Welcome NSS/NMC Drivers, Crew, & Fans

On this site, registered (free and no strings attached) members can upload appropriate (NSS/NMC related) photos and videos, have a team blog to report on your car/team's progress and events you attend; create your own home page and view the rules; join forum discussions and list free classified ads (requires registration); create and join groups (regional clubs, make loyalty, etc); list NSS/NMC events, and a whole lot more.

Down the center you will see Recent News, Events, Member's list, a photo show, videos, and finally at the bottom -- Member Blogs. In the sidebars you will see other important information to NSS/NMC teams.

The very next thing you should do, if you hadn't already, is to read the FAQs -- by clicking FAQ in the upper NavBar. It gives a very simple explanation of how to use the site -- that eliminates any and all confusion. It is posted as a separate page -- as since once it is read you won't need to have to page through it on this page on subsequent visits.

This is the type of site that gets better and better with more active participation. Please bookmark the site, upload your photos, use the blog to give others your perspective of events you attend, and add any NSS/NMC event not yet listed. This can be a one-stop site for all things NSS and NMC if only you will take an active role in keeping it up to date with your photos, videos, events, and blog reports.

Use the Invite feature to invite your NSS/NMC friends not yet members.

Thank you for participating.

The Old Hippie

Originally Posted by http://www.nmcadigital.com/awards/ 6th Annual NMCA Awards Ceremony at the 21st Annual PRI Trade Show 2009 NMCA Awards Ceremony to be Held in Orlando, Florida During the 2009 PRI Trade Show NMCA CEREMONY NMCA CEREMONY: 6th Annual NMCA Awards Ceremony DATE: Friday, December 11th TIME: Cocktails at 5:30pm Award Ceremony at 6:00pm-8:00pm LOCATION Orange County Convention Center 9899 International Drive Orlando, FL 32819 Phone: (800) 345-9845 BALLROOM S310 A-H on the 3rd Level DIRECTIONS Log on to http://www.occc.net/global/directions.asp for directions from anywhere in Florida. ADMISSION Open to the public, but an RSVP is requested for reserved seating. Information on how to RSVP will be released in the summer of 2008. DRESS Appropriate Dress is Requested (No Jeans, T-Shirts, Shorts, etc.) DRINKS Beer, wine & soft drinks will be available throughout the ceremony at multiple cash bars. NMCA SPECIALTY AWARDS Rookie of the Year For any racer that displayed exemplary performance in their first full season of racing in a class. Note: This is the most difficult category to nominate because of individual interpretations of the word rookie. Should a driver who has bracket raced for 20-years be considered a rookie if this is his first season racing with NMCA? If a driver has been successful in one class and elects to run another class for a full season be considered a rookie as well? Or, should a person who has never raced more than a few test and tunes be the only type of racer considered? Those questions need to be considered in your nominations, but will be answered once the popular vote has been counted. Sportsman of the Year For any person that displayed true sportsmanship and courtesy during competition. This does not necessarily have to be a racer. Crew Member of the Year This award is meant to honor the crew member that had the most significant impact on their team’s performance during the 2008 season. Ambassador of the Year The NMCA Ambassador of the Year is a person who has made a mark on the NMCA Street Legal drag racing community by being a true competitor, a sportsman, and a supporter of both the NMCA and all of Street Legal drag racing. THE NOMINEES FOR THE NMCA AWARDS ARE: Rookie of the Year: Dallas Schultz Terry Miles Chuck DeMory Jr. Sportsman of the Year: Carol Lizzy Tony Nesbit Troy Coughlin Crew Member of the Year: Brian Metz Chet Caminita Hank Hill Ambasador of the Year: Jason Gatlin Billy Adams Scott Cazolli >> CLICK HERE for Nomination Ballots

While the ballot says that voting has ended, there's a run off between Dallas and two other Rookies in NMCA. If you are a NMCA Member (or if you know one -- please forward this along) please email award@promediapub.com to tell them you vote for Dallas Schultz, your reason why he should be Rookie of the Year, and your name/NMCA number/Phone Number.

