Skip,
Yes, the sun brings the water up and the wind drys it. Traction is
better in the early morning, there is usually less chance of wind, and a
tuner that understands his motor and the atmosphere is going to get
extra HP. In my opinion, enough extra to overcome the increased drag of
the heavier air with a bonus!
There is likely very few people running cars today that understand the
engine and tuning as well as Bob Joenick. I was running a D/G roadster
also (1959-1981) when he set the record. Bob told me that he didn't
think he could requalify, running in the heat of the day. He never did.
This record was set in 1978 at 203.722 MPH when the D/FR minimum was
204.00 MPH. (the previous D/GR record was 196.883 MPH set in 1974 by
Harold Johansen). Bob's record stood until 1990 when Jack Mendenhall set
the record at 207.092 MPH. Considerable improvement in cylinder heads
occurred during those thirteen years. You also have to realize that D/GR
was not a class that no one ran. We often had five to ten cars running
the class. Competition was keen! The last year that we ran the class was
1981. We never did top 200 MPH in the class.
Tom, Redding CA - #216 D/GCC
Skip Higginbotham wrote:
> Tom,
> That certainly happened when I was crewing for Clark Cagle and Belmont
> Sanchez in the eeeaaaarrrrly 60's. The we added some nitro and the air and
> wet salt was not any longer a problem....just ran out of engines. Isn't the
> water closer to the surface in the PM??? Cold is good!!!
> Skip
>
>
> At 02:04 PM 4/21/03 -0700, you wrote:
>
>>Dave,
>>
>>When we ran both ways in the morning after a previous day's qualifying,
>> very often, the average record speed was higher than the qualifying
>>run. One in particular that I remember was Bob Joenick's (sp)D/G
>>roadster. He was never able to qualify again against his own record.
>>
>>Tom, Re3dding CA - #216 D/GCC
>>
>>Dave Dahlgren wrote:
>>
>>>Personally I would rather have the 1 hour if it is in the late
>>
> afternoon.. It
>
>>>'seems'like the salt is better then than the morning anyway.. I always think
>>>think of the early am runs as 'uphill' as the salt is cold and damp.
>>>Dave
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