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Top Doorslammer

Scania truck work, it’s finally getting the love it should have been getting for a long time!!..

Since I bought the truck back in 2017 we knew we need to fix it up a bit because it is pretty rusty in the chassis!… And the years have passed by and nothing has happened due to a million reasons…. Mostly that we never started to do something I guess!..

And when I went to the last inspection in 2022 they told me that I must have the rust fixed to the next inspection for them to approve it! I knew that I won’t be able to make this work all by myself outside the shop so I assumed that this was it for the truck and I never got it inspected in 2023.

But now thanks to that I teamed up with Jörgen Berg and team Ludvika the truck is about to get a new life again so we can use it in 2024! In the beginning of December me, Jörgen, Bänkt and Klas spent one day starting to tear it down to see how much work it really needs!

This is all possible thanks to Jörgen because he is used to work on trucks like this and have a lot of experience the right connections to get parts and help, so once again teaming up with Jörgen is the best thing that could happen for me right now, everything feels so much easier when you get help with stuff you can’t handle yourself!

Thanks to everyone involved that makes this work out and a special thanks to Kenneth at Lastvagnsverkstan in Ludvika for letting us use the shop and tools!

More Scania truck work! The really bad rusty parts are gone and replaced with new beams!

In the mid of December me, Jörgen, Bänkt, Klas and Fredrik did continue the work on the Scania truck and made some real progress! It’s really on its way back to life now and that feels so crazy good!

This is once again possible thanks to Jörgen and the help from whole team Ludvika!

Once again I want to say thanks to everyone involved that makes this work out and again a special thanks to Kenneth at Lastvagnsverkstan in Ludvika for letting us use the shop and tools!

Next step is sand blasting the frame from the cabin and back and then it will get a good chassis paint to keep it from start rusting again!

After that the fun starts when it’s time to assemble everything again with new fenders, body panels, lights and so!

 

It’s a new year and a fresh start for Berg & Sjödin Motorsport, we hope you all had an awesome Christmas and New Year!

THANKS once again for 2023!

2023 was fun! And that’s all because Sjödin teamed up with Berg! The plan was to do some test rounds in 2023 with the Vette but we fell in love with each other so we will continue this love story in 2024 also!

We will do some FIA Pro Modified Dragracing with Jörgens Corvette -79 in season 2024! How much depends on fundings and help to make this possible!

But we know we will start our season at Santa Pod Raceway and The Doorslammers in May and then continue with FIA round 1 the weekend after at The Main Event!

We are looking for partners to team up with for 2024 to make our plans possible!

See y’all in 2024!

#thankstoallofyou #thankyou #family #fans #partners #sponsors #friends #dreamteam #dragracing #bergandsjodinmotorsport #fia #fiapromod #fiapromodified #fiadragracing #itsalongwaytothetopifyouwannarocknroll #jörgenberg #andreassjödin #corvette #pm #promod #promodified #lookingforpartners #weneedyourhelp #topdoorslammer #abmracing #sjodinmotorsport

 

Sorry, only in Swedish!

Om ni har missat avsnitten så lyssna på Marcus Mälströms Racerbilspodden avsnitt 93 och 94 på Spotify om Andreas Sjödin! (Jag babblade tydligen på bra så det blev 2 avsnitt! )

Kul grej i en podd jag lyssnat mycket på själv då jag känner till många som varit med i den!

Detta blev av väldigt spontant med bara några dagar från första kontakt till inspelning så det är väldigt oförberett, spontant och ärligt och precis så jag ville ha det!

Vi snackar om mig, från början och varför jag håller på med dragracing och sen såklart om Sjödin Motorsport / ÅBM Racing, då, nu och vad som ska komma!

Tack till Marcus för ett kul samtal som väckte många gamla minnen till liv igen! 🙂

Klicka på länkarna nedan och lyssna vetja!

Avsnitt 1 nedan!

Avsnitt 2 nedan!

#racerbilspodden #spotify #dragracing #andreassjödin #jörgenberg #corvette #promodified #chevelle #topdoorslammer #abmracing #sjodinmotorsport

 

 

If the Chevelle will leave the ÅBM shop during 2024 it will only be to visit my home track again in Vansbro / Dala Järna Raceway if it works out for us in the team and if my motor club SHRA Vansbro – Äppelbo will continue to be a part and arrange the race Dala Street Open again!

I decided a while ago that we won’t do any events in the Top Doorslammer Series in 2024.