He place in third for the year out of 70 tough competitors -- and missed the first race. You may remember that he started racing again after the loser I had as a Crew Chief and I parted company -- and Dallas agreed to help crew my car. He had one of the faster cars in NMCA and ran against some pretty tough people. He won Zmax -- which was a very tough track to get traction on.

Major Changes Made to MoparWiki

The Mopar Wiki site is a brand new concept of having everyone in the Mopar community to pull together and build the biggest and best database of Mopar Knowledge ever assembled. Over this last weekend, the sites landing page was updated -- and were many of the wikis. Point your browser to www.moparwiki.com and scope it out.

MoparStyle Racing Update

First off, we have a couple of NMC cars for sale and on eBay.

The first is the 10-second Demon my son Dallas has raced since he was 16 years old. He won the NMC class at Zmax earlier this year. I'll let the eBay ad give the details, or you can find them at www.MoparStyleracing.com

The other NMC car is a 12.0 car that I built for my daughter -- but she never found the time to dedicate toward the sport. Again, go to the eBay ad or www.moparstyleracing.com for the details.

Next -- is the 60 Plymouth wagon. I visited Texas Thunder on Friday, and Mark has assured me that the car will be ready for the first NMCA race in March -- if we choose to race that series in 2010. It will receive the 580 motor just pulled from Big Red Ram (after it is rebuilt) and an automatic transmission. While the car has yet to be named -- we know it will be "Texas Thunder" red with checkerboards and applicable graphics.

With the Memphis track being our closest haul, and now it closing -- I'm thinking that I'll need to consider my options. Word is that there will be a 4-5 race NSS series running in the Heartland in 2010 -- but it is a bracket race (write an number on the window), which I'm not a big fan of. I like running the NSS rules with the different classes. I'll wait for the details of that race series, and what track replaces the Memphis track.

Speaking of details, as soon as anyone knows the racing dates for NSS and/or NMC ins 2010 -- please post the events at http://nssracing.ning.com/

I pulled the motor out of the Big Red Ram, and it will receive a set of steel rods, milled zero decked, new cam and springs, rings and bearings -- and go into the Wagon. In the meantime, Diamondback Engines is putting together an aluminum 588CI that should be a good deal more powerful than the one that has been in the car for the last two years. I intend to run that Big Red Ram in non-points races where I can let it all hang out and not worry about points. Right now, the paint is being stripped from under the hood (Big Daddy's sig stays), a coat of primer, 4 coats of color, and 2 coats of clear so it will be nice and pretty when I open the hood next year.

While it isn't really NSS or NMC related -- we're getting ready to squirt "Texas Thunder" Red on it, and reassemble as a 9-second, all motor, tube chassis true street with a small block.

Finally, on eBay I have a Charger 500 that was cloned (with real parts) into a Daytona back in the 70s. Check it out -- and pass along to your friends if they might be interested. http://cgi.ebay.com/ebaymotors/ws/eBayISAPI.dll?ViewItem&item=290364469352&ssPageName=STRK:MESELX:IT

Has The NMCA Become Regional?

I've always known that the NMCA was Eastern half of the US and I was on the outside border of it -- but it appears that they're going to cater to the North-central region now. If you live in IN/IL/MI/TN/KY/OH you have five to six of the tracks within 500 miles. If you're a NSS racer -- that is great because the Classics is also in that area -- as will be a new series. The closest track to me was Memphis -- and it is 650 miles. The second closest (Bowling Green) is almost 1000 miles. Now that I've lost my closest track I hear all of the people in the 6-state region (most them not making more than two races in 2010) justifying why they should put another track in their stomping grounds (another race in Bowling Green or St. Louis) instead of accommodating others (without a single track within 900 miles) who would start to attend NMCA events if they got to know it. I'm getting the impression that NMCA is listening to the North-Central racers because of a statement they've got a call in to St. Louis. Well Gateway is nice -- but two weeks prior to the NMCA Nationals is the Monster -- at Gateway. The week before that is the Bush race. Based on how busy they already are in late September and early October, and the reputation that they've gotten with regards to out of control of track rentals -- I would guess that might be a hard track to get for the Nats -- or at least the most expensive track.

