1999 PREPARATIONS CONTINUE

Jan. 31, 1999

The Lyle Greenberg Motorsports team has been working hard to prepare for the 1999 season. We have received almost all of our parts back to assemble the car. With customers like us, UPS should be a very profitable company. The cylinder heads were in Ohio, the blower in Arizona, the blower bag in Florida, lifters from Florida, rods, wrist pins and bearings from California, pushrods from California, ring and pinion from Colorado, fuel system from British Columbia, Canada, valve springs from New Jersey. Just keeping track of the shipping alone seems like a full time job. Our thanks to the guys at Van Crafters and to Paul Greenberg for acting as our shipping and receiving outlets.

What have we been doing? Aside from the obvious repairs that had to be made to the motor after our Phoenix blower explosion, there was quite a bit of body work to be done. Our ace paint and body crew, consisting of Blake Johnson, Andy Johnson and Peter Pacheco, repaired the cracked fiberglass and installed new lexan windows. In addition, the 1999 rules require a burst panel to be installed in the hood. Once all of this was done, Blake had to mask off the body and repaint the affected areas. Our good friends at M&J Signs are making up new lettering to complete the package.

We also got our fuel system back from Les Davenport. He changed the fuel system over to a 2 timer/3 valve system and flowed the entire system so that we have a good baseline to work from. The multiple timers and valves will allow the car to be alternately richened and leaned as it makes its way down the track. Another change is the addition of a "Davenplate" under the injector hat. This plate raises the injector hat approximately 2" above the blower inlet and about 2" forward from the normal location. This allows the air to more efficiently enter the blower and ultimately create more blower boost. These fuel system changes should help propel us solidly into the "5's" (5 second elapsed time).

Crew chief Robert Howard has been staying busy putting the motor back together and building a new rear end. It was discovered that our ring and pinion gears were broken. Also, we are re-wiring some of the car so that the fuel system timers and valves can be mounted directly in front of the engine. This requires the computer to be moved to the area directly behind the cockpit.

Not all of the work is on the car itself. Lyle has been working diligently to make sure that our current sponsors are pleased with their representation, as well as looking for new sponsorship opportunities.

Our first event of the season is the Custom Automotive Supernationals in Albuquerque (Feb. 5-7). For many of our Albuquerque based sponsors, the car shows are the best method of displaying their commitment to us. We have a very prominant position in the show that will allow for incredible exposure for all of our business partners. Because shows are much more relaxed than races, Lyle has the opportunity to spend as much time as necessary explaining what drag racing and his car are all about. As many of you know, there is nothing that Lyle likes more than telling people about his hot rod. An extra added attraction this year is the neat baseball card sized photo handouts that we give out. These are especially pleasing to the children who come by our display.

Then, the last weekend of February, we have the first race of the season at the NHRA Arizona Nationals in Phoenix. The toughest cars in the western U.S. will be competing. We fully expect it to take a high 5.90 second run to qualify in the 16 car field. Of course, we think that the car was fully capable of mid-5.90 second runs last year. With the new fuel system we obviously hope that it will run even quicker than that.

If you are in attendance at either of these events, come by and tell us that you saw us on the 'Net!

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