Muffler Mike Racing
(aka. Team Squid Racing)
Home of Resto-Race
1997-1998-1999- PRA Pro Eliminator Champion
2005 PRA Super Comp Champion.
2006 PRA Super Comp Champion.
www.MufflerMike.com
*UPDATE*
Tips: if you find this page hard to read, you can try and right click and hold, then drag the cursor over all the words to high-light them. this might make it easier to read until i can find a better back ground that doesn't mess with your eyes.
6-8-10
I need to really step it back up for my updates again.
Few weeks back, we went out to Sacramento Bug o Rama. I was looking for a little launching problem and think I found it when I did some testing Friday night out there. But the weird thing was the timing system seems to be off. I was running way to fast, ET and MPH to where I think I should have been. I was told that NHRA had come in recently and calibrated it all. So it was accurate. In the end I think the 1/8 mile marker in the left lane was off a little because the 1/8 and ¼ mile times just didn’t match what my car does. Not to mention, probably 3mph faster than normal. Oh well. As long as it doesn’t affect the racing. Off the trailer on Friday night was a 10.78 and then a 10.90. Well if the 90 pass was correct, I’m in a good position.
Saturday was 2 rounds of qualifying. First qualifying pass netted me a 10.926. Hot damn. For the moment, number 1. Second round was not so good. Did this instant right turn on the line. So it was a throw away pass. Then Steve Atkinson ripped off a 10.908 I think it was. Took that number 1 away.
Sunday morning and we have one more hit at qualifying. Trying to figure out why my car turned on me, I came to the conclusion I had way to much shock in for the deteriorating conditions. Worked great when I’m running against v8 cars, but once we get a bald spot, it’s a crap shoot. Good news was a shock adjustment did the job. Strait as an arrow coming out of the whole, but definitely felt much softer and only netted a 10.99. Then on top of that Allen Weiss snuck in 10.920 to take the number 2 spot away.
Eliminations where now here. First round I am paired up with A.J. Simms. He knew and I knew he was having some issues on the line. BUT I am not going to take any chances. I do my own game, run it out as far as I dare, he wasn’t there, soon the brakes I go. But just after I cross the finish line, he comes flying by at big MPH.
Round two and now I’m paired up with Wayne Davis. I haven’t raced him before that I know of, but cool guy from Canada. This was an easy race since he also had problems on the line.
Round 3 and guess what. I get a bye round. WOW. That doesn’t happen often. So my thinking, I have not made a clean all out pass with a good 1000 foot mark ET since the morning. (1000 ft ET was broken in right lane) So I opted to take the left lane, thinking the winner of the other side of the ladder would put me there any ways. Right on, click off a 10.93. Very cool. (shooting for that 10.90 index)
Final round. Allen Weiss. Current S/C champion. I am feeling very confident in my whole package. Allen does put me in the right lane instead of the left, but I didn’t think too much about that. Made a real small adjustment to sneak in on that 90 index. Both left. He had 18 thou on the tree, and I seem not to fade away very much in second gear. Is my car hauling butt??????? By half track, I’m a few cars back, he starts to play his own game, I go flying by and lift off the gas and even hover my foot over the brake pedal. I might have even pushed on it a little. Cross the line and no win light. DANG!!! I must have broke out. Sure enough, 1/8 mile time said I was on a hi 70’s pass. But lifting netted a 10.85 to Allen’s 10.95. He left enough on the table for me to squeak in, but I defiantly took too much. I would have had to run about a 93 or better to beat him.
Over all, great weekend. Came close, car ran well, almost too well, I didn’t mess up as a driver, as a tuner, I missed the mark just a touch. That’s ok.
Congrats to Allen. Damn good job.
From a points day aspect, very good. Recovered from the Phoenix event. One round out of first in third place, but only 1 point ahead of Allen, With Steve Atkinson and Dave Bendig in first and second respectively. Going to be one of those close years.
This weekend is The Classic weekend. Will most likely have my car at JayCee’s Open house and then the Classic show itself.
See yea there.
4-19-10
here is another incar vid from the last Drag Day. it is either the 6.90 or 6.92 pass that morning.
Phoenix on the other hand wasnt as nice to me as i would have liked. Qualified number 4 and just wasnt prepaired as I should have been for the starting line prep. But I did manage to get past first around against Allen Weiss. Then I met up with Steve Atkensen. I think I had him covered for the most part and then the unthinkable happened. I some how went from third gear back to second. best I can figure is when I turned to find Steve on the track during the reduced 1/8th mile racing we changed to for safety reasons, my hand grabbed the gate control handle as well as the regular handle and when I pulled it into fourth, OHH!!!!!!!!!!!!!! lost all momentum and Steve drove around me. Oh well. next race is Bug In on May 2nd. be there.