I'd asked why they didn't make it easier for the Texas racers here -- especially knowing of all of the NSS and NMC racers. I was told last year that they tried Houston once -- and it didn't get a draw. Well if they're going to compare an one-time half-hearted attempt many years ago against tracks that may have had 15 races in the last 25 years -- then no argument will work. I believe that's where we're at.

While in Memphis -- the worst kept secret was the 4 or 5 race series that features NSS starting next year in the Heartland. While there were 32 pissed off NSS racers waiting for two hours in the staging lanes for a track cleanup after an accident, that after 7 hours since the first round because of bracket races, and add to that dew falling all over the cars making it impossible to see out of the windshields (yet NMCA was obviously going to run us anyway) the number of people claiming they'd run that new series instead of NMCA next year appeared to grow.

Why I've felt welcomed by the NMCA -- those NSS racers who have been racing with the series a lot longer than I say that treatment of they NSS drivers gets worse every year. At one time it was one of the big classes of NMCA -- but now while it is only one of the largest classes of participants, it is not really appreciated for it. Many feel that NMCA could take us or leave us -- and if the class were to go away -- no sweat off their ass. I'm personally wondering if those guys might be right with that opinion.

I was asked by a couple different people if Dallas and I would commit to run this new series -- with promises of bigger purses. I said that we were going to commit to run the entire NMCA series -- as I really have a strong goal for a Championship ring. I did say that we'd run whatever races that weren't a conflict with NMCA.

Now I'm starting to wonder about that decision -- and if I should do it the other way -- where I run the new series and any NMCA race that isn't too far and doesn't conflict. I guess if there isn't a National (or even just an Eastern US) series -- I might as well run a Central-Central series over a North-Central Series.

But it makes me wonder if maybe a few of us ought to get together and plan a true Eastern or maybe a true Southern (Texas to Florida) series for just NSS and NMC -- and contact tracks to piggyback with other events. A couple of smart guys could put together a package to go to PRI this year and present to the big vendors for contingencies -- convincing them that the contingencies would be heavily policed. It would only be for two classes per event -- and we might be able to convince enough of them, if they had proper assurances. With the tracks -- if we could find events needing a little help on the draw at the quarter mile tracks -- we might be able to convince them to have the entire NSS and NMC entry fees to go 100% into the purses.

I know that there are quite a few of us wanting to run a series, but don't have one we feel appreciated at -- or that we can afford to run because of the distances.

Your thoughts?

Memphis Recap and Getting Ready For a New Season

Well the NSS & NMC racing year for my family is now over. It is time to start planning on getting ready for 2010.

Memphis is the closest of our NMCA races, so we loaded up the cars on Wednesday morning and left at about noon. The trip was uneventful, and we arrived in the big rig staging area at about midnight. It rained hard all night -- making the already soggy track even more soggy. At 11AM they started parking us. By about 2PM we established driver credentials and teched the cars in. I had a killer headache, so we stowed the cars back in the trailer and I took it easy for the rest of the night.

Friday morning was rainy, and I made a single TT pass and the car was pretty much on. I don't believe I had a chance to make another pass on Friday. Dallas in NMC had problems with the car breaking up on his single pass -- but thought maybe missed a shift. Cold rain kept us from doing much of anything.

Saturday, had my first qualifying pass as a 9.489 on a 9.50 index -- breaking out. Dallas' car was definitely breaking up -- and he felt it was ignition. He also smelt electrical burning. We unbundled his wires and found where there was a foot of 12 gauge wire between 6 gauge wire coming from the ignition switch -- and the butt connectors were burnt. So we fixed that with replacing it with 6 gauge. I bought a new MSD 6AL box and Blaster II coil, and we replaced them. We rev'd the car up to 6500 with the timing light on -- and all appeared well. Our second and last Qualifying came at night. I spun at the line on a very cold track -- for a 9.61. I ran to the fence just as Dallas made his pass -- and I saw that he was breaking up badly at higher RPMs -- but there was no flames coming from under the car (it was night). Returning to the pits, I saw a lot of water under my car. Investigating, it looked like my motor moved up to where the nose of the Vacuum pump bore two holes in my radiator. We pulled the radiator and I borrowed a torch and solder from Don Bowles -- and after finding that aluminum doesn't like solder -- I melted a big glob over the hole and pushed the glob into the radiator -- having the fins hold the glob against the leaks. I figured I'd get a radiator from one of the vendors in the AM -- as I didn't feel like that fix would hold for long. I took the lock washer off the end bolt of the vacuum pump -- and gained about 1/32" between it and the radiator. On Dallas' car, we were at a loss after checking to make sure the valves, springs and pushrods all looked well. I called Damon Kuhn at about 11PM and he suggested jetting up 2 sizes on all four corners of the 850 carb. We worked until 2AM changing jets, plugs, and running the valves -- then putting the cars away.

