The BME Bulletin
Bill Miller Engineering's Top Fuel
Blog #2 BME GEARS UP FOR COMEBACK IN TOPEKA When the going gets tough, the Bill Miller Engineering Top Fuel team gets going. The 2005 season got off to a rough start with a crash at Pomona Raceway caused by a cut tire. With a refurbished race car and new driver, Bobby Lagana Jr., at the wheel, at Houston Raceway Park, the BME/Okuma/Red Line Oil Tom Fuel Dragster had its second close encounter of the guardrail kind on its first run. So after two events; the scoreboard reads: Armco 2; BME 0. Despite its early-season setbacks, the BME team still has high hopes for 2005. The black-and-yellow dragster is scheduled to rejoin the NHRA Powerade Drag Racing Series at the O'Reilly NHRA Summer Nationals in Topeka, Kansas, on Memorial Day weekend. "Chassis builder, Don Long, the sheetmetal guys, the painter and the crew really busted their butts to get the car repaired after the first accident," said BME team owner, Bill Miller. "Then. they had to do it all again after one run in Houston. We don't have spare cars stacked to the ceiling in the race car shop and it's tough when you see how much time and effort went for naught. But the BME team has heart and we'll be back." BOBBY'S WILD RIDE Lagana's first ride in the BME dragster was a textbook illustration of Murphy's Law, as Miller explained: "The car was finished a week ahead of time and everyone was pumped-up about going to Houston. Of course, Bobby's excited because it's his first event with a new team." "When we warmed-up the engine, the oil pressure was a little low and, afterward, the crew checked the valve lash and found two burned pushrod cups. Unfortunately, replacing the pushrods didn't cure the problem because, on the first run, the exhaust pushrod for the No. 7 cylinder failed. Then, the intake pushrod broke because it couldn't open the valve against the pressure in the cylinder. Now, the blower is putting more air into the other seven cylinders which go lean and kick out the head gaskets. That starts a small fire that's hot enough to burn the brake line off the rear end. "So—Bobby is coasting at 175 mph and, when he pulls the brake handle, the car doesn't slow down. He pulls the parachute, but the car is approaching the turn off and he's catching TJ Zizzo, who ran 300 mph in the other lane. Bobby moves toward the centerline, getting lined up to go into the sand trap, but—the official at the top end motions to Zizzo to cut across in front of him. Zizzo does as he's instructed, so Bobby either has to hit Zizzo or the guardrail. He chose the guardrail. "The car hit a hay bale which was in front of the barrier. The impact bent the front of the car into a 'Z' and it trashed the front wing, the new body panels and the entire chassis ahead of the driver cage. Of course, Bobby was broken-hearted, but the accident wasn't his fault and I told him not to worry about it." The BME Top Fuel troops will regroup at Heartland Park outside of Topeka on May 27 with a new battle plan. "I think we'll make a half-pass out of the box in Topeka, just to get Bobby comfortable with the car," Miller reported. "Then it's hammer down for Topeka, Chicago, Madison and the West Coast races."
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