Finally we had the Impala
prepared to race at the largest Swedish drag race
event - Veidec Festival. We could enter the Super Gas class after some
work with the car: the 5th belt, transmission blanket and a window net.
This is because this race doesn't have any open dial-in bracket class.
Thanks Volvo Photo Depot! Once again I was allowed to borrow their supercharged
Volvo FL6 car
transport truck, since we missed our appointed yearly traffic inspection of
the Impala SS, due to our
transmission break. I just couldn't drive it legally to Mantorp.
Axel remembered the truck from 2004 (test in
Gardermoen) so he took care of every detail in the
loading. He was the only one of us remembering how to use the rear loading
remote control.
I was driving the truck with the assistance of Axel and Agneta drove the Dodge
Grand Caravan with
our Solifer T1 camper. She is the one with most driving experience with that
camper, even if I drove
it to a 16.29 ET World Record at Mantorp
behind the Impala SS. Agneta is a very talented driver. Too.
We started from Gothenburg at 23.00 and came here to the Mantorp gate at around
03.00.
We just jumped into the Solifer and had a good night's sleep.
Thursday 26th
Anders "Brälla" Brändström and his son Albin, our
neighbours in the pit. And they were also one of our
strongest reasons for going to Veidec (and race in Super Gas). We wanted to
meet all the good ol' drag
racing friends of Umeå, my former hometown. I haven't met them in 20
years or more! I mean, Albin
wasn't even born when I moved from Umeå in 1986, and Brälla wasn't
racing and today they are both in
the top ranks in Sweden in Super Gas and Junior Dragster respectively.
What Axel didn't know before meeting his idol to be, Albin, is that his mum
and dad already had talked
to "Brälla" to get the option on this VERY nice Junior Dragster!
Yes, this rail will possibly be Axel's own
dragster when Albin wants to step up! Axel LOVED it! And Axel followed Albin's
every move and was his
biggest fan. And Albin was a very good and nice older friend to Axel! Thanks
for that Albin! But, with this
engine Albin often seems to go too quick even in the Comp-class, it's far
too quick for Axel so I guess
we need another engine to begin with (Please Albin, keep going for a couple
of years, 'cause
we still have so much to do with the Impala SS...)
First run of 2007. Burnout was OK. But the start was awful, car spun slicks
and was sliding sideways
on 1st gear! (Wait until you'll see Agneta's video...) Instead of 9's it was
a lift off and a roll into 17
something. Brälla and his team: "Hey what kind of Funny Car do you
have? Lost traction at Mantorp!?"
Well, I started to think about my new Anti Roll Bar...was it too tightly mounted...?"
Next run was different: it shortshifted to 2nd after only a cars length and
I hit the rev-limiter at 7000 RPM
(and 30 PSI!) on 3rd when it was 100 yards left to the finish line, I lifted
off and rolled into a 11.05....??
Yes, my Vigilante converter is indeed broken after the transbrake test a couple
of days ago!!
Agneta always seems to find time to slow down and enjoy, even if she's working
like hell all the time!
I guess it's a women thing? Biggest surprise of Veidec was when our friend
from Umeå, Thomas Öhman,
just came walking in and asked for food! All the others kept that a secret
to me! But thanks to the rain
during Friday and Saturday he never got to see a single run of Blackout SS
before he had to drive home!
It was nice to sit down and talk to the Blackout SS again, via the computer
cable. And it was even nicer
to have a full blast party with all the Umebos at Brälla's christmas
tree lighted pit. However, you can
see Bosse, 58 years, in the lower right corner. He's from Stockholm, he worked
as an official for four
full days here - do you know what he got for that? Not even a Thank You! And
he will never be back!
Mantorp...inget har hänt på 20 år märker jag! Skäms!
FIA-tävling....?
All of us Umebos of course have Magnus Hansson in Pro Stock as our biggest
idol! The Umebo who
is the furthermost into the Drag Racing Elite of FIA! Magnus is 6th from the
left. And he always meets
his fan club when it's dark but he's happy. Vi är ju Umebor ju!? Ume
mot alla!
Magnus shows the real colors behind his chutes - Björklöven, Umeå
- the world's best hockey team!
Kia always fixed my haircut when I still was living in Umeå, and I think
it was much better back then,
now the hair is thinner and not at all as good looking as when Kia was fixing
it some 20 years ago!?
