COOK'S SHOOTOUT 2012

[Glen]

OK Thanks

[Dakin Engineering]

Ray,
  Could you get pics of Greg and Kim?
And tell them Good Luck for me?
They do speak English, sorta.

Sam

[salt]

Glen - James and Alan are going to be driving the Rice-Vigeant lakester, Mark is sitting this one out . . .
Willi

[joea]

how dang cool is that a competitor adding to the coverage !!!! THANK YOU...!

[Tman]

how dang cool is that a competitor adding to the coverage !!!! THANK YOU...!

And they say this internet thing is a fad.................................

[Seldom Seen Slim]

Alan Rice first, then James - probably, that is.  But Alan first.  Mark is official crew chief this time -- not driving.

There's some noise coming from the bike side of the pits - someone's running/warming a motor.  

Course sweep under way, course workers in place (Wayno at the 7-8, tower middle of the course, Dan Warner at the 3, Nancy and me at the pits.  Mike Cook just went through the lights at 93, tower reports, and Cook says it's only 'cause Mike Nish is in the back seat telling him how to drive.  The Nish team likes the blue lines on the course, too, they report.

Just a reminder for those of you that are waiting to hear your information from me:  Since I'm the pit steward I've gotta make a last-minute before each run through the pit sweep to get everyone off the course, so there will likely be a short interval when I'm not here at the keyboard.  Sorry -- unavoidable.  

55F at the airport, 33% humidity, calm winds.  The balloons down here are aving a bit -- maybe 1-2 mph north to south breeze.  That'll be a tailwind for the SD down run -- if 1-2 mph makes a difference at 350+++.

[Seldom Seen Slim]

George is getting in the car, the radio tells us.  Pits are locked down, the pothole at the four mile has been fixed, and now we wait for further word.

Support vehicle at the 8 mile and heading back towards the pits, George sitting in the car.  Trailer is now on the way back -- nearing mid-course.  Still we wait.

The race course and area is locked down and secure.  Tower reports wind is blowing down the track -- just like here in the pits.  Course is clear.  Engine is being started.

Engine running, Canopy going down on the car.

[Cajun Kid]

What is the mph record SD will be running on for this first class?   

Thanks SSS for keeping us all updated..

Charles

[Seldom Seen Slim]

Car is moving out.  Has left the push truck, on his own.

Car continuing to accelerate at the ten (1) mile, at the 2 mile, entering the traps,

entry speed 432   kilo 436   chute is out at the four, chute fully deployed, puff of smoke -- fire be ready

[JonAmo]

That was all posted a few pages back

"George Poteet told me the plan is to start out with the 5-liter V-8 (Class 9), running on their own records of 363.847 in the km and 363.673 in the mile.  Then, they'll switch to the 4-cylinder engine (which I assume is turbo'd), where they also hold the the records in Class 8 at 345.632 (km) and 345.522 (mile).  Finally, it'll be the big V-8, running in Class 10 (5 to 8 liter), where the records were set by Al Teague back in 2002 in the Teague-Welch-Banks streamliner at 406.321 for the km and 405.862 in the mile."

Jon

[Cajun Kid]

Thanks Amo, I missed that post... Now back to the action...

[JonAmo]

Car is moving out.  Has left the push truck, on his own.

Car continuing to accelerate at the ten (1) mile, at the 2 mile, entering the traps,

entry speed 432   kilo 436   chute is out at the four, chute fully deployed, puff of smoke -- fire be ready

Great these guys are making it look easy. Another 400 mph run seems to be the norm for this team in recent years past 400 mph was a thing we always wanted to see. Great job by this crew.

Jon

[Seldom Seen Slim]

He's in sight, in the pits, no smoke at this point, car is being worked on.  

Final speeds from the tower:

Entry speed 432.99, kilo 436.35, mile  436.17, exit 438.83

Crew support vehicles are now back at the pits, so it the trailer for the SD car.  As you'd expect, there's a mad beehive of activity at the car right now.  No signs of damages -- don't know what the puff of smoke was.  Maybe I'll find out later on, but since there's a few minutes -- I'll mosey over there.  I'll be in touch, hey?

[Seldom Seen Slim]

Water showing up on the spark plugs, so the return run is cancelled.

There.  Now that I've told you that I'll say that there's no diagnosis yet of why there's water there -- head gasket, George splashing water from his drink cup while slowing after the timed stretch, or what.  Time will tell.

Rice/Vigeant car will now prep.  Jim Knapp is working on his car -- using a vise and a BFH for some critical adjustments.  I hear a motorcycle engine running.

Rice car will leave from here - the pit end.  The car is out on the salt in front of us now, but I'll guess it's about 15-30 minutes 'til a run.  Timing reports that they're switching the lights around for a run from south to north - that'll take a few minutes.  Stay tuned.

[Glen]

Bummer