FHRA Spring Nationals 2014 , Motopark Raceway

[Niko L]

The first event in 2014 is currently here in Motopark Raceway. Today (Friday) was a Test and Tune day where folks could test winter's updates. Tomorrow will be a reqular Qualifying and on Sunday the Eliminations.

We started our trip to Motopark at 5AM. This was the first time for our Chevy Van as a Race Car Hauler and it worked perfectly! When we arrived at the pits and took the car off from the trailer, it started raining very lightly. It was raining until about 4 PM, but after the rain stopped, we did a little warm up for the car. Mika checked the transmission fluids, too. Just before 6 PM (When racing must be stopped) I was in the Line Up waiting for my turn.

I was sitting in the car with belts tightened, without a helmet or gloves. At the same time Jarmo Grönman was going on the track with his C/S Camaro and I heard "Stock # 570 to the track with Jarmo". Dang that's me! I put the helmet and gloves on as fast as possible and headed to the water box. In that hurry I remembered to push the LineLock button when doing the burnout, but I was braking at the same time. What an idiot. So a failed burnout, but I headed to Stage anyway. New Two Step worked fine and I got a decent RT, too, .190 (At least compared to the collection of red lights I got at Kalajoki last year). But the car spun really bad and drifted towards the center line. I had to lift the throttle and steer the car a bit. Then I floored it again and it spun a bit on the second gear too. It wasn't necessary to lift the throttle at that point, though. Finally 12,756 & 169 km/h for me.

The speed tells that there is potential with the new final gear ratio. Hopefully tomorrow I can make more passes...







Here I am in the Van writing this one. We just came back from "MotoMajat" where we ate good stakes!

See Ya Tomorrow!

[Niko L]

Saturday:

It was a cold night to sleep in a Chevy, but in the morning when I woke up the sun was shining and it seemed to be a nice and warm day. And it was, especially when waiting for my turn in Line Up, it was extremely hot in the car. Anyway the first thing we did on Saturday morning was waxing the car as it was a bit dirty after Friday's rain.



Before they called us in Line Up, we did a little warm up for the car. The first run was at 11:44 AM with Sami Toppari on the other lane. My dad said in the Line Up that "Now set a new record for this car", but I told him it would probably not happen as this was my second run for this season. A good burnout and a good launch, too. The Two Step is really helpful! It felt like a good run and when I got back to the pits, my dad gave me the time slip with 12.332 ET & 171.22 KM/H! That's a new record! My RT was .120 and 60FT time was 1.668 so it was a good run in all ways.
The second run was at 1:06 PM and for this one we changed nothing - we just put some more fuel in the tank. Another successful burnout for me and a great RT, too: .035! A new 60 FT record 1.662 promised a good ET and I set another new record for this car! It was 12.319 & 170.36 KM/H. Of course we both were really happy. The third run was at 2:23 PM and for everyone's surprise I got another good RT (.069) and run 60FT record time again. The ET was also a new record 12.311 and 171.26 KM/H!

For the fourth run Hannu Palasmaa suggested to change carburetor needles. We did that and the next run showed that it was helpful... A little red light (.043) for me, but a new 60FT record 1.650 and 12.262 with 170.94 top speed! It was the fourth run on Saturday and fourth record.



The fifth and the last Qualifying Round took place at 5:09 PM. Another red light for me, but another good run, 12.297 with 170.86 top speed. So not a new record this time, but a really good run and it was clearly under the old Mika's record ET 12,369 so we both were really happy.

Qualifying Results:

1. Arto Sulopuisto with his B/S Firebird. He had made a couple of modification to the car during the winter and looks like they worked. He ran 10.136 that is 1.06 under NHRA Index.


2. Jarmo Grönman who got back into Drag Racing. He drove a Dodge Demon and a Dodge Challenger in Stock Eliminator. He raced last time in 1995 or 1996, but now he had bought a fast Chevy Camaro from the States and it showed immediately its' potential. Jarmo ran 10.370 that is 0.98 under NHRA Index.


3. Tarmo Mikkola with his SS/GA '69 Camaro. He did massive wheelstands as usual and ran 9.930 that is 0.62 under NHRA Index.


4. Tarja Gynther with her '68 Camaro running in E/SA. Hannu Palasmaa had rebuilt the engine for her car and the car ran a lot better than it did last summer. Tarja ran 11.117 that is 0.58 under NHRA Index.


5. Yrjö Wallius with his SS/J Rambler American. He didn't race last year, but now we could see the beautiful Rambler on the track again. He ran 10.222 that is 0.58 under NHRA Index.