3-29-10
Phoenix Bug o rama.
just this quick update. will hopfully give details later. (thats what i said about the last one.) quick youtube vid of 3rd round of qualifying.
3-14-2010
Can you say Big Red Eye?
Just got back from Drag Day at Irwindale. What a blast.
Car worked good like it use to be. no trial and error here. just the old stuff. Needless to say, went to the finals agains Mike Lawless. Unfortunatly the last time we met, I was on the winning end. And we joke, who's turn it is to win each time we meet. Well it was his turn this time.
ill try and give more details later and have a few pictures on my camera that i need to upload here of my anticks that have been going on since my last update.
so stay tuned.
12-24-09
Wanted to wish every one a Merry Christmas and Happy New Year.
Not too much going on here. a month or so back I worked on John Troxell's heads a bit. he had his heads set up for 6 studs per cylinder. Unfortunatly, the holes above the spark plugs were just not quite deep enough to get a socket on the plug and have the nut in place. So he asked me if I could just kiss the releife for the washer just a little deeper. I showed a bit of this on facebook already. but for those that don't follow that over there, here it is.
John actually caught me
on camera working. two items on the left. One for who ever happens to be
around and the other bottle is full of left over methanol. I learned from
an old timer machinist, alcohol is an exceptional lube for cutting aluminum.
and it has worked great for me for quite a while now. not to mention i have
a few gallons laying around from my alky days.
Ended up using a boring
bar with a grind it your self carbide square stock, turn down the bottom
of the bar to just fit into the stud hole to act as a pilot and wha-la, once
sided cutting tool.
John asked around to some
peers like Pat Downs about how deep should be enough and he found every one
said down to middle to end of the third fin. sure enough that was the ticket
on the
CB
Comp Eliminator heads.
Just some aluminum
shavings. Trusting the DRO for depth.
Give you and idea how deep
it gets.
In other news around here,
Brian, aka Big B, aka Chilly Willy, aka Number 1 Pit B_tch had got around
to catching up on back projects. He started building a 1915 for his dad,
but a house remodel put every thing in storage a few years back. So instead
of continuing, the thought was to just take the short block back apart, clean
up an dust and stuff that might have got into it and double check every thing.
He has it at my house since I am a little more prepaired tool wise to do
it. should be a little screamer.
12-6-09
Some of the things I worked on that should be of some importance to those regular racers that tow something all the time. Over the summer, I found that the suspension components on my toy hauler was warn out and the frame was twisting partially because of the uneven ware. So I went to work trying to replace things and stiffen and bring things back into alignment.
As you can see, the equalizer and shackles are all
heavily worn. shackes almost ready to brake through and drop the trailer
on the ground.
I ended up putting one of
these kits in to replace the old parts. suspension type equalizer and all
greasable fittings
so i went to work on parts
to stiffen and straiten out the frame from side to side around the leaf spring
mounting points.
I started ending up with
peices like this that loop around some of the plumbing under the trailer
and lower the cross bar to clear the water tanks.
for the cross bar, I ended
up using some 3x3x1/4" box tubing. fortunate for me, I am collecting some
tools to work with this stuff like the band saw.
and once its painted and
the mounting plates are slotted for adjustment and every thing is right on
a 90 degree, the end product is a few of these monstrosities.
more to come as I get some time on my hands. So the lesson here is keep an eye on your trailer suspension. Even my old flat bed, the shackles were warn out.
11-26-09
Happy Thanksgiving.
Be safe and don't eat too much.
Not all that much going on here. Worked on Troxell's heads to slightly deepen the stud above the spark plug. (6 stud set up)
And I have every intention of taring into my car in the next week or two now that the work load has slowed down and I am not working the O.T.
Motor and trans will be out for the usual annual service and check up and will be installing some goodies to make that switch to methanol. Even bigger fuel line then before, modified fuel tank, parrellel fuel pumps, return line, regulator, etc.
11-5-09
Less then .006 of a second
Was the difference in another Championship and 2nd place.
Fontana PRA Points finals. I went out testing the day before and had some issues. Felt like I couldn't get out of my own way. Has a miss or fuel delivery issue in first gear that I seem to solve for the most part by Sunday.
On Sunday, the goal was to try and qualify with in 3 positions of Allen Weiss in order to keep my self with in 2 rounds of points. Then all I had to do was go two rounds farther. Definitely easier said then done. But it happened in Vegas, so why not Fontana.