Sunday morning I tried to find a radiator, stop leak, and/or a low pressure radiator cap -- without luck. I pour a can of black pepper in the radiator just as they called us for the first round of eliminations. I had a broke bye, so I did my burn out at 135 degrees and launched at 150 degrees -- after releasing pressure by opening the cap in the staging lane. When I got back to the pits I didn't had any leaks -- but I had lost the 1/32" between the blob of solder and the nose of the vacuum pump. After checking the motor plate and trans mount -- I realized that the balancer was coming off. I didn't know what to do -- because it was about 2PM and I expected them to call us up for the 2nd round any second.

In the meantime -- Dallas car was cured and he won his first round.

I decided to take a chance and go for fixing the car at the risk of missing a call, and with the help of my son, Doug Duell, and Clay Kasooth -- we had the radiator out, vacuum pump off and crank trigger off, found a 12point ARP balancer bolt hanging on by a thread -- tightened the balancer back on with a liberal application of Lok-tite red on the bolt; put the crank trigger and vacuum pump back on, and the radiator back in and filled -- all in 30 minutes.

We need not have rushed -- because we weren't called to the staging lanes for our second round until 7PM. Once there -- a bunch of very pissed off NSS racers talked about how this would be their last NMCA race, how NMCA use to treat the NSS class better, tales of the good old days, and where they'd be racing next year. To make things worst -- the bracket racers who had monopolized the track for the last five hours, had some girl in a Vega that liked to pull monster wheel-stands, lose control of her car and drive over a 17-year-old kid in a dragster. It looked bad. Both were hospitalized and it took near two hours to clean the track. In the meantime -- dew was collecting on the cars -- and everyone who could get a towel had one draped over their windshield. Most felt that it was unsafe to race and that they would suspend racing until Monday -- but would first empty the lanes of the NSS and NMC cars. A few drivers asked me to approach Charlie about calling it a night before running us because of the dew. Charlie had me walk the track with him -- and while there wasn't any dew on the track -- the crews from Pro and Extreme were reporting 52 degree track temps and lobbying to suspend racing. Charlie said that he felt like it was still safe to race, and the NSS and NMC classes were called to race. It was pretty bad with the dew collecting on the windshields in seconds and fog on the inside. I was running Skip Koester, and we both grabbed strangers to wipe down our windshields as we went into the burnout box -- but the dew and fog came back so fast we couldn't see the track or tree. Skip red lit -.037 and I slept for .157 RT, and as soon as I saw I'd won -- I slowed down for a 11.4 as I couldn't see the track well. Even shifting like a truck, I did a wiggle on a 3-4th shift, and coming down the return row lined with motor homes and trailers that couldn't find parking was plain stupid. Dallas has about the easiest 10.5-second car there is -- and he too  did a big wiggle on his win. We were happy to hear that the race was suspended -- after we cleared out the lanes.

Monday, at 10AM I took advantage of a TT offered and ran a 9.494. Dallas opted not to take one as we had 2 gallons of gas between us left. I had Greg Radar, who is as tough as they come. All weekend I was cutting great lights -- with the exception of one pass -- and against Radar I cut a .013 against his .017. I swear I crossed the line an inch before him -- but the ticket says I didn't. Dallas also lost his Quarter-Round.

