The BME Bulletin #2
Bill Miller Engineering's Top Fuel
Blog HIGHS AND LOWS ON THE TOP FUEL HIGHWAY A lot of nitromethane has passed under the supercharger since the last blog entry from the Bill Miller Engineering/Okuma/Red Line Oil Top Fuel team. The BME dragster competed in Houston, Las Vegas, and Bristol, Tenn., in the last five weeks. Highlights included driver, Alan Bradshaw's, first round win of his Top Fuel career with a victory over three-time National Hot Rod Association Top Fuel Champion Tony Schumacher and a high-energy day at Okuma's headquarters in Charlotte, North Caraoline. The good times more than offset the disappointment of a close-but-no-cigar DNQ at Bristol, Tennessee. The BME team had new tubing in the car's chassis for the O'Reilly NHRA Spring Nationals at Houston on March 31- April 2. In accordance with new NHRA rules which require heat-treated tubing to be used in the rear of the frame, the back half of the chassis was replaced with the specified material. The team also had to come to terms with the new, Goodyear Eagle Dragway Special 2420 slicks which are now mandated for NHRA's nitro-burning classes. Bradshaw's second pass at Houston Raceway Park produced a stunning 4.61-second elapsed time that virtually guaranteed a spot in the 16-car show. With the pressure to qualify removed, owner/crew chief Bill Miller had an opportunity to test the limits of the new tire and chassis combination on Saturday. Two tire-shaking runs later, the stage was set for a first-round showdown between No. 10 qualifier, Bradshaw, and No. 7 seed and current Top Fuel sensation, Melanie Troxel. Bradshaw was first out of the gate by .05 seconds, but severe tire shake again stymied the car's performance. "On Saturday morning we put on a prototype Gibson-Miller supercharger," Miller reported. "We were still coming to terms with the 2420 tire and got into tire shake. We made a change for the first round of eliminations to slow down the axle speed, but the tire shake was even more severe and we were done for the day." One week later, the team was back in action at The Strip at Las Vegas Motor Speedway, the site of the Summitracing.com Nationals. Adjustments to the tune-up to prevent overtaxing the tires proved productive as Bradshaw's third qualifying run produced a 4.70-second elapsed time that secured the 16th spot on the qualifying list. On Sunday morning, Bradshaw lined up against the powerhouse Schumacher Racing team in the first round of eliminations. Bradshaw put a .02-second advantage in the bank on the starting line and never looked back. The BME dragster ran 4.685 at 318 mph to upset the No. 1 qualifier as Schumacher slowed to an 8-second e.t. "If you're going to get your first round win, there's no better way to do it than to take out a three-time champion," said Bradshaw. "That doesn't take anything away from the U.S. Army team—we just had a better car that day. It was definitely exciting to get my first round win in Top Fuel for Bill and all of the guys who have worked so hard on this Team. "Running back-to-back races definitely moved the team up on the learning curve," Bradshaw explained. "The more runs we make, the faster we learn. It's all about improving on the previous race, so running two weekends in a row helped the team to come together. We were right there with the best of them, and I'm very proud of the job the guys did." Running on a slick track in the second round, Bradshaw was defeated by Doug Kalitta when the BME machine spun the tires. "I think we are getting a handle on the tires to some degree, and the new Gibson-Miller supercharger makes more boost than the previous version," Miller noted. "Things definitely are looking up for us." After the Easter holiday break, the BME band reunited at Bristol Dragway, site of the O'Reilly Thunder Valley NHRA Nationals. The Bristol race is the closest NHRA national event to Okuma's headquarters, and a large contingent of Okuma guests was on hand. "The track conditions were similar to Las Vegas, so that's where we started as a baseline," said Miller. "The track was green in the first session, and a lot of cars smoked the tires, including ours. I took a conservative approach to the Friday night session to make sure that we got a good run, and probably erred on the side of caution. "We ran 4.73 at 312 mph, which I thought would keep us in the field," he continued. "That turned out not to be true. We stepped up on Saturday morning, but the setup was just a little too aggressive. Then we lost the fourth run when the engine didn't have oil pressure on the starting line, and ended up 18th." Okuma, the world leader in CNC (Computer Numeric Control) machining technology, is using the marketing power of the BME Top Fuel dragster to enhance business relationships. In Houston, Okuma hosted Regal Machine Tools, a distributor that supplies Okuma equipment to the oil industry. There were 150 guests of Okuma at Bristol Dragway, and on the Tuesday following the race the BME team set up a display at Okuma headquarters in Charlotte for the company's employees. "We displayed the race car and trailer alongside the Okuma tent just like we do at the race track," Miller reported. "I gave a talk about Top Fuel, and then we fired up the car with Larry Schwartz, president of Okuma USA, in the driver's seat. It got their attention when I rapped the throttle a couple of times! It was a great day for us and for Okuma." The next race for the BME Top Fuel team will be the 18th annual O'Reilly NHRA Summer Nationals in Topeka, Kan., on May 26-28.
BME RACE RESULTS
NEXT RACE
|
||||||||||||||||||||||||
