Rob Mansfield’s
Rookie IHRA Pro
Stock Season Diary

PART 4

By Rob Mansfield
Photos by Jeff Burk
10/7/04

Teamwork at Epping

The Amalie Oil North American Nationals at New England Dragway in Epping, N.H. have hosted the most amazing weekend of my life. The Dingman Racing - Wilson Manifolds Pro Stock Grand Am Team really pulled together and got it done. When the weekend was over, we had set a world record for the fastest Pro Stock run ever at 216.20 mph, ran the quickest Pro Stock e.t. ever at 6.425 (not a record as weather did not permit us to back it up), joined the Quarter Max 6.40’s club as its quickest member to date, qualified in the number one position for the second consecutive event and gone to the final round against veteran racer, and all around nice guy, John Nobile.

Things got underway at Epping with first round qualifying at 2 p.m. on Friday. The weather was great and we were looking forward to a great run. After the burn out, about 300 feet down the track, the car broke. No first round run for us. With only three qualifying runs per race this season, that can be catastrophic. No data to be collected for tuning to the track. No time in the seat to become more familiar with the track. One run in the better evening weather for faster runs, lost to us. We had rolled a sprag, damaging the transmission and aborting the run. This was not a very fortuitous beginning for us and after the great qualifying runs we had at Norwalk, we really wanted to show well at Epping. We went back to the pit, made the needed repairs and prepped for Saturday.

Saturday morning we were back at the track by 9 a.m. and were really anxious to get out there to make a good pass. Well, that’s not what happened. This time the car was great but the driver had trouble. I had a little 2-stage, line lock problem and was disappointed with a

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6.798 at 214.18. The pressure was really on now. We had to get it done next round. The team was awesome. No finger pointing and blame casting. They all just threw in their best to get us ready for the next round.

At 7 p.m. Saturday it was time to get it done or get on home. We did it. The Dingman Racing - Wilson Manifolds Pro Stock Grand Am ran a jaw dropping 6.425 at 216.20 mph, making it the World’s Fastest Pro Stock Car! I guess it’s obvious this gave us the Top Qualifier position for Sunday’s race. The speed record stands as it was backed up by an earlier 214 mph run. Unfortunately, the rest of the weekend was hot (raising the adjusted altitude from 376 ft to 1925 ft) so we were unable to back up the e.t. for the record.

On the return road from that run, the IHRA officials told us with a smile, “Pull it over in the grass guys. After that run you’re gonna be here a while and we need to do this in front of God and everyone.” Hell, we knew that was coming and everyone was very nice, professional, and thorough. They went through the car there for about an hour and then came back to the pit later for another hour of inspecting. Of course, all was well and we left the track prepared for our first “Sunday” of the season since Norwalk was delayed.