6. Hannu Palasmaa with his '71 Chevelle that runs in CC/S. Hannu had a bit traction problems during the weekend, but ran 10.174 anyway. That is 0.43 under NHRA Index.


7. Niko Lindström with '74 Chevelle. I run of course in K/SA and by setting a new record as 12,262 I ran 0.39 under NHRA Index.


8. Sami Toppari with his SS/C AMC AMX. This AMX is one of the original SS AMX Factory Race Cars and Sami drove 9.666 with it. That is 0.38 under NHRA Index. The picture is from FHRA Finals at Alastaro 2013.


9. Timo Eronen with his SS/AH Plymouth Barracuda. He had installed a new Hemi on the car during the winter. It had more power than the previous one and he ran 8.923 that is 0.38 under NHRA Index. The picture is from Alastaro NitroNats 2012.


10. Jarmo Markkanen with his A/S Pontiac Firebird. He had problems with the engine electrics if I remember correct and he ran only 14.499. The picture is from Drag Race Week 2013 at Alastaro.

[Niko L]

Sunday:

Sunday was the Elimination day as usual. It was a very hot day - even hotter than Saturday was, but otherwise the conditions were pretty much the same. The first round for S/SS took place at Noon.

On the first pair there were Arto Sulopuisto and Hannu Palasmaa. Sulopuisto got some technical problems after the burnout, so a solo run for Hannu. With .030 RT and running 10.209 he went on the second round, where was another solo run waiting for him.

On the second pair there was Tarmo Mikkola and Sami Toppari against each other. Mikkola left first with .127 RT, but Sami took a very little -.021 red light and Tarmo got the win. He ran 9.956 with 9.90 dial in time and Sami ran 9.769 with 9.70 dial in.

The third pair was a battle between Tarja Gynther and Timo Eronen. But Tarja's Camaro crawled over the starting line too early and Timo got an easy win by running a 9.026.

The fourth pair was Jarmo Grönman against me. My car shut down on the water box for some reason, but luckily I managed to fire it up again. My dial in was 12.27 and Jarmo's was 10.30. I took a .188 RT, but Jarmo did a lot better taking .043 RT on the right lane. It was a very tight race and just a bit before the finishing line I lifted the throttle and slowed down a little. But at the same time I saw that Jarmo will overtake me before the finishing line so I hammered the throttle again. Anyway it looked like Jarmo was the first guy to cross the finishing line. I was pretty sure Jarmo took the win, but once I got back to the pits other racers and my team (which means my dad) came to congratulate me. I had won Jarmo by three hundreds of a second! I ran 12.361 with 162.59 KM/H Top Speed and Jarmo ran 10.570 & 197.51 KM/H top speed. Jarmo told me that he slowed down a bit before the finishing line, too. It was a nice and tight race.

On the last pair there were Yrjö Wallius against Jarmo Markkanen who had solved the engine problem he had on Saturday. Yrjö's dial in was 10.25 and Jarmo's 10.15. Jarmo took a better RT, .014 against Yrjö's .056 but Yrjö ran closer to his dial in time ( 10.255 on 10.25 dial in against Jarmo's 10.258 on 10.15 dial in) and took the win.





On the second round Hannu Palasmaa had a solo run first. He took .119 RT and ran 10.260 there.

On the second pair Tarmo Mikkola was racing against Timo Eronen, but unfortunately Eronen couldn't start because of technical problems. Tarmo too .181 RT and 9.884.

On the third pair it was me against Yrjö Wallius in his '67 Rambler. I put 12.29 as my dial in time and Yrjö had 10.23. I took a better RT .031 compared to Yrjö's .058. Anyway for some reason my car didn't run as fast as it should and I saw a Rambler overtaking me before the finishing line. I ran 12.403 with 170.10 top speed and Yrjö ran 10.246 with 207.44 top speed and took the win.




On the Semi Finals there was a tight race between Hannu Palasmaa and Tarmo Mikkola. Mikkola took a bit better RT (.027 VS Hannu's .036) and won the race running 9.947 with 9.90 dial in. Hannu ran 10.310 with 10.23 dial in time.

On the other pair Yrjö Wallius had a solo run. He ran 10.289 there.



The Final Round ended up being a Solo Run for Wallius, as Tarmo Mikkola's Camaro started leaking something after a burnout. Yrjö ran 10.178 with .102 RT on the final and won the whole event...Congratulations!

Here are a couple of videos:
First my runs from Saturday and Sunday:


S/SS Semi Finals and the Final Round:




Overall the weekend was extremely good for me. Four new Records and an Elimination Round Win. The track was in a very good shape whole weekend, which I have to thank FHRA Track Crew.

The next race is on the next weekend: West Coast Street Cup at Pori Airport. See You There!