February 28 – March 3, 2014
Wild Horse Race Track, Phoenix, AZ
NHRA Lucas Oil Western Regional
Some tracks are as smooth as a dance floor… Wild Horse Race Track is not known for that. After making great speed in Pomona, Team Litton Racing showed up in Phoenix ready to go hard. Their new career best speed inspired the crew and everyone was determined to push themselves and the car to new limits. The forecast challenged the Phoenix racers with a 100{97b644b07d318a73d8bce15dd0b5296cc4e330d3e9b7befa330643f6e455b291} chance of rain on Saturday. The driver and crew steeled themselves for the conditions and the pressure of being the first car down the track in their class, weather permitting.
It was time for Q1, the track was dry and driver, Bill Litton, made a promising first run of 5.54 seconds at 264 mph. Crew Chief Anthony Dicero went on the more conservative side with the tune up to make a base line run and avoid smoking the tires. The team made some adjustments and prepared for their next attempt to hold or improve from their number three spot.
In Q2 Team Litton made another career best record in the 60 foot category. A blistering .915 seconds to the 60 foot mark, which was also the second fastest time of the group. All that speed was slightly too aggressive causing the tires to chatter and turn into a brutal shake. Litton pedaled the car to combat the intense tire shake, but to no avail, as the run slowed to 5.64 at 263 mph. This run put Litton in the seventh spot. “Between 1.1 and 1.5 seconds the car is really temperamental, but we are making horsepower and the early numbers showed the car is trying to run, so we are moving in the right direction,” said Dicero.
The races were up in the air on Saturday with the chance of rain looming over the track, however, the rain miraculously avoided the track and the sun made an appearance during Q3. The fickle weather put the Crew Chiefs’ strategies through the ringer as they prepped their dragsters for the track. “We started with 1,000 feet better and 6 or 7 degrees cooler and ended up at 500 feet better and 4 degrees cooler,” Dicero remarked. “That doesn’t sound like it means a lot, but it means a lot to the crew and when you’re the seventh car in an eight car show that is first up to race in the last session.” Litton Racing went up to the starting line with the engine dialed back in an attempt to get down the track. Dicero and the rest of the crew were hopeful that they had calmed the car down enough to get it down the track in the changing conditions. Unfortunately, the car smoked the tires just before the sixty foot mark. The time to the sixty foot mark was still impressive at .955 seconds, but the car suffered at the 1.5 to 2 second trouble zone. This is the most common time for the tires to shake during a run and is a frequent challenge for racing teams to control this zone. Although disappointed, Team Litton Racing is determined to improve and will be bringing in a legendary tuner consultant for the next race in Las Vegas. The Crew Chief is confident the team will continue to gel and improve and is looking forward to rolling the dice at the Las Vegas Regionals in a little over two weeks.