[robnolimit]

Good monday Truckers. First off, I'm glad to see you guys making some changes and trying this stuff. Anything you do that makes you truck safer, and/or a better driver will increase the chances of you driving it. And after all, that is the goal here.

Friday was a long, frustrating, exciting, fun, hot and wonderfull day. The third annual Truckin' Throwdown was the best yet!! This year trucks were split into two classes, 'street' and 'race'. The deciding factor had to do with build style. If the truck can be duplicated with a credit card and a craftsman 256 pc tool kit, it's 'street'. (and by credit card, they mean it's built with parts that anyone can order, not using your visa to pay a guy like me to build you a one off truck). So, if it required extensive welding, fab and machining to build, it's 'race'. This means you can have a 1000 hp stock chassis truck in the street class, and a 350 hp modified chassis truck in the 'race' class. But, I'm on thier side on this one. This event will only get bigger, and more competetive, and the rules will need to be clear. The four track events are a 1/4 mile Drag Race, 700 ft slalom (10 cones @ 70 ft), Speed-Stop (1000 ft run into a stop box), and this year, what I will call the 'Monster-cross' (an autocross with 100+ mph sections that took 1 min 57 sec to run, if you were really fast!) We left my house at 5:30am, I drove Hellboy and the shop crew were in the dually. 35 mi to Corona where we met up with Mike who had taken the 'Bullit home. From there it's 53 miles to El-Toro. Both trucks ran great down the freeway even with So Cal traffic, and Hellboy got 26 mpg!!! WOW, thats a shocker. We topped of at the shell station and drove in to the old air station. Things were already going. First we were informed that the 'Bullit would not be making competetive runs, since it was last years winner, but that Mike could drive in all events. Hey, thats life. Hellboy passed tech, and was definately in the 'race' class. We saw some old friends, and met some new ones. I was shocked at the amount of raw horsepower. three trucks with 1000+! We ran the slalom first, and learned of a new problem, running the slalom at 65+ in 2nd gear, I'm steering at 6000+rpm, and the pump is causing the steering to be VERY tight. I did get some solid runs in, but it was a new feeling, usually I'm off the throttle or part throttle in a corner, not full. A phone call to KRC tells us we need to change the high pressure valve in the pump. After some tire pressure changes it was drag race time. The trans shows me who's boss. It does not like to shift under load from 2-3. I have since found out this is common. This plagued us all day. - and I'm sure it cost some time. All I know is I was at 116-120 mph at the end of the 1/4. During the Speed-Stop, shifting was a problem also, but the new brake pads worked well. On my 2nd run, my foot slipped over just enough to touch the gas pedal for a second, and I went through the stop box by 2 feet. I was a bit pissed on that one, as it would have been my best Speed-Stop ever! Finally it was autocross time, and as we went out for parade laps, it just kept going, and going. Shifting was a must, as some corners were 5-10 mph, and some straights were 100+. Even with the shifting problems this was the coolest autocross ever. I know that Scott Call in his 69 ford ran the fast lap at 1.53, a full 2 sec faster than my 1.55, he makes it look too easy. We did win the race class, and as we get Hellboy sorted out, it shows more and more promise. We took a lot of video, and I'm now learning how to edit. Give me a few days and I'll get some up. Thanks