We put a different set of tires on the Sentra to try to give it a better shot at competing.  It worked.  Art was running on the lead lap when, around lap 26, he was involved in a multi-car tangle that left him with a flat tire.  After pitting, the Sentra began to overheat.  All the coolant was lost, but that Sentra ran another 30 laps, perfoming well, until it finally died.  Art fiinished 32nd in a 76 car field on only 54 laps.  Not too shabby, considering.

My race went well early, until I was hit in the right rear once again.  This time the bumper chain snapped and the bumper was dragging.  I drew a black flag and had to pit where Art and Joe Grocholski cut the bumper and remaining chain from the car.  I overshot the pit entrance due to a mysterious brake failure that caused some hairy moments for the remainder of the race.  Later, another car sent me into a 180 degree spin in turn one where I sat for a lap or two until I could re-enter the field.  After another spin, power steering failure and transmission shifting problem, I finally finished in 23rd.

Exhausted, I had to hurry into the Demolition Derby car that Art and I had just finished the night before.  This was my first Demo Derby, so I was excited and anxious.  I'll spare you the gruesome details, but I came in second.  My first payday!

We have our work cut out for us.  The Sentra may never race again, so we must finish the Talon in 4 weeks.

In perfect weather, Art drove the #17 Krush Unit Sentra to a 21st place finish.  It's clear that the car needs some help, as Art drove another fine race.

I was doing well, until I was hit soundly in the right rear in turn 2.  It was my fault for not slowing down to avoid an out-of-control car.  I tagged him, getting sideways in the turn.  Art and Jeff changed the tire but nobobody expected that the damage was bad enough to cut into the tire.  Irealized it as soon as I returned to the track, but instead of coming off, I continued, spinning out about 5-6 times in an embarrasing display of stubborness.  The damage is repairable.

Whew!  It's been hectic, but we're ready.  Hard to keep up with the blog when you're working 7-8 shifts a week and wrenching in between.

The Sentra was fixed by chaining it to a dumpster and driving off.  Got it on video.  It will be posted as soon as I get my video act together.  It's really funny.  We did some more fine tuning to the alignment and....(drum roll)...installed an on-board camcorder!  If all goes well, we'll be posting video clips on the website.  Stay tuned...  Later we decided to add a 3" piece of flat stock to the driver's side to provide some protection.

  Jeff and Sean stopped by and helped install a replacement upper A-arm on the Monte and set the alignment.  Some very minor bodywork and some paint and it looks real good.

While this was going on, Art and I welded up a tow dolly.  It came out real nice.  Then we found a used home-made dolly for sale.  So now we don't need to borrow trailers.

In our spare time we also tracked down an ECU problem in the Talon and got it running.  Art has stripped most of the car already.

Jeff has generously donated a 1983 Oldsmobile Cutlass with a 350 Rocket motor.  So Kulik Racing now has 4 cars, plus a demo derby car.  Things are rockin'...see you at the race.

The April Fools' Thunda' and Lightnin' were aptly named.  The rains were torrential throughout most of the day, with thunder and lightening gracing the after-race party.

Art drew a 22nd starting position.  The sky opened up as he lined up for the start, and didn't let up for the rest of the day.  The race was pretty clean with only a few red flags.  Art ran a fantastic race - I don't see how he could have done better.  Visibility was almost zero.  Even though the wipers worked, the windshield fogged up and there is no heater or fan in the Sentra.  Aside from a forced detour into the infield, there were only a few minor bumps until the last lap.  With the checkered flag waving, some putz spun Art around in turn four.  Rather than lose more time getting the car turned back around, Art did the right thing by finishing the race in reverse.  It isn't an easy thing to drive backwards in a race car; there are no mirrors and you cannot turn around completely due to safety restraints.  So it isn't surprising that he tapped the wall as he crossed the start-finish line.  That would have been OK, except that someone else decided to slam into him crushing the rear of the Sentra.  It may be a total loss, but that is a topic for another day.  Art finished 17th, moving to 15th overall in the standings.

I drew a 5th place start.  Not really important for the Monte, because I intended to hang back early on so I could figure out my newest ride.  All I can say is HOT DAMN!  The Monte handles great.  Even though the tranny wasn't downshifting, I was running fast enough to be competitive.  During the later part of the race I was able to pass all but the fastest cars.  I got spun around twice, once was clearly intentional.  And someone tagged the left front bending the upper A-arm.  But that actually helped the handling in the turns even though the car was a little loose.  I finished 16th, moving to 12th overall in the standings.

This race was FUN!  Running in the rain with near-zero visibility on a partially flooded track was a real blast for a couple of enduromaniacs like us.  We're knocking on the door - a top ten finish, or even a win, is within our grasp.  Hopefully you'll be there to see it.

Both cars are ready to race.  We finished up the bars on the Monte and took it out for a spin in the parking lot.  Good thing, because we discovered some minor engine problems.  All the Monte needs now is a set of numbers.  On the Sentra, we made some repairs to the driver's front strut tower.  Getting slammed around on the track caused the tower to start separating from the sub-frame.  We also set the alignment and installed a tach.

