FHRA Summer Nationals 2017

[Niko L]

FHRA Summer Nationals were, as usual, organized at Kalajoki Airport in July. Some racers aren't so happy with this race as the track isn't as sticky as the real racetracks, but for us this track has always worked just fine. Plus that the trip to Kalajoki is a great way to spend one weekend of summer vacation! This year the event was 1/8th mile on all classes, because that way the track crew could spend the same amount of time, rubber, track glue etc on the first half only, which should result a better quality track.

Friday:

We left home on Friday morning, to be able to arrive to the pits in the early evening.



On our way there, we decided to stop by at Mooneyes Finland at Seinäjoki to buy a couple of items that I regret not buying while we visited at Mooneyes California last winter. After that the next stop was at Pietarsaari to stop by at our friend's garage where they were putting together a '70 Camaro for Real Street class. There was bunch of interesting stuff there!



We arrived to the pits in the evening and found a good spot for us.



After some grilling and looking around at the pits, we went to sleep, waiting for the Qualifications to start on Saturday morning. The good thing with this event has always been that we get usually bunch of Qualifying rounds, so there are lots of possibilities to tune your car and try to make it run right on this a bit tricky track.

Saturday:

On Saturday we noticed that our battery charger had broken and there was no way to charge our battery. Luckily Mr. Toppari who is racing his SS AMX in Super Stock had one spare, so we lent that one. Thanks!

Our first Qualifying Round was at 10:57 AM, we didn't change anything after the Nitro Nationals. Our class index for J/SA was 7.94 so it was interesting to see if that would fit better for our car than the 1/4 Mile 12.45 index. On first round I took -.070 red light, and ran 7.819 with 137.34 KM/H top speed, but I spun the tires a bit at the start. Despite that I ran under my index so I was happy! After that run I went to check what our car weights. That was fine, but when I tried to leave back to our pit place, the car didn't start. Luckily with some help from other teams we got the car pushed back and found out that only one of the starter wires had come loose.



Before the second round at 11:59 AM we "softened" the chassis by adjusting both, front and rear shocks. Tire pressure was also dropped a little and that fixed our traction problems. On Burnout the car acted a bit differently than usual, but that didn't matter. I took .073 Reactions and ran 7.774 with 138.33 KM/H top speed, so a small improvement.

Third round was at 1:53 PM, we adjusted the carburetor a little for this run. I took .027 RT, 60FT time was much better so our Rochester bog-issue went to the right direction, though not fixed yet completely. I ran 7.759 with 137.86 KM/H, so a small improvement again.

Fourth Qualifying Round came at 2:51 PM, again some small carburetor modifications were done, but still it hesitated at the start. Anyway, I got .012 RT and ran 7.741 with 138.59 KM/H, again, a small improvement so not bad.

The fifth Qualifying Round came very fast, it was at 3:33PM. We did no modifications to the car between the rounds, I got a small red light -.051 and despite a bit slower 60FT time the car ran better at the top end, so I got 7.736 with 138.84 KM/H top speed. So yet another small improvement for us!

The 6th Qualifying Round was at 4:13 PM, I was a bit sleepy at the tree with my .150 RT but luckily that doesn't matter in Qualifying. My 60FT time was about the same as last time, but again a small improvement for me, I ran 7.724 & 139.04 KM/H.

For the 7th Qualifying Round we adjusted the carburetor a little, but it didn't change the ET very much. I took .018 RT which was really good, and ran 7.723 with 140.43 KM/H top speed, so I improved my ET by .001 seconds on that run!

The 8th Qualifying Round came fast and we didn't have enough time to recharge our battery, so we couldn't take part for that round, the car wouldn't have started in the lineup anymore because our battery was pretty much dead. But there would be one more round after this one, so it wasn't a big deal, plus that now there was a chance to let the car cool down propely. I went to the starting line though to watch Anna's SS/JA Trans Am launch.


The 9th Qualifying Round was at 6:05 PM and for that run we changed nothing. I left with a minor red light, -.002. My 60FT time was better than what it was on a couple of previous rounds, now it was 1.657 and I ran clearly the best ET of the whole day, 7.682 with 140.64 KM/H top speed! A big improvement for us, so I was happy!


After the last Qualifying round we grilled some meat and went to look for a sauna. Luckily one hotel was kind enough to let a few Racers use their sauna for a minimal fee, thanks! On our way there I saw this great looking '32 5 Window with Chevy 409 mill.


The beach was also there, but we headed back to the pits to get ready for Sunday's Eliminations.

[Niko L]

Qualifying Results:

1. Arto Sulopuisto was the #1 Qualifier this time with his B/S Pontiac Firebird. He ran the best of 6.495, that is -0.715 under NHRA 7.21 index.


2. Jarmo Markkanen was second with his A/S Pontiac Firebird, so as usual there were modern GM F-Bodies in the top spots. Jarmo ran the best of 6.387, which is -0.673 under NHRA 7.06 index.


3. Anna Hassinen took the third place with her SS/JA Pontiac Trans Am, despite having some traction problems at some Qualifying rounds. Her best ET was 6.464, which is -0.636 under NHRA 7.10 index.


4. Vilma Palasmaa in her D/SA '68 Camaro. They had some problems with the starter during qualifying, but luckily they got the problems solved, and she ran the best of 6.897, which is -0.523 under NHRA 7.42 index.


5. Jarmo Grönman was "only" number five Qualifier this time in his C/S Chevrolet Camaro. After the engine broke at Nitro Nationals a few weeks earlier, they had put the motor back together, but were still looking for the right setups. Anyway, he ran the best ET of 6.812, which is -0.498 under NHRA 7.31 index, so not bad.


