NHRA Chassis Certification

We had a major accomplishment this week. As you all know I have done a lot of modifications to the chassis to modernize it and make it safer. As always, I tend to critical of my own work and worry about my workmanship being good enough. I have been nervous about getting the chassis certified ever since I made the first weld on it.

When I started this dream, I had never done any TIG (Tungsten Inert Gas) welding and not only was I concerned that my welds would not pass inspection, I worried that they might not even hold the car together. By the time I finished my modifications, my TIG welding skills had improved dramatically. Although I have good days and bad days, most of my welds look pretty good.

Yesterday, The NHRA chassis inspector came to my shop and performed the inspection process on the car and it passed! As of yesterday, there are no other barriers other than money and time that would prevent the dream from coming true! There were a couple of pieces of tubing that the inspector thought were not sized to spec, but after review of the SFI spec, those tubes were legal.

When the inspector was preparing the tag for the chassis I told him what a "Big Deal" this was for a rookie like me. He made my day when he told me "Your not a rookie, this is a good chassis".

Now the marathon begins to try and meet my goal of having "The Black Hole" ready for a test session in February.

We only got to celebrate our victory for about 1 hour  before I got a phone from my dad (who was in the house less than a 10 feet away). He told me had fallen and needed help. Unfortunately as I write this, we are at the hospital with him waiting for him to go into surgery to repair his broken left Femur. He is in good spirits and is ready to get the problem fixed. We do not know what the rehab process is going to look like or how it will affect our lives, but God will provide. Stay tuned to see if we can still meet our schedule!

We would appreciate all of your prayers for my dad. He wants to be able to see " The Black Hole" make that first burnout and run.

Here is the proof that I have an approved NHRA ProMod chassis:

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Heavy Duty Anti-Roll Bar and 4-Link Bars

I just finished fabrication the new anti-roll bar and the larger 4-link bars. All of it  is tack welded but still needs to be final welded. This is the last thing that has to be done prior to the inspector coming next Thursday.

2inch diameter anti-roll bar. The old one is still attached and is below the new one. Look at the difference in diameter!

New larger diameter roll control links

1 1/2 inch 4-Link Bars

Old vs New

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All welded up

In just a few days the NHRA inspector will be coming to the shop to inspect the chassis to make sure it meets the proper SFI safety specifications for the ProMod class.

As of tonight, I have everything welded up with the exception of a new larger anti-roll bar. This device prevents the chassis from leaning over in response to engine torque making the car move forward (Newton’s law, “For every action, there is an equal and opposite reaction”).

The chassis already has an anti-roll bar but it is undersized for the amount of power the car will be making now.

Once that is done, God willing, it will be ready and have an NHRA certification! This will be a major milestone! Seeing my welds today vs my welds when I first started trying to TIG weld is like night and day. Practice truly does make perfect. There is no other way to learn this skill except by doing it.

The chassis has had a ton of changes made to it to meet the new requirements. I have touched almost everything!

I would appreciate all of your prayers that the chassis will pass the inspection. To not pass would be a show stopper!

Here are some pictures as it sits today. Everything that is bare steel was modified by me.

TIG fillet weld.

Another TIG weld.

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Yet another TIG weld

My TIG welding is getting better!

Front frame work to house the oil tank and fuel tank.

Side view of tank brackets.

New adjustable front strut mounts.

Driveshaft safety loops and tube.

I welded 4-link mount doublers to add 1/4 inch of material for handling the extra horsepower

Transmission crossmember is removable now to make transmission service easier.

Oil filter and breather bracket.

The round tubes will house small LED lights so I can see to strap in the car and get ready to run in dark staging lanes at night races.

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Midwest ProMod Nationals

Traci and I just got back from a 3 day ProMod race at the Texas Motorplex in Ennis, Texas. It was an amazing weekend and we learned so much about the racing process that we will have do when we race the "Black Hole".

This race was organized to be a very intimate race which gave all of the spectators 100% access to the racers, the track, the pits, etc. The promoter had grandstands set up less than 50 feet from the starting line. Traci and I staked our claim on two seats right on the starting line and never moved. We were so close that we could see every part of the staging process, how the cars reacted when they took off, and could FEEL the horsepower vibrating our bodies.

It was an incredible experience!

This was an 1/8th mile race (rather than the typical 1/4 mile) and the 16 car field was one, if not the  fastest 1/8th mile fields ever assembled. The fastest car ran a 3.61 second 1/8th mile while the slowest car ran a 3.71. They were all running well over 200 mph (in 660 feet!!!). That is crazy!

Traci and I left so excited about running our car but also with many questions. Some of them are:

• Will our car be able to compete with these guys?
• Who will we get to help out on a consistent basis who is focused, motivated, and available?
• How are we going to haul all of the stuff we will need at the track (we bought the wrong trailer)?
• Can we tune the car to not destroy itself every run while still being quick?
• Can we service the car quick enough to make each run?
• How are we going to afford to race on this scale?

I know these questions all seem like gloom and doom but Traci and I left knowing that we are smart enough to do this and both of us are excited to compete at this level. We were especially motivated by one team that only had the Dad (driver and crew chief), his wife (assisted in servicing the car), and their daughter( safety systems service and starting line process manager).

This team ran extremely well and broke very few parts. They won several rounds and qualified in the top half of the field. They were an inspiration to us and reminded us of how Traci and I work together. When they won each round, they got more excited the further they went. They made us believe that with God's help, we can do this.

This run has the car (in the far lane) that motivated Traci and I. Just a Dad, Mom, and daughter make this thing go!!!

We are working every waking hour on our car to get it ready for our test runs in February. Please help us pray that we can do it!

Here is some additional video:

Stevie Jackson in the far lane. He is a big time player in NHRA ProMod.

Ricky Smith in the far lane, another big player in NHRA ProMod. He finished second in points behind my friends, the Janis family.

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