Reason is that the 2022 wasn’t fun like it used to be except for the Tierp race and the one at Kauhava in Finland, they were both fun of course because we won them BUT the main reason they were fun was the amount of teams in the Top Doorslammer class at those 2 events!

When there is something to race for, when you need to work for real to get on the podium on Sunday you are attending a fun event, if you know you are in the top 3 already when you leave the shop and heading for the track it feels more like a waste of time!…

 

We were 14 cars at Tierp and 10 cars at Kauhava, I think it was 3 cars in Piteå and we did not go to that race due to the long distance to travel the week directly after Kauhava and also because of track conditions in earlier years that I haven’t been satisfied with, we were 3 cars in Sundsvall and 4 cars at the finals at Gardermoen.

I said in the end of 2021 that we will do 4 events and win the Top Doorslammer series for the first time in 2022, that was the game plan and so we did! And that’s also the reason why I did continue even that I saw the low numbers of cars in the coming events…. I went to Sundsvall and it turned out to be a really disappointing weekend, tricky track prep just like it have been for many years, its possible to go down slow but I’m not interested in making 4.30-4.50 passes on a race in the series, it must be way better conditions than that!…. Then we went to Gardermoen to secure the 2022 championship win that turned out to be a pretty ok weekend when it comes to the track! But it was way too cold to be able to use the power I wanted, but just like always the weather is the only thing we can’t control during a race weekend, but there is a lot of other things that can be and should be done better many times!

And then in the beginning of 2023 when the EDRS Top Doorslammer series came out I wasn’t so satisfied with it because it did not fit us at all, we can’t be away from work for more than 3 weeks to make Piteå, Kauhava and Sundsvall that were 3 weeks in a row that also include a lot if traveling that means it’s not possible to make time for work more than maybe 1 day per week, next thing is if we hurt something we will miss the next race! July is a typical vacation month for most people in Sweden and my team can’t spend 3 whole weeks on the road just for racing…

Drag racing in Sweden is still not a work that you get payed for, it’s just spending money! And the price money is not enough to pay for what it really cost, of course more partners would make it possible but still it’s too much time away from everything back home!

Then before the season started they added one more event in Piteå the weekend after that also is the same weekend as the TD race at Kauhava and that is a really strange thing to do if you ask me… And remember that today like it is it won’t be more than 2-3 cars at the race in Piteå so is it really a good thing to have two events two weekends in a row there? NO is what I say about that!…

Today there are too many teams that have ended their racing circus, cars have been sold or cars are stuck in the garages at home and haven’t seen the daylight for many years.

I felt that it will NOT be a good thing to bring more teams, but let’s see what happens during the season. Top Doorslammer was once a really fun and great class many years ago but for the last 5 years or so I really don’t know what is going on, for every year there is less cars competing in the class and I have said for many years that this will change, or I really hope because I live for the class and my car is a Top Doorslammer car and nothing else! But I’m starting to wonder if it ever will change to the better again…

 

Then what really happened during the 2023 Top Doorslammer season? First race at Tierp Arena it was only 8 cars in the class and if I remember correct 1 or 2 of them went into TD because they could not be a part of the class they should have due to some problems during the scrutineering, so in 2023 Tierp is enough to bring cars anymore… This is the track that everyone have been complaining and arguing about that TD is not welcome there for many times / years in the past and now it’s not good enough for the teams to go, I think it was 6 cars on the entry list and that must be a record in low numbers of cars at a TD race at Tierp….

 

Next was the first event at Piteå, 2 cars were there… The weekend after and the second event at Piteå, 1 car!…. Come on, a total of 3 cars on two events? And what’s even worse is that you are getting points in the series to be alone at the event, I think that is really wrong because Speedgroup have a minimum number of cars to attend an event for them to pay out money to the winners, I would like to see a minimum of cars to attend the event rule to give points in the series!

Same weekend as the second Piteå event it was a race in the series in Finland at Kauhava, they did have 9 cars and that’s pretty normal in the Finnish TD series and it was only Finnish teams like it usually are because there are no Swedish teams that are traveling to Finland to be a part over there.

Next should have been Sundsvall, but they decided in June to not have TD on the race, kind of sad because they did resurface parts of the track with new asphalt in the end of 2022, and one of the things that TD teams have been complaining about is the track surface and track preparations, after and during the race I heard that people wasn’t happy about the track and preparations but I was not there myself to say anything about that.