As we packed up to come home, Radar Beat Wilson (coming off his Monster Mopar Win), and 00 Joe Ewing beat  Barry Camp in the Semis. Radar then went on to beat 00 Joe in the finals.

Doug Duell is the Champion this year -- and is deserving as he had a great year. The Princess (Stephanie) has second. According to my calculations -- Skip, Joe and I are 3 through 5 -- but with about 30 points being the spread between 3 through 5. It comes down to qualifying points from Memphis -- and so we'll have to wait until Monday NMCA tells us who is 3rd, 4th, and 5th.

In NMC, Andy Warren is the Champ -- and I think Dallas Schultz is second -- despite missing the first race of the year. He and Andy matched up many times during the year -- and Andy won them all -- but they were all very close.

I really hope to be able to have my 60 Wagon painted in the next 5 weeks, the engine and transmission installed, custom headers made and coated, wired, plumbed, and interior by early February -- so it can be shaken down and ready for the first NMCA race of 2010. I'm going to give it one more shot at earning a NMCA ring in NSS -- but feel like I need to give up my preference for a 4-speed in favor of an automatic, as I seldom find the track prepped good enough for a 9-second 4-speed on skinny slicks in the late rounds. I'll keep a 4-speed in the Coronet and run it in the non-NMCA races. The engine comes out of it next week to have the Aluminum rods replaced -- and the wick turned up a little for 2010. I'll run it in the non-NMCA races.

Dallas will be moving from NMC to NSS, driving my old black Coronet in C/FX or B/FX. It is a nice 4-link car with an automatic and the engine I use to run in the red car -- punched out to 580CI. It might be faster than my red car.

This means that Dallas' Dodge Demon is for sale. This car has spent its entire life as a race car -- and still wears its original Texas inspection sticker from 38 years ago. The car is a quality build with a five year old CM full cage, inboard springs and CalTracs, 8 3/4" rear with Moser axles and gears, 4-wheel disc brakes  -- and is clean enough that you can eat off the painted bottom. The motor is a one year old 408 built by Damon Kuhn at Diamondback Engines. Eagle steel crank, H-beam rods, forged pistons, CNC Ported Indy 360 heads, Gasket Matched Indy 360 Intake, roller cam, Diamondback 850 carb, 1 7/8" coated headers, Magnafuel fuel pump -- all top shelf parts. The transmission has a billet steel drum, Griner low-band apply footbrake valve body, modified pump, hardened gears, bolt-in sprag, PTC 8-inch steel stator converter, and the balance of the parts are of the same quality. CSR Fiberglass trans shield. This car drives as straight as a string, and will do 10.5 seconds just about anywhere. The car could easily be made into an 8.5 second (cage should certify) True Street, restored as pure stock, or run in the faster street classes -- but really it is at home running NMC. I was comfortable enough with the safety of this car for my 16-year-old to race -- and he was comfortable enough to win the Texas Outsiders NMC Championship at 16 and 17 (2004 & 2005). If you are Interested, please email me at dave@oldhippie.com.

Speaking of NMC cars, I also have a more entry level NMC car that I prepared for my daughter -- but who never really had the time to dedicate to the sport. It is a quality build that I felt comfortable putting my kid in. As it sits, it will consistently do 12.0 1/4s -- but I also have a choice of three brand new 408 motors capable of making the car a 10.5 and faster car in the 1/4. Contact me if you are interested.

Both cars have been the subject of many magazine articles.

Reminder -- The NSS calendars in the NSS Gift Shop are ready for purchase. Click on the particular calendar cover to view the pages.

Many of the NSS drivers at the Memphis race purchased the calendar with the Asphalt Elephant on the cover. Call any of them to ask about the quality of the calendar.

The 2010 Nostalgia Super Stock Calendar is Ready

Each year I put together a Nostalgia Super Stock calendar. A few years back, I had the help of Donnie at Photosports allowing me to select 13 of his photos to use. In the last few years, Photosports has not been the photographer at the Monster -- and so I've used a combination of my photos and those sent in. Since I am hopefully racing with the rest of Nostalgia Super Stock -- my only opportunity to photograph the NSS cars is if I'm out (which means others are also out) or broke.

