Pro Winner, Robert Lewis, had to tow his Belvedere back to the pits after he broke just off the start line but he was all smiles when he saw the redlight for Wade Metzinger. A win is a win, especially at the Monster Mopar Weekend.
We brought the Mopar Max S&W Chassis project dragster, “Back-2-Basics” powered by our newly finished 540-inch Edelbrock-headed alky motor to see if we would be lucky enough to get into the Indy Cylinder Head Quick 32. This race qualified 16 of the quickest doorslammer Mopars and the quickest 16 Mopar powered open-wheel machines.
Our project car is in its infancy and we ended up as first alternate, missing the bump spot by just .02 of a second on Friday. The car just would not 60-foot for me. The “short times” were way off what we normally run with the car. We tried a 4200-RPM launch and a 5200-RPM and both netted 1.17 60-foot times. We suspect the converter is going away and before going back out we will probably freshen or replace it.
The S/Pro finals. Johnny Labbous, Jr. pocketed $4000.00 on this 7.833 second run against Jerome Gardner. He had just captured the Quick 32 title about 10 minutes before with the same car.
The Friday portion of the event was shortened by rain delays, but the excitement and fun everyone was having was obvious. It’s hard to imagine being around an entire pit area of racers that are friendlier. Since all of us are certified “Mopar freaks” there were always tales to tell and stories to share.
Saturday got a little more serious as qualifying began early for the elimination rounds of the Kirkpatrick S/Pro and Extreme Sportswear Pro bracket competition. They got in two qualifying runs for the Quick 32 (and this time we made the field as our 7.972 stood up for the Quick 16 dragster field. They got one round of both bracket classes in and then the persistent showers and high humidity took over. The management of the Monster Mopar weekend did the right thing and split the money among the racers who had won the first round.
We won first round with a less than stellar light but I managed to rub the brakes just right and took a .006 stripe and a first round victory in “Back-2-Basics.” The track brought out the track dryer and tried to get the track ready to race but with the rain falling we were done racing for the day.
Sunday the sun broke through and so did the temperature and humidity. I showed 92 degrees and 68% humidity on my gauges. One qualifying shot left for the Quick 32 show and one time run for bracket racers was on tap. The Quick 32 was up first and we improved our ET a little bit by raising the shift RPM to 7000 and it ran a 7.946 at 170.01. By the end of the session we again ended up .021 short and again got the first alternate spot and missed the Quick 32. (Note: next year the car will carry the NOS bottle just in case!)
The Quick 32 was a fun race to watch and we moved the dragster over into the Super Pro race. We got to the second round and the engine just wouldn’t get to the launch and was stumbling, popping and carrying on. I have never had that happen before, so we will take a look at a lot of things before the next race.
There was one performance by one driver that stood out among the others. Johnny Labbous, Jr. from Whitehouse TN, was, shall I say, DOMINANT! He won the Quick 32 race with his 528” Indy Cylinder Head-equipped dragster and he took the victory in Super Pro as well. A $14,000 payday isn’t a bad way to head back to Tennessee, is it?
If you are looking for a fun race to attend next year put the Monster Mopar Weekend on your calendar. Usually it is set for the weekend after Labor Day but you can check for sure at the website for Gateway International Raceway.
