Snap On Nitro Champs May 2007 - Top Doorslammer Chicago Shootout
The Snap-On Nitro Champs (4th and 5th May 2007) is not a championship round for Top Doorslammer. Instead WSID ran an invitational “Chicago Shootout” style round robin. Only 10 Sydney cars were invited. Friday saw 3 rounds of qualifying and Saturday was the top 8 get two runs, the first is for seeding and the second is for racing and the fastest two in the second round go to the final. This was a good opportunity for testing for all the teams, and to have a little fun at the same time.
The 1st run I was paired up against Sean Misfud in the Willy’s. I haven’t done many paired runs, but I have run the Wild Willy’s every time but once. I spun the tyres from the startline for about 3.5 seconds, I backed off and eased back on and ran through with a 7.474 sec at 217mph. For an untidy run I was surprised to see my best speed to date. We had an oil leak during the run, the breathers on the rocker covers rattled loose.
Our 2nd saw me pair up with Sean Misfud once again. For the first time ever the car did not misbehave and I managed to get to the finish line under full throttle light to light. It felt awesome. It turned out a 6.401 at 223mph, another new PB. I have dropped nearly .2 of a second off my previous best of 6.57. Again we had the same oil leak we needed to find a better solution. More silicone and a centre punch to keep the screws tight.
For the 3rd run we went out hoping to capitalise on our last run, not all cars were out for this qualifier so we were given a solo pass other wise im sure id have raced wild willy again! The car went super straight and I ran another good number 6.425 at 220mph. We had a lot of positive comments from spectators and friends on how well the car went. At the end of the third qualify round we were sitting fourth on the top doorslammer qualifying board. I was very pleased with this result - fourth out of ten cars.
Saturday, we prepared the car early and our first run was 4pm. I was paired up against Mark Belleri in his Camaro. I thought the cat left like a rocket ship it shook the tyres hard I shifted into second still shook and I shifted into 3rd and ran through to a 6.522 at 224mph. and another PB, fastest speed so far! I found lots of rubbish in the filter and it didn’t look promising. But I’d try and find and fix the problem. Unfortunately it had spun a bearing and nor did we have time or the parts to repair and we were OUT. We are spectators now.
Check out my runs on my media page: http://peterblake.rmwpublishing.net/media/
Congratulations to Mark Belleri for his stellar 6.13. It was an awesome run especially for a beginner, he has out shone himself as a driver. Also thanks again to my dedicated crew and especially my wife for doing her best even though she had an operation earlier that week.
Catch ya!
Peter Blake