Any racers on here?

[RostRacing99]

Hey guys. Just joined this site a few days ago.

I come from a racing family. My dad drag raced back in the 70's - 80's. Had a 1969 Camaro that consistently ran low-mid 8 second runs. Then he raced stock cars (dirt oval) from 2000-2003.

I took the reigns when I was 14 (I'm 16 now). My 1st year I won 5 A-Features.....running with mostly adults ranging from 20's-50's. I was the youngest on the track by about 10 years.

Along with the 5 A-Feature wins, came some disapointments. On my 3rd night I rolled it end over end down the front stretch. Good thing we own a body shop and now how to straighten the frame! Got her back out there the next week and won.

We were coming out of turn 4 and there was a guy on the inside of me. He blew his right front tire and his car lurched up the track and hit me, sending us both into the wall. He started barrel rolling in front of me and my car crawled ontop of his (keep in mind we impacted the wall at about 80-85mph). His car was still spinning underneath me, tearing up the floorboards and nearly crushing my feet. Then something hooked and my car was projected into the air. At the peak of my "flight" the lowest point of my car was 15 feet off the ground and at that point I was traveling at about 70MPH. I hit the ground straight on the nose and continued to roll it over 2 more times before coming to a rest on my roof. I scrambled out of the car, and right in front of the flagstand took a bow (everybody was cheering, so I thought it was fitting - haha). Came out of that without a scratch - just some bruising and back pain from the impact - but as I said earlier we got her fixed and I won the next week.


The car I currently race is in my avatar. 1978 Ford Pinto, and man...that thing can fly! I have to be careful with that gas pedal 'cause she's awfully squirrley! Normally the tires spin for a short period of time coming out of the corner before they catch up to themselves, but the last few weeks I've been able to break them off at the end of the straightaway at 8000 RPM.

I also climb in my dad's old car and race that occasionally - not as competative as it used to be, but it's still fun to race. BTW, it's a 1965 Ford Falcon.


So any racecar drivers on here? Doesn't matter what kind, if it has 4 tires, a steering wheel, and you race it on a track, you qualify! It would be very interesting to talk with you guys!

That was a long read, so thanks to those of you who finished it.


Tony Rost
Rost Racing Motorsports
#99 Pinto and #59 Falcon.

[jbmmadman]

none that I've ever seen around the boards...fun story though, thanks for the read and I'd be willing to bet others (including myself) would like to hear about your races. welcome to the boards by the way !!! Jim

[skippy]

Hey Tony

We do have a young man on here that does race. He races the hobby class out in Mizzu. I post updates on his season about every 2 weeks. Check out the updates to Jeremy Gordon.

It is always good to hear about your accomplishments. Does your tracks have a website that post each weeks stats. I wouldn't mind running some articles on you either, just post me the link.

Welcome aboard and good luck for the rest of your season, keep us posted please.

Mike

[BIXLERGRAPHICS]

Very cool Tony, Welcome to the forums

[race crazy]

very nice man! Im in fact a former go-kart racer myself-raced for about 8 years in North Dakota and was fortunate enough to win a championship in 98 and to have some other successes.

My ride: with and without the bumper ha.

[RostRacing99]

Thanks guys!

I raced go-karts for a few years when I was in like 3rd -6th grade. Mine is similar to the one posted above, but it was just the beginning class (pump gas, no alcohol).

This season hasn't been going that great for us. We built that Pinto this winter - every single part is brand new, but it's been nothing but trouble for us for the last few weeks. On some nights, it would sputter and bog down coming out of the corners and any other time that I had to slow down (to avoid debris, slower cars, crashes, etc). When I got back on the throttle, it would cough and stutter like there was no tomorrow. Once I got the RPM up to 5000+, it would just hook into the ground and take off like there was a rocket attached to the back.

So, we went with a milder cam.....still didn't work. Changed up a bunch of stuff in the carb....got a little faster, but bogging was still there.

We finally guessed that it was our gearing. We had the steepest rear end in there that we could - .355 with around 5 for a final drive. The trouble never went away and the problem was we couldn't change the gears because it's not like a Ford 9" rear end, where you can switch out the pumpkin and off you go. This little Pinto rear end is 6 3/4".

So at this point, we're frustrated, disapointed, and just overall ****** off that we poured all this time and money into that car and it can't perform.


I won't tell you what we did because it would probably get me kicked out of the track if any management or our competitors found out, but we came up with the most ingenious solution to this problem that dirt track racing has ever seen!

We got rained out last week, so I haven't had a chance to test it, but it should be a HUGE improvement and cure the sputtering and bogging.

I think right now I'm 4th in points, but that should change if this thing works. Say hello to your new #1 boys. ;)

This pinto is in the 4 cylinder class. They split it up (which I don't agree with) into 2 groups. 17 and under, and 18 years old and up. There's probably 15 cars in my group (the minors) - so there's some good competition.

My dad's car is in the Hobby stock Class (like the kid you mentioned). I raced that for a while, but it just got too expensive and we couldn't keep up with the Chevy's. We were cheating beyond believe (had a stroker motor, $900 carburetor, very aggressive port/polish job, very hot cam) and the best we finished was 10th out of 24th, but that's because a huge pile-up took out about 8 or so cars haha. Normally we're lucky to get a top 15.