Anyway something positive did happen instead and they added one more race at Tierp Arena to cover up for the missing Sundsvall race and it was 9 TD cars at the event which is way better than the one in June, then for the finals at Gardermoen Raceway it was back down to 3 cars again in the class, and I think one switched over from Pro Mod to TD so it should have been just 2 cars… I don’t know if it is just me but this is not good and I think it’s killing the class, it must be better to have less events with more cars instead of 3 events with 2 cars, 1 car, 3 cars..? And it must be a minimum number of cars at an event to be able to get points in the series!

 

I don’t know for sure, but I have heard / seen some stuff about the 2024 TD series and it looks like it will be pretty much the same thing as it was in 2023, the real dates it not set but there is a plan. And with that said it’s not interesting for me and I’m afraid that it won’t be to many other teams either that will follow the series except for the Tierp race / races eventually as it looks…

Something that also is strange is that I’m always complaining about stuff, asking about stuff, wondering why things are like they are, I’m writing about it on social medias and want to have some kind of change. Everyone else are doing the same but are quiet about it…. If you are quiet no one will ever know and make a change!

I understand that its hard and a pain in the ass to arrange a series and work with all the classes, teams, people, organizers and tracks! It’s not easy to be EDRS / Speedgroup and the people behind it, but it would be a good thing if they checked with and worked together with the drivers, teams and the monkeys that makes the circus be a circus instead of adding events that no one will attend..?! Or am I wrong? This hurts the class, that’s how I see it. I really don’t understand how it can end up with so many events in the series when so few are going to the events, and it’s been like this now for many years.

This is my thoughts about the situation and hopefully this can start a discussion to make the class better and more interesting in the future for other teams.

#thatsjustthewayitis #notd #notopdoorslammernextyear #dragracing #topdoorslammer #abmracing #sjodinmotorsport

 

 

Sums up a great last event in 2023 at Dala Street Open that also was the first and only with the Chevelle 65 this year!

Directly after the Tierp race in August with Jörgen Bergs Corvette 79 in Pro Modified me and Krille arrived in Täby at the ÅBM shop on Sunday to start prepare for the weekend after, because it was soon time for more racing and this time at Dala-Järna Raceway with Top Doorslammer Chevelle!

On Monday morning me and Krille loaded up the Chevelle in the trailer at the ÅBM shop and this was also the first time in almost a year that the car was outside the shop, when we were ready we started the trip to my home town Vansbro!

But on the way to get there we went by Jörgen in Ludvika to take out all the parts that I borrowed from the Chevelle to be able to drive the Vette in Pro Mod, converter, bellhousing, transmission, drive shaft, some Racepak stuff and so!

Then we continued the trip to Vansbro for a couple of vacation days at Sofis uncles cabin and try to do nothing for a little while!

Then on Thursday it was time to start up the weekend and we took the long 10 minute trip from our friend Dan where we parked the rig during the week to the race track in Dala Järna, for the first time in about three weeks the weather was awesome, blue sky, warm and sunny and I really felt It’s going to be fun to make some exhibition rounds in the Chevelle to end the 2023 season!

When we arrived to Dala-Järna Raceway Henrik Brink from Hudik Raceway was here and helped out with the track preparation! We got the trailer in position and started to build our pit area, I went out for a sunny and warm track walk and we got the Chevelle unloaded at a race track for the first time in a year!

After that me, Sofi, Krille and Fredrik got some pizza dinner, pretty simple when you got a restaurant around the corner compared to other tracks, the parts of the team that was missing was planned to arrive on Friday!

Then it was time to just enjoy the warm evening and have a good time before the work on the Chevelle will start on Friday, Friday was just a day to put the car back together again because the racing did start first on Saturday.

Friday at Dala-Järna Raceway was a special day because Krille in our team did turn 40 years young that day, we did celebrate with some Happy Birthday music and breakfast, and what a crazy feeling it was still really warm and sunny outside! Which felt kind of strange after 2 weeks of rain!…

Krilles dog Eddie did have the best time of his life at the track in the sun!

After breakfast it was time to start put the Chevelle together and make it ready for the exhibition rounds that started on Saturday, I decided that it was a great time to put in a brake pedal in the Chevelle at the track that I should have done for many years now, kind of typical me… But we did have time for it!