This year I only received track photos from Jim Guy and John Grinwald (plus one of my car) -- so I had search through a couple hundred of track photos I took this year to find another 11 that I can use. I try hard select photos that get the wheels up on launches, has a wide selection of makes and colors -- and try to give preference to cars with period graphics. It is pretty hard to get good photos from the stands because of lighting conditions and people/golf carts in the foreground. -- but I feel like I found eleven that I can be proud of. Below are very low resolution version of the high resolution images used for the calendar.

The 2010 NSS Calendar is ready now, and for the month of October, it is priced $1 less than it was last year. Also available from the above images are coffee cups, refrigerator magnets and note cards. Click here to view the items and order on-line.

These Calendars make excellent Christmas presents and the magnets excellent stocking stuffers.

If you have a colorful NSS car, and a track photo of it showing a little air at launch -- you have a chance to get it in the next NSS calendar by taking the photo to Kinkos or Office Max -- and have them scan it at the highest resolution they can. Then email the photo's file to me at dave@oldhippie.com and give the particulars.

September NSS Report

Monster Mopar Weekend

The Monster Mopar Weekend had 75 entries, which is another record. I remember my first Monster in 2003, there might have been 35-40 NSS cars. As usual, Doug Duell with help from Bob Wilkiewicz ran a smooth ship. Despite the number of cars -- staging was very organized.

It rained Friday, and very little racing was going on. Saturday we managed to get in a TT in the morning and then start Class Eliminations after lunch. This was interrupted twice by rain -- and NSS/A and FX was not able to finish by the time we needed to leave for our Driver's Dinner -- and so those classes finished on Sunday morning.

The driver's dinner this year had guest speaker Herb McCandless, who entertained us with stories of old. TTI donated a $500 gift certificate for headers -- and I'm happy to say my son Dallas win it. He had an otherwise rough weekend -- detailed in the MSR Blog below. While I don't recall hearing Doug Duell explaining it -- Damon Kuhn from Diamondback Engines contributed a new, but heavily reworked for NSS, 800 Carb (retail value $500) -- won by the Seltzer and White team. Doug's favorite Charity "Santa Clothes" did well with a couple $100 bills getting stuffed in the box.

Sunday we finished Class Eliminations. The winners were:

• NSS/G [13.00]

  8606 Bax; Henley, MO; ‘62 Pontiac, 13.08

  NSS/F [12.50]

  777 Rhoda; Brookfield, WI; ’63 Plymouth, 12.52

  NSS/E[12.00]

  7042 Kuenster, J; Potosi, WI; ’59 Chevy, 12.03

  NSS/D[11.50]

  7063 Kuhn, M.; Celina, OH; ’63 Plymouth, 11.37

  NSS/C [11.00]

  7572 Ray; Atoka, TN; ’65 Chevy, 11.00

  NSS/B[10.50]

  7777 Duell; Newburgh, IN; ’67 Plymouth, 10.54

  NSS/A [10.00]

  4965 Sanders; Brook, IN; ’65 Dodge, 10.03

  F/X

  7747 Herzing; St. Clair, MO; ’63 Plymouth, 9.60

  Low Elapsed Time

  17 Quinn; Springfield, IL; ’62 Pontiac, 8.939

Eliminations started after lunch, and lasted until about 10PM when a non-Mopar final between Jim Nederland and his Buick and Steve Wilson and his Chevelle had Wilson win the event. This is the first Monster Mopar Weekend that did not have a Mopar as a winner.

I pointed out at the Driver's Dinner that many of the FX Drivers (there were 12 of us that made it to FX Class Eliminations) felt it a bit unfair that we bring the fastest cars -- yet are forced to run as one class, while a few of the slower classes don't have but 2 or 3 in the their class -- yet are not combined.

The next day, a little birdie told me that my complaints didn't fall on deaf ears -- and that next year they would still run all of the FX cars together -- but that it would be made into an event in itself with a $1000 prize to the Class Winner. These are arguably the most exciting cars of the NSS cars, doing the biggest wheel stands and smokiest burnouts -- and I think it is a good idea that they get some special recognition for building and bringing the faster cars to the Monster.

