Season Finally OVER!

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Season Finally OVER!

Posted: 12/07/1999
By Dennis Schumers

Well folks, it's Nov. 29 and my racing season officially ended at 12:45 a.m. yesterday in Bowling Green, KY. Here's a little update as to what's gone on the last couple of months.

In my last article I had just gotten done getting thrashed at the Bracket Finals at Indy with the van. Points season was over and my wife decide to retire so I parked the van and hopped back into my trusty Duster.

The weekend following Indy, my buddy Patrick Teig and I loaded up the Duster and headed for the Mopar Muscle Southern Classic at Clay City, KY. This was the last slant six race of the year plus there are multiple bracket classes going on all the time. Patrick and I were both running the car with both of us going a couple rounds here and there. I went two rounds in the slant race and we both had a ball. If any of you are interested this is a great race to go to. Clay City is a small down-home southern track that to look at you wouldn't think your car would ever hook up, but I’ve seen many cars run their best times ever here. It's not unusual to see the Super Stock cars carry the front wheels past the 60 foot timers. The track is in some really pretty country and there are lots of motels around within 1/2 hour of the place.

On Sunday we decided to go over to Owingsville, KY for a $1000 foot brake race. We found the track and got in and pitted. I took the car to tech and the guy didn't even look at the car, just gave me my run card and wished me luck. After waiting 2-1/2 hours for my time run, I get to the front of staging and I notice I'm the only one without a helmet. My car is so slow that I'm not required to have one at Joliet so I never even thought to take it with. The man running the staging lanes told me I didn't need one so out on the track I go. I was just pulling up to the line when the starter opens my door and tells me not to come back without a helmet. I tried to track one down but had no luck. The track people were very nice about it and even gave me my money back which is very unusual. Even though I got tossed I still feel this too was a nice 1/8 mile track. The track was brand new. The pits were partially paved but were mostly sand. This track has a lot of big money races and is definitely worth the trip.

The first weekend in October I ventured over to Cordova for a $1000 No-Box race. I'd heard that the place was a dump but I'm a sucker for No-Box races. When I got there I was surprised to see that the place was pretty nice. Most of the pits are sand and grass but the place was well kept-up. The ladies at the gate were very friendly and everyone who worked for the track who I spoke to thanked me for coming to their track.

I had gotten caught in road construction on the way over so I only got one time run. The car made the fastest pass of the year for me so I had no idea what to dial as it is almost always slow on the first run. They announced a reaction time challenge that for $10 you got to make another time run with the best reaction time getting $250. I was paired next to a 5.0 Mustang and when I picked up my timecard the car had only picked up .04, but the guy in the 'stang had cut a perfect .500 light! Believe it or not he had to split the money because another guy cut one too!

I made it to the third round having had a 10-section bike and a 9-second Corvette red light for me, but I was having decent lights and the car was being dead-on consistent. However, in the third round I decided to go for a killer light against a 10-second '55 Chevy. Red light! I ran it on out and ran a 19:53 on a .52 dial and he ran a 10:61 on a 10:61.

The nice part about Cordova is that they start paying round money in the 2nd round so I at least got most of my entry fee back.

The big one was on October 10. The Drag News Magazine Race for the Ring at Route 55. To get in it, all you have to do is win your class.

We had a nice cool day with a good tailwind and the car was running decent but slower then at Cordova. For the first round I dialed it at 19:75 and had to run a Firebird dialed 13:00. We got to the other end and he was by me before the first speed trap cone and on the brakes. I figured I was history but my win light came on! To prove the claim that luck is very important he had a better reaction time, my car ran 2-tenths slower, but he broke out by .09. What a break. The next two rounds I got better on the tree but nothing spectacular and the other guys both red-lighted. More luck. Now I'm down to 3 cars and the other two are both killers.

I had to run Jerry "Tweety" Hayes and my luck held as I had a really ugly run but he had a worse one. On to the finals against my arch nemesis "AMC" Dan McCarrin. Once again I had a really bad light but Dan was worse and I'm class winner.

The race for the ring consists of the 3 class winners so there is a coin toss for he odd man bye run. Luck again was with me as I got the bye into the final.

The final was the real David vs. Goliath deal as I had to run the winner from Super Pro. I dialed at 19:70 against his 10:18. I left on a green light, got into second and watched my mirror for him. At the top end I had him covered so I tapped the brakes as he flew past at 127 mph. Then, the wait for what seems an eternity even though it's really only a second, and, win light for the Duster! I pick up the cell-phone to call my wife as I turn off the track. At the ticket booth Andi gives me the news. A .531 light and a 19:70 to his .618 light and 10:15 breakout. That was my best light I'd had since I was in Clay City. In the Winners' Circle the guy was pretty cool until his buddies started razzing him about getting wacked by a slant six.

