NITROUS OXIDE ( nos / n2o ) advice forum

Noticed this on the York raceway forum and nicked it to pop on here, you hae probably seen it before, but it was a good pic so i thought id post it!!



Got to say Steve was leaving as per usual in the other lane with the car all out of shape!! sweet!

EXCELLENT pic (thanks for that) and you'll be surprised to learn that I have seen and have got very few pics of the car when it was at its best (as it was in that pic), because I was;

1) Intent on racing
&
2) More interested in getting video recordings so I could learn from them.

So this is a welcome addition to the forum that reminds me of how GREAT it was back then.


Let me make a few comments that spring to mind from seeing that pic;

1) This pic is a perfect example of how a car should be set up to launch and how it shouldn't.
Sure Steve was quick and a show man but every time he had his wheels in the air it just showed how little he understood essential aspect of Drag racing.

2) All the time my Escort was running those big slicks (which replaced some 13" circuit slicks), it was quicker than Steve's Cortina and he was forced to admit he had to CHEAT to beat me (that was after I tore into him for CHEATING at North Weald the bastard) and yet I was repeatedly told how quick Steve's car was (because it got more attention due to LOOKING quick), by people who didn't realise mine was quicker.

3) One of the reasons it was quicker is clearly visible in that pic, my rear suspension is squatting heavily and my front suspension is at full extension but the front wheels are still in contact with the track and apart from when 3 stages of 750 were activated accidentally on the launch that spat me sideways a couple times, it always went arrow straight.

Once again many thanks for posting the pic.

couple more i found, turns out a friend of mine (chris worrell)was in the same rv8 challenge in a mk1 capri (orange one in the pic behind steve green on the start line! some good shots, some a bit morose! Please tell me the fire wasnt from the knackered cam lol!







whoopps!

That's EXACTLY what caused the fire, as I'd wiped out the exhaust lobes (in less than a weekends racing from new) and the burning charge had nowhere but the inlet to escape.

Say hello to Chris for me please.

I also found this some weeks ago.
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=hw6HQOKZG5w

LOL - that was longgggggg before I knew the first thing about what I was doing and when it was just for fun!! - LOL

For anyone who can't tell which is me, I'm the one nearest to the camera on the 1st run and I'm also the one with his arm in a sling at the end.

You can also tell which ones are me by all the missed gear changes, because my artificial leg wasn't a deal of good for changing gear when it required the lever to be lifted. I later reversed the lever and that improved things somewhat.

The run when I ended up with my shoulder broken was the first time the blower belts stayed in place after I activated my 2nd stage of nitrous but this resulted in an extremely sever tank slapper that caused my artificial leg to get entangled with the rear wheel which resulted in me being spat off the bike and breaking the finishing beams without the bike at approx. 100mph and as far as I'm aware I'm the only person ever to break the beams without a vehicle. LOL

No one can claim I've taken the easy route through life.

The run when I ended up with my shoulder broken was the first time the blower belts stayed in place after I activated my 2nd stage of nitrous but this resulted in an extremely sever tank slapper that caused my artificial leg to get entangled with the rear wheel which resulted in me being spat off the bike and breaking the finishing beams without the bike at approx. 100mph and as far as I'm aware I'm the only person ever to break the beams without a vehicle. LOL

blimey trev

I missed off the fact that I suffered concussion (couldn't remember the bit after hitting the track and coming round in the pits), as well as dislocated BOTH shoulders in addition to breaking the right one.

That was just one of NUMEROUS 'risky' escapades that I've got involved in over what I can honestly say has been an action packed life.

Thats another book right there trev... "the joys of dragracing"

Bring back the Rover v8 drag racind series i say!
I got as far as joining the RVDRA and ive still got the T-shirt but the same year the series folded

Maybe we should see if there is enough interest to revive the old buicks

How true and I know a guy who wrote a book on the subject and did OK out of it, so if I ever find time to get my nitrous books finished, that'll be one I consider doing.

I was ed that all the effort that was put in to establish the Rover Challenge was just discarded because the new bloke who bought the Pod wanted sole control over ALL Drag racing classes.

The Euro Challenge that I'd personally put an immense amount of work in to was also discarded for the same reasons.

The Euro Challenge had achieved much more in less time than the Rover Challenge and allowed Rover V8's and Jag V12's so it had HUGE potential and the interesting thing was that it was 4 pots that were running the quicker times.
In the few years I was running that series the times fell from 14s to 9s and a couple of cars were built for the series who only got to run after it was cut short, that ran 8s.

I'm probably the only person to ever Co-ordinate, sponsor, race in and win the same series.

