Well, since the engine explosion at the March Meet, the car is going back together with the short block installed as we wait for more parts to come in. This gives me a chance to answer some of the questions that were asked in Bakersfield last month. Goodness knows we had the time to talk! The most asked question is, "How does your car differ from the NHRA funny cars?"

The best way to answer this (it helps if you are over thirty years old) is to explain that our program is based on the cars we ran in the early seventies. You must use a body from 1965 up to, and including, 1979. A few years back it was difficult to find such a body. Our first car, the '72 Dodge Charger, came from a back yard in La Puente, Ca. and was used as a doghouse for a number of years. Now several body manufacturers have established themselves and produce quality products. Engine size is limited to 500 cubic inches [the same as the NHRA], but the fuel pump capacity is limited to only twenty gallons per minute and a two-speed transmission are allowed. Sounds like a lot but the contemporary funny car can deliver four times as much fuel in the same time. NHRA funny cars do not run a transmission; instead they use a set of timed clutch activators. Sound high tech, you bet it is! We do not run a computer or data logger, although it has been approved by the VRA tech dept. One of the best rules is that the bodies we use must be recognizable as to their original manufacturer. In other words, it must look like a real car and must be approved by the sanctioning body, in our case that's Good-Guys.

For more information on the rules, go on line to good-guys.com and click on drag rules, or to ask any questions that you may have pertaining to the car or drag racing in general, contact us at bugg7056@aol.com and we will do our best to answer them. Please use "ask the east side gang" in the subject line of your email to us. That way we can sort out your questions from all the rest of the mail we receive and answer them quickly.

Thanks for your interest and please continue to come by and see us; next race Pomona, Ca on May 5 - 7.