Due to day light savings time, we all knew we would be pressed for time on this day and qualifying may be cut short if there are enough oil downs to slow down the program schedule.
On my first qualifying pass, the car did this immediate right turn on the line and came pretty close to the tree and some how netted an 11.43 pass. Fortunately, the rest were not all up to speed either.
On the second qualifying pass, the exact same thing happened and went even slower, so I was way off pace. Fortunately, Allen didn't have all that much better luck. He qualified 5th and I was in the 7th spot. I am less the 2 rounds behind. Part one was there.
Part two. Not knowing what the car would do, I was at a complete loss weather it was the car or the track that made me turn right. I went through every thing I could, talked to a few people, etc. I was completely stumped. So my first round opponent was Dave Bendig. He chose the lane I had problems with and on a leap of faith, I kept every thing neutral in the car and held my breath. Car went as an arrow and worked perfect. Got out half track only to see Dave having his troubles so that was a fairly easy win. Some one behind me had problems and slowed the program down witch actually gave me time to got to the fence and watch the rest of my class. I watch E-girl take out A.J Simms who was 2nd in points. And then I watch Steve Atkensen take out Allen Weiss. HOLY Cow!!!!!!!! They are out and I am still in. Now can I capitalize. Round 2 and its due or die. If I win this round, I just need to stage in the semi's to win the championship. I am up against E-girl. My record has been good against her so far. But I was actually a little nervous. Too many things can go wrong. Car turns right, I miss a gear, car bogs, etc. Knowing she is not the best at the tree, I played that part conservative so I wouldn't accidentally go deep and get the red light. I ended up treeing her, car stumbles just a bit so i have to play catch up. But I did catch her and passed by a good half car and now it was time to reel her in closer since my last few losses were because I took too much at the stripe. I did my job exactly how I thought it should be done and wouldn't change a thing at that point in time. I knew I took the stripe but yet my win light didn't come on. WHAT!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!! Boy was I fuming. I haven't been that hot about a loss…ever. I wanted it bad. I got my time slip and it shows she crossed .0058 before me. HMMMMM!!! Cant be. Later that day, some one suggested how low her car was and maybe the nose of her car tripped the beams before my tires did. So that is one possibility. Needless to say, I will change my game plan a little depending on how low my opponents car is. This is something I look for when I race the V8 guys. Some of them have a fin up front at that 3" above the ground mark but on the top end, aerodynamics takes over or they just tap the brake to drop the nose down to take the stripe. It is now in the memory banks for future races. On a good note. E-girl went on to win her first S/C race. So that made me feel a little better and even though she took me out, I was the first to pour the beer on her head. LOL. and with in a few minutes she was wearing a 6 pack. LOL. Way to go E. And a big Congrats also goes out to Allen Weiss for taking his second consecutive championship in a row.
That's the story for now. I think I am done racing for the year and will start the annual check up of every thing in the car.
Will post pictures of what ever I am doing soon as well.
Till next time.
10-23-2009
The first update of 2009.
Let me start by saying, my apologies for not keeping up with the web page. I have had a lot of emails asking what happened. I think it's been since June of 08 since I last updated. Well here is the story of the ups and downs.
It all started at the end of June 08. I got a call for a new job. Of course I took it, but the problem with the web site was it sat on a server with a specific type of security that required a fixed or static IP address to access the files. Well at my last job, my work computer fit this perfect. So I would update my page during brakes or lunches. Worked out real well. Now with the new job, I do not have internet access yet and at home, I am on the ho hum every day dynamic or revolving IP address. So I couldn't access my files. So I figured as soon as settled into work, I will move the page somewhere. Then as things were looking up, things went in a bad direction. In August of 08, my wife had a seizure brought on from a brain tumor. WOW!!!!!! Needless to say, this was a pretty big shock and she was in surgery by the end of that week.
Fortunately it was benign. Turns out it was called a menengeoma the size of a golf ball. I am very fortunate to have great in-laws and family to help me out with the kids and every thing else and a new employer that understands. Recovery has been time consuming, but every day she got a little better. So I went through the better part of 08 and into 09 going to work, then taking care of a lot of things that my wife would normally do. Now a days, she is about 95% back to normal. Still has some moments, but is doing all the normal things she use to do, but tackles them in a different manor. And since the last update, I have continued to race, but 08 was a bit off the pace.