Then we cleaned up and inspected the chassis, got the shocks and Racepak stuff back in the car, and before it was time for the converter, converter drive and transmission to go back in the car I got a chance just before some rain on Friday evening to go out and check the track after they been working on it all day, I could see that it will be pretty tricky but it did look good, I did not have any expectations at all on the track but when we went out for the track walk I realized that this track that they haven’t made a pass on for one year is good enough if I just power down the Chevelle.

And I was there just for fun to do some burn outs at my home track so we did some converter and transmission changes that I think will make the Chevelle go down the track at least, no record times at all and I did look forward to have some fun on Saturday!

And when the Chevelle was all done and ready to warm up we did have some Taco Friday dinner, of course with groceries from our awesome partner ICA Gärdet! And after that we did have some birthday cake to celebrate Krille for real when the whole team had arrived!

Saturday and time to warm up the Chevelle and let the Big Block Chevy make some noise again after almost one whole year sitting in the shop!

Ok, It’s Chevelle time! Test round 1 is about to happen!

I managed to power down the car enough with the converter and transmission changes and a safe timing curve to make a pretty decent first pass for what I planned should be a 4.50-4.60 pass, the Chevelle left the starting line really good even that it felt slow and I was pretty surprised when Max told me it ended up with a 4.34 @ 272 km/h in the radio! Even the track crew told us that they were surprised that I started with those numbers in the first test hit! But I kind of know my Chevelle!

Also, I was there just for fun and did not expect the track to be this good, this was an exhibition race and the plan was to go there and make some burn outs just for fun to support my home track and motor club SHRA Vansbro – Äppelbo! Car was of course really powered down but the crew had succeeded really good with the most important thing, a smooth and even track prep all the way so it’s possible to tune the car after the track! And like I wrote this was NOT a Top Doorslammer race, I’ve been at races in the Top Doorslammer series with way bad conditions, this was just for fun and the track conditions was really good for what it was!

Of course it was some driving and fishtailing (and Jörgen told me after the round that he could see that I was back to my normal driving style! And like I said, this is my car and that makes a big difference if I hurt it in some way compared to when I was driving his Corvette) But I’m really happy how the pass turned out, because I was looking for a mid 4 second pass, so well done by all the track prep guys for the Dala Street Open race!!!

So now I felt that we need to go out and try to improve in a bit! But first some service of the car and some burger lunch!

Second round went even better with a 4.30 @ 276km/h when I added some power, but I could also see that I’m starting to reach the limit on the track, from half track (330 feet) I could see that the drive shaft speed starting to move around a bit too much!

Test pass 3! Let’s see if we can improve! The weather was better and track was getting even better than before!

But first a little break to see if there is someone that was competing that want to put in a protest against that they want to run the eliminations already the same day (Saturday) due to the weather forecast for Sunday was really bad and the racing committee want to finish the race instead of sitting waiting in the rain on Sunday!

But more power only resulted in more steering, ended up with a 4.30 @ 277km/h in round 3! Kind of found the track limit after 330 feet!

Ok, let’s do one more last round for 2023 and only add a tiny bit of power early in the round! But first we needed an oil change to cool the motor down a bit!

We managed to make a 4.28 in test round 4! How great is that? We got to Dala Järna to make some burn outs and now we are 0.02 seconds away from the track record! And when we went back from the shut down area I realized that we are the only car making passes right now and there was a lot of people there right now just to see us so I started to think that we must see if we can do one more last round but I never got the chance to ask! The track crew asked me instead when I was passing by “do you want to make one more pass and take the track record?” Haha, I of course said YES!!

But in the fifth round I found the limit on the 60ft and went into a shake and spun the tires instead pretty much directly due to a little bit too much added power and colder weather!

But I’m more than satisfied with the weekend and really happy after 5 rounds in only 6-7 hours! We managed with 4.34, 4.30, 4.30, 4.28 then spun the tires, with a speed between 271km/h to 277km/h and 60ft of 1.05 to 1.06!

Before we started to pack everything up we had a nice BBQ dinner together, of course with grocery’s from our great partner ICA Gärdet!

Then before it was time to get everything back in the trailer again we let the Chevelle and the Vette check each outer out a bit!

The decision to finish the race already on Saturday due to a really bad weather forecast for Sunday was correct because it would have been cancelled on Sunday due to rain anyway because it was cold and rainy when we woke up on Sunday morning before me and Sofi took the 10 minute trip back hom to Vansbro!

Jörgen, Benkt, Katrin and Ludde did join us also this weekend and Jörgen brought the Vette and had it on display beside our pit area.

