My biggest fan and my dearest friend.....

Well, the trailer is loaded. John and Allen will be here soon. David will be flying out in the morning. I am about to embark on a dream. As I ponder what is to come about I can't help but think of...and thank with all my heart... my biggest fan, my biggest sponsor, and my best friend - my wife Susan. Without her support, acceptance, and most of all patience I wouldn't be "climbing my Mt. Everest". That's what racing a top fuel car is to me.... It's my brass ring, my "Mt. Everest". It is definately not something a simple man can do by himself. Thanks Susan for all your support and faith in me. I love you more than ever................

Brad

All dressed up and ready to go!

Corey delivered the freshly painted body over the weekend and I got the engine put back together. Allen and John are coming up Wednesday. When they get here we'll set the valves, look everything over and start the car on alky to make sure everything is cool. Then she goes into the trailer for a 5 am departure for Indiana Thursday morning.

Here's the tentative schedule for top fuel at the Indy race:

Friday- Qualifying 3 pm

Saturday- Qualifying noon, 1st round eliminations 3:30 pm

Sunday- 2nd round eliminations 10 am, final round will be the last run of the day

The Goodguys site http://www.good-guys.com/news/hotNews.aspx should have racing updates over the weekend.

Brad

My hot rod is home

Well, my hot rod is finally home in the Speed Merchants shop. The engine has been taken apart, inspected and is mostly back together. I am very busy getting the car and trailer ready for our races in June. I'll be very busy up until we leave I am sure. Here's a final shakedown of the Speed Merchants team and their duties:

John Dearmore- Crew Chief
David Pace - Driver, clutch, chutes and fuel
Allen Dearmore - Top end
Billy Brazelton - Top end
Corey Davis - Bottom end
Randy Compton - Data, tires, photographer

Corey and his Dad should be spraying paint on the new body this weekend. Billy has been coming over to the shop and helping with the car and trailer as time allows from his job. There's lots to do and the days are counting down but the team has high hopes for our very first race.

Brad

Maiden voyages for Speed Merchants AA/FD

Saturday, May 10 we made our first test runs at Texas Motorplex during a Mopar club event being held there. Our plan was to make 3 partial passes, each a little farther under throttle than the last. Everything went according to plan. Everything worked like it was supposed to and the new crew did a great job. Driver and crew chief are old pros and it shows on a day like we had.

Our best 1/8 mile ET was on the last pass 4.39 @172 mph. Our best 60 foot time was 1.12. We had the car just about as detuned as you can run it so it will start picking up as we turn the screws and prepare to qualify and race at Indy and bowling Green in June.

I cannot thank John and Allen at DRE Racing enough for their help. They poured their heart, soul, blood and sweat into this car for me. I could have never gotten here without them!

You will notice that we did not have the new body on the car. It will be painted and on the car when we go to Indy in June.

Brad

TESTING????????

Ladies and Gentlemen, racing fans of all ages..............
If everything goes well this week it looks like the Speed Merchants AA/FD will make some test runs this Saturday May 10 at Dallas Motorplex in Ennis Texas.
After our initial fire up Sunday we had a minor problem with the oil pump/magneto drive shaft. John and Allen pulled the engine, tore it down and found the problem along with a few other details that need corrected. As usual they are on top of things and working their tails off to get the adjustments made and be ready for the weekend. Time will tell for sure but Saturday is our goal and unless we hit a roadblock that is beyond our control we'll be there.
The new full body is still in the paint prep process so we will run the old short body for the testing but the new body will be ready before the first race in June.
Brad

It breathes..........

Update

Well, things are winding up. Although we're behind on our testing schedule it looks like we may have a good chance of starting the car for the first time this weekend. It will take a lot of work on our part to finish up a lot of little things and we'll have to overnight ship a set of pushrods but if it all works out we should fire it sometime Sunday. It will be a glorious moment that has been a long time coming. On another note, Sunday afternoon an NHRA inspector is coming by to inspect the chassis and give us a sticker for the year.
If all of the above falls into place we will look at testing May 9/10 or 16/17 - probably in Texas at Lufkin or Ennis. I will keep you posted and I hope to post Monday with good news and pictures. Brad