Update: Ford Racing Invitational 2009
Or, I hope they don't send me the repair bill!
See what I mean by reading our blog below...
While a win two years in a row would have been the utmost in luck (and probably would have made my head too big to fit through the door), I was hoping that I could at least make it into a round or two of eliminations, but alas, all was not well in the land of drag racing (or under my hood for that matter).
Qualifying was done via reaction time and my .094 reaction time put me right on the bubble, meaning half way in the qualifying ladder. I pulled into the first round of eliminations against Sam Abuelsamid of www.autoblog.com. Sam has improved his drag racing skills over the last few invitationals, but I was still fairly certain I could put him on the trailer for the weekend. After a healthy burnout I pre-staged the car at the tree. Sam pulls in to pre-stage, then fully staged. I do the same. The lights come down, I hit the launch, and my yellow '08 Mustang GT with Ford Racing/Whipple blower sputters and dies. I hit the start button, but the race is over. As I motor down track, finally getting the GT under way, I turn the wheel to enter the return road and get no power assist. I look down and notice the battery light on and now my temp is climbing too. Crap! I lost the blower belt in the burnout!
As the temps climbed to nearly 240 I raced the car back to the pits and shut it down. Popping the hood I find the belt wrapped around all the pulleys, ending my day.
After removing the belt and taking a closer look, I find the idler pulley had fractured, tossing the belt off its track and shredding the belt in the process.
There's always next year right? Look for more on the Ford Racing Invitational in our NMRA event coverage coming to your mailbox or newsstand soon, and thanks to the guys at Ford Racing for putting on a stellar event and letting us beat on their equipment!