And Katrin made some passes in the Corvette C5 and got the chance to see how it is to make some passes down a drag strip for the first time!

Thanks to all involved this weekend at Dala Järna Raceway! Åke (Dad), Sofi, Max, Krille, Jörgen, Benkt, Katrin, Ludde, Crille, Fredrik, and the three motor clubs that made this possible, SHRA Vansbro-Äppelbo, Borlänge Dragracing Klubb and Big Wheels Malung!

And a HUGE thanks to all of you that bought our 2022 Top Doorslammer Champion Supporter shirt back home at Dala Järna Raceway, we sold A LOT of T-shirts and Hoodies!

Soon I will release the info about what we will do in 2024! In the meantime, look at and follow Sjödin Motorsport / ÅBM Racing on our social medias, homepage, Facebook, Instagram and YouTube!

Stay tuned/ Andreas!

 

 

The truck, trailer and Chevelle is prepared and ready for the winter sleep season!

Well the truck and trailer are kind of ready at least because they won’t get inspected this year before the winter like I usually do because the truck needs some work first! It’s a thing that I known about for a long time and we should have done something about it for a LOONG time now but nothing gets done by it self for some strange reason!… And last year on the inspection they told me that I need to have it fixed before the next time so, no inspection this year and if it won’t get fixed we won’t have a truck for 2024!…

The rig was sitting for a pretty long while after the Dala-Järna race and had to be cleaned out really good after the 3 race 3 weeks in a row and everyone that’s been out on something like that knows how much work it is to get everything back in order again…

I found a lot of left over soda and soft drinks, I realized that I got some hoodies and T-shirts left of the new design but not many so get your own before they are all gone!

John went by and washed of the rig, I did drain the waste water tank and removed the generator, and after that we got the Chevelle unloaded and back in the ÅBM shop again!

Then the rig got parked back in the parking spot that I found out is pretty simple to find outside on our yard at the moment!

One part of the after season stuff that needs to be made is to “service” our Cinderella Incineration Toilet!

But actually it’s not that bad at all, it’s a pretty clean work and it just takes some time (if you gonna do it correct) and also something that you can do all by yourself if you are a bit handy!

This can be the best thing that I got in the trailer and our Cinderella Incineration Toilet did just celebrate 3 years of using last week and that without any problems at all, how awesome is that!?

Like we would call it in Swedish “en skitbra produkt”

And then I got the Chevelle in the winter sleeping spot under the cover again after only 5 passes in 2023 at a really fun day at my home track in Dala-Järna!

It took some time after we got it unloaded but with some spirit and expert help from Bänkt and two dinner dates later I finally got the fuel system cleaned out one more time, I did remove the rocker arms so there is no springs under load and I did release the torque on the rod bolts to make sure it can sit for a long time now!

As it looks right now the worlds fastest doorslammer with a conventional headed Chevrolet Big Block motor will be under this cover for a good amount of time, it’s been a bit too much of a one man band for a while now and the Chevelle needs a lot of work / service after many years of racing and I do not see that I will have the time, spirit or help needed for it in the near future so it will just sit here in the shop and wait for something to change about this situation….

It must be fun to do something like this and yes it is fun when we are at the track and I would love to make hundreds of passes each year but there is so much more that needs to be made around before and after the race and I have lost the fun part of it!

And there is stuff that needs to be made on the truck and trailer that should have been done for years now so I need to start with that and make sure we have a truck and trailer in the future.

So, no Top Doorslammer racing in 2024, we might go to Dala Järna Raceway in 2024 with it just for fun but it’s way to early now to say if it will happen for real! I need to think about season 2024 and what we will do and not do, more info about that later!

Thanks to all of you that made me / us in the team come this far and made it possible to do what we have done so far!

 

Haha, what a crazy bad year…

Ok, long post warning! Now after the season is over for real, I got some well needed vacation, found some spirit again and I’m back at work again I felt it was time to sum up the last event for the year in Pro Modified with Jörgen Bergs Chevrolet Corvette 79 at Tierp Arena! That turned out to be just one more bad weekend at a race track this year….

