Tom Dumbell lives in Oklahoma City, Oklahoma and has been racing
in Top Fuel for five years. He began with a C/Dragster back in the early
seventies and progressed to AA/FD in '73 with a front-engine machine which
was the last car of it's kind until it was retired in 1975. Tom invited me
down to Okie City to travel the racing circuit and see just what it was like
from the inside view, which I immediately knew meant working for my keep to
begin with. I knew it would be a good chance for me to relate to the readers
what it was like, so I left St. Louis and all I had for the carefree life of
the glory-bound drag racer. I must have been crazy.
Already Tom and crewchief John Davisson had started out the year
on a sour note. The two-man team had failed to qualify their machine, the
aluminum Milodon-powered "Gravedigger" at Tucson after constant tire-smoking
problems, only to find later that their $700 clutch was junk. After flogging
the clutch in Tucson, they loaded up for the haul to Pomona only to again go
up in smoke and not qualify. When I got to Okie City, the car sat in the garage
of John's house with only the bare block intact. The next day we began work
on readying the motor for the upcoming Green Valley WWCS meet in Division
4.
Within two days, the Milodon was readied, complete with the new Bowers
"wooden" blower, named so for its specially treated exterior, which, while increasing
the case strength of the supercharger, also gives the appearance of being
made of wood. A new clutch was installed, and although the car had been having
fuel distribution problems, it was test fired in the driveway of the house.
The number eight cylinder was not firing, so more work was needed on the
injectors. With some amount of work completed on that project, we left the
next morning on the relatively short five-hour haul to Green Valley.
Upon arrival at the track, yet another check was made on the injector
nozzles to insure that the misfiring problem had been solved, or at least
reduced. We waited that day for the night air to move in and make our pass.
Finally our time came to make a pass, and the car was pushed around the Green
Valley loop, backed into the bleach box, and fired.
The most awesome thing about these cars is the total uncertainty, the
complete mystery of the car's capability. Although the car is set up to run
straight, hard and strong, it could just as soon disintegrate the motor in
the first full second of its running life. Although many spectators think
that these machines will fire and run as the builder or driver has planned,
nothing could be further from the truth. The cars have a mind of their own,
and they can, and will, do anything they please. It is amazing, in fact, that
these 2000 horsepower monsters run or even fire at all. The stress that the
internal parts are under, even in the first second, defies any theory of the
internal combustion process, and, in theory, they should not even be able to
run five full seconds at idle without exploding into pieces.
Tom moves forward and completes the burnout, and as we push him back
to the line it is apparent that number eight is not firing at idle. Tom inches
into the beams, and as he brings up the rpm in the motor, number eight begins
to fire, although somewhat sporadically. On the launch, the tires ignite into
a blazing fury, obscuring the entire car from view. It goes up into smoke again,
but regains some traction as Tom shifts into high gear on the two-speed Lenco.
Suddenly, the car darts into view as some of the smoke clears, but the car is
suddenly engulfed in smoke again, this time a thick green mist, and the sudden
spark of hope for a decent pass is lost as we realize the car has just burnt
itself up in the lights. The announcer relates the decision: 7.41 at 203 mph.
Tom has had some moments of glory. He was runner-up at the AHRA
Nationals in 1976 to John Weibe. He was the number two qualifier
at Bakersfield in 1977 with an outstanding 5.90 at 237. He was
the number two man in the AHRA points race in 1977 until a crash put him out
of the race at Cleveland, and he still finished fourth in the world with the
points he had already accumulated and runner-up at the AHRA Springnationals
twice in three years, and runner-up at the '75 National Challenge race.
John Davisson, Tom's mechanic, is also quite competent, being involved with
wrenching T/F cars since the mid-sixties, and was a driver himself for a short
time.
Upon returning to the pits, the heads immediately come off, and the
damage surveyed. Number five and number eight are burnt away; number two bears
no resemblance to any creation on this earth, other than possibly slag from a
blast furnace. Within moments we are off to the motel. We have a long Saturday
ahead of us.
All of the next day is spent rebuilding the motor, with only a minimum
of spare parts available. This team does not have a spare motor, or a spare
blower, or a spare transmission. It does have two spare heads, seven pistons,
some oil, a little fuel, spark plugs, and a lot of tools.
