The BME Bulletin
#4 SHORT AND SWEET: RACING TO 1,000 FEET The autumn's arrival inevitably provokes "How I Spent My Summer" stories. For the Bill Miller Engineering Top Fuel team, the summer of '08 produced continuous improvements that saw the BME Okuma dragster and driver Troy Buff raise their game against stiff competition. The biggest challenge the BME team faced was the National Hot Rod Association's shortening of the race track from its traditional quarter-mile length to 1,000 feet in the pursuit of enhanced safety. Shortening the course by 320 feet trimmed elapsed times and reduced top speeds, requiring drivers and crew chiefs to make a mental recalibration on what constituted a good run. The BME team's first encounter with the 1,000-foot track came at the Schuck's Auto Supply NHRA Nationals in Seattle. "It's a lot easier to stop the race car after a 1,000-foot run," said Buff. "I hadn't raced in Seattle since 1991, so I went to the top end to see the new cones that marked the finish line at 1,000 feet. Then on my first qualifying run, I mistakenly shut off early because the safety crew had temporarily removed the cones at the quarter-mile that are still used in the sportsman classes. So now I know that when I run out of cones, I'm at the finish line!" "From the crew chief's perspective, there isn't a big difference between racing 1,000 feet or 1,320 feet because we're still running the engine as hard as possible," Miller said. "The one significant change is that the engine speed now reaches approximately 8,100 rpm, which is below the threshold of the mandatory rev limiter. Consequently we don't have to worry about the rev limiter causing a cylinder to drop. There are less parts failures with the shorter track, but engines still blow up occasionally." Along with the shorter racing distance, Miller had to contend with the new, 2550 Goodyear racing slicks for the first time in Seattle. "My Top Fuel compatriots told me to bolt on the 2550 tires and no changes were necessary," he recalled. "Then, after smoking the tires and damaging two blowers on our first two attempts, I began to think that I might have been steered in the wrong direction. "So we backed off the ignition timing, took weight off the clutch levers and increased the tire pressure. Troy then ran 3.95 at 301 mph. Sometimes the things you discover by accident do a lot of good." Buff's first-round opponent in Seattle was Brandon Bernstein. The BME driver took a slight advantage at the start and lost by five feet at the finish line. "That was a really good race," Buff reported. "I got on the radio at the finish line and asked the guys if we'd won because I never saw him. It was so close, I really thought we'd won, but they let me know we just missed it." Sonoma Surprise "We were encouraged leaving Seattle because the car ran really well and didn't hurt itself," Miller noted. "The weather conditions were even better at Infineon Raceway in Sonoma, so we reduced the compression ratio and gave the engine more fuel. On the Friday evening session, Troy qualified sixth at 3.845/296.63 mph. That run made the highlights reel in National Dragster as one of the month's biggest surprises." "The car has never run that hard from start to finish," said Buff. "It was really truckin', a nice, clean, smooth run." Buff squared off with Steve Torrence in the opening round of eliminations, the first time the two drivers had raced in Top Fuel. The BME dragster was first off the starting line, but smoked the tires, handing Torrence the victory. "The corrected altitude was 600 feet better than it was in qualifying, but we didn't get too aggressive," Miller explained. "By the time it went 20 feet, the car was out of the groove and that was the end of our Sunday." Nationals Pride The BME dragster had a new look for the Mac Tools U.S. Nationals as Sandvik Coromant, the world's leading manufacturer of cutting tools for the metalworking industry, was featured on the Miller machine. "Sandvik Coromant used the U.S. Nationals as a big event to entertain their clients and customers," said Miller. "Most guests had never been to a drag race previously, and we received many compliments and letters from first-time visitors who were awed by what they saw at a major league drag race." Indy is unique among NHRA events with five qualifying sessions. Buff's third run on Sunday morning produced a 3.968-second elapsed time, but at the end of the run. a fuel nozzle failed and detonated the No. 7 cylinder. However, his e.t. was quick enough to keep the BME dragster in the show for final eliminations on Labor Day. Buff raced No. 1 qualifier Larry Dixon in the first round, and the contest was a great drag race. The two cars ran identical e.t.s in the first 60 feet, and raced side-by-side to the finish line. Dixon's 3.906-second e.t. was six thousandths of a second better than Buff's 3.915. "Indy was a good race even though we lost a close one on race day," Miller said. "The engines were looking better, the blowers were good, and the whole car was coming around." NASCAR Country Drag racing went to the heart of NASCAR country for the inaugural NHRA Carolinas Nationals at the glistening new zMax Dragway adjacent to Lowe's Motor Speedway in Concord, N.C. BME supplies pistons and components to many of NASCAR's premier Sprint Cup Racing teams, so the new race was an opportunity to introduce top NASCAR engine builders to Top Fuel drag racing technology. The BME team stayed at Okuma's U.S. headquarters in Charlotte to service the car after Indy. Once again, Okuma's management and employees showed their enthusiasm for their Top Fuel team with warm, Southern hospitality. "The new track in Charlotte was as spectacular as we expected it to be," said Miller. "We stayed with the combination we'd run in Indy, since the conditions in North Carolina were similar. We started off with a 3.93 in the first qualifying run, and posted the quickest 60-foot time of the session. Then we improved to a 3.92 on Saturday that was the fourth best time of the session." Buff squared off with Antron Brown in the first round of eliminations. The BME team's day ended early when the car got out of the groove after the launch. "Now that the car is running quick 60-foot times, it's carrying the front wheels for the first second of the run," Miller revealed. "Obviously Troy can't steer with the front end in the air, so we have to be extremely careful when we aim the car at the starting line. "We've had a lot thrown at us this season with the new chassis specifications, new nitro percentage, new tires, and a new drag strip length," Miller said, "but we're getting a handle on it." BME RACE RESULTS
NEXT RACES
ACDelco Las Vegas NHRA Nationals Automobile Club of Southern California NHRA Finals Pomona, Calif., Nov. 13-16
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