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13/08/2002 FIRST WIN FOR AMERICAN CAR IMPORTS RACING After a disappointing rain-off at the previous round of the 2002 FIA European Top Methanol Dragster Championship in Finland, it was disheartening to arrive in Sweden for round three and be greeted by yet more rain. Throughout most of the two days prior to the start of the racing action whilst we were setting up and maintaining the car it rained heavily and it was hard to believe the forecast of mostly sunny and dry weather for the weekend. Thankfully the forecast was correct and early on Friday afternoon we took the PlayStation 2 supported machine to the newly repaved start line for our first run. Despite a little tyre shake in first gear the dragster looked to be on a solid pass until the blower belt came off at around 1100 feet, and the car recorded an elapsed time of 5.836 seconds at a slowing 234.81 mph. The computer data showed that the gearbox had slipped from third gear back into second gear near the top end of the track, over-revving the engine and throwing off the belt. The cause of the problem was found to be the button on the dashboard used to select third gear rattling loose but everything was soon fixed and we were ready for another run. Some on track incidents and a couple of brief showers meant our second run of the day was delayed well into the evening, by which time a light dew had started to settle on the track and it was becoming questionable as to whether we would be able to improve on those track conditions. Another shower removed all doubt and American Car Imports Racing, along with all the other Top Methanol Dragster teams elected not to run in the night session and wait for the next day. Saturday was a typical day at the Sko Uno Drag Festival; sunny, cloudless and packed with a huge crowd of enthusiastic fans and supporters. At lunchtime we put in a similar run to the previous day except without the gearbox problem resulting in a 5.678 at a European best ever speed of 254.31 mph, beating the speed record we set at the previous race in Finland. To try and cure the tyre shake in first gear we made some tune up changes for the next run but we never really got the chance to see if they worked. A fuel line came off just off the start line, causing that cylinder to run lean, overheat and throw off the supercharger, ending the run. Dave wisely pulled over and stopped and was surprised to see the fire crew rushing towards him. The leaking methanol had ignited and though the fire was soon out, the ballistic bag and restraints for the supercharger were badly damaged and the whole motor was now covered in extinguishing fluid. 
Back in the pits we took the motor apart, checked everything over and replaced the damaged parts. The supercharger bag was beyond at-the-track repair and we are indebted to Leif Andreasson and the Kamasa Tools team for lending us theirs after engine damage sustained in qualifying put them out of Sunday's eliminations. Once the car was ready for action once again the remainder of qualifying had already run its course and so we were in the second spot, behind championship leader Peter Schofer from Germany. For the first round on Sunday we were paired against Swede Krister Johansson in his all new A/Fuel dragster. These cars are basically Top Fuel dragsters without the supercharger and compete against supercharged, methanol burning dragsters such as ours in the Top Methanol Dragster category. Krister is the first person to try running an A/Fuel car in Europe for several years and he was still very much getting to grips with it when we raced him on Sunday morning, carding an 8.50. Our black and red machine returned to form with a 5.592 at yet another best ever speed of 254.65 mph for a comfortable win. The run from the previous day backed up that speed within the required 1% for a new European speed record. For qualifying second we earned a bye run in the semi finals and used the opportunity to try a few tuning changes as we were still having tyre shake in low gear. The changes didn't work as planned so Dave shut the car off early and coasted to a 6.675 at 148.94 mph, booking his place in the final at the race he and the Team Nemesis crew won the previous year. His opponent was to be Peter Schofer and we all knew we had to win this one to keep ourselves in contention for the championship. After almost identical driver reaction times both cars were on strong runs and were glued together till around 600 feet before Peter hit tyre shake and lost his blower belt whilst Dave stomped on for a 5.667 at 251.79 mph win. A huge celebration on the start line ensued as this was the first win for American Car Imports Racing and the first win for Dave and the crew since the race here last year. The celebration continued through the very memorable Mantorp Park winner's circle presentation and then carried on when ACI Managing Director Anthony Cohen very kindly treated our whole team to dinner where we actually had to use knives and forks! 
The win moved us up to second in the standings and closed the gap on Peter Schofer for first place. That run was also our tenth over 250 mph. We'd all like to thank Peter and the entire Schofer Racing team for being such good, sporting opponents and tough competitors. It was a pleasure to race you. On the two days following the race we stayed at the track and thoroughly serviced the car in preparation for round four in Norway the following weekend. We also refaced all of our clutch disks and floaters using the grinding machine very kindly loaned to us by Micke Kagered's Quaker State / Bahco Tools team. Once absolutely everything was in race ready condition we loaded up and headed on to Norway to try and set more records on what is typically a very fast race track. Everyone on the team had a fantastic time and we were made to feel very welcome at Mantorp Park as always. We definitely appreciated the Swedish crowd and are looking forward to going back next year to shoot for a third successive win. Many thanks to Air Sea Logistics for assisting with our European tour and to HGC Scaffolding for their support. Thanks also to Knut Soderquist of the Carbon By Design Top Fuel team for welding up our damaged exhaust pipes for us on the Saturday night.
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