|
OSH-WW2 Racing
Has A Rough Outing
Boise, Idaho
- August 8 - 10. Battling incredibly adverse weather and track
conditions (99 degrees, track temp 145 and corrected altitude
pressing 6,500 feet) along with a near disaster, Jim Murphy and
the OSH-WW 2 Racing team left Boise in good spirits.
Final Top Fuel Qualifying
1. Jack Harris 5.882 @ 250.97
2. Jeff Diehl 6.016 @ 231.30
3. Howard Haight 6.031 @ 213.67
4. Jim Murphy 6.041 @ 220.21
5. Bill Dunlap 6.073 @ 231.71
6. Lee Jennings 6.134 @ 224.10
7. Glenn Hutchinson 6.154 @ 234.98
8. Bob Muravez 6.247 @ 227.38 |
The event started off
uneventfully when Jim
Murphy laid down this nice 6.06 @ 235 on Friday night.
During the Saturday night session Jim Murphy and
Lee Jennings were paired intentionally. It was not only their
second qualifying pass but the Top Fuel final from the 2003 Ignitor
race that was rained out in April. Murphy was out first and on
a good pass while Jenning's was hopelessly blazing the tires.
Unfortunately for Murphy the steering arm broke on the OSH-WW
2 Racing fueler and he brushed the wall a mear 20 feet from the
finish line damaging his wings and bank account. Due to the infraction,
Jennings was awarded the win and the prize money. For the whole
story from the horses mouth, read below as Jim Murphy recounts
the incident.
"About
the incident I had Saturday night at Firebird racing Lee Jennings.
I would like to clear it all up and let your hear it straight
from the horses mouth. We left the line good and the car was
on a decent pass and running straight and true. At about 600
or 700 ft. it started to move very slowly to the right and I
tried correcting the car back to the center. It did not respond
which is not all that uncommon under power if it's spinning the
tires a little, however I didn't think it was spinning the tires.
When it kept moving to the wall I got out of the throttle at
1100 ft. as it will always respond when not under power. Well,
it kept going to the wall even though at that time the wheel
was turned 90 decrees from going straight. I then pulled the
chute and hung on. It went through the lights at 6:04/220. The
car just lightly brushed the wall 20 foot from the finish and
we headed on down the middle of my lane. I got on the brakes
hard and got the car stopped before the end of the track. The
good Lord was watching out for me.
Upon inspection
it turns out the steering arm broke right where two of the four
bolts that bolt it to the spindle. One of the major causes of
the problem is the arm has a hole bored in the arm for the end
of the kingpin to fit and hold the kingpin from coming out. I
believe this arm needs to be thicker in that area as it only
measures 55 thousands at that point. I was told by Zig with VRA
that this is the fourth one that has broke that he knows about.
I would encourage EVERYONE who has a racecar with an SPE arm
to check it over. I did have it chromed which I've been told
tends to weaken the metal. It was suggest that if you need it
shiny, have it cad plated. I am very thankful to the New family
for the type of guardrail they have at Firebird (it is a concrete
wall) as it could have been an ugly deal with the old type."
JIM
After making the necessary repairs from
his Saturday night incident, Jim Murphy had to get by Bill Dunlap
in Mike Fuller's car. Dunlap served notice that this was HIS
day besting Murphy with a 6.00 @ 237. Jim's game 6.39 @ 233 was
not enough.
I'll be back!
Return
to Photo Archive
|
