OK, I’m “fudging” just a little here because, in all honesty, I wasn’t home last weekend, I was up in the mountains visiting friends and enjoying the fall colors. But during the week there was some hardcore muscle car action at Drag City, and there were some surprises, including 2 engine fires, some valiant efforts by some of the fastest competitors, and an amazing showing by some underdogs.
I think maybe I cranked the voltage a wee bit too high; @ 22V the power supply seemed to match the standard Aurora wall warts but it’s clearly a little more, since “Smoky” Rutherford’s ’64 Ford Thunderbolt burned up in the very first heat, taking one of the top competitors out for the race.
Amazing performances were turned in by both Buick Rivieras, surpassing all expectations as “Iceman” Idris Robards in “Glacier” made it to Elimination 2, while Jim “Comet” Coburn beat Nick “Nitro” Norris in his ’69 Mach 1 to advance to Elimination 3, in part because “Punisher” became the second casualty of an engine fire! Elimination 3 also gave the crowd a double-pleasure as two of the fastest GTO’s on the track faced off against one another, with “Crimson” Calhoun in “Scarlett Fever” beating “T-Bone” Taggart in “Skull Crusher” by mere 100ths of a second!
When The Final Battle came, it was a clash of titans: David “Wild Thing” Wahlberg with the hemi-powered ‘64 Dodge Polara “The Final Countdown” faced off against Walter “Buddy” Breckenridge in “Leviathan,” the 400 Ram Air II powered ’68 Firebird. Breckenridge has been in this position before and just missed it, but this time he took home the tournament trophy, turning in a 5-lap time of 0.36.075 against Wahlberg’s 0.36.867. Though that seems like a clean win, it wasn’t easy, as “Leviathan” got hot under the collar and crossed the finish line in a cloud of steam! It was a dramatic conclusion to a dramatic tournament, and a well-deserved win for the Coloradan who has been a runner up twice in the past.
So with 2 cars now needing complete rebuilds and another needing some shop work, this may be an opportunity for some of the “extras” to rotate in for a chance at glory for the next muscle car tournament, the Hallowe’en “Monster’s Ball!” Next up, however, is the big “64-pack” sports car championship! Expect more chills, spills, and thrills as the “Secret Oktober” racing series continues at DRAG CITY!
That would have been a grand weekend for getting into the mountains to see the colors. I wondered if you had the same trouble with your cars like I did with my trains where the defective transformer burned up the locomotive. The power supply is something I have watch out for on my set up. It’s been better though with the new transformer.