Dirt 5 Auto Pop

[Endike Baur]

WhenI worked for Frankland one of my sales girls and her husband restored and old Bullitt mid-engine dirt late model. It was wild. You had to take off the side wings just to get it in the trailer. Oh by the way it was an all aluminum big block. You actually sat over the front axle with your feet in front of the axles. They said it only ran a hand full of races all of which it won before it was outlawed. It was deemed unsafe and an unfair advantage being mid-engine. I'll see if I can find any pics.

I raced 1/10 scale Dirt Oval in the 80's and had a Custom Works body just like in your photo. I beleive they still make them today. Tony Stewart bought the company 10 years or so ago and as far as I know, they are still in business.

We would have 100 guy's show up every Saturday night to race at a track in Conroe TX. It was a scale 1/2 mile, hard packed, dirt oval. We called the wings, Side Dams and that was how you tuned the handling of the car. Moving it up 1/2 in. would give you more front bite and if the car was loose, you would move the Side Dam back to tighten it up. Little ajustments made a big difference. I am sure those wings work the same on the dirt late models. They wouldn't be adding that weight just for billboard space.

There also called side boards in the 80's on the east coast the dirt late models ran them the cars hooked up so hard we use to break cranks ,rear ends and just about everything else we use to call these cars wedge cars.The picture of randy sweet, he built the car just to break track records all over the midwest

I like seeing cars trying to break track records with cars that usually do not race there and do not have to abide by any rules. Big wide tires with lots of horsepower is too cool. Wasn't it Chet Fillips that did that at Highway 16 quite a few years back with a super modified?

Back about 1981, they held an exhibition race with 6 supermodifieds, one of which was Chet's rear engine Hite car. The rest were Houston area Supers looking for a place to race, as Meyer has closed for good by then, and no other southern track was booking them.

I do not remember the specific finish, but earlier this year I saw the results in one of the SAS record books Steve Jung has. I will ask him Saturday to send me that run down, and I will post it here.

I the mid 80s you would see the lates with huge sideboards.Usually one on each side starting at the rear window.Royce Danner did have a full sideboard just like your vidio.I had a single on my outlaw mini.What they did was let you drive in wide open and hard turn the car.Without them you would spin out but with the sail pannels the car would actually straighten itself out.A wild feeling but really fast,you almost never lifted.Lawerence Micklchak mastered their use.I thought they looked cool too.But they did work.A few years ago the world record for dirt was set with a car that had 3 full sail pannels.Foll length on both sides plus another on the nose.Air is free.

I've had a couple pairs of the 89xi and they do seem to work well in the sun and at night. The main complaint I have about these googles is that the top is a light material that will let dirt in - especially if you get roosted.

Progrip 3400LS are light sensitive,I ride woods and when you go from bright sunlight into the woods your eyes really dont need to adjust.Also theres no glare when you hit open bright spots.Replacement lens is $18.

I have the progrips 3400ls and had a problem with the two lenses seperating after only a handful of rides. I sent an e-mail to progrip and had a new pair in less than a week for free. I would recomend them for their great customer service, but I can not speak for the durability since it has only been two rides with the new goggles.

Thats the exact problem I had with mine. When new the goggles were some of the best I have ever wore. But within a year the foam had seperated. And as you said the len's are garbage. I had several de-laminate on me. As you I e-mailed them about it every time and they sent me a new one for free. Still it was a pain. I finially thru them away and went back to Oakleys.

I think my problem with the lens's is that when I would get cought in the rain and put the goggles away wet. When I would pull them out the lens would be seperated. I think If I would of gotten in the habbit of taking the lens out after a ride and drying it things would of worked better for me.

However, the visor on your dirt helmet will block the UV from above and you're not going to get much reflected off the objects in the area unless you're looking at a mirror or maybe (and this is a guess) snow.

If you get one of these types of goggles and want to see as absolutely possibly dark as they can get, you'll need either a set up for lizards, or a good friend in a petstore. Stick the goggles under one of the UVB10 (desert) lights. That'll make 'em real dark real fast. The bulbs are a special glass that does not filter UV.

But as for my Oakleys they have held up great over the years. I think I still have the 1st pair I have ever bought like 10 years ago and they are still usable. The biggest thing for me is the foam. If the face foam starts to break down they are gone. So far my oakleys are holding there own.

