"Only drag
racers spend 60 hours a week to run a car for 6 seconds."
It has always been a wonderment
to those outside of drag racing how anyone can spend an entire
week preparing a race car that, in all reality, could only run
for a matter of seconds before blowing up.
Answer: It's the nature of the
beast.
From day one drag racing has
been been a sport measured in tenths of a second. Now it's taken
to the thousandths of a second. When the margin of winning or
losing comes down to a heartbeat you better be sure your race
car is prepared to the best of your ability.
WW2 Racing does not leave anything
to chance. Their's is not a backyard operation. Jim Murphy and
crew know that preparation is half the battle to winning races.
Considering this is not a "professional" racing team
in the sense that none of the principals rely on the success
or failure of a race for a living... nonetheless they treat it
is as such.
When you visit WW2 Racing your first impression
is the exterior of their custom built shop. Located in Santa
Rosa, CA. this massive structure has but one purpose... to house
the Top Fuel dragster of Jim Murphy and crew. When Jim isn't
working at his construction business and the crew can slip away,
they can all be found in this garage behind Jim's house. Everyone
involved does this out of love for drag racing and loyalty to
Jim Murphy.
On any given week night (or weekend) you can find
Ron, David, Barry, Jeff or Gary doing their thing within the
well equipped shop Murphy has given them to work in. And if the
crew is there it's a safe bet that Jim is working right along
with them. WW2 Racing takes the sport back to its roots and without
sponsor support, know going in they can't possibly win enough
prize money to pay for their passion.
After each race the car is stripped and put
up on... well, sawhorses. Every piece is taken off and apart
to assure there is no internal damage not visible to the naked
eye. There is a job for everybody and everybody knows their job.
When you have a common goal, there is no finer group than a drag
racing crew. Especially when they are doing the job out of sheer
love.
This is the heart of WW2 Racing. An aluminum Donovan
engine manufactured for one purpose and one purpose only. To
drag race. Based on the age old Chrysler 392 hemi, the Donovan
is the state-of-the-art block for nostalgia Top Fuel racing.
Like the car itself, the engine is completely disassembled after
every race and inspected with a fine tooth comb. Any suspect
parts are replaced before its reinstalled in the car and the
crew makes sure nothing is left to chance.
Here the Donovan blown fuel hemi is being
maneuvered back into the chassis after refurbishing. Like every
other aspect of WW2 Racing, this is not a rush deal. Even though
the engine has been in the car many times before, it is always
dropped in as if it were the first time.
You don't spend 60 hours a week preparing a race
car to put it on an open trailer (not these days anyway). WW2
Racing transports their "traveling road show" via an
enclosed trailer that is equipped with all the tools essential
for maintenance at the races. Needless to say, the sides of this
38 foot rig are ripe for sponsorship representation. A virtual
rolling billboard.
Inside the WW2 Racing trailer is pure business.
Spare parts, tires, tools, work benches, fuel, computer... everything
is layed out and maintained immaculately. When you only have
60 minutes between rounds your crew must know where everything
is. WW2 Racing has no problem in this area.
Class begets class. With an extensive
background in professional racing, Jim Murphy and the WW2 team
put the same effort and pride into their Nostalgia Top Fuel program.
And there is a popular consensus within the motorsports world
that this form of drag racing may well be the future of the sport.
"Nostalgia isn't what it used to be" could prove to
be the most prophetic phrase of the Twenty-first Century.
For sponsorship information
go to: Support WW2 Racing
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