The 2024 SMACKDOWN held by the Midwest Drag Racing Series at the Flying H was a great event. This was the first Midwest Series race the team had participated in and it was a great experience. It was also be the first time the team had seen the new track at the Flying H. The Smackdown was a big race that paid $10,000 to win and after a first round loss in the Chaos Finals in Mo-Kan the team was eager to get back to the track and race for something BIG!
Before the team even left the shop the weather was not looking good for the weekend calling for rain in the forecast on Saturday. With the rain in mind the Midwest series modified the schedule and was going to run the event in TWO DAYS! With over 40+ Pro Mods on the property along with Jr.Dragster, TopDragster, Top sportsman, Bracket Racing , and most importantly FUNNY CAR!!! It would be a tough show to fit it all in.
Off the trailer the car wasset up to make it down the track A to B, with no data where do you start? It is important to get data to make improvements on. The car ran a 3.803 at 203.9 mph, which placed Williams in the #3 spot after the first session.
That first run wasn’t too bad, the car had good mph but we were still well off the mark performance wise. Steve Macklyn laid down a very solid 3.66 at 203.4 MPH in that first session! The track was exceptional, even with the track temp at 114 degrees it had teeth and could take more. This was evident as our 60ft time was slow, we needed to get the car going we needed to pick up!
Based on the data from Q1 we threw some more clutch at the track for Q2. Typically the move we made to the clutch would have been considered quite aggressive, but on this occasion it was not enough. The track was very tight and wanted more our 60 ft time was slow again, however the car did pickup ever so slightly and ran a 3.796 at 205.23 mph. With the third qualifying run later that night and the way the track was acting we decided to swing for the fence and make some major changes. We took fuel away, added clutch, made the timing more aggressive, and made an wheelie bar adjustment. Hopefully this would get the car some wheel speed!!!
However we were not able to find out that evening as one of the pro-mod cars lost an engine oiled the track and would took the remainder of the night to clean up. That was the end of racing for the evening and we would run early in the morning at 9am on Friday.
The morning air was still cool and the track was still in good shape. We were going to leave the aggressive changes in the car and give it a go. Or what we thought was aggressive. The car did pick up in Q3 but only slightly, not what we were looking for. Running a 3.78 at 203.9mph. This would end qualifying and place Williams in the #3 position going into eliminations.
The first round was against Lance Van Hauen. The track was a touch warmer for the first round we, felt this would help our situation, so we planned to leave the car alone and go A to B. Maybe we could pickup a little if the track was looser. In the first round Lance had trouble with his 2 step during staging and the car lurched through the lights causing him to foul out. Williams would win the round, picking up just a little running 3.77 at 204.4 mph. It was good that the car kept picking up and responding to changes, but the team definitely needed more to win the race.
In the second round Williams faced a tough opponent Steve Macklyn who had been running very fast all weekend. In the first round Steve ran a 3.66 at 205mph to compete with that the team needed to pickup a bunch!!!
Heading into this second round the team threw a bunch of changes at the car again hoping to pick up enough that Kirk could win this thing at the starting line.
The two cars left the line, and Kirk did a great job cutting a 0.013 light. Steve went RED -0.042 giving Williams the win! This was a bit of luck, as Steve could have out ran Williams if he had gone green with a light better than 0.083. Williams picked up running a 3.73 at 204mh, to Steve’s 3.66. This would place Williams into the final round against Mark Billington. This scenario was similar to Mo-Kan in the chaos finals. Except we were the faster car by quite a margin and went red to the slower car. It was the little bit of luck the team needed.
Unfortunately as the day progressed, the event got behind due to a few oil downs and a crash to clen up. The finals were pushed into Saturday where rain was in the forecast for much of the day. It started raining early in the morning and kept going with only small breaks until the race was called just after lunch. There would not be a make up day and the purse would be split. All in, the race was a good experience. The facility was excellent and track was tight, no parts were hurt and a little money was won. Which will help finish that new car for the 2025 season!
Rain played a big part in the race season this year. Cancelling one race entirely at Eddyville, and ending two early. This one and one Odessa Texas. This brought an anticlimactic end to the season. With rain winning the day again.
On a high note the season ended with no major damage to car, driver, or crew. We had fun, we were safe, and we learned a few lessons. This will make us better next year!