Me, Sofi, Jörgen and Benkt went to Tierp Arena and the last race with Jörgens Pro Mod Vette for 2023 on Wednesday after 2 pretty soft and rainy days at Jörgens shop, plan was to service the Vette during Monday and Tuesday after the race at Gardermoen but due to bad weather the car was still like brand new when we left Norway…

Anyway, the trip from the Bat Cave was pretty simple and we arrived to Tierp Arena around 13:00 on Wednesday! And as soon as I went out from the truck we got some rain, that’s pretty amazing! Haha! And then after a lot of arguing with the wind trying to put up the tents in our pit space for hours then team Old 51 arrived and saved us by blocking the really powerful winds with their bus!…

So it took some time to get the pit space ready and the heavy winds stopped pretty much when we were done with it and it was time to unload the Vette, just before the rain started instead!!

After that Benkt, Jörgen and Krille started to do some small adjustments on the Vette in the drivers area that I wanted to do after the Norway weekend, this car was not built for me so it takes some time to adjust all small stuff to make me satisfied with it! When building a car you usually makes the adjustments with the driver in the car, I did put myself in a car that was finished already!

When they did their thing I did clean out the trailer like I always want to do, I want the inside of the trailer to be clean when the weekend starts! A clean trailer make Andreas happy! Sofi did what she usually do on non-race days, working late on a Wednesday evening to catch up what she will be missing on Friday when the qualifying starts!

After that we got some great dinner made by Sofi with grocery’s from our awesome longtime partner ICA Gärdet!

And then it was time for Huldas (the Vettes name) beauty sleep! No racing for us on Thursday because that’s the day for the sportsman classes only! So, our plan was just relax, finishing up some details on the Vette and get her inspected for the qualifying that started on Friday!

Thursday was a rainy day at Tierp Area!….. I went to bed pretty late around 01:00 on Wednesday night and it was raining at that time, the forecast for Thursday did not look good either…. And it was still raining when I woke up on Thursday morning…. And it did continue like that pretty much all day, on and off, little to much and it was cold on top of that. In the afternoon the qualifying got cancelled due to the rain!… It was a really bad day for all the sportsman racers!… And I felt sorry for my fellow buddies in Top Doorslammer that was sitting there all day waiting for nothing to happen…

For us that wasn’t scheduled to race anything on Thursday it was a good day, Jörgen and Krille did service the Vette and checked the rod bearings during the morning.
Me and Benkt did diagnose and fixed some air shift issues that we got the weekend before in Norway buy change out the Co2 air regulator that for some reason didn’t give enough air anymore.

And when I did have time for it I did service our Cinderella incineration toilet, there is always something to do!

We got the Vette inspected and approved, we did eat good all day and we got all we could prepared for the qualifying that started on Friday.

Friday started out with a cold and cloudy morning at Tierp Arena! When I got the running order for the first qualifying round it looked to be around 12:30-13:00 I assumed. We got some breakfast and were just waiting to warm up the motor. It was still cold and cloudy, but also about 4 hours until it was time for Q1 for us. I looked at the weather forecast and I did hope that it was wrong, because it did not look good at all!…

And then one more bad weekend started, Q1 got delayed! We did have a couple of classes before us and something happened out on the track, was not sure what it was but after a while I heard that a bike (Top Fuel or Super Twin) crashed really bad around or after the finish line….. From what I heard the driver was conscious and talking when they took him to the hospital, and I didn’t hear anything more after. This incident took a lot of time and everything got delayed. But we were ready to go when it was time again!

So we all was sitting and waiting and Katrin started to prepare some lunch during the time so we could eat directly when we get back from Q1, but first rain, so we were on hold for rain now instead…

Then finally, it was time to roll down to the line up!

Then then it was time again for a delay, more rain, and also even more rain delay in the line up…

But then we got a round that was enough to get some decent data to start work from! Finally!

But of course, it wasn’t a good round! After the adjustments in the drivers area I found out that it was even harder to see the tree when I’m in the right lane… So I did have a lot problems to see the pre stage and stage lamp and getting in to stage so I needed to listen to Micke when he went up on 2-step so I could do the same…. So, the reaction time wasn’t that great… Haha! But I held the pedal to the floor until 3 seconds out when I started to shake some and I was off the throttle!..

Think the round got delayed at least 3 hours, and it was finally time for some late lunch almost around dinner time! The Vette got serviced and we was ready again!

It looked like we would go out again pretty much directly after that against Gullan, but then we got some drizzle!…

Then again after a couple of hours delay it was time for Q2! But… We once again got some rain in the line up, that’s two times in one day…! Sitting there in the line up we could actually see a rainbow in the sky, not sure if that is how I want it to be on a race track.