I runner-upped the next week at Joliet, and the next few weeks I ran the Gamblers races at Joliet and Morocco with limited success going three rounds a couple times, which brings us to the season finale.

I decided to go to Bowling Green for their Thanksgiving Nationals. It's a 3 day race with $10,000 to win each day for Super Pro and $1000 each day for foot brake.

I left Thursday night for Central Illinois to pick up my pit man Patrick only to arrive at his house to find him with a twisted ankle, unable to walk. So, at 5:30 Friday A.M. I left for Kentucky alone. It's not a bad drive as Bowling Green is only 5 1/2 hours away and right on I-65. I got to the motel, checked in, unloaded and got to the track by 11:45. I bought into both classes and headed to staging. I had expected about 200 cars as there was a similar race going on in Huntsville, Alabama that drew 700 cars last year. Well, bad guess. I was #300 in Super Pro and #133 in foot brake. I pulled into the Super Pro lanes and tried not to be awestruck by the fact that 90% of the cars had stickers proclaiming NHRA National Event Winner, IHRA National Event Winner, Class Winner, Money Winner, Track Champion, National Champion, oh well, you get the idea!

Eliminations were supposed to start at 2:00 P.M. but they were a little behind. I got one time run in each class and at 5:30 they played the National Anthem, followed by Lynyrd Skynyrd's "Sweet Home Alabama" (you got to love southern tracks). Finally, about 6:30 it's my turn. I'm paired with a dragster dialed 5:13 and I'm dialed 12:43 (1/8 mile). I get out on green, shift and look back, he's green too but I can't see a black dragster in the shadows. He's not on me but I look around and I'm already on the finish line. I jam the brakes because I know I'm breaking out, but it's not enough. The scoreboards show I ran 12:43 on a 12:45 while he only went 5:18 on his :13. I pick up my timeslip figuring he'd killed me on the tree and I see he had a .512 but I had a .514.

No luck in the foot brake either as I dialed down to a .36 and lost a double breakout by .01. Off to the motel.

Saturday, I have a wake up call for 6:00 A.M. but I'm wide awake by 4:30. About 7:00 I go out to check the oil in the Duster and I find no water in the radiator. After a frantic check I see that my electric fan has eaten two tubes in the radiator. I pull the fan out and luckily I have stop leak in the trunk and it holds.

I get to the track and there's even more cars here today. Once again eliminations start at 2:00 (ha ha) I at least get all four time runs today and the car does its' usual trick of running 12:31-:45-:54 and :67. Now what? Well, by the time it's my turn it's 5:30 and dark. I loaned my shoe polish to a guy to dial his car and I end up running him. I get out on green and at the end he gets my me. I stab the brakes, hoping he's breaking out, but no luck tonight. I figure he shoved the tree up my butt, but the timecard shows I had a .515 to his .551 but my car was too far off the dial. Off to foot brake

The first round of foot brake started at 7:15 and I throw a 12:43 on the car and cross my fingers. I draw a S/Pro Camaro dialed at 7:06. We get to the big end and he flies by at 100 mph. Win light Duster! Finally. I pick up the timeslip knowing I ran :45 on a :43 and he ran a :07 on an 06. I crapped my pants when I saw I had a .507 light to his .519 for a winning margin of .002. Wow! I made it on to the 4th round and by now it's 12:45 A.M. and you know how it turns out.

No, I didn't win a dime but whoa! What a time I had.

It's really a blast when a small time racer like me can go out and be competitive with some of the true big dogs of the sport. The best part is if I can do it you can too!

Now for the John Force part of this story. I'd like to thank those who have supported me. First, my wife Annette, who puts up with me being gone and talking about racing all the time. Also thanks to Jeff's Custom Exhaust in Paxton, Illinois. Jeff is a dyed-in-the-wool Mopar guy and a real wizard at Exhaust work. Thanks also to The Slant Six Racers News for their support, and finally to the CMC for letting me spout off about the wonders of drag racing. To quote old Force himself, "Drag racing is like sex. It only takes a few seconds, it ain't no big deal to do it, and there's nothing better in the world!"

Thanks Again,
Dennis Schumers

Page last modified: 08/27/2001

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