My good old streetracing friend Jöran Persåker doesn't care about
haircuts either. We just are. He's
now racing in Top Fuel, but rather wanted to show us a very special panicly-built-something
in his rig that I have forgot everything about. Congratulations anyway! Also
the kids crossing the
pit in their rolling slicks were fun to see!
Friday 27th
Happiness is to sleep out in a warm cosy Solifer! Especially when the rain
is pouring outside! Fellow
Super Gas racer Bosse Hall tips last 5 minutes of rain...
Even if the sun shined sometimes, you don't go for these easy tricks, you
always keep your rain
boots on. If you began to smile - it began to rain again...
Suddenly it also STORMED! Both Agneta and I had to hang with our full weights
in the race tent's
bars just to keep it from flying away!! It was a half'n'hour when we couldn't
even leave the bars for seconds
to get help! Then we could secure the tent to the neighbour's bus at last!
After this we decided to have a
Cinema experience in our warm Solifer with an old James Bond-DVD and a bowl
of popcorn (thanks
Agneta!) We didn't want to get out again!
OK! We had to get out when this couple came! Good ol' streetrace-friend Peter
Ohlsson from Alvesta
in Småland showed up with his quality-sensitive girlfriend Kristina
Olsson. She wanted Peter to
change the Weiand blower in their Chevy '55 to a ProCharger when she heard
this one warm up at only
3000 RPM...and Peter didn't argue against her wish...
Peter is one of the streetracers that went over to Santa Pod in 1985 - partly
sponsored by the Bilsport
magazine - and he actually drove quicker than my 355" Whiplash Camaro
in his 454"
Trans Am with a
9.79 something and Peter even remembers me tearing my timeslip! As I see it
there were 4 of us
from Class of 1985 here at Veidec, Peter, me and the two Top Fuel-drivers
Jöran Persåker and
Andy Carter UK, who didn't come to start that October-night at Santa Pod in
1985.
Those were the days...
Saturday 28th
Rain again. No qualifying for Sportsman classes today either. If anything,
there will be Pro classes.
Kenneth Ståhl and his sweet daughter Ida came by from Örebro. Kenneth
brought my first choice
transmission Ignatius here after he had checked it up thoroughly last night
(I drove it there yesterday).
Thanks Kenneth and the whole family of yours for your support!
The absolute best thing at Veidec 2007 for us was the meals from Agneta! Breakfasts,
lunches, dinners
and snacks and fresh fruits in between. This was a "basic
lunch" but she also grilled a lot. We didn't
spend a coin on the awful things sold by food dictator Möller. Hallå
Mantorp, det är 2007 nu, inte 1984!
FIA-tävling?
This is the "spectator bank" which only has room to pack 3-4 people
on top! To compare with the bank
at Santa Pod which is very wide and can hold a lot of people. Moreover; the
PA-speakers which are
placed all the way on the inside of the Armco-barrier didn't work all weekend!
Mantorp för faan! Min fru
kan byta växellåda i Impalan, kan inte ni då få högtalarna
att fungera? Inte ett jävla ljud! Fy faaaaan
vad dåligt, tyckte ALLA här! FIA-tävling?
Snarare som nåt getbrottningsderby i Lycksele...
Suddenly Jöran showed up in our washing area with his Top Fueler! He
didn't get his chutes out in time
so he flew out into the Leca-pellets. I don't miss a chance to work on a Top
Fueler...
Pellets were everywhere! Duck when they'll start it up again =)
Da Man in Australia - Victor Bray, The
King of Doorslammers - visited Sweden, invited by Pro Mod # 6
Mats Eriksson, even if he here says hello to the Lindahl twins who just changed
to the Pro Mod-Camaro
and parked their 57' Chevy while Victor has a 6.056 @ 245.23 mph/ 394.57 kmh
(World Record,
screw type blower) down under in his 57' Chevy! He also said hello in the
Blackout SS pit when his
other Swedish friend Lars-Inge Johansson came by with him - I was so surprised
that I forgot to snap
a picture, can you believe! But he liked our Blackout SS!
The only thing Victor Bray complained about was the slow action in the lines.
He thought like me, all
other racing teams and all people at the grand stands, why not push it even
quicker when we know
we have rain clouds around us? Why do it slower than ever before? Why? Because
it's FIA?
