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Hicks Lawn Services truck racing

hickslawns

hickslawns

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Black #6 truck is a question mark. Adjusted float. Got it running. Oil pressure is awfully low. Going to change oil. Could have gotten gas in there due to how high the float was. This will thin the oil and reduce pressure. If that doesn't do it? I don't know. Pull valve cover. Remove coil wire. Turn over engine. See if cam has oil coming out where it is supposed to. If not, pull distributor and spin oil pump with drill to see if she is pumping. I'm not sure I will spend anymore money on the backup truck for other people to drive.

#17 truck for the once over today. Replaced shocks. Did tire prep. Straightened some sheet metal. Removed the homemade fan shroud as it is a ticking time bomb ready to ruin my night. Last weekend my engine builder dialed in the motor. I cleaned the carb. He fine tuned it and dialed in timing. She sounds vicious. Need to charge truck battery, winch battery, and transponder battery, fuel the truck, and go racing. We are at Limaland May 13. Got a slew of friends and family coming to watch. Going to need to step it up a level. Got to put on a good show for the fans. Can't be out there sucking. 😁
 
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hickslawns

hickslawns

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GoetsTalon said:
Awesome! How far north do you race? Ever race at Oak Shade Raceway?
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We have one race at Oak Shade. It is June Is 4. I cannot make it. My son graduates that weekend. I'm racing Friday the 3rd at Limaland. Can't get away with two nights of racing AND graduation.
 
hickslawns

hickslawns

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Update on Black #6- adjusted float on carb. Couldn't get it to seal. Disassembled. Replaced gasket. Adjusted float again. Changed oil. Oil pressure back into acceptable range. Truck still not "right". Sputters off idle. Going to adjust accelerator pump. I suspect this carb was on a built motor previously. Need to tame it for a more stock setup. Hopefully overfueling is the issue. I also suspect battery is getting low on amps. Shows good voltage and full charge. Seems to crank really slow after short run time. It will have a new battery before Friday race. Then we run it and see where she stands.

The week appears dry. It will be the first Limaland race. Stands should be packed. I have a ton of friends and family coming to the race. Some from out of town. No pressure here but "Don't suck, Phil!" Is my motto for the week. 🤣

Just need to bring it. Full send. Either the truck hooks or she spins out or she rolls. One way to find out. If I can pull a rabbit out of my hat (a win or a competitive run at the leaders) I will run at 35 Raceway on Saturday. Supposed to be a "big" money race in our class. $100 to start, $800 to win. That is big money to us entry level guys. With our of town relatives coming to watch me Friday, I feel obligated to entertain them Saturday. Many are staying the night Friday. But. . . If I can run with the front, I'll prep the truck for Saturday night. In theory, my truck should compete against the v6 trucks better on Saturday. It is a smaller track. Less advantage for the v6 boys over us 4cyl guys. The stars would have to align though. I am not being negative. I think it is being realistic when I say I need seat time. My goal is to steadily improve. Not sure on my second race in the truck that I will be able to squeeze every ounce out of it to be a front runner. I'll sure try though.
 
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hickslawns

hickslawns

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Just about Yee Yee time. In 24 hours we should know how it went down. I'm super stoked. Loaded black truck in my buddy's trailer tonight since he is racing it. Think I'm going to adjust the cam timing before the race. My engine builder and I talked today. Let's let those rpm's build a little earlier. Worst case scenario? We are maxxing out the cam before the flag stand. If that happens, she revs higher but you don't gain much. Just makes more noise. Hopefully it has us hitting optimum rpm range around the flag stand or just after. That would be ideal.
 
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hickslawns

hickslawns

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2nd race. #17 completed the race. #6 did not. She is hurt. Doubt I dump anymore money into it unless the guys driving it want to chip in. I am doing this to have fun. I may be a nice guy, but not nice enough to spend money for someone else to race. Just not in the budget.

Drew the pole for heat race. Inside pole starts the field. That was me. I was creeping to start the race. I knew outside pole (#10 truck) was one of the fastest on the track. I knew he would jump the start. In theory: he jumps, they call a restart, he goes to the tail. He jumped. They never called it. He blasts by me and the guy behind him followed suit. I'm in third by end of the first lap. On the bright side; those two trucks were some of the fastest on the track. Once in front of me, they didn't gap me. Some laps I reeled them in. Other laps they pulled me a bit. Overall we were about the same speed. That felt good because im the first race the #10 truck won the feature and had half a lap on the field. We are gaining on the leaders a little at a time!