Inexpensive photo-reactive light sensitive replacement lenses are available for most Scott goggles. They turn a nice bluish tint in the sunlight. A bonus is that they seem to be more scratch resistant than standard lenses. They are available from many bike shops or from Rocky Mtn.

Raced in The Xtreme Outlaw Midget Series Presented by Toyota, the dirt midget is similar to a sprint car without the wings. While the 4 cylinder engine may lack in torque compared to a big v8 sprint car, the midget does produce a lot of high RPM horsepower for such a light chassis.

The reason black is often the hardest car color to keep clean is that it shows dirt, grime and stains more than other colors. It's popular in part because it looks good but also because it hides imperfections well. Black cars are a status symbol for many people. This makes them more susceptible to damage from road debris, bird droppings and bug splatters than other colors (and also means they're more expensive to repair).

Black paint molecules absorb 95% of light reflected from the surface of a vehicle, but since there are no pigments in black pigment (just carbon-based colorants), there's nothing for sun rays to bounce off of.* In other words: Your car will look like new for longer if you drive around in red or yellow instead of black.

While there are many shades of blue, green is one of the most common colors on the road. If you have a car in either of these colors, you're going to find it a lot easier to keep your car clean than if it was red or orange.

A motorized bicycle (moped) is defined by law as a pedal bicycle with a helper motor, electric or gas-powered, capable of a maximum speed of no more than 25 miles per hour on a flat surface. A moped has a maximum displacement of less than 50 cubic centimeters (cc)(no more than 1.5 brake horsepower).

If a vehicle meets all the conditions as defined by law (see above) it may be registered as a moped. Vehicles without pedals that are less than 50 ccs cannot be registered as mopeds; rather, they must be registered as motorcycles, regardless of engine size.

*If you are under age 18 and only operate an ATV or dirt bike at licensed special events, you are exempt from the safety education course. You are also exempt if the ATV or dirt bike is used on public lands or waters or across a public highway as an incident to or in the actual performance of the operations of a farm that is adjacent to the public land and or water or public highway upon which the vehicle is being operated.

An agricultural license (Class G) allows individuals between 16 and 17 years old to operate only those vehicles registered for farm use when the driver and vehicle are actively engaged in farming-related activities. A basic driver license (Class D) can also be used to operate farming vehicles.

After doing a bunch (not that much, really) on a 85 Corolla that I bought for the local 3/8 mi dirt oval, the engine let go after 4 laps...but it was long enough for me to realize that a 1.6 carb worn out motor was never going to be competitive. So now I see a pile of parts versus a racecar. Time to find a new car.....

I want to stick with front wheel drive, since I have somewhat of an idea on how to drive it (it is different on the dirt, that is for sure). The class seems to be dominated by neons.....but that seems to make them dissappear off craigslist quickly.

Actually, I'll sell you my escort zx2 dirt cheap. That would be my second suggestion. I damage the front end the other day and its prefect for dirt track. I don't know if the stage 2 clutch or exhaust manifold or Eibach springs or upper strut bar would be legal.

You said no 16v? Is that the rule or is it SOHC only? SOHC neons are 16v. Allow me to suggest an Lbody Chrysler (Omni, Horizon, Charger, Turismo) get a 2.5 block, TBI 2.2 (cast "782" on water neck) head, TBI roller cam, and, decent header and carb should be 160hp or so and run on pump gas 12:1 compression

I work on a pit crew for a 4 cylinder fwd asphalt car, which is a sunfire. The sunfire is not a bad choice but we've found that a saturn would have been better, as they seem to be outrunning us lately. I'm not sure what model they are, but they are 2-door, overhead cam, and have independent rear suspension. They're a little down on power but they handle better, because they're supposedly way lighter.

Honda Honda Honda. Our 4 cyl class is developed to the point that some of the other tracks will not let us race there, and the winning front wheel drives are all Honda. Neons, Cavaliers, Saturns Mustangs have all been tried and tossed. CRX, Prelude, Integra, and Civic are all competetive out of the box. They are fast, they don't overheat, and they don't have oiling problems, especially if you shim the pump. Also the junkyards are full of them, which is huge all by itself.

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