And why that never ending Hot Rod Parade in the middle of everything on Sunday?
That was off already
20 years ago! Let them have their show elsewhere at Mantorp, OK, but put the
drag racing qualifications
and elimination ladders to Number 1 prio - especially in rainy weather!
Since there were no chance of seeing a race from the bank we could follow
it on the big screen (still
without speaker sound #@&=?%) Here is Patrik Wikström in a qualifying
round. To the right. I think.
Axel found a lot of friends everywhere. Good boys and girls with as crazy
parents as Axel's. Good
thinking of today's videographers at the starting area - gas masks. Cleaning
the objectives from
rubber is an old one, it goes with the territory.
My garage friends on their way to the last qualifying round in Pro Mod. Top
Fuel Thore holding the
bottle, Dick, Patrik inside, Farbror Bertil, Tommy AGA, Mr
Chrille and Goofy. What a dream team!
Still in testing mode but quicker and quicker 6's. I was so proud of their
work through leaned runs,
burst panel, hurt pistons and more, but they were still smiling because they
were back in it!
And Patrik drove better than his 20 months break should show. Qualified 12th
with a 6.55 @ 353 mph!
Super-Fin
Seppo Saapola was in as 3rd with a tremendous 6.30 @ 363 mph with Patrik's
former engine,
but couldn't stop his giant Chrysler 300 so he was checked overnight at the
hospital after he flew at
the track end. Seppo was OK, stirred but not shaken. I guess he looked like
the guy in this paint...?
Sunday 29th
No rain? Only windy like hell?
I wrote "Spleep?" on my rear window because I knew that Tog of eurodragster.com
would see it from
race control. He is also a big fan of the great TV-comedy Fawlty Towers. When
Sybil said to Basil,
regarding the Spanish waiter Manuel's rat named Basil, that "Maybe the
best thing to do is to put
it to s-l-e-e-p?" Manuel overheard that and was thinking hard and said
to himself "S-p-l-e-e-p-?"
ELIMINATIONS - SUPER GAS
What?! Should we race again all of a sudden? Thursday was the last run, how
should I do now?
Consistent German Dirk Peiler in his wheelstanding Dodge Dart had no problem
to execute Blackout SS
with its slipping converter. Dirk: 10.15 Me: 10.96 (lifting the pedal 100
yards before finish line, again)
The actual start moment shows a much more squarish start than last year's
starts when it was lifting the
left front wheel. Now it leaves very flat thanks to the new Anti Roll Bar
but on the other hand that device
also seems to be stiffening things in the rear end since I don't have the
good 60-foot times anymore?
And ridiculously, spinning, sliding 1st gears...hm?...maybe loosen everything
up to next weekend?
Chief Starter of European Drag Racing, Mr Ian Marshall knows how a car should
launch...
We saw Pro Mod Champ 2005 Patrik put Pro Mod Champ 2006 Urban Johansson on
the trailer in the
first round...
...and we also saw Mats Eriksson put out Patrik in second round. Happiest
in the Thriller Team was
former rally-guy Dick who just loved to be in the middle of all the action!
He joined the Thriller Team
thanks to his help making a lot of craft metal work and more. Also brother
to Kaj Martin, another
good craftsman in TBDGIT. Patrik stopped at 6.45 at Veidec and will continue
to cut tenths later...
The big safe green bus which saved us during the storms is owned by Super
Gasser Johan Rehnström
who also is one of many marketing persons behind the Nyköping Motorpark!
That community has
given their full support for a permanent, professionally built quartermile
drag strip outside Nyköping!
Environmental issues are done! It's "only" the financing left, but
they have a plan and will work it out!
After the Veidec race we drove a couple of miles towards Skänninge where
Lena and Stefan Lind invited
us to dinner. Lena and Agneta are cousins. Thanks for your hospitality!
They are very nice normal people, never go to Mantorp. Lucky
them. Then they don't know anything
about the disgusting overfilled toilets....
Instead of the planned parking of the Impala SS
and the Solifer T1 at Lena and Stefan's and going
for a week's vacation among forgotten relatives
and friends in Stockholm, we had to rush home
and quickly change back to 1st choice of
4L80E-transmission again, but with Kent
Edin's TCI converter.
There's the Bilsport Action Meet at Mantorp next
Friday and Saturday...