I raced that hobby stock car at the Cornhusker Vintage Nationals in Columbus, Nebraska - which was an unlimited event (no restrictions on ANYTHING!!!). Had a bunch of 60's studebakers, '55 Chevy's, and a lot of other classic cars. They were all extremely well built - and had huge upgrades to the motors because they were an unlimited class. They also ran 18" sprint car tires, while I was running 7" street tires (which was required by the rules of our class - and we didn't want to spend all that money to upgrade them for 1 event). I held my own and finished 7th in the feature, out of 20 or so.

The Falcon hasn't been raced in over 2 years, so after we figure out how this new top secret idea on the Pinto works for us, I'll let you guys know. It may be time to wipe the dust off the old hobby stock if the Pinto doesn't work out.


Sorry for another long post. I'll keep you guys updated on the results!

[race crazy]

cool I wish you luck! Go get em!

[RostRacing99]

thanks! it's greatly appreciated.

[RostRacing99]

Hey everyone. Saturday night at the races was....well interesting to say the least.

In the heat race I was shoved into the wall on the green flag start - that pushed me several lengths back, but I caught up and finished 4th. Then in the A Feature I started 2nd row outside with 2 slower cars in front of me. I was sittin' pretty good for a win. Well on the 1st lap I was pulling away from the field and on the backstretch somebody spun out below me, shot up the track and totally wiped us out. They hit me square on the left front fender. There's no outside walls on this track, just a steep embankment. We both went down over the embankment, the other car hit a fence and I corrected and pulled back onto the track. The fender was scraping on the wheel making a nasty squealing sound. So while everybody else was stopped for a red flag I was tearing around the track trying to get to the entry to my pit stall. I pulled in, and my crew wasn't there!!! I think they were watching the races from the cat-walk or were getting water to cool the car down after the races. About 4 or 5 guys from another stall came running over and immediately started pulling on the fender trying to get it away from the tire. After a minute of prying and pulling, they said I was good to go, so I pulled through the pits around to the front stretch (still a red flag on the track) and waited for the field to come around so I could get in line. They sent me to the back of the pack because I went in for repairs.

So I go back out, we restart the race and I start passing people and moving up in the field. I moved up to 4th and with 3 laps left the fan belt came off. This stopped the fan and water pump (so no cool air coming into the motor and no water circulating through the motor). We later found out that the impact on the 1st lap caused the alternator to slide over, so the belt pulley was not in allignment. Spinning at 7500 RPM, the belt hopped off the pulley and was cut by the fan. Also our overflow tank on the radiator came unhooked, and the hose was spraying coolant (antifreeze and water) all over the place and it was coming into my cockpit and I couldn't see (it was in the form of vapors and it was like a smokescreen and it was building up on the shield of my helmet.)

If you know anything about cars, you know that no circulating water and no cool air is a VERY VERY BAD thing, especially for racing conditions. Normal operating temperature for that motor is 180-190 degrees. 220 - ok, a little warm, but perfectly fine. 240 - getting pretty hot, best to bring the car in to cool down. Anything over 240 = very bad, motor will soon blow up from the friction (remember these moving parts are going around at 7500 RPM.)

Well it was a very tight race, and me, the 3rd place car, and the 5th place car went 3 wide into the last turn of the last lap. There was some contact between all 3 of us. We all got a little loose, but managed to hold on and I finished 4th. I pulled into the Tech. Inspection area and I looked down at my temperature gauge. It read 267 degrees!!!!!! I immediately opened the hood and started pouring cold water (that my crew brought over) on the radiator to cool it down. I still can't believe that motor held together and was not damaged. We run special racing oil that helps prevent friction, but still, 260 is very very hot. I knew I should have pulled it in earlier, but when I'm that close to the front, I just can't give up and pull in.

So on Sunday we spent 4 hours fixing the damage and setting the alignment. Tonight we put in a new camshaft which will give us more power at the end of the stretch. Our gearing was nearly perfect, but I was hitting the top of my RPM range too early on the straightaways. I was around 7500 RPM, and this new camshaft will put us around 8200-8500. This combination should be absolutely perfect and we'll be hard to beat.


I'll try and get the pics uploaded from my phone. I have before and after pictures of the fender. It was pretty nasty!

Sorry for the long read, but it was a pretty interesting night and for how much adversity we were facing, I think we did pretty good. Going from last to 4th with several problems holding us back (not being able to see where I was going, for example) is a nice accomplishment.


I know they don't read this, but I want to thank the 4-5 members from the other pit stall who came over and helped pull the fender out when my crew was not around. They didn't hesitate in helping out a fellow racer, and without them, I wouldn't have been able to get back out on the track and finish the race. Thanks guys!!!!

[bgnfan4God]

Raced DIRT SBM & Sportsman and crewed on DIRT modifieds back in the 80's up in the NY, NJ, & PA area. Crewed on the Busch series for several years with Bown Racing #51 back in the 90's.