We took the '68 Hurst/Olds to race at the Pure Stock Drags this past weekend. We had a great weekend with some of the best air I've seen there (density altitude less than 900 feet all weekend and negative for an hour one morning). I think the final count was around 110 cars racing - if you haven't been to this event, I strongly encourage you to come spectate or participate, it's an awesome group of people! (Rules are here for reference: https://www.psmcdr.com/rules)

I didn't change much on the car since last year other than tuning - my fuel curve was all over the place last year, and carb tuning helped a ton. I focused on calming the car down to leave more gently and not spin the tires, and while it didn't net a better 60 foot time, it was significantly more consistent and repeatable, so I was able to improve my driving.

The car qualified at a 12.65@108.5 on Friday morning, with a 2.0 60 foot time. With some tuning help and driving tips from fellow racers, on Saturday morning, I was able to get a 1.88 60 foot and the car went 12.48 at 108.95! This beat expectations, and it's awesome to have a sub-12.50 pass with 3.42 rear gears, G70-14 polyglas tires, stock intake and exhaust manifolds, no porting, and full exhaust.

There's more in it with some better starting line driving, and I'm considering adding some no hop bars to help rear end bite. I may try the 3.90 gears as the car is going through the traps at only 5100-5200 rpm, but it's fun having a car that can be driven anywhere with the 3.42 gears.

Anyways, here's a pic of the car, the timeslips, and a video of the 12.48 run.

 

And I should also mention, my wife has been bitten by the drag racing bug. She took the car down the track multiple times over the weekend, and was able to run a 12.85@105 on Saturday morning. It's been fun having her involved with the racing and seeing her excitement makes all the effort worth it!

 

Congratulations Luke, glad to see all your hard work pay off.

 

Congrats... Isn't it great when you can really enjoy the automotive hobby with your wife... I am fortunate my wife supported my interest and even pitched in to help at various National Events...

 

Luke that is awesome.
12.45 in pure stock legal form is impressive!

 

Very nice! I like that 11 sec MPH.

 

I saw your car there, I wish I had came over and met you. Very good ET's! Take a look on the good morning thread a few days ago- Dan took a bunch of pics of the event.

 

Thanks everyone, appreciate the kind words!

I need to buy or borrow some slicks just to see what it would do... 11's would be crazy. They never prep Stanton very well for this event, so the best 60 foots are in the 1.7x range. Still would get me into the 12.2x with good air.

Maybe next year. I found the link, awesome pics!! Thanks for sharing.

 

very nice!!

 

Nice to see you and your wife again. Hopefully the next time we can get a bite together with my wife.

 

Congrats, Luke!

Hopefully we can get together at a cruise night next year, or just chase me down with your bike sometime.

 

Thanks again, everyone.

Absolutely!!

Ha!!! My cruise night count remains at zero for 2020... we definitely need to get together.