This was the first outing for Big Red after the rebuild for Top Speed testing. Land Speed racing was calling Big Red’s siren song. There was time to run the Top Speed setup and then switch Big Red to Road Race mode to attempt the world famous Pikes Peak mountain. In order to test all the new Top Speed/Land Speed upgrades, the crew wanted track time at a place they could launch and run some straightline tests. No better place than a dragstrip. They rented track time at Auto Club Famoso Raceway in McFarland, California, just outside Bakersfield. There were plenty of firsts with this setup. It was the first time the team put the Land Speed four-link suspensionand anti-roll bar to work. It was also the first time using the new Holley traction control. Methanol was added at the track for the electronically controlled spray into the air intake. You can see from the images that there was plenty of traction control tuning performed that day. It was a rare occasion where RJ needed to smoke the tires on purpose, and it was caught on camera.Eric Rhee was on hand to perform tuning duties for the engine and traction control. BangShift’s Chad Reynolds also was on hand to report on Big Red’s post-rebuild testing. Big Red used the top end of the dragstrip
that day. The new four-link setup and traction control were put to the test and performed well Big Red used the top end of the dragstrip that day. The new four-link setup and traction control were put to the test and performed well. Dave decided Big Red could use more bite off the line, so the four-link was adjusted to change the angle of the starting point setup. The air pressure in the Penske shocks were adjusted, along with adding a little more water weight in the rear. This is why the testing was needed, so the 3,500-pound Big Red could leave the line harder at Top Speed events on the asphalt. The old suspension setup just wasn’t used for launching hard off the line with 2,000 horsepwer under the hood. Now the car could launch harder without stressing the Road Race rear suspension, and the car could get up to speed faster for a higher top-end mph
