Re: Mopar Nationals! Mucho Dak Content there!

From: Mark Kuzia (flyboy01@mediaone.net)
Date: Tue Aug 14 2001 - 19:30:05 EDT


Actually I thought that the temps were not that bad on Saturday considering
that the week before I spent the entire day working on the rear suspension
of my Dak in 96F and 85% humidity. I guess I got there on the cooler day.

Mark Kuzia
flyboy01@mediaone.net
http://people.mw.mediaone.net/flyboy01/home.html
1995 Dakota 13.79 @ 102.45 mph
~360ci, 5-spd, 8 3/4 rear / 3.90-SG
1994 Dakota 15.36 @ 91.56 mph
~318ci, 5-spd, 3.90 LS (bone stock, no mods)

----- Original Message -----
From: "Bob Tom" <tigers@bserv.com>
To: <dakota-truck@buffnet.net>
Sent: Tuesday, August 14, 2001 4:56 PM
Subject: Re: DML: Mopar Nationals! Mucho Dak Content there!

> After having pulled into the driveway around 6 p.m. on Monday, I've
finally
> recovered enough from the Nats to make it to the keyboard and downloading
> about 1000 emails.
>
> Thanks to Steve and Leslie for coming over to the red Dakotent Friday
> morning and giving me moral support while I was waiting in the staging
> lane. I'm only sorry that I wasn't able to spend more time talking with
> both of you at the Dakotent as I had to get HOT DAK ready for racing.
>
> I see that you both survived the 100F and 65% humidity (in the shade)
> on Friday! Glad to hear you enjoyed yourselves and made it safely home.
> That sure was a great pic of your QC.
>
> >"Mark Kuzia" <flyboy01@mediaone.net> wrote:
> >: I just got back from the Nats, I met up with Jon Steiger, Shane Mosely,
and
> >: Bob Tom and son, had a lot of fun there. Thanks for bringing the tent,
Bob,
> >: it was a lifesaver!
> >
> >Jon Steiger wrote:
> > Yep, it was great to finally meet you, Mark! And of course, drool
over
> >your truck for a while! :-) I'll be looking forward to seeing a post
> >from you in the near future with a new best time! :-) I'll second your
> >sentiments regarding the tent! I have one similar in size to Bob's
(although
> >its nowhere near as nice; mine was a $10 K-mart special.) :-) I'll try
to
> >remember to bring it next year so we can put 'em together and double the
> >shade. :-)
>
> I echo those sentiments. After all these years corresponding on the DML,
> it was sure nice to meet Mark and to see his Dak in person!
>
> I was also glad that Shane Baker was able to make it. Always a pleasure
> talking with him!
>
> Sorry that we all had to share the tent with the engine bay of HOT DAK .
> It was getting a little crowded under there (wasn't it?) but priorities
are
> priorities :-) With the 180F tstat, water wetter and now with the shade,
> the engine sure cools down fast. Actually, that part of the hill was
pretty
> crowded with a whole bunch of Dakotas.
>
> I thoroughly enjoyed this year's show as compared to last year. I have
> Sat.'s two time trials of all the street cars, the exhibition runs put on
by
> the Mopar Performance big-name boys (got a good shot of the OH sky
> too when the fueller took off and blew David right onto his back ... he
was
> about 100' away and squatting down to get a better angled shot), the
> first run of eliminations on Sun. for the Street Money class, the cars
> in judged field and about every '71 RR and GTX that showed up.
>
> If anyone is planning on running on National Trailways, be prepared to be
> humbled. It's a beautiful track ... absolutely level and measures an
> exact 1/4-mile because of the official NHRA events that are held there
> but a combination of elevation (~1000' although not listed as such),
> temp. and humidity makes it a slow track.
>
> On Friday (last time I experienced that much heat and humidity combo.
> was in spring of '94 in Norman OK and Dallas TX), I got in 6 time trials
> with a 15.29 best ET and a 88 mph (normally on Ont. tracks I'm
> doing 14.8s and 91 mph). I took David down the track on the last
> run and now I know what weight (160 extra lbs) can do to our trucks!
> On the Ont. tracks, I go through the line at 5000 rpms. On Nat. Trailway,
> it was 4700-4800 rpms. With my son onboard, I went through at
> 4500 rpms. About 3/4 of the way down, it was like Overdrive came
> on and the torque converter locked up. Wound up with a 15.51@86.87.
> Person at the timeslip box said to me that I was certainly getting my
money's
> worth ... better believe it!
>
> On Sat.'s two time trials, luck had me running against two different
yellow
> R/T regular cabs (anyone from the list?). Against the one with the hard
> bed lid, I ran a 15.132 @ 89.11 (pb for this track) to his 15.699 @ 86.37.
> The second one against the one without the lid saw me end up with
> a 15.215 @ 89.29 to his 15.884 @ 85.55.
>
> On Sunday, I went out in the first round of eliminations. Luck of the
> draw had me against a local Gen II (he only showed up on Sun.).
> He dialled a 14.58 to my 15.18. I did not think that he passed me
> at the finish line but the light in his lane came on showing that he
> had won. The timeslip showed that I had crossed the line 2/1000th ahead
> of him but that I had broken out by 2/100th. I ran a 15.164 @ 88.93
> to his 14.727 @ 88.76. The timeslip also showed that I had no
> wiggle room to play with as he got off a 0.507 reaction time. My
> rt was 0.668 as there was no way I was going to redlight this year.
> After coming this distance, I was willing to gamble on a slow rt.
>
> Sorry I wasn't able to make it out to Brice Rd to meet Tim and James.
> Friday, I was bagged and a toasted right foot, and, on Sat., it started
> to rain just after we got back to the Westerville motel.
>
> Thanks for the bandwidth.
>
> CECIL dragstrip ... here I come ... need to get my ego boosted!
> I'll get in touch with you, Shane.
>
> Bob
>



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