The BME Bulletin #4
Bill Miller Engineering's Top Fuel
Blog BUILDING AN 8,000-HORSEPOWER SWISS WATCH Driver Alan Bradshaw and the Bill Miller Engineering/Okuma dragster continue to be the giant killers of Top Fuel. The most recent No. 1 qualifier to come out on the short end of a match with the BME team was Brandon Bernstein, who fell to Bradshaw in the opening round of the Schuckís Auto Supply NHRA Nationals in Seattle. With previous first-round victories over Tony Schumacher in Las Vegas and Chicago, the BME team is not to be taken lightly on race day. "We're climbing the learning curve every weekend," said Bradshaw. "To get a round win in Seattle in a pedaling contest with Bernstein was really nice. That made up for the one I lost in Topeka when I smoked the tires against Melanie Troxel. "I'm not going to abuse Bill's equipment but I thought I could get the car to the finish line for the win," Bradshaw reported. "Bill and I are getting more comfortable with each other as owner and driver, and he's given me the latitude to drive with confidence." Miller concurred: "Alan was bound and determined not to lose another pedaling contest," he said. "When the tires began to smoke, he started pedaling. Fortunately all of the management systems were fully activated by 1.5 seconds into the run, so closing and opening the throttle didn't cause any problems. He did a phenomenal job driving the car, and when we took the engine apart after the run, everything looked brand new. We learned that we can pedal the engine without inviting failure." A major revamp to the engine's valvetrain before the West Coast races improved performance and reliability, while a new clutch setup proved successful on a hot track. "The engine is running like a little Swiss watch now," Miller explained. "The rpm is up, the bearings and spark plugs look good, and everything is just really nice." That was evident in the car's consistency during qualifying for the FRAM-Autolite NHRA Nationals at Infineon Raceway in Sonoma, Calif. The BME machine carded times of 4.736, 4.632 and 4.679, ultimately qualifying 11th in the 16-car eliminator. "After three strong runs in qualifying, we decided to leave the setup alone for our first-round race with J.R. Todd," Miller reported. "At nine tenths of a second into the run, the tires started to shake and that ended our day." The BME/Okuma dragster will return to national competition at the biggest, richest and most prestigious event on the schedule, the Mac Tools U.S. Nationals, to be held in Indianapolis on Aug. 30 - Sept. 4. The car is undergoing a serious diet in order to shed some pounds before the Labor Day event. "We know the top cars are running close to the minimum weight while our car is about 100 pounds heavier," Miller noted. "The tires have to work harder to accelerate that additional mass, and sometimes they can't cope. Taking weight off a car becomes very expensive because you're replacing aluminum with carbon fiber and steel with titanium. Our goal is to get rid of 20 pounds before Indy and that's enough to make a difference that can be seen on the time slip." Bradshaw can't wait to make his first Top Fuel appearance in at O'Reilly Raceway Park, formerly known as Indianapolis Raceway Park. "It's always special to be at Indy, no matter what you're driving, but to be in Top Fuel at the U.S. Nationals is awesome," said the Texan. "The entire team is working so hard, and I'd like to do well for them in Indy. We didn't bring home any trophies from the West Coast races, but it was still a good learning experience. We're smarter than we were when we showed up, and as long as you keep learning, it's a good weekend." BME RACE RESULTS
NEXT RACE Mac Tools U.S. Nationals, Indianapolis, Aug. 30 - Sept. 4
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