Then it was time for the waiting game again but after a couple of rain delays we finally got our second qualifying round at 20:00 in the evening.

It was even better than Q1, but I needed to add more power!.. I saw that just before they called us so we did not have enough time to change transmission I the car…. But if I would have known that it would be a 2-3 hour delay I would have made it in the line up, but you never know what is going to happen….

But I was happy that I’m getting closer to find a tuning window even that I’m still way low on power!… I have realized that It’s a HUGE difference between a roots and a screw blower when it comes how much fuel you can give it or how much timing you can take out!… But I’m learning!
And I really miss my screw blower that would help me find the window quicker!

So, it’s been a long day of waiting again out on a race track, but one really good thing is that the camshaft is still ok! After Q2 at this race it has made 6 launches without any issues compared to the one that only made 2 before it broke…. Still the manufacturer tells me that the stuff he sold me (the cam that broke) is all ok!… Well, I assume this will be something to continue arguing about during the coming winter!

After that we did service the Vette and had some Taco Friday with grocery’s from ICA Gärdet!

Then we switched to a new transmission to get some more wheel speed, and we did also put together one more trans so we can add even more ratio after the first pass because I’m pretty sure that we need it when it comes to a for me “low power roots blower engine” like this is compared to what I’m used to when it got a screw blower on top!

Ok, now its 09:00 and Saturday morning and a new day, we got some breakfast at a chilly and cloudy Tierp Arena, the Vette was ready to warm up when its time and I assumed that we would be called in about 2 hours!

And then it was time again for a bad weekend to continue, it started with a clean up after an oil down and then some light rain delay!… Weather forecast for the day did not look too good, looks like the weather will continue to be against us even this day… But we are ready to make a pass when it’s time, but it felt like we might eat lunch before the round due to the weather.

Then it was time just like that in a real hurry, and I did not understand why because I knew that we got Pro Stock Car and Top Alcohol before us and I never heard them make any passes!…

Then I heard that a Pro Stock driver made the organizer to change the schedule because he could not drive his car after the Bike Classes…? How stupid is that? How can a single driver make the organizer make a change like that? And why can Pro Mod make passes after the bikes if Pro Stock cannot?
I say that it is wrong by the organizer to do a change like that because of a whiny driver… We got a running order, stay with that running order!

Then after 1 or maybe 2 more hours of waiting in some drizzle on and off in the line up again we finally made our Q3 round against Roger Johansson around 14:30 in the afternoon!

Car got happy with more aggressive first gear and ended up with a good 60ft of 0,9793! But a good 60ft is nothing if the car goes into shake after it!… It’s hard to sort out all parts down the track with so few rounds in the car and its tricky conditions to test a car that never made a real pass when it’s cloudy, cold and rains on and off… I’m getting closer, but I’m also starting to get really frustrated about this now!….

Ok, time for Q4 in a while! This is the last chance to make a pass to get into the ladder, I was pretty sure that the changes I made to the car won’t be enough but it’s the last test round for the year for us so let’s just try. But it’s still cloudy and even colder now!… Let’s see what happens…

And again, rain delay… At this moment I felt that this must be the worst year ever since I started racing 20 years ago when it comes to bad luck and bad weather!….

We are sitting in the pit waiting for something to happen the rain to stop, one more delay due to rain and one more due to an oil down and after that rain delay again. And then they call us out 1 hour or maybe 2 later and when we roll out from our tent it feels like you can cut trough the moist outside and the whole car fogs up!… It did not feel right to roll down to the starting line in these conditions that’s for sure…. But if the organizer tells us that it’s time, I assume it is and the track will be good enough for us to make passes on it.

We were third pair out in this session against Patrik Wikström, but it turned out to be a solo round because he did have some problems with the engine…

But before that when we rolled down to the tunnel under the tower they told us not to go there and take another way in to the arena instead because there was a window in the tower just above the tunnel that have started to fall out in pieces on the ground and it’s not safe to be under it, probably a little rock from a tire in a burn out from the pair that just made a pass! It was just too much, first the weather and now something like this that I never heard about earlier….

When I went up to the starting line to look at the mess it of course also started to rain again…. And when I looked out on the track I could see a half track clean up after an oil down at the same time!….

What a strange racing weekend, and like I said earlier the worst ever since I started racing!…

And then, finally the weekend was over for us!…. I think we made the pass or whatever it was around 19:30 after sitting in the line up for I don’