So if you have a car hanging abound the 10.0-11.0 area -- you might strongly consider tweaking it, getting your license, certify the cage, and run in the FX Classes next year.

Click here for the discussions and photos of this last Monster Mopar. Your car is most likely there.

MoparStyle Racing Blog Entry

The following is a more of a personal note on what happened in the pits of Big Red Ram and Texas Black Magic.

We (Deb, Hope, Dallas, I, and the three dogs) loaded up Tuesday, left Wednesday morning and arrived Thursday morning -- after having the rig washed across from the track. After setting up the pits -- we took both Coronets to be teched in. My son Dallas normally runs a 10-second Demon in NMC -- but will be running the black Coronet in C/FX starting next year -- and this was a dry run, since there is no NMC at the Monster.

As stated above, Friday was a raining until late in the day. On the first TT had the car breaking up at 6000 and oil spraying from somewhere. We guessed the oil pump and replaced the bolts with lock washers. We couldn't make either of the symptoms occur in the pits and he took the car out for another TT. It still broke up -- and still leaked oil. It was suspected that the oil was coming from the left head -- so we spent until 2:30AM replacing the head gasket.

Meanwhile on my car -- I had lined up with 7 other 8-9 second FX cars at the end of the line -- where we were going to run the cars all out in a match race. My car gave me a hard time starting up in the staging lanes, then broke up horribly in third and fourth gear on my pass -- and finally stalled at the end of the track and wouldn't restart. Back in the pits, (after a tow) we observed a burned rotor and so I replaced it. The car wouldn't restart and it was suspected I flooded it -- so I changed the plugs. The car still wouldn't start and gave indications that it was a timing issue. The crank trigger's accuracy has been suspect all year -- so I went to Indy's tent and bought a MSD Distributor (I have three on the shelf at home -- but none in the trailer) and a set of wires for a MSD cap. Damon locked down the distributor and installed it (as it has to be clocked due to the interference between Indy's intake and MSD distributors). The car started right up -- and after another reclocking the wires -- we were able to get 36 degrees. The car was finished in time for another TT, was back to running its number.

Saturday after the first round of class eliminations, Dallas' car was still leaking and breaking up -- and looked as if the engine needs to be pulled -- so we pulled the plug on his car and put in on the trailer. In my first round, I was lucky that my opponent red lit as my car bogged bad off the line -- with the fuel pressure showing 13 pounds flooding the carbs. After the pass -- fuel pressure was down to my normal 9 pounds so I didn't give it any more thought. Sunday it was down to five of us in FX and I was to run Mitzi. I totally goofed -- thinking I was doing a qualifying -- and pressed the light not thinking it made a difference. I red lit, but actually thought I won the race until it came to me on my way to get the ticket. Mitzi wound winning class after a bye and another red light -- which was nice since it was ten years ago at the Monster that Bill last raced -- and he won class.

In the first round of eliminations I had a bye -- and again the fuel pressure shot up on that run. Back in the pits it was 16PSI -- and so we scrambled to change it with the one from Dallas' dead car, while they were calling us to the line. In the second round I had a .020 light and ran a 9.501 (on a 9.50) against Psychotic Reaction. In the third round I was up against Charlie and his 59 Chevy -- and although I had a good RT and ET -- Charlie bettered me in both and ran a 11.503 on a 11.50 class.

We started packing up -- but did get to see the 4th round get run -- where all four passes were settle by a red light. We pulled out of Gateway at 8:30PM and drove all night to arrive home (900+ miles) at 11:30AM Monday.

After Memphis, we'll freshen up my engine for Dallas' car, build a new one for my car, and see what the deal is on the engine in Dallas' car -- and put it in the wagon -- where I'll have the Big Red Ram as a backup.

Started Work On Calendars

Every year I try to put together a wall calendar of NSS cars. In the past, Donnie from Photo Sport has allowed me to select 13 photos from the Monster for this calendar. No one takes better photos than Donnie -- as he not only gets close to the action -- but he also has proper flash lighting. Last year I took 100s of photos of the NSS cars -- but my problem is that I'm not allowed to get as close, which causes lighting and obstruction (other people along the wall taking photos) problems. Since I will only use the best photos, I can usually only find 5 for every 200 I take that meets my criteria. I think that between all of the photos I have taken and a few that have been sent to me so far -- that I might have enough to put together a calendar as good as the previous five years.