I screwed up again. Top three in the heat races are supposed to hit the scales. I followed 2nd place to the pits. Never scaled. Penalty enforced: I started the feature in second to last row. Would have been last row but a couple trucks skipped the heat race and they were row 8. I was row 7.

Track slicked off in the feature. Several cautions. Maybe 3-5 total. Didn't count them. Unfortunately, this track doesn't let you pass on a restart until after the Flagstand by turn 1. This hurt me every time. I was faster but had to stay behind them going into turn 1. I steadily picked off trucks. Tough passing last night as slick as it was. Guys were using the whole track. Unpredictable where they were going or where they would end up. Truck was bad fast. Started 14 in feature, finished 6th. Had 5th for a hot second but couldn't make the slider stick. My buddy in the stands (who dubs himself as my "crew chief" lol) said I was definitely one of the 4 fastest trucks out there. Just couldn't get around the two in front of me. I'd run them down on straight aways and come into turns hotter but just couldn't get in front of them. I had to back off to avoid running them over. Rookie stuff. As I learn the truck, hopefully that will change. If I would have gotten around them, I fully believe I would have gapped them and gained ground on the top 3 as those 3 battled for the lead.

Stayed safe. Had fun. Learned a lot. Improved. Got more seat time. We are moving the right direction. I even had the balls to run the entire track. Extreme bottom on the flat part. Extreme top along the wall. I tried everything to find what worked. Even used the wall as a berm. Most guys are afraid of the cushion. Didn't phase me. Guess I need to eat it hard if I'm going to learn that lesson. 😁

PXL_20220514_150856643.jpg
 
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hickslawns

hickslawns

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GoetsTalon said:
If they don't get out of your way help them a little lol.
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I try to race clean. Couple times I bumped a guy in the rear. It happens. One time I came up on the inside of a guy pretty hard. Unfortunately, I came in too hot and the slider didn't stick.

Here is a cool thing. Signed up for the better access on the race app. $5.99/mo. I'll cancel it after the first month because only one track uses this app. They offer lap times and such. Looks like I was 5th fastest lap overall. One of the guys didn't finish. Interestingly, the guy who won the race was 4th fastest lap. He must've been more consistent is all I can think. Confirms what I was thinking: I need to get more seat time and be more consistent.

Screenshot_20220514-125339.png
 
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"J"

"J"

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Phil, the 10 looks like it has more opened wheel wheels, and roofline is more stream lined. Anything too that?
 
hickslawns

hickslawns

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J said:
Phil, the 10 looks like it has more opened wheel wheels, and roofline is more stream lined. Anything too that?
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Probably built by someone who has built one before. ??? 😁

He is from the v6 truck class. Their v6 truck count was low. Our 4cyl truck count was low. We teamed up and run together now. They likely have different rules on the truck bodies. His may not have a single piece of original metal. We are supposed to keep original body lines of truck: no cutting roof, fire wall, top 6" of fenders/bed sides. Up close you can still see Ranger body lines on my truck. Peel his Chevy sticker off the grill and we wouldn't know what it started as. As for the wheel wells: creative difference I guess? Some guys cut them way high and look like Baja. I kept mine closer to tires. I may end up trimming some to allow easier tire changing and reduce risk of cutting a tire if metal gets dinged up. It was the first one I've ever put metal on.
 
"J"

"J"

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hickslawns said:
Probably built by someone who has built one before. ??? 😁

He is from the v6 truck class. Their v6 truck count was low. Our 4cyl truck count was low. We teamed up and run together now. They likely have different rules on the truck bodies. His may not have a single piece of original metal. We are supposed to keep original body lines of truck: no cutting roof, fire wall, top 6" of fenders/bed sides. Up close you can still see Ranger body lines on my truck. Peel his Chevy sticker off the grill and we wouldn't know what it started as. As for the wheel wells: creative difference I guess? Some guys cut them way high and look like Baja. I kept mine closer to tires. I may end up trimming some to allow easier tire changing and reduce risk of cutting a tire if metal gets dinged up. It was the first one I've ever put metal on.
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The cut tire would worry me the most outta all of that. More room above the tire would be a good thing.
 
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hickslawns

hickslawns

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J said:
The cut tire would worry me the most outta all of that. More room above the tire would be a good thing.
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Absolutely. Couldn't agree more. I've checked clearances and raced it twice now. One track looked so rough I should have been in one of those stadium trucks. The other was smooth and fast so I was leaning her hard on that right rear. No rub marks that I've seen but it is a fear.
 
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