For Murphy the weekend started
on Thursday when the track was open for time trials/testing.
Mike Beebe backed Jim
up as always.
Paired
with Jim Young who won the 2012 March Meet Jim had a strong leave.
A time
slip of 5.855 at just 213.16 told them they were on the right
track.
After every run
this would be the typical scene in the WW2 Racing pit as the
team does routing maintenance. The engine has all 8 pistons removed,
and often replaced, after every run.
There was one qualifying session
scheduled for Friday and one for Saturday followed by first round.
But a constant rain storm literally wash Friday out. Thus they
had to get two sessions in on Saturday and run the entire elimination
portion on Sunday.
1st
Qualifying Session
Saturday, 2:27 p.m. Weather conditions: air temperature
58 degrees, relative humidity 60 percent, barometer 29.54 inches,
adjusted altitude 561 feet, track temperature 71 degrees.
By the time Murphy's turn came
the track was deemed flawless and ready for anything the tuners
could throw at it. Jim was paired with Larry Gotelli who is the
new driver for Bob Richardson's Circuit Breaker.
Both cars had decent early numbers
and both experienced problems after the 660' mark.
By half
track Murphy's car was experiencing some handling problems.
Murphy danced
his way to a 6.097 at 184.80 while Gotelli coasted through with
a 6.451 at 169.06. Not the numbers they were looking for.
Qualifying Session
Two
6:35 p.m. Weather conditions:
air temperature 61 degrees, relative humidity 62 percent, barometer
29.55 inches, adjusted altitude 760 feet, track temperature 59
degrees.
Due to the late hour and diminished
track conditions only a few of the cars opted to come out for
the second session. Two that did were Jim Murphy and Bill Dunlap.
Nobody was shooting in Dunlap's
lane. They left close together and were just 0.001 different
at sixty feet. Murphy stayed close to right at the 660 lights,
where Dunlap's' header flames go down. Murphy stayed on the power
until near the 1000 foot lights, where his engine went silent
too. Murphy was now behind the 8-ball with two failed qualifying
attempts.
Dan Wilkison and Jim
working on the fuel system.
Top Fuel Round
One
Sunday, 11:38 a.m. Weather conditions:
air temperature 60 degrees, relative humidity 59 percent, barometer
29.62 inches, adjusted altitude 571 feet, track temperature 66
degrees.
Following the marathon clean up the final pair of
round one pitted Jim Murphy and Bill Dunlap.
This
race was over before it started when Dunlap red lighted.
Murphy
had a strong leave then gradually moved toward the guard wall.
Murphy did the right thing by
not yanking the car away from the wall. He just maintained control
and coasted through with a 5.904 at 215.20. Dunlap followed.
Top
Fuel Round Two
2:48 p.m. Weather
conditions: air temperature 72 degrees, relative humidity 35
percent, barometer 29.58 inches, adjusted altitude 1,449 feet,
track temperature 109 degrees.
Second round was a pair
of Jim's... Young and Murphy.
Murphy nailed the lights with
a stellar 0.022 RT (0.098 for Young) and pulled away.
Note the tire chatter marks that
denote some slippage. This did not help Jim on the topend.
Once again Murphy's fuse was
too short and Young went by for the win with a 5.689 at a huge
speed of 266.11 which made him the third member of the LON 265
Club. Murphy faded to a 5.802 at 245.40 ending yet another chance
to win his elusive 5th MM win.
Jim Young's incremental margins
(negative if behind): 60ft(-0.051), 330 ft(-0.063), 660ft(-0.049),
1,000ft(-0.017). MOV: 0.0374 seconds (approximately 13 feet).
*The engine broke a roller lifter
at about 900'. Did not hurt any serious parts but did cause the
cylinder to drop, possibly costing them the race.
Check out where Murphy
and Team are racing next.... 2013
Schedule
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