Things Heating Up

Catch the excitement in the air

In Memphis at the LSX Shootout things are really starting to heat up. Qualifying on Saturday was slightly spoiled by cloud cover and many neccessary track clean-ups. The cool air and warm sun earlier in the day put enough heat in the track to cause several rear end explosions, and as it got colder into the late afternoon and evening, previous tune-ups seemed insufficient. Thankfully the track staff worked diligently to get the track back into shape, and the NMCA did its best to keep the faster cars safe. Qualifying will continue into this morning, followed by heads-up eliminations of All Motor, Drag Radial and Rumble.

Despite the difficulties, True Street managed to wrap things up last night and several new LSX records were set. Texas Speed shattered its previous heads/cam n/a record with its Z28 shop car, and the SAM's Hugger Orange SS set a new all-motor record as well while still shaking the bugs out of its new combo. Bobby Lashley (Sept '09) and his 2000 Camaro, though its 4-link disqualified him from All-Motor competition, made the trip to Memphis just to chase SAM's record. Hopefully a few tweaks to the tune by Steve Petty of ProLine Race Engines will get him closer, but it appears a Liberty 5-speed may be in order. It's working for SAM!

Also of note, drag radial looks to be very close this year. Several cars seem to be within two tenths of each other including Steve Turley, Mark Koehler, and Jim Filipowski. Meanwhile LMR's new twin turbo TA, which is still being tuned, has lopped .2-.5 of of a second off its ET every trip down the track. Will they get it dialed-in in time?