Thu, 31 Jan 2002, 08:04 PM Thursday Houston Testing Summary

By Larry Sullivan Rain Limits Testing to Two Hours

BAYTOWN, Texas - The "doorslammers" started converging on Houston Raceway Park Thursday, gathering for Saturday's Ninth annual Pontiac Excitement Pro Stock Superbowl. NHRA Pro Stock and Pro Stock Motorcycle competitors were joined by NHRA and IHRA Pro Mod entries and IHRA mountain-motor Pro Stock drivers in an already impressive lineup of transporters and race cars, with more on the way.

The weather toyed with the racers, a light early morning shower giving way to hazy sunshine and warm temperatures, plus heavy humidity, not at all like the "mineshaft" conditions expected Friday and Saturday. Then, shortly after 1:00 PM, the expected weather front came through, the temperature plummeting more than 20 degrees in a few minutes and the humidity turning into sometimes-heavy rain.

Between the two wet periods, several drivers in each of the categories managed to squeeze in a few test-and-tune laps on the well-groomed HRP racing surface between 11:00 AM and 1:20 PM.

In Pro Stock, Bruce Allen was the first to make a full pass in the 500 cubic inch Pro Stock category, legging the Reher-Morrison, Speedco Truck Lube Pontiac Grand Am through the quarter mile for a 6.907 second, 198.96 mph effort, not bad for the seventy degree, humid conditions.

But that mark didn't hold for long, Mike Edwards coming up about an hour later to post the best NHRA Pro Stock run of the day, a 6.857 at 200.44 mph, with a super-quick 1.001 60-foot time. Ben Watson, with help from Jerry Eckman, managed a 6.927 at 199.02 shortly after Edwards' run.

Several other drivers, including Arturo Delgado, Tom Martino, Larry Peternell, and Don Smith, tested the launch pad, with mixed results, the rain coming before they could come back for more runs.

Peggy Llewellyn was the only Pro Stock Motorcycle pilot to get a lap in before the rain cut things off, the run sounding much worse than the numbers she posted, a 7.172 at 185.54 mph coming up after what sounded like a couple of late shifts.

Jason Collins was the first of the mountain-motored Pro Stock contingent to take a shot, posting a 1.020 60-foot time to check out the launch pad and then coming back round-robin to make the best run of the day, a 6.621 second, 208.97 mph effort to set the mark for the IHRA contingent, despite a relatively leisurely 1.029 60-foot time.

The next-best 800-inch Pro Stock run of the day was posted by Steve Spiess, one of three Moser Engineering drivers here for the event, matching Edwards' 1.001 short time and putting a 6.626 at 209.65 on the scoreboards.

There were several Pro Modified cars on the grounds, nitrous-injected and blown, but the only attempts Thursday came from four of the blown cars.

Bill Kuhlman is one of two Pro Modified drivers sponsored by AMS Staff Leasing, just announced as the title rights sponsor for the 10-race NHRA Pro Mod exhibition series. Kuhlman plans to run his blown '66 Corvette in the 10 NHRA races, plus about 10 match races, and is listed as Crew Chief for both cars. The second AMS car is a radical '57 Bel Air, driven by another Nitrous Coupe convert, Doug Winters. Both Kuhlman and Winters took a shot at the launch pad, Kuhlman with lots of tire chatter and Winters later with a too-soft clutch setup.

The other two Pro Mods pulling up to the line before the rain shut things down were IHRA regulars, brothers Jack and Kevin O'Dell. Kevin pedaled his way out of tire shake in his '53 Studebaker on his attempt, while Jack, in "the World's fastest '70 Chevelle," got his burnout in and then was left sitting at the line when the rapid temperature drop triggered steadily increasing rain.

Only two incidents marred the day, neither involving driver injuries. Terry Murphy towed his Top Sportsman car all the way down from Kansas City, only to fall victim to severe tire shake, the car shaking so hard that it danced on the rear tires and tore one of the four-link suspension bars out of its bracket on the frame. Arturo Delgado's throttle hung open on his first burnout, spinning the tires all the way out to the 330-foot marker before Arturo could get the engine killed.

Weather forecasts for Friday and Saturday call for temperatures in the mid-fifties to mid-sixties, low humidity, and high atmospheric pressure, just the conditions needed for the teams to post some of those "P.R. runs" we've come to expect from pre-season testing at Houston Raceway Park. Should be fun! If you are in the neighborhood, come on out and join in the fun. If not, stay tuned and we'll let you know what happens.



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