September 18-19 Governor's Cup Sacramento Raceway
First Round Win
There are several words to describe the race this weekend…. hot, delays, mechanical problems and disappointment.
The SAG Racing team had an early start on Friday morning as the local news station had invited them to do a story on the race and the funny cars so the guys arrived at the track around 7:30 am to get ready for their media. But after starting the car to warm the engine they discovered a transmission leak. Unable to make the repairs in time they missed their opportunity for the local media…disappointed.
After pulling the transmission and making the repairs they waited for the evening session of qualifying. And they waited, and waited some more. As temperatures soared to 103 degrees we waited. There were numerous crashes and oil downs on the track which just kept delaying the program. At 10:30 pm the team exhausted from the heat and the long hours of waiting to make a run finally left the track for the evening knowing that they would have another session in the morning to qualify. 16 hours at the track and we didn’t even make a pass.
We arrived at the track early Saturday morning with a fresh perspective and an optimistic look on the day. Lots of our friends and family came out to watch the race and support the team. But once again numerous oil downs and accidents had the program running about 2 hours behind schedule. Finally the first round of qualifying came and Cory did great running a 7.28 which qualified him as number 4 for the 15 car show and also gave him lane choice.
As 1st round finally arrived again 2 hours late, Cory was suited up and in the car and was set to be the next pair of cars to run when the 2 funny cars before them made their run and the car in the right lane oiled down the track from the starting line to about midway.
This took the track crew nearly an hour to clean up the mess, meanwhile Cory is still strapped in the car with 100 degree temperatures and wearing a very heavy fire suit. Finally, concerned for his safety and worried he would have a heat stroke they got him out of the car, out of his jacket and gave him some water to cool off while they finished the clean up of the track. Once the track was cleared the re-suited him and put him back in the car. Cory had a great reaction time at .034 and won the round to advance to round 2.
Once more we waited and around 7:30 pm they were ready for round 2. Cory did his burn out and just as he went to back up the car stalled…he tried to restart it but it stalled again, they discovered fuel running under the car and Cory quickly climbed out of the hatch and exited the car.
Disappointment is not a strong enough word to describe how we felt as we had to forfeit the round. They discovered that a fuel line had somehow come loose causing the spill.
There were so many delays that the curfew at the track would not allow them to run the final round so it was decided on a judgment.
It was a long weekend with the very hot temperatures and many frustrations and disappointments. But that is racing, and I know that regardless of how disappointed we are….they will be back, excited and ready to try again at the next race and all of this will be behind us and we will start fresh, ready to win.
August 14-15 Fox Hunt Sacramento Raceway
First Round of Qualifying 7.09 and 192 mph
First Round Win and an .005 Reaction Time!
Semi Final Round Cory runs a 7.20
The SAG Racing Team took the funny car to the
Friday offered a test n tune session and we decided to take advantage of it since it had been a while and we had a new build on the heads. First pass down the track and she ran a 7.27 and 191 mph. Well that looks pretty good since we are now running a 7.20 index so no changes were necessary for the car and we waited for the first round of qualifying that evening.
First round of qualifying was at 8:15 pm on Friday and the weather had now cooled to a nice and breezy 80 degrees as the sun was setting. With the better air the first pass was a “bit” to fast at 7.09 and 192 mph. and a .045 reaction time.
Returning to the track on Saturday’s temps were once again pretty hot with the thermometer reaching into the upper 90’s. A few changes to the car and they were ready for round 2 of qualifying.
Cory ran a 7.37 et and 186 mph with a .022 reaction time which after 2 rounds of qualifying the ladder was set and Cory qualified 4th for the race.
Round 1 of eliminations came at 5:00 pm, the hottest part of the day. Hoping to speed the car up just a little they made some changes to the blower and were ready for round one.
Round 1 found Cory paired with his rival and friend Jamie who throughout the years has been the one whom Cory has always competed with for best reaction times. I always say when these two get together on the line, someone is going to red light because they are both fiercely competitive and very good off the line.
Cory had his best reaction time ever at a .005 off the line and as predicted Jamie turned on the red at a -.005. Two fierce competitor’s one great race. Cory ran a 7.105 and 192 mph and advanced to the semi-finals.
The semi-finals came at 7:00 pm and the cars did side by side burnouts to please the crowd.
But after the burnout while backing up to the line Cory realized the car was idling way to fast and the converter was up around 4000. Having difficulty getting the car to idle made it hard to stage the car as it wanted to push through the trans brake. As the cars launched it was a side by side race all the way to the finish as we waited to see the win light. But although Cory ran a perfect 7.20 et the first of the day for anyone the win went to the other car who ran a 7.207 who got there just a bit quicker with a slight advantage off the starting line.
Disappointment as Cory had had the quickest reaction times all day.
As they picked Cory up at the other end of the track his fire suit was covered in transmission fluid and they returned to the trailer to find out why.
They found that the original idling problem was due to the fact that the blower gasket had sucked inside the blower causing it to get way to much air and idling way to fast which in turn caused the converter to overheat blowing the seal out which explained the transmission fluid covering everything.
The entire SAG team worked hard this weekend and put on a terrific show for the fans with fast races and great times. They finished in 3rd place for the event and again after the scores are all tallied Cory will most likely win the Quick Reaction Award so they should be proud of their efforts.
And although we were once again deprived of the win…I know that it’s coming soon. I feel it in my heart that no one deserves it more than this team.
So come out to the next race on September 18-19 for the annual Governor’s Cup at
