Tucson Dragway

Orange, CA - Who would’ve thought that 2007 would be the year of ‘everything new’? This weekend will bring a new March Meet to Bakersfield’s Auto Club Famoso Raceway. Even though it is the 49th Annual March Meet, it will be new this year to have it run solely by the track and their operating personnel. The racers are told that the changes should be minimal and hardly noticeable. The Lil Nate Nitro Funny Car team will also bring something ‘new’ – a brand new 1971 style Barracuda body. Unlike the team’s previous bodies, which all had many years of racing stories to tell, this new Barracuda will create it’s own storied life on the Nostalgia Funny Car Association (NFCA) circuit. IF this body could talk, it would already speak of many hours being cut, extended, massaged, rubbed, drilled and painted just to get it track ready. This weekend, tales of racing down the quarter mile will be added.

To those not familiar with the process to bring a new body out to the track, let me elaborate. First there are measurements taken to ensure compliance with class guidelines and if there are discrepancies, then the cutting and reshaping process begins. Is it wide enough, tall enough, low enough..? Once the exterior of the body meets the guidelines, then the work begins on all the interior pieces – i.e. the tree (or the mounting/bracing structure) and the tin, to fit the body to the chassis. As each body and chassis are different, these pieces must all be hand created and fitted. Always measuring – always double checking before cutting, welding or mounting. Many times templates are created from cardboard to assist in making the final pieces for the car. This process seems endless and tedious to those completing the work, but is essential to the success of the project. Once all these pieces are created and mounted, then the body is put on the chassis to check fit and alignment. Adjustments are made as necessary and final approval is obtained. Yes, the NHRA has to approve/certify the body in order to race it. Next, you take it all apart….Yep, you read that right. Take it all apart and then send the body to the painter to have your awesome design created. When you get the body back, the fireproofing coating must be applied to the inside of the fiberglass body. Powder coating is also done of the tree pieces and some teams anodize the tin pieces in some wild colors. Now bolt it all back together and pray that everything still fits. If not, and it is rare that everything fits back perfectly, make your adjustments. Once you think you have everything completed, you mount the body on the chassis and stand back and ooh and ahh and pat the crew on the back that volunteered all those countless hours, in addition to their regular jobs, getting the new body ready to race.

The next step is taking the whole operation to the track, usually the first race of the season, to discover all those little details that you thought you caught but missed; issues like the weight of the new body. In the case of the Lil Nate funny car, we know this new Barracuda body weighs less than our previous Monza body and we will have to be fastidious in making sure we meet the minimum weight rules for the class.

Stop by the Lil Nate pit this weekend at Auto Club Famoso Raceway March 9 – 11, for a further update on the process and the continuing story. We’ll even let you ooh and ahh at our new body – the car, not the crew ! For those discerning drag race fans, there will be a number of NFCA teams with new bodies and new paint schemes to debut at this event. The NFCA is also hoping to have some limited edition posters depicting all the member’s cars available this weekend – get there early to get yours ! This event is so hot, we will even be moving time on Sunday.
Tickets for the event can be purchased on line at Vallitix or at local ticket outlets, or at the track. Auto Club members can also get a discount. Racing starts early each day at 8 am and continues until dark.

CONTACT: Michelle Read (805) 674 - 3486