You are too Humble Trevor!! lol

I always fancied the Rv8 challenge, it was a bit of fun without having to spend millions, there is always good development that comes from such things

I built a car for the Northern street car challenge (small block escort mk3) that the hot rod gazette sponsored, I was aiming for reasonable quarter times but with the reliability to make it and run consistently at every event/cruise, but then, just when the car was nearly finished, it got shifted down south again, and i dont have a transporter, cant afford one, i like to drive there, race, and drive home, if i bust a shaft in york i can get a tow to selby, if i break one in northampton im buggered!

Lets be honest i dont have the money to throw at it like John Sleath and the likes, i do this for fun, and like to do the best i can and i wouldnt throw an open cheque book at the car even if i could, I know i wouldnt have run 8's, 9's, 10's even, but i could still have had some fun, a lot of good ideas seem to get blown away as long as the money rolls in i suppose, shame though

Fantastic find, good bit of history

Ive got a vhs tape at home with coverage of 1998 i think.
It starts with Steve Greens spectacular destruction of the original Cortina when he blew a core plug and went sideways through the traps in 10 @ 140 and barrel rolled into the field at Shakey

That was at the Pod and I was there when it happened - he was lucky to get out unhurt.

Really? I'd swear it was Shakey. I will get the VCR running when im home Friday and check

have to ask, how was steve cheating to beat you trev?

understand about launches, that the front tyres should just be contacting the blackstuff, however you have confirmed what (chris) told me about squat

A guy at york told me to try not to get the car to squat, but only to lift the front end, he said the back should stay level and act as a fulcrum so to speak, he was running 9.90 in a back halved camaro with ladder bars and narrow slicks, thought id been misinformed all these years!

The squat of the rear end shows the degree of weight transfer, which obviously needs to be all on the back wheels. In that respect lifting the front wheels of the deck is good. However, every mm you lift the wheels the more pwoer it saps from propelling the car forward, so striking the perfect balance is the name of the game and as you can see from the pic you posted of my car, the front end is very close to being optimum.

The method of cheating was as follows;

1) Back then there was a starting light system in use that was intended for TOP race cars, to stop competitors cheating by keeping a car waiting on the start line, to prevent them gaining an advantage by cooking their engine.

2) This consisted of the following; When one car was ready to race and felt the other was holding back, they could light both staging lights which would start a timer, that gave the other guy just 10 seconds (I believe), to do the same, otherwise the guy holding back got a red light.

3) Steve Green was aware of this (as a novice I wasn't) and used it in reverse to gain a major unfair advantage and cheat.

4) Under normal race conditions he would do as everyone else did, which was do a decent burn out and then blip it a few times before going in to stage.

5) When he NEEDED TO CHEAT (which he did twice to prevent me winning that years Championship), he did a VERY SHORT burnout and then went straight in to FULL stage.

6) In the mean time I was concentrating on doing my normal burn out process (which included applying grip juice) and totally unaware that he had started his cheat program.

7) At some point the start line marshal would gesture to me to hurry to the start line and this was just as my crew man had put a pool of grip juice under the front of ONE of my rear tires.

8) There was NO indication of how many seconds were left before I got a red light, so I had to rush in to stage to avoid it.

9) Now that alone would have been a big enough cheat as I was now on WET grip juice on just a small patch on one tyre PLUS I was phased by the whole thing so far from being in the best frame of mind for a race.

10) However, that wasn't a BIG ENOUGH CHEAT for good old Steve and he was obviously SCARED STIFF, that even at this disadvantage I'd still beat him, because he then REVERSED OUT of stage (just as I'd put up my first bulb) and then carried out a FULL BURN OUT ETC. before returning to the start line to stage up.

11) OBVIOUSLY during this process (which he didn't rush), my engine was heating up while I WAS CONFUSED AND RAGING WITH ANGER.

12) Needless to say he was PERFECTLY PREPARED for the run, while I was ANYTHING BUT and the result was a EASY WIN for the CHEATING BASTARD.

The first time he did this he claimed he was suffering clutch slip and I accepted his LIES, even though another experienced racer laughed at me for doing so, because he knew why he'd done what he did. The 2nd time he did it I was JUST RAGING WITH ANGER after the race and I AGGRESSIVELY confronted him on it and he admitted that he'd cheated because he KNEW that he couldn't have won without doing so.

Thankfully the rules have been changed now to stop CHEATING BASTARDS like Steve Green from using it to their advantage and now you can't light both staging lights, until the other guy has lit one of his and I think they've also stopped people reversing out of stage other than to pull out of a race now.

At least I have the satisfaction of KNOWING that my car was so quick and I was such a good driver that the 'great' Steve Green HAD TO CHEAT to beat me, because HE KNEW he could NOT beat me fair and square.

Personally I'd rather lose than win by cheating and the ONLY real achievement IS TO BEAT THE BEST FAIR & SQUARE!!!