Before we know it, it's getting dark and we are rolling toward the
bleach box again. The ritual is repeated; the burnout, the long push back,
and the approach on the starting line photocells. This time it's an instant
replay of the previous run, an instant ignition of the tires, but this time
Tom shuts the car off instantly, and as we chase the coasting car in the push
truck, we plan ahead to put the car right back in line for another pass.
The third run however, after three hours of waiting in the staging lanes,
was the same. A 6.92 - 178 is not good enough to make the easy 6.83
bump in the field. The only consolation in towing home is that the motor is
not hurt this time, as Tom shut off when the car could not recover from the
power lost during tire spin.
The next day, back in the garage, the heads come off for inspection.
Previous thoughts that the engine suffered no injuries are dispelled as seven
burned pistons are pulled from the motor. There is no worse feeling in the
world.
The next six days are spent completely rebuilding the engine and working
the rehoned block to get it in shape for the upcoming Rockingham, North Carolina
race, the IHRA Pro-Am Nationals. Frantic phone calls to the West Coast
get us only a few new pistons. Lack of funds prohibits any more than is
necessary to build the engine.
The fuel problem appears to have been cured as we make the long 30-hour
tow to North Carolina. Both John and Tom are certain the car will perform well
this time around. I, however, have learned not to attempt to guess what will
happen next.
As we arrive in the pits of the beautiful Rockingham track, the car is
unloaded and final checks are made on the machine. All appears well and we
wait for several hours until the night-time qualifying session starts. Finally,
we move in to face Clayton Harris in a qualifier. Rockingham uses a
push-start, so the cars are pushed from the finish line up to the bleach box.
As we push out, the coupler-driveshaft edges loose, and we pull out of the run
to fix it. Clayton makes his run, and as his push truck passes, we push out
onto the track. Harris runs a 6.15 - 235 in the "good" lane. We will
get to run in that lane, too.
However, the starting officials think different. As we pull into the
"good" lane with the car running, the officials inform us that no time will
be given if we run in that lane. Finally, after 45 seconds of debate, the car
lurches into the opposite lane as Tom makes the decision to run no matter what.
Now sitting idling in the "bad" lane, the officials "seemingly" don't want us
in this lane either. Finally, after another 45 seconds of running time, the
starter agrees to let us run, (But not explaining why we couldn't run in the
first place), and Tom does a strong burnout. As the car rolls toward me at
mid track, I can see the incredible trail of oil the car is laying down the
course.
As the engine brought up the RPM's to the extreme point during the
thundering burnout, the number three rod snapped in the middle of its stroke.
The $60 rod then proceeded to explode through each wall of the $3000 aluminum
block, wasting its own $25 piston, the $20 sleeve it was housed in, and the
number four rod and piston assembly ($85). The exiting pieces slashed through
the rear tires, ($350), on their way to destroying a S/S Nova's windshield in
the staging lanes, ($100), and grazing the skull of a crewman who was watching
in the bleach box, (price n/a). Total damage for the team: somewhere in the
area of $4000. The car run under power for approximately 3 and one half seconds.
After a heated debate with starting officials, we call it a draw and
return to the pits to look over the damage. There are six-inch holes on each
side of the block. The engine's girdle is split into three pieces. The oil pan
is junk, as is the clutch linkage rod, both blown away in the ensuing explosion.
None of these parts have replacements waiting in the wings of the trailer, nor
in Oklahoma City.
We must be in Oklahoma (Tulsa), for the AHRA Springnationals in
five days. Several frantic phone calls turn up a hopefully runable engine
replacement --- a steel block 426. We arrange to have it waiting in the garage
when we return from the 30-hour drive back to Oklahoma. Then, we pile into the
transporter to haul the wounded racer back home.
We arrive Sunday night, late, in Okie City. We now have three and a
half days to repair all the damage from the weekend, as well as build a completely
new motor, fresh and ready to run strong at Tulsa. The block, upon inspection,
is runable, although covered with weld from a previous racer's battles. It's
a bargain at $225.
Only one thing came out of the trip to Rockingham --- the fuel distribution
problem was solved. The car ran full and healthy for well over 3.5 seconds.
But the mystery is gone, and the relief is overwhelming. We now know what it
did. It blew up. And the pre-run mystique is gone.
But already the anxiety is building up. We must complete two weeks hard
work in 80 hours. And we're nearly broke. The mystery is there, however. If
we can complete it, how will the car run at Tulsa ?? And that's what keeps us
going.
To read the continuing saga of the Gravedigger go to Project Top
Fuel Part TWO
