Yes, Donny: The Plain Brown Wrapper's best ET and speed were attained on the same run: 12.698 @ 112.66. Curiously, the MSD had taken a dump just before that run, so that run was made on good old-fashion, no-nonsense, low-tech, conventional dual points and OEM coil! True! The Stude Tomato's best ET (12.686) and Terminal Speed (112.07) of the meet were achieved on different runs. Both those cars now have virtually identical R3 engines, save The Tomato not having a pressure box around the carburetor because a side-mount supercharger, neccessary for pressure box clearance, cannot be squeezed into the smaller 1963 model year engine room. A top, center-mount supercharger position is required for the 1963 R3 (335 HP) engine, just like all the R2 (289 HP) engines in both 1963 and 1964 "Larks" and Hawks. And as Dan and Bob will confirm, The Stude Tomato arrived at Dan's Wednesday, September 15th, with one head and the intake manifold removed. The engine was inspected, measured, and Certified Stock that day at Dan Jensen's shop. BP
Nick Tomlinson was scheduled to run the Stude Tomato. I spent alot of time looking at those Studebakers last weekend. Clean looking...and extremely fast. Your never complete as a pure stocker until you get your tail handed to you by a Studebaker!
Thanks, Donny, JJ, and Tom. I forgotten to mention earlier that our secret weapon, driver Ted Harbit, turned 75 years old last May! Honest. Yep, he was driving both cars when they posted their speeds in the 112s and ETs in the 12.6s! Bob Palma Technical Editor Turning Wheels
I know Ted will squeese a couple more tenths out of his car before long.A new combo always takes time to sort out.:TU:
Be afraid. Be very afraid. Those blower cars pull as hard in high gear as they do in first gear. Just because you are a little ahead early on, never let off if you are racing one of them. If you do, you'll see how they pull like a freight train on the big end. Just one more thought. How much faster would those Studebakers be if they used a true 2 1/2" mandrel bent exhaust system with Magnaflow mufflers?? o No:
Thanks, Jim. Interestingly, there's a better than 50/50 chance Nick would have won that shootout. That's because, had the shootouts taken place Saturday as usual, Ted Harbit would not have been driving The Stude Tomato against Nick's GS. Both The Stude Tomato and The Plain Brown Wrapper qualified so close together (ETs) that they were almost paired with each other for the shootouts! They were not, fortunately, but it was going to be impossible for Ted to pilot both cars in the shootouts. He could not finish one race and get back around to hop in the next car for the next race; it wouldn't be physically possible. So, Chuck Kern's son John had passed Driver's Inspection and was suited up to drive The Stude Tomato against Nick's 1972 GS. Chuck Kern campaigns the white, R2-powered Avanti; son John, a professional mechanic by trade, is the head wrench on that car. John has had some experience driving The Stude Tomato in eighth-mile drags, and was as qualified as anyone we had to drive it in the shootouts. This is not to say Nick couldn't have beaten Ted had Ted been driving, but I think we'd all agree that it would have been easier for Nick if Ted wasn't! :laugh: BP
What about the silver R3 car. I didn't get to see it run. How did the automatic trans work out for it?
Thanks for asking, John. The Moonlight Silver 1964 R3 Challenger clone is owned by Steve Doerschlag of Eaton, Colorado. He's the fellow who owned the huge three-car hauler at the race, and also owns the Horizon Green 1964 R1 / 4-speed Commander 2-door that was on the trailer with The Plain Brown Wrapper and his silver car. The green car is not a clone; it retains its original R1 Avanti (289 cubes, single four-barrel, no supercharger, 240 HP) engine, as manufactured. Steve, my cousin George Krem, and their mechanic friend Butch Lundstedt drove right at 1,200 miles each way to attend the 2010 Pure Stock Drags. Steve's silver R3 Challenger got down to a best of 13.614 @ 103.44 during his five runs Friday. 'No particular trouble or anything, but he wanted more practice in the car and I am not sure he changed the jetting or metering rods for this lower altitude. The first year we brought The Plain Brown Wrapper to the event was 1998. It's best that year was a 13.39X ET @ 103.90 MPH, so Steve was doggone close to that...with Powershift automatic transmission, as opposed to The Wrapper's 4-speed. Too, I believe Steve's silver R3 still displaces the R3's original 304.5 cubic inches. During this past year, both The Plain Brown Wrapper and Stude Tomato were bored .045 (.070 being maximum legal for The Pure Stock Drags) and now displace 312 cubic inches. (No, it is still not a Ford engine any more than a Studebaker 289 is a Ford engine!ou: <GGG> We get that a lot, as you can imagine!)
Ted never squeezes it all out. Not during qualifying anyway. So, if they went 12.68 and 12.69 they were really capable of 12.40's !:3gears: Wow, that's haulin' Studes! :TU:
When I found out that I was the lucky one to race the Stude, I thought I get to race Mr. Ted, what an honor! I also thought , I better get out on him real good because of the topend charge that little red monster makes!Ted came down to my car and we talked a while. What a cool guy to talk to. Friday was a great time, wished we could haved raced Saturday. 1972 buick GS455 Stg1 clone 12.67@109
Well, Brian; ya' know: At heart, Ted is "just" a 75-year old down-home Hoosier who grew up helping his Dad, the late Lloyd "Ted" Harbit, farm 600 fertile central-Indiana acres with a couple of early-1950s Olivers. No doubt young Ted observed some possums out there along the tree lines, doing what possums do to avoid attracting attention to themselves...:laugh: I'd say he learned pretty good....:Brow:
Was it a sand farm? :laugh: :laugh: I think Ted's a nice guy, even towed me back from the starting line once, and I really am impressed with his long racing career. I'm not a big fan of possums though.
I was wrong Ted didn't squeese out a couple tenths he just ran a 12.20 at 114.16 MPH at Muncie tonight .Way to go Ted I knew you you were going to go faster but thats a great #.I bet that smile is going to last for a long time.:TU:
Thanks, Steve. I had posted a separate report before seeing your post. (It's heartenting to know good news travels as fast as did the terrible news of Ted's accident last year in The Chicken Hawk!) Anyway, here's "the rest of the story..." http://racingstudebakers.com/foo/viewtopic.php?f=1&t=2126