6. Yrjö Wallius with his '67 SS/J Rambler American was the sixth Qualifier. He did some big wheelstands during Qualifying, so he had no traction prolems. His best ET was 6.505, which is -0.475 under NHRA 6.98 index.


7. Akseli Koskinen with SS/GA '67 Camaro. He didn't have major traction problems either, so the Camaro ran pretty good, best ET was 6.366 which is -0.464 under NHRA 6.83 index.


8. Iiro Mikkola with SS/HA '69 Camaro. He had some issues with the traction, but they got the car running pretty good anyway. His best ET was 6.408 which is -0.452 under NHRA 6.86 index.


9. Sami Toppari with his SS/C AMC AMX Factory Race Car. He did huge wheelstands as always, having no traction problems or anything like that. His best ET was 6.111, which is -0.419 under NHRA 6.53 index.


10. Sari Kainulainen with her F/SA '66 Nova. She ran the best of 7.208, which is -0.392 under NHRA 7.60 index. It looked like she had no problems with the limited traction either.


11. Jouko Jalava with his D/S '69 Camaro with a mighty 302 Small Block. He ran the best of 7.083, which is -0.307 under NHRA 7.39 index, but if I'm not mistaken they had some issues with the transmission.


12. Niko Lindström with J/SA '74 Malibu Classic. I was still struggling with the carburetor bog issue, but I was able to run decent ETs anyway, my best was 7.682, which is -0.258 under NHRA 7.94 index.




Sunday:

The weather was really nice on Sunday, so it looked like there would be no problems with finishing the race. We changed nothing after Saturday, since the car ran so well on the last run. I decided to put 7.70 as my dial in, just in case the weather is not as fast as it was on Saturday.



Elimination Round 1:

The first round was at around 11:30 AM on Sunday. On the first pair, Arto Sulopuisto in his B/S Firebird was running against Akseli Koskinen's SS/GA Camaro. But the game was over really soon as Arto took a -.031 red light, giving the win over to Akseli. Arto ran 6.701 with his 6.53 dial in, Akseli took .083 RT and ran 6.446 on 6.38 dial in.

The second pair was a battle between two lady drivers. Vilma Palasmaa in her D/SA '68 Camaro and Sari Kainulainen in her F/SA '66 Nova. Kainulainen left with a better reaction time, .033 against Palasmaa's .137, but broke out by a few thousands of a second (7.201 on 7.21 dial in). So Palasmaa won by running 7.242 on 7.15 dial in.

Third pair was Jarmo Markkanen against Iiro Mikkola. Markkanen left with a better reaction time, .039 against Mikkola's .062, and while both drivers broke out, Markkanen broke out less so he got the win. He drove 6.413 on 6.42 dial in, as Mikkola ran 6.325 on 6.38 dial in.

Fourth pair was two Camaros going against each others. Jarmo Grönman in a modern 4th Gen Camaro against Jouko Jalava's '69 302 Cid Camaro. Jalava took the holeshot against Grönman (.041 VS Jarmo's .150 RT) and forced Grönman to break out (6.547 on 6.59 dial in). Jalava ran 7.209 on 7.09 dial in.

On the fifth pair Anna Hassinen was going against Sami Toppari. But unfortunately this race was over before it even started, too, as Anna got a tiny red light by -.019. She ran 6.720 on 6.51 dial in. Sami took .023 RT and ran 6.111 on 6.10 dial in.

The sixth and last pair was me against Yrjö Wallius. I was a bit late at the tree, but so was Yrjö as well, my RT was .126 and his was .131. It was a close race, but for some reason I was able to run only 7.774 on 7.70 dial in, so Yrjö crossed the finishing line first and got the win by running 6.546 on 6.52 dial in.


Elimination Round 2:

The first pair on the 2nd round was very close race between Akseli Koskinen and Vilma Palasmaa, two 2017 rookie S/SS racers. Reactions were pretty similar, .066 for Vilma and .058 for Akseli, but Koskinen drove closer to his dial in (6.428 on 6.42 dial in) against Vilma's 6.913 on 6.85 dial in, so he continued to the semi finals.


Next pair was Jarmo Markkanen against Jouko Jalava. Unfortunately Jalava left with -.113 red light so Markkanen got the win. He ran 6.475 on 6.40 dial in, as Jalava drove 7.180 on 7.09 dial in.

The last pair was a battle of two American Motors' cars, Sami Toppari against Yrjö Wallius. Wallius took much better reactions, .027 against Toppari's .126 RT, and he ran closer to his dial in, too, 6.541 on 6.52 dial in against Sami's 6.180 on 6.10 dial in.


Semi Final Round:

On the Semi Final Round, Akseli Koskinen had a solo run first. He took .007 RT and ran 6.457 on 6.42 dial in. With that kind of run he would be tough to beat in the finals!

On another side of the ladder there was a tight race between Jarmo Markkanen and Yrjö Wallius, two very experienced Stock / Super Stock racers. Markkanen left with better reactions, .008 against Wallius' .045. After a very close race, Wallius took the win as he ran closer to his dial in (6.541 with 6.52 dial in, against Jarmo's 6.496 on 6.41 dial in). So Wallius goes to the finals.




Final Round:

Final Round was a race between Akseli Koskinen and Yrjö Wallius. But it was over too fast as Wallius took a small red light by -.014. He ran close to his dial in, though, 6.536 on 6.53 dial in, but of course Koskinen won by the red light. Akseli took .107 RT and ran 6.400 on 6.42 dial in. This was his first win in S/SS class, so Congrats!




Overall the weekend was pretty good for us. We were able to go clearly under the index and improved our ET on every round in Qualifying. Even though I lost on the first round, it was a fun weekend.

Here is a video of my runs:


And here's a link to Full Picture Gallery.