Bluebaugh Racing's Team Magna Fuel is determined to reach the 6.20's this season. The team recently attended the Pacific Street Car Associations (PSCA) "Racin' 4 Jason" Nationals in Las Vegas April 30th- May 2nd 2010 running to the Semi-Finals. Crew Chief Deborah Woodard said we had taken some brief down time to rethink our combination and attended the PSCA event to test our theories on a good track. Changes to the chassis and weight distribution in the Magna Fuel Monte Carlo have proven effective. We have been focused on looking for small gains in the first few feet of the track through fine tuning the balance of the car. In qualifying we ran a very consistent pair of 6.45's and a personal best of 6.40 flat being the only team to put down three hard passes in a row. It’s a promising start.
During the Semi-final round, Bluebaugh paired against reigning PSCA Champion Randy Walker in his 1974 El Camino for an exciting Nitrous showdown. The Charles Carpenter tuned team had been running 30's all weekend qualifying 2nd to Bluebaugh's 6th position. It could have been anyone’s race. The lights came down and it was Walker with a small margin advantage. From the starting line it looked like Bluebaugh was pulling hard. Spectators said it was nose to nose nearing the half track. As all were watching in anticipation, the Magna Fuel Monte Carlo suddenly popped with a bright orange explosion shooting out both pipes bringing Bluebaugh to an unexpected stop. Woodard said the car really looked good and appeared to be making some steam. I thought we might just get around Walker this time.
As it turned out, the flywheel bolts sheered mid-track under full power basically putting the car in neutral. The engine wrapped more than 9000 rpm's before Bluebaugh could get off the gas. Bluebaugh said at first, I was unsure what happened. I thought the transmission broke. This is the second time we have sheered the flywheel bolts. Once back in the pit, we started to inspect the damages wondering if the crank snapped as well. The long stroke in these big engines puts more stress on the crankshaft. It’s been a concern. We lost a crankshaft several years ago and when it happens it destroys the engine most of the time. Later the crankshaft was inspected and cracks were found in thee journals. It’s another case of good luck/bad luck. We were very lucky the crankshaft did not snap in two.
Despite an untimely end in the Semi's with some broken parts, Woodard said we have a lot left on the table with this car. We have not really begun to put all the power to the engine that it can handle. We have felt that the chassis and other details have been more important. We collected some really good data and have a much better foundation compared to where we started with the changes last September. We are excited to get back to the track and see what this car has in it. The 6.20 range appears to be a very realistic goal from everything we can see. We will certainly need it with West Coast Competitors now running very low in the 6 second range with more frequency and consistency.
Bluebaugh Racing would like to thank Magna Fuel for being our title sponsor for a second year. We want to give special appreciation to our media sponsor Speed Scene Racing for giving the team and all sponsors great media coverage. Thanks to JE Pistons who will also stay with us for another year. JE Pistons worked with us to create the perfect set of pistons for our 784 cubic inch nitrous engine. As most people know, DJ Safety has joined us this year and big thanks goes out for the custom fit driver’s suit. We will have a full catalog of items from DJ Safety, Magna Fuel, Hughes Performance, and Arrow Track GPS available for sale on our Web Store project http://www.1320racer.com
Special thanks to Friction Unlimited for supplying the team with awesome clutch discs. We are negotiating with Friction Unlimited to join us as a full sponsor in our marketing program. Thanks for continuing support from W. W. Williams, Special thanks to Dave at Goodyear Racing who helped us out with a tire deal for the recent event.
Bluebaugh Racing is supported by the World’s Fastest Organization, LLC along with WFO Racing and Machine, and 1320 Racer.com.
