custom adjusters, Herb Adams sway bar w/ heim joint end links, Adjustable KONI red shocks, Global West subframe connectors, Global West ½” solid subframe bushings.

Rear suspension: Detroit Speed 3” drop leafs, DSE shackles & bushings, Herb Adams sway bar, Adjustable KONI red shocks.

SPC billet adjustable tubular upper and lower control arms and Pro-Touring 550 lb-in springs in front. They attach to the stock spindles via Howe NASCAR-style tall ball joints. Alston Varishock double-adjustable shocks help soften the bumps and control the springs, Energy Suspension polyurethane bushings thwart suspension deflection, and a Hellwig tubular 1.125-inch stabilizer bar keeps cornering flat.

To upgrade the rear, the same brand springs (135 lb-in rate), shocks, bushings, and stabilizer bar (1.125-inch with end links) are employed. Additional handling mods include Currie Currectrac billet upper and lower control arms and Edelbrock crossbraces to triangulate the mounting points for added strength. A set of 18×8 front, 18×10 rear NewGen wheels roll on the aforementioned Nittos, measuring 245/40-18 in front and 275/40-18 in the rear.

Tires: Nitto NT555 – F: 255/45/ZR18 R: 285/40/ZR18

Wilwood 14-inch front disc brakes with six-piston calipers, as well as 12.2-inch, four-piston calipers in the rear, sans power assist,

A ’70 400 was bored and stroked to 462 and built by Dave Hillard of Donnellsville, Ohio, who Bill describes as “an outstanding guy and a credit to the Pontiac community.” A set of four-bolt billet caps were added to the 0.030-over block to hold in the 4.25-inch-stroke, Ohio forged crank; PRW 4340 Ultralight I-beam, forged rods; and Ross 4.155-inch, forged pistons wrapped in Federal Mogul rings. A Melling 54D pump works from a Canton road race oil pan to ensure the crude is at the pickup in high-g cornering.

KRE D-Port aluminum heads were ported to flow 320/240 cfm at 0.700 lift by SD Performance. Comp valvesprings; Smith Brothers 5⁄16-inch pushrods; and PRW stainless, 1.65:1 roller rockers deliver the cam specs to the 2.15/1.74 valves. The Comp hydraulic-roller cam employs solid-roller lifters (higher rpm without valve float) and features 246/252- degrees duration at 0.050 and 0.660/0.660 lift; LSA is 112 degrees.

RTTH 7, 2011 RTTH, 2011 Run Thru The Hills, 2011 Run Thru The Hills 7, Bill Howell

The Grand Am Rolex Series’s 24 Hours at Daytona — 2012 preview

tom — Thu, 26 Jan 2012 03:39:32 +0000

On the previous slide we talked about the Grand Am Continental Tire Series and its Friday’s 2.5 hour race. Now we are talking about The Grand Am Rolex series 24 hours at Daytona which starts Saturday, 1/28/12 at 2:30 pm live and on Speed.

There are two classes of cars race at the same time at a Rolex race, the DP – Daytona Prototypes and the GT – Grand Touring

The big news in the DP class are the new Corvette fashioned DP cars. During the 2012 testing this new car seems to be very fast no matter what team were running it. Plus the Corvette car is so much better looking than the other DP cars. The perennial DP team to beat is the Chip Ganassi Racing with Felix Sabates / BMW Riley . There are also Ford and Proshe powered teams. Below are pictures of the new Gainsco DP car from this year and then last years last year car.

GAINSCO/Bob Stallings Racing / Corvette DP 2012

GAINSCO/Bob Stallings Racing DP 2011

The GT competition is going to be great. There are a host of Ferrari 458s, Porsche GT3s, BMW M3s, Mazda RX-8s and Audi Sport AGs against a few Camaros, Mustangs, and one Corvette and one Viper. The big news is the arrival of the Grand Am GT purpose built Ferrari 458. If they don’t win it will be an embarrassment. The other news is that the sponsor for the Rick Ware Racing Camping World truck fell through. Jeffery Earnhardt, Dale’s grandson, was scheduled to drive that truck. so instead Jeffery will be the full time co-driver of the Rick Ware Racing Rolex Mustang GT Car team.

Below we have pictures of most of the AmericanCar teams.

Autohaus Motorsports Camaro

Stevenson Motorsports Camaro

Rick Ware Racing Mustang

Michael Baughman Racing Corvette

Racers Edge Motorsports Viper

(3) Miss Kitty Meets Pro-touring and Miss Kitty’s Husband meets AmericanCarsAmericangirls.com — RTTH7

tom — Wed, 25 Jan 2012 15:07:45 +0000

Miss Kitty met Pro-Touring and she liked it a lot. Miss Kitty, real name Tenisha, wanted to go get their car right then and start autocrossing. I told her that the field was probably full and the best place to learn the basic of autocrossing was at the regional SCCA

Miss Kitty’s husband met AmericanCarsAmericanGirls.com and he wasn’t that fond of us. But Tenisha liked us ok and we got some great pictures of Tenisha with Terry Neuville’s 1968 Pro-Touring Camaro. I sent all the pictures to Tenisha and husband for their approval. When it was all said and done I think Miss Kitty’s husband ended up liking AmericanCarsAmericanGirls.com just fine.

