Congratulations to Tom Rix on his first IHRA Top Stock win at the biggest IHRA national event of the year in Norwalk, Ohio. Tom whooped up on four Camaros in his '70 GS Stage 2, and totally dominated the field. His 9.85@132.75 in the final was by far the quickest run of the race in the heads-up class. He beat the GM factory backed '67 Camaro of Monty Bogan Jr. in the final, when Bogan red-lighted. Because he knew he had to cut a light if he was going to have a chance to beat that big bad Buick.:grin: Steve Cowell
Way to go Tom! Did you go with the SP-1 like we discussed on the phone last week? I'm workin' on Bucy to build his new STG 1 car to be a top stock racer. JW
The Wildcat manifold was in place............ IHRA spec shortblock,.540 lift cam,only an 850 carb,1.55 rockers,and he is still 75-100 lbs overweight.......... Car was 60 footing in the low 1.30's on 9" tires. UNBELIEVABLE! Tom has definately worked hard to get where he is at.......And you'll never meet a nicer guy as well. Congratulations!
Awesome !!! Way to go Tom !!! 9.85@132.75 MPH is unreal especially against the reigning Top Stock Champion in the Finals !!! Now I will have something to throw out at the boys around the water cooler tomorrow !!!
The BIG Win Tom - congratulations and way to bring home the big one! I can only imagine all the folks standing around the grandstands not knowing what to say :laugh: That's right folks whooped again by a Buick! :beer
Congratulations Tom! I did not get to meet or talk to Tom because he was in the middle of the tear down for IHRA. I did talk to a couple of other buick guys that were there with him. ( sorry im bad with remebering names). It is a very nice , clean car. I got to see the last two races and as soon as he won I started to rub it into my chevy loving buddy. They brought him back down the track and parked him infront of the grand stands for pictures after he won. That must have felt great.
Mike qualified with a 10.5x pass at 124+ but slowed to a 10.91 in the first round and got beat. He will go faster with some tuning.
Top Stock...... I'm think'n so!!! Looks like a class that would be fun and challenging. I've been planning to put one of the GS's to street use, however JW's been ring'n my bell to build it a Top Stocker. Todays reason, according to Jim, is that we'd be much better with a ragtop for street use. Funny, I tend to agree with that.:gt: OK, ya talked me into it. So here we go!!! One Tri-Shishield Performance Top Stocker, come'n right up!!!ou: Hope to be able to complete the project by 2004 BPG Nats and start the 2005 season. Oh, and don't forget Jim, we still have a 2200lb chromemolly tube car to finish. We can call that the Hecker Decker, right Doug? :moonu: A BIG CONGRATZ Tom!!!!!!:beer
OH, YEH! What a rush that race was! I was planning on posting some pictures of Tom's car but I was so excited about the race I missed the front pouch on the fabric cooler and threw the camera INTO the coolerou: Excellent driving, and incrediable dedication, paid off in a major way for Tom. Everyone I called this morning to find out more about Tom said he is one of the hardest working and nicest guys you could hope to meet. Way to go Tom! Buick hats off to you:TU: :TU:
Re: Top Stock...... I'm think'n so!!! I hate to say it, but I wouldn't rush into anything for awhile. There's rumors among the racers that TopStock may go to a "3 crate motor only" class. If that happens, you would have to run a 502 Chevy crate motor in the GS. Apparently Mike Baker isn't happy with the turn-out for Top Stock. They haven't had a full field of 16 cars yet from what I hear. I know of some very dedicated Stock racers that had plans to run Top Stock and have pulled out. I would at least talk to Mr. Rix about this, obviously he knows more about this subject than I do. BTW, Matt Morgan's multi-event winning Top Stock 502 motor was for sale on the Super Stock Forum for a cool $20k. Have fun.
Thanks a Million! A sincere thanks to all who posted here and have sent emails and left voice mails. It was an awesome day and night! Especially driving back up the race track in front of 40,000 people for the awards ceremony in front of the grandstands. When this class started 3 years ago I petitioned IHRA to include the 1970 Stage 2 package as a legitimate package so we could participate in this heads up, .500 pro tree, no breakout eliminator that was to pit the country's fastest A, B, and C stockers. No shoe polish allowed except on the wheelie bars. Cars are factored by weight to horsepower so to keep the field as level as possible and engine combinations are refactored every 3 races if necessary. They gave us the ok but asked if we really thought we could be competitve! Well, that's all the incentive I needed. My first call was made to Mike T. at TA Performance. We outlined a plan that included TA Stage 2 Street Eliminator heads, 1.55 roller rockers, valve train, headers, rods, etc. Mike not only makes some great pieces but invests money constantly back into R&D on our Buick motors. This project and many more in our Buick community would not be possible without his commitment. I think about that every time I order a part for my Buicks. Next call was made to Andresen Engine Development where Tom, Tim and Chris have done a tremendous job machining, assembling and dynoing my motors. It's all the little things that make a big difference. Fast forward to this year and porting of the runners in the heads were allowed but they had to meet a cc rule with absolutely no combustion chamber modifications. A hearty thanks to Mike and David at AMP for a killer set of cylinder heads. 40+ HP Advice and support have come from many people in our Buick world including Jim W., Charley E., the entire Chicagoland GS Club and many other Buick racers around the country. My friend and regular crewman Bobby D. was unable to make it this weekend but long time Buick racers Jody P. and Stewart R. (they won Bracket 1 at the 2002 Nats) flew in from Idaho and Montana to help. That included teardown where every winner must pull the carb, intake head and oil pan or have an inspection plate. Cam lift, bore, stroke, pistons , ring depth, runner cc's, rods, crank, carb, etc are all inspected to be stock or the proper approved replacement parts. We passed with flying colors and finished at 2:30 am Sunday morning.Thanks a million, guys. Rules and engine specifications are available on the IHRA web site under "Top Stock". Our car weighs 3400#, runs a T400, 4.10 gear and uses 9x30 Hoosier radial slicks. Our time slip in the final: R/T .026 60' 1.303 330' 3.949 1/8 6.202 MPH 108.73 1000' 8.169 1/4 9.854 MPH 132.75 It is the fastest run by any Top Stocker this year after 7 races. The class is an absolute blast and will be around next year I'm sure. Come out and join us! Thanks again, Tom Rix
...and which Magazine will be covering the fact a Buick whooooppped all comers and the record book. I enjoy keeping little things like this around when my "buds" start joking bout the Ol Man's Car. Congrat's Tom on flying the Buick banner high.:TU:
Congratulations Tom, someday our paths will cross and I'm sure looking forward to meeting you as a fellow members of Chicagoland GSCA. You have figured out the recipe. You've got the lobster surf and turf going on the table while I'm still cooking up a fish & chips basket by comparison. Just keep telling myself.. bracket racing is fun, bracket racing is fun, bracket racing is fun... Ahhemmm, faster is better, oops.
Way to go Tom!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!:TU: :TU: :TU: :TU: :TU: :TU: :TU: :TU: :TU: :