2009 arrived and due to the unknown economy, Aircooled.net needed to back out of the primary sponsorship area. A huge thanks to them since they saw the writing on the wall and told me about it well in advance back in September 08 to give me time to search for a new primary. BUT the good news was CB Performance stepped up to the plate to save my butt and are now the new primary sponsor. Huge thanks to Rick and the gang over there. Aircooled.net is still onboard as an associate sponsor so be sure to continue to support the people that support me.
Racing continued as normal for the 09 season. I wanted to get the web page up and going again, but seem like every thing I wanted to do it, there was another expense come up here or there and it got put on the back burner until now.
And now for the quick 09 race recap to the best of my memory. (didn't get to log it here)
Went to the first Drag Day of the year experimenting with some new clutch combo's. That did not work out so well.
Bug In. still struggled with clutch combos, but was finding something. But bogged to a first round loss.
Went to Phoenix where the track was extremely marginal. Was number 1 qualifier and met up with Dave Stark in the first round. We both had bad runs, I lifted 3 separate times to keep my self off the wall or off the centerline. Dave was doing the same thing. He was a few cars out in front of me and I saw him drift to the right wall in his lane and then suddenly turn right and in my mind, he was going to cross the line and come into my lane. So I lifted for the 4th time. Well he definitely has some good car control because after the race was over, the starting line suspected he had crossed the line and I would win the round, but when they inspected the tire marks, he was an inch off the centerline. Again a first round looser.
Sacramento, Raced Joel Carter and broke out by .02 or something real close to his 91 and its another first round looser.
Started trying out some West Coast Hot Rod races at Bakersfield. Did this twice. Not realizing it at the first one, but was struggling with the clutch combo I ended up deciding on and the launch was either good or way off. But by the second race, I figured out that this clutch combo I used needed some extra wheel speed, so I had to run tire pressures 4-5 lbs. higher then with my old combo. Both races, first round looser.
Back to Sacramento. I made it past first round, BUT the clutch combo hit me again and had a slight bog against Alan Weiss and was a tenth off the pace. So that was a second round loss.
Time for Vegas. Well at this point, I am marginal on keeping in the points, so I had to do something about it. I went back to my old clutch combo to see if I can get some starting line consistency back. Day started out bad. Very windy and race was cut down to an 1/8 mile in the name of safety. First round of qualifying and the car gets up and is sluggish in first gear. Make a jet change and it gets better but still not right. So I figure why mess with it. Adjust boost to run the number and leave the bad launches. Missed a gear on the third pass so I didn't qualify very well. So I go to first round with the intention that the car would do the same thing. I think the plugs were a bit fouled from sitting a little long from the last race. Needless to say, it cleared up and There it was, my old launches were back and it rode the wheelie bars all the way out through first gear. In my mind I was thinking YEA its finally working great. Oh no, I am going way too fast now. I was racing Rob Meyer and at the end of third gear I started looking for him but couldn't see where he was. Clicked fourth gear and I still can't see him, so with the thought I was going to fast any ways, I blindly lifted and as I crossed the line, he came flying by. But I got to see my win light come on. I broke out by .03 but he broke out by some .2x. pass first round. Whewww! And to top it off one of the guys close to the top of the points. In round 2, I am up against Alan Weiss again in the second round. We usually like to joke around before the race and I told him it was my turn. My car worked just like it was suppose to again and that made me real happy. His car didn't perform as usual and I was a second round winner. Now I took out the points leader. YEA!!! Big feather in my cap. Round 3 and I was suppose to race Dave Bending, but he had problems in the previous round and couldn't make it back up to the line on time, so I got a freebeee. In to the finals for the first time since Vegas last year. Now I'm up against Steve Atkinson. Steve has been cutting the tree down and running the number all day, so this should be a fun race. We both show up in the lanes and were both esthetic just to be there. We race, I got beat on the tree for the first time of the day, car drifted to the left just a bit but not a big deal and I missed third. Game over. On the good side of it, this was Steve's first win. Now that's two years in a row that I have lost to a first time winner in Vegas. But I couldn't be bummed. Steve was on it and he won his first race. I was very happy for him. I was happy just making it to the finals. And after looking at some data, I think my clutch foot just didn't go down all the way thus missing the gear. Will have to work on that.
NOW for the present. I am working a lot of hours but was able to get my car ready last weekend for this weekends Drag Day at Irwindale. Then the following weekend is the PRA Points Finals at Fontana. Don't miss it.
Well there you go, over a year in a nutshell. And now that I have finally moved my web page, I should be back up to normal updating speed.
See yea at the races.
As usual, you can find all the final results and pictures at the official PRA home page.
When my car was still a real street car(photo by Tim Stevens)
Thank you for checking out my page
"Muffler" Mike Shelden
e-mail Muffler Mike