The race is at 1:00 p.m. and Saturday, April 2, 2005.  Click here for more info.  See you there.

If you look at the pre-registrations for the races, you'll notice that only 80% or so actually show up.  Sure, a few are just dreamers, but many don't finish the first part of the race:  getting the car ready.

After a little internet research, I found that the engine is a 301 Pontiac.  This link http://mightymo.org/Proj_OneWire.html shows a way to quickly hook-up a GM distributor, it works.

I really hate Quadrajet carburetors.  What a pain they are to work on.

4 of the wheels came in so we mounted some new tires on them.  The tires on the Sentra work so well that we got the same brand for the Monte.  I think we have a secret weapon in tires; the price is right and they perform as well as any I've seen at the track.

The 'to-do' list is down to 4 critical items, window net, harness, hood pins and numbers.  Of course, the list still has a lot of important things left on it, but these are the only 4 that will keep the Monte off the track.

This is the Monte after it's been stripped. 

Paul (left) and Art working in the engine compartment.  Notice the Camaro bucket seat.

Bob with the Monte

The interior showing the control panel.  Yes, that's a Briggs and Stratton starter button.

Got it started on Thursday night.  Even moves under its own power.  Pretty handy thing for a race car!  Art got the battery mounted in a marine box behind the driver's seat.  I had to fabricate an idler pulley for the alternator...I hope it can last a race. Paul and I made up a nice control panel for the car and I welded up a bracket for it and Art and I wired the car up to it before kicking it over.  My daughter says all race cars should have buttons like Speed Racer's Mach 5.  Hard to argue that.

One of the reasons we've done fairly well is planning.  Art and I always put together prioritized "to-do" lists to ensure that we get the cars ready for the next event.  The list is pretty long for the Monte, but at least it fits on one page.  The Cragars and 5-point harness was ordered and should show up shortly.

We're still looking for more cars.  I ask everyone I meet.  It would be nice to get a demo derby car or 2 together.

Looks like we're on track to get both cars ready for the April 2nd race.  Good thing too, because Art and I are bringing the whole family and a few friends.

We removed the Camaro engine and transmission on Monday night.  Later that week, I found out that he transmission in the Monte won't work with the Camaro engine, so we are going to race with the engine it has in it.  Still don't know what it is, but it runs well.  Prepping a car involves removing all the chrome, mouldings, trim and doorhandles on the outside, taking out the side and rear windows, and gutting the interior.  Since the bench seat in the Monte is worthless on the track, we removed the passenger bucket from the Camaro (the driver's side is broken) and installed it on brackets welded to the floorpan.  The stock gas tank is behind the rear axle, so by NEETS rules, that was removed and replaced by a marine outboard tank with an electric fuel pump.

Next we'll be getting the engine in running order and installing the rollcage.  Art has some pictures taken with his cell phone, I'll try to get them online.

It's Monday.  The Eagles lost yesterday.  I picked up the Monte Carlo on Saturday.  A 1986, silver/gray.  It has the wrong engine in it, but I found someone that will trade a wrecked '67 Camaro that, oddly enough, has the correct 305 in it, for the big block that's in the Monte.  I laughed when I saw the color because the LeSabre was silver/gray as well.  If you wanted to camouflage a car, that's the color to go with.  It is difficult to see in person and almost invisible on video.  We'll paint it either white or flourescent blue so we can keep any potential sponsors happy.

So now we have a 1990 Sentra, more or less ready, its replacement, a 1993 Eagle Talon that we are hoping to have ready for the Memorial Day race and the Monte that needs to be ready for April 2.  Oh, and a 1967 Camaro that needs to hit the car crusher as soon as we get the drivetrain out.  6 weeks...plenty of all-nighters, that's for sure.  Plus we'll be prepping another car to help pay for all this.

The website is finally up - although it doesn't look like much now.  We'll be adding a little each week.

Well, our first race of the season was a bit disappointing.  This was the first race we ran both cars.  It was also the first race either car DNF (Did Not Finish).  Truly a bummer.  Art's Krush Unit #17 Sentra (4cyl) was set up well.  We were really pumped because it was running and handling better than ever.  Quite a feat considering the beating it took at the Mutha.  (If you haven't seen it, check out the "Heat Crash Video" in the past race results area of the NEETS website.)  Unfortunately, in this race he was hit at a bad angle which broke the tie rod.  And that was that.

Bob's #266 LeSabre was equipped with 2 new tires and a seat brace.  After finishing 8th at the Frankenduro, we were hoping for a good finish.  Unfortunately, he was spun at the top of the front stretch and hit in the right front.  The 3.8L has the coil pack in that area, and we suspect that it was damaged causing the loss of 2 cylinders.  Bob tried to compensate for the lack of acceleration by keeping the speed up in the turns, which led to a loss of control around lap 50 and he crashed into a disabled car.  After Bob exited the vehicle some laps later, another car put the LeSabre out of its misery.  The car was totaled and sold to ABC Car Crushing at the track.

Since then we have acquired 2 more cars, an Eagle Talon and a 1986 Monte Carlo.  We'll post our progress.