[06slvrrubi]

I work at a high school vo-tech school in the auto-tech shop. I'm an instructional aide, and the instructor that I "aide" just happens to have a drag car. He built it from scratch in his basement, started with a pile of tubing and six years later he was ready to race. He races in the IHRA "Top Sportsman" class. The cars are all Pro-Mod chassis cars with fiberglass bodies made to look like ordinary cars. His is a 94 Lumina Z34. The engine is a 706 cubic inch "Super-Block" (bigger than an ordinary big block) V8. The engine makes 1,200 horsepower on it's own, and after both stages of nitrous are fired, it makes ~2,000 horsepower. His fastest 1/4 mile time was a 6.97 at 200.7 miles per hour (last summer).

So we're sitting in work Thursday and he tells me that he's racing at Quaker City Raceway in Salem, OH Friday night and asks if I'd like to go along. So of course I said he!! yeah. The race was called "Door Wars" because all cars have normally operating doors on both sides. They were only running 1/8 mile races with a pro tree, no dial ins.

So we get there, unload the car, warm it up, and tow it to the staging lanes for first round qualifying. When he launched, the car went violently left and Jim almost lost control it was so outta shape. So we (Jim, his son Dave, and I) made some adjustments to the wheelie bars and went up for the second round of qualifying. This time, the car ran perfectly straight and did a 4.42 @163 mph. We ended up qualifying 7th in the field, with a couple cars left behind up so we didn't have to worry about being bumped out.

Then came the first round elimination round. We towed the car back to the staging lanes, Dave was warming the nitrous bottle with the propane torch to keep the pressure where it needed to be (1,300 lbs.), he wasn't paying attention and burned a hole thru the Co2 line that feeds the parachute launchers and the air shifter. The chutes weren't a conern since we were only running 1/8 mile and they weren't needed. But this also meant that Jim had to shift the car manually.

The car launched straight, but as soon as he hit the 30 foot mark the track got real loose and sh!tty (almost all of the other cars were having trouble staying straight too, they all agreed the track just couldn't hold as much power as the cars were putting out) and the car started going out of shape again. Keep in mind, the front wheels haven't even come back down to the track yet. So Jim had to lift off the gas to get the front wheels on the track so he could try to steer out of the mess. With all this going on in his head, he forgot to shift, so when he lifted off the gas, the rear wheels actually "drug" and just made the mess worse. He ended up completely lifting and getting bumped out of the race, but at least everyone and the car are alright.

Long story short, it was a blast!!!!!! I can't wait to go again with them. Nothing compares with being right there on the starting line and watching the burnout and the launch from about three feet away from the car. The sound of the cars is just unreal. You can literally feel it pounding in your chest, and then after watching it get a little out of control and then see him get it back, you can feel your heart pounding just about as hard. I'm sure some of you know what I'm talking about, but this was my first time being in the pits and down at the starting line.
I didn't take my camera, but I'm hopefully gonna get some pics from Dave's camera and I'll throw them on here when I get em.
For now, here's some links to the track's website with pics of Jim in the car and the car doing it's burnout. The pics are copywrited so I can't post them here, but you can go to the links and look at them.
This one should be the burnout:

http://qcr.smugmug.com/gallery/1773129/5

And this should be Jim sitting in the car. These are actually from earlier in the summer, the first tim Jim went out for the "Door Wars", and they spelled his name wrong, it's Jim Shuman, not Schuman.:

http://qcr.smugmug.com/gallery/1773129/3

[Trouble Maker]

Warming a nitrous bottle with a propane torch? Now there is a Darwin award waiting to happen! Do they teach crap like that in auto shop? What a Moron!

[superubicon]

I just started my weekend and am also having fun. I'm in my underwear listening to Howard Stern and reading the jeep forums.

[Fropleyqk]

I'm still trying to figure out how he got the car out of his basement. I mean, who does that?