However, if you have an excellent track photo, and you would like to have your car in the 2010 Wall Calendar -- please take it to Kinkos, Office Depot, or Office Max RIGHT NOW and have them scan it at 300 or 600 DPI (preferably as a PNG -- but JPG is almost as good) -- and email the file to me at dave@oldhippie.com with the subject Calendar.

Here's what I look for when I select the 13 photos. The car has to be colorful and representative of NSS cars with the period graphics. An all white or all red car without graphics usually won't do. Also, I try not to have too many of any one colors. The lighting has to be good (no heavy shadows on the side of the car) and the obstructions in the foreground minimal. People like to see either super smoky burnouts -- or the front wheels off the ground.

I would like to get this finished in the next day or so -- so I can bring 50 or so Calendars to Memphis for the NSS drivers to purchase without having to do do on-line. So if you want me to consider your car -- email me the data file of your scanned photo by noon Friday.

MoparWiki

The MoparWiki project is a collaboration of many people's information, to put together an encyclopedia of all things Mopar. I ask those Wordsmiths and those with valuable reference material to please be part of that collaboration. We have Wiki papers on Mopar people, Mopar models, Mopar Makes, Mopar Racers, and Mopar drive trains. It is a work in progress just starting to get a roll going -- and sure could use the help of some of the older Mopar guys sharing their knowledge and old references. Examples of the pages are:

• Main Page

• History of Dodge

• Coronets

• Walter P. Chrysler

• Dave Duell

The On-Line help is excellent. You have to register (simple deal that takes 10 seconds) at www.MoparStyle.com to be able to add or edit a Wiki. Please check it out and help out where you can.

Important Links

• Driver's Discussions -- Swap lies with your NSS Driver friends. It is easy.

• NSS Racing Ning -- News, (free) Driver's/Team Blogs, NSS racing photos and videos

• NSS Classified Ads -- List for free with photos

• MoparWiki -- building an encyclopedia for all things Mopar

• Big Red Ram -- my race car's web site -- could be an idea starting point for those thinking about putting together a team web site to solicit sponsorship.

• NMCA - has a series of 7 NSS races every year.

• Old Hippie's Gift Shop -- NSS, Mopar, Humor, and Political items.

• Rules & News! -- Very informative NSS Site.

• MoparStyle -- Mopar People with Style. News, Forums, Photos, Free Classifieds, Time Slips, garage, and a whole lot more.

• OldHippie.Com -- a web site with discussions about cars, Texas, Humor, Politics, Electronics, and just about any other topic you wish to discuss or need some help with.

Drag'n Wag'n Out For Year

Doug just told me that Drag'n Wag'n is down for the year due to finding some bearing material in the oil filter. He'll be at the Monster and finish NMCA with his Barracuda. Ah, if we all could have a backup NSS car.

I believe that Doug is currently in first place with the NMCA's NSS Class.

Also -- Bill sent me photos of the 727 explosion in Mitzi's car. The trans is in a bunch of pieces and the carbon fiber shield is trash too. Even with the carbon fiber shield -- pieces came through the floor and slightly injured Mitzi's foot. Bill says he's ordered all of the parts to get the car back together in time for the Monster -- although they might be late.

The above is the Winners Circle Photo from when Dallas won NMC at Zmax.

We encourage you to add your track photos and videos of your NSS (or those you took while at the track) that you are authorized to upload -- but please, only track photos -- and not any others. Track photos get featured on the photo show below, and while a photo of your fuel pump may be interesting to you -- it most likely won't list others.

You don't have your track photo digitized? Well I'm sure you have a family member of friend with a scanner that will be more than happy to take your track photos and scan them to JPG files for you. If you have trouble uploading -- I'm sure they will also help you. Just ask them. This is not Rocket Science -- and very easy. Please don't be intimidated.