I did a post on Terry Neuville’s Camaro at RTTH6 and he gave me the following info on his car:

‘’The car is a 68 Camaro. It was my first car and I bought it when I was 15 in high school. It was a daily driver from 1980 til 1994. The car has over 230,000 total miles on it. I drove the car on five Hot Rod Power Tours from 2003 to 2007. I did my first full resto on the car starting two years ago and finished it August 2009 just in time for my first time to RTTH5. The car is never trailered. I drive it to every event no matter how far. Now it has been a year and a couple of months since the resto with over 12,600 miles in that time. In the last year I have driven from Baton Rouge LA., to Indian, to north Georgia, Houston TX. Dallas TX. and Pigeon Forge not to mention all over Louisiana.

The car has a LS2 engine with 4L65E transmission, 18″ Forgeline wheels, DSE Quadralink rear suspension on coilovers, Global West front suspension on coilovers, 14″ Baer brakes all the way around, GPS Nav, DVD player, reverse camera, security with remote start, power windows and power door locks, paint is House of Kolors candy apple red over silver with ghost strips.’’

Thanks for all the cool pictures and your time. Very cool website also.

Terry Neuville

(4) Kimberly — The Arts meet AmericanCarsAmericanGirls.com — RTTH7

tom — Tue, 24 Jan 2012 03:39:07 +0000

One time I got a stripper (fully clothed) to pose for AmericanCarsAmericanGirls.com and she didn’t even asked to be paid. I was feeling pretty special that day.

Now I can add a trained, performing ballerina to my resume. Kimberly’s boyfriend volunteered the info to me. Kimberly was much too modest. By day Kimberly handles international freight in Virginia Beach Va,harbour. By night Kimberly trains and dances ballet in the Virginia Beach Ballet Co.

Now when someone gives you trouble about spending your time on such a mindless and shallow web site as AmericanCarsAmericanGirls.com you can rebut with AmericanCarsAmericanGirls.com’s link to the performing art of dance, in one form or another.

Kimberly is posing with Scot W.’s 1986 Buick T-Type.

AmericanCars RACING THIS WEEKEND!

tom — Mon, 23 Jan 2012 02:59:05 +0000

The Continental Tire Series, the second level of Gand Am Racing, starts the 2012 racing season this Friday, 1/27/12. The race is a 2.5 hours race on the sports car track of The Daytona Speed Way. The race will not be televised until 2/04/11. The race is just a prelim for the Rolex Grand AM 24 hour at Daytona. The Grand Am Rolex 24 Hours starts Saturday 01/28/12.

The big boys in The Continetal are the GS (Grand Sport) cars. A list of the AmericanCar teams are below. The remainder of the GS cars are a host of BMWs, Porsches, with a mix of a few other brands.

52 GS Rehagen Racing / Mustang Boss 302R

51 Gs Roush Performance / Mustang Boss 302R
49 GS Roush Performance / Mustang Boss 302R
61 GS Roush Performance / Mustang Boss 302R

9 GS Stevenson Motorsports / Camaro GSR

17 GS BTE Sport / Mustang Boss 302R

62 GS Mitchum Motorsports / Camaro GS.R
6 GS Mitchum Motorsports / Camaro GS.R

7 GS Starworks Motorsport / Mustang Boss 302R
15 GS Starworks Motorsport / Mustang Boss 302R

158 GS Miller Racing / Mustang Boss 302R

87 GS Vehicle Technologies / Dodge Challenger GS.R

48 GS CKS Autosport / Camaro GS.R
49 GS CKS Autosport / Camaro GS.R

54 GS Jim Click Racing / Mustang Boss 302R
50 GS Jim Click Racing / Mustang Boss 302R

The Roush #61 team co-driven by Jack Jr. was the most successful AmericanCar team in 2011.

This is Ashley McCalmont, a CanadianGirl, who will be codriving the CKS Racing Camaro.

The less powerful cars in the Continental series are the ST (Street Tuner). The lone AmericanCar in the ST is the Ford Foucus. The ST division is dominated with BMWs, Hondas, and VWs.

There was no AmericanCar entry in this division last year.

(5) 1986 BUICK T-TYPE and GNS PERFROMANCE — RTTH7

tom — Sun, 22 Jan 2012 03:18:46 +0000

The Buick Regal Grand National was one of the hottest performance cars of the dark days of the 1980s, and its performance is still very respectable even by today’s standards. The 1986-87 intercooled models have always received most of the attention. Another fact is that everything the Grand National had except the Darth Vader black paint was also on the ”T-Type” so if you wanted the performance of the Grand National but didn’t want it in black and/or preferred a much more subdued look, the ”T-Type” was the way to go.

Scott Walkowiak owns this T-Type and also GNS Performance. GNS Performance Sells custom and after-market parts for the G-body GM cars. He has a very nice web site www.gnsperformance.com.

Scott’s Type has CCW 3-piece wheels, complete Detroit Speed suspension, Baer Brakes, and frame bracing.