[06slvrrubi]

Originally Posted by RSL

Warming a nitrous bottle with a propane torch? Now there is a Darwin award waiting to happen! Do they teach crap like that in auto shop? What a Moron!

So how long have you been racing? How long have you been handling nitrous bottles in drag cars, (real drag cars, not Honda's with NOS floormats and a 5hp shot of the stuff)?

Nitrous is a non-flammable, inert gas. It's pressure varies depending on the heat of the bottle. The pressure needs to be at 1,300 lbs. before the race. So there is an electric "blanket" that get's used when the car is in the pits, then, when you're sitting in the staging lanes, the pressure needs to be maintained. So you use a handheld propane torch to keep the pressure where it needs to be.

Still think we're morons? Okay, you can get on IHRA's website and make an announcement that you are more experienced and have more knowledge of the sport than the officials. Because every car uses the same methods, and the track, and sanctioning body officials approve the methods. That's the way it's done.

What was a stupid thing was for Dave to not be paying attention and burning a hole thru the Co2 line. But hey, accidents happen.

[catdieselpowa]

RSL, I'm sorry but I am pretty sure you just got OWNED!

[Trouble Maker]

Originally Posted by catdieselpowa

RSL, I'm sorry but I am pretty sure you just got OWNED!

An electric blanket is the proper method because they are regulated for maximum temperature.
I would not apply a direct flame to any pressurized container.
Nitrous is an accelerant and will help any combustible burn so if you do happen to have a leak when you are heating it with the torch it will help things burn and will create a fireball with you at the center.

And if you look at the IHRA rule book heating a nitrous bottle with a direct flame is FORBIDDEN only thermostatically controlled heaters are allowed.

[masetj]

Originally Posted by RSL

An electric blanket is the proper method because they are regulated for maximum temperature.
I would not apply a direct flame to any pressurized container.
Nitrous is an accelerant and will help any combustible burn so if you do happen to have a leak when you are heating it with the torch it will help things burn and will create a fireball with you at the center.

And if you look at the IHRA rule book heating a nitrous bottle with a direct flame is FORBIDDEN only thermostatically controlled heaters are allowed.

This is getting good

[kaketj]

dam,you guys that play word battles on the internet need some hobbies,oh wait it's Jeeps go out side and play!!

[famicom21]

nuff said...


good story btw

[NYwranglanator]

We have run in shows with the pro mod guys at our local track and the track officials always make it clear not to use any kind of open flame on the nitrous bottles.

Lou

[TJVigilante]

Originally Posted by RSL

An electric blanket is the proper method because they are regulated for maximum temperature.
I would not apply a direct flame to any pressurized container.
Nitrous is an accelerant and will help any combustible burn so if you do happen to have a leak when you are heating it with the torch it will help things burn and will create a fireball with you at the center.

And if you look at the IHRA rule book heating a nitrous bottle with a direct flame is FORBIDDEN only thermostatically controlled heaters are allowed.

Um...wrong. Nitrous Oxide may be an accelerant, but it's not a fuel. Air is not a fuel either. So...where's the fuel? Nowhere, that's where. The most that can happen is the bottle develops a leak and you get a jet of N2O gas that pops out and extinguishes the flame that is allready burning as hot as it can in the open air. The only fuel involved is the butane in the torch, which is regulated and does not have a direct flame on the tank.

Also, post up the precise wording from the IHRA rulebook that says that open flames are prohibited from being used to heat the bottle.

[Jimmeh]

I made burritos this weekend. I won't mention the ending result of eating them, though.

[PM Thor]

I'm not getting into this argument, but any pressurized tank with any type of product can explode.

BLEVE.

Heck, if you heat up a tanker full of milk, it will explode too.

[Jimmeh]

Originally Posted by PM Thor

I'm not getting into this argument, but any pressurized tank with any type of product can explode.

BLEVE.

Heck, if you heat up a tanker full of milk, it will explode too.

And it would be the best explosion in the world!





























































Well, not for lactose-intolerant people...