I Made a Movie About Drag Boat Racing.

[cyclone]

This is about my experience racing at the 2023 NJBA/SDBA world finals in Chandler, Arizona. Hope you like it.

 

[Boat 405]

Good video Mike, Even better weekend despite all the carnage. So much fun to be back at WHP racing.

 

[monkeyswrench]

Thank you for the video Mike! Me and my son started, and watched, the whole thing...that's the most interested he's been in the inner workings of a nitrous motor, how, why and where stuff breaks and how it works when things are right. Nowhere near as good as being there, but the closest possible given the situation. Much appreciated, your time and effort, and that of your crew and those at the track.

 

[Travmon]

great video, I miss racing there..

 

[n2otoofast4u]

Reminds me why I don’t race anymore.

 

[Xstream]

Great video loved it thanks for posting

 

[BingerFang]

Finally, real boating content! Great video
Mike!

 

[monkeyswrench]

Reminds me why I don’t race anymore.

Funny, truly reminds me why I miss racing. The thrash, the suspense and the camaraderie are things you don't see many other places in life. You have to admit, that part you have to miss!

 

[bagged97taco]

How do you become a millionaire racing boats (anything to be honest)? Start as a billionaire! I do miss it and the people.

 

[n2otoofast4u]

Funny, truly reminds me why I miss racing. The thrash, the suspense and the camaraderie are things you don't see many other places in life. You have to admit, that part you have to miss!

That is in fact the only Shit I miss. The all day/night to make 4-5 passes, hurry up and wait nonsense…. I’m out….. Outlaw style on the river is my jam!

 

[monkeyswrench]

That is in fact the only Shit I miss. The all day/night to make 4-5 passes, hurry up and wait nonsense…. I’m out….. Outlaw style on the river is my jam!

I did some off road stuff, waaaay back when. In testing, the day before, motor spun the oil pump on a 3.8. Me and another crew dork, got to the pits at 7:30pm with a pump. Stayed up until 3am, got it done.
We slept in pickup beds and on flat trailers.

The next day, second lap of 2, truck comes off a jump, shears a spindle. At the same time, one of the chase trucks rolls.

Nobody got hurt or killed. I was just a wrench, and not a stakeholder. We pulled our raggedy asses back together for the next race. Learned a whole lot, and met some good people.

 

[LazyLavey]

Very cool

Be nice to see M/T do a series dedicated to boats.....

 

[brgrcru]

Great Video ! Mike .
kjell and the 405 always charges hard. super legit program.
thanks for the movie.

 

[78Southwind]

Nice...

 

[MK1MOD0]

Cool vid!

 

[JUSTWANNARACE]

That is in fact the only Shit I miss. The all day/night to make 4-5 passes, hurry up and wait nonsense…. I’m out….. Outlaw style on the river is my jam!

I did some off road stuff, waaaay back when. In testing, the day before, motor spun the oil pump on a 3.8. Me and another crew dork, got to the pits at 7:30pm with a pump. Stayed up until 3am, got it done.
We slept in pickup beds and on flat trailers.

The next day, second lap of 2, truck comes off a jump, shears a spindle. At the same time, one of the chase trucks rolls.

Nobody got hurt or killed. I was just a wrench, and not a stakeholder. We pulled our raggedy asses back together for the next race. Learned a whole lot, and met some good people.

I have had many race weeks/weekends that I had pretty much 0 sleep. Wouldnt give up the past but I'm not sure it's in my future

 

[Sleek-Jet]

Mike that was great, better production than half the crap I watch these days.

Home sick today and this is what I needed. I never did the racing thing but helped out friends and thrashed on my own stuff to get ready for a weekend. Those late nights in the garage with room temperature pizza and cold beer trying to get to the point of lighting the engine off are great memories. It's the fellowship more than anything else, a shared experience among friends.

Thanks for these movies about what goes on from Friday to Sunday, keep them coming!

 

[monkeyswrench]

I have had many race weeks/weekends that I had pretty much 0 sleep. Wouldnt give up the past but I'm not sure it's in my future

Unfortunately for me, the thrash times with sleep deprivation for the past 20 years has been for car shows and stuff like that. Same effort, but the payoff is for the owner to show off their toy. Nowhere near the same as lighting off a race motor at 3am, or the feeling in the staging lanes, wondering if the pile of parts you assembled from other guy's leftovers will survive the first stage on the bottle.
Damn near an orgasm after you hit the second stage, and blow through the lights!

In reality, my junk was like a jack-in-the-box. Parts were going to be coming out at some point. It was like doing blow off a stripper. One hell of an experience, but I knew it wasn't going to end well

 

[COCA COLA COWBOY]

Thanks for posting. Was very enjoyable to watch. I hope that valve didn't cause too much damage on the inside. Good luck next year!

 

[ChrisV]

Badass movie! Felt like i was there. Thanks Mike!

 

[coolchange]

Great movie. Showed the real deal.
Team I was on had a tunnel Ram nitrous explosion like that. But no plastic bolts. Everyone in class was happy because we usually dominated. Boy were they surprised when Sunday they showed up with the top of the t Ram made from plywood and won Red Bluff @pixrthis

 

[pixrthis]

Great movie. Showed the real deal.
Team I was on had a tunnel Ram nitrous explosion like that. But no plastic bolts. Everyone in class was happy because we usually dominated. Boy were they surprised when Sunday we showed up with the top of the t Ram made from plywood and won Red Bluff @pixrthis

John carried the “plywood” name into car racing because of that.

 

[FROGMAN524]

What a ton of work and hassle that whole thing was. Just watching it makes me want an outboard. Great production though.

 

[warpt71]

Killer movie Mike! Made my night. I couldn't be there in person this year but it certainly felt like I was right there with you guys.

Taking from the other thread where promoters were being discussed, there are parts of your movie that really remind me of the bad boats videos. It's awesome to see current boats running and the quality of the videos have vastly improved! I think there is a lot of promotion going on in your movie and I hope it makes it to a crowd that maybe hasn't been exposed to boat drags yet.

I'm not sure how to help promote a hobby sport like this. I grew up knowing about it so I follow it through several media accounts and I crewed for several seasons so it's easier for me to view from afar these days.

I have to imagine that you are contributing to the promotion of drag boat racing with your videos, and for that, Nicely done!!!!

Hope to catch you guys at a race next season.

 

[Blackmagic94]

great video, I miss racing there.. View attachment 1301752

So question. The boats like this in the posted video are v drive or jet?

 

[Blackmagic94]

Also Mike


Seems like it’s time to bite the bullet and get a Holley efi on that beast.

I mean if you are a running a datalogger with dual wide bands then you are basically there already right?!!


Also I would suggest that your tail pipes or lack of, distance of pipe beyond the wide band is an issue causing inaccurate o2 reading. I had this same problem then just bolted on diesel exhaust tips to my dry headers to get 24-26” of pipe beyond it and then the o2s seemed to have a more accurate and stable reading at idle and wot

 

[bagged97taco]

So question. The boats like this in the posted video are v drive or jet?

Mikes is a jet. But some in the video are Vdrive’s

 

[Blackmagic94]

Mikes is a jet. But some in the video are Vdrive’s

I’m aware of what his is. I was referring to the canopy nitro boats. Are those ever jet or only v drives

 

[warpt71]

I’m aware of what his is. I was referring to the canopy nitro boats. Are those ever jet or only v drives

There are both jet and v-drive capsule boats running multiple classes.

The green and white Hydorphobia boat is a "top fuel jet" that runs against top alcohol flats.

Brian Nelson's capsule Predator, all white boat, also runs with these guys I believe.

All of the hydros are going to be v-drives.

 

[n2otoofast4u]

There are both jet and v-drive capsule boats running multiple classes.

The green and white Hydorphobia boat is a "top fuel jet" that runs against top alcohol flats.
View attachment 1302508

Brian Nelson's capsule Predator, all white boat, also runs with these guys I believe.
View attachment 1302510

All of the hydros are going to be v-drives.

What hull is that green/white fuel jet?

 

[warpt71]

What hull is that green/white fuel jet?

Placecraft

 

[RaceTec]

Thanks for a great video @cyclone! I hope that your higher profile brings more interest to boat racing!

 

[Blackmagic94]

Placecraft

How fast??

 

[warpt71]

How fast??

5.60's at almost 150 it looks like from last weekend

 

[Blackmagic94]

5.60's at almost 150 it looks like from last weekend

Any pics of what their jet drive looks like

 

[n2otoofast4u]

Placecraft

I wondered, sure looked like one!

 

[poncho]

Excellent Vid

 

[bagged97taco]

Excellent Vid

Bring your flat out next year. I’ll crew for you! And bring the beers

 

[cyclone]

What hull is that green/white fuel jet?

it's an older Placecraft. Your hull is about 9 inches longer than than the Hydrophobia Placecraft.

 

[cyclone]

Thanks for a great video @cyclone! I hope that your higher profile brings more interest to boat racing!

That's the goal. I'd love to race against full fields of boats like it was back in the '80s and '90s.

 

[poncho]

That's the goal. I'd love to race against full fields of boats like it was back in the '80s and '90s.

Just like street bikes when I was 19 and bought one, 10 friends had them within a year. When we started playing with boats most of my car friends got onboard.
You have huge exposure and if that gets a bunch of guys to go out and find 5K jet boats to play with that's how it starts.

 

[poncho]

Bring your flat out next year. I’ll crew for you! And bring the beers

I'd like to get my floors redone and some other stuff, have a guy out west seriously considering hooking it to the motorhome and getting it out there.
Would love to hang with you and Dad again, you guys epitomize having fun at the races.

 

[ChrisV]

Whats the slowest class? Ideally if a newbie wants to get into this, how quick should the boat be?

 

[poncho]

Whats the slowest class? Ideally if a newbie wants to get into this, how quick should the boat be?

Back when I was into it most guy's ran River Racer class, between 60 and 80 average, Cyclone probably knows way better than I do.

 

[Terminal Velocity]

Whats the slowest class? Ideally if a newbie wants to get into this, how quick should the boat be?

This is from ADBA's racing rules. So River Racer, if your boat is consistent you put a dial in and try and not break out. The others, you want to be as close to the X.00 number as possible.

 

[pixrthis]

That's the goal. I'd love to race against full fields of boats like it was back in the '80s and '90s.

In the early 90’s over 60 boats would show up for a 32 boat field in Super Eliminator (8 second). One year at Phoenix an 8:24 sent you to the loser ladder.

 

[bagged97taco]

I'd like to get my floors redone and some other stuff, have a guy out west seriously considering hooking it to the motorhome and getting it out there.
Would love to hang with you and Dad again, you guys epitomize having fun at the races.

Let’s do it.

 

[RiverDave]

Great video Mike! Finally got a chance to watch it today!

 

[Morehart]

This is about my experience racing at the 2023 NJBA/SDBA world finals in Chandler, Arizona. Hope you like it.

What an awesome video. Thanks for sharing. Gives a huge perspective of what it takes to be at the top of the game. Your video shows the essence of racing along with the fellowship between competitors. Not sure how to spell kjell's name, but what a class act!!!!

 

[Morehart]

Good video Mike, Even better weekend despite all the carnage. So much fun to be back at WHP racing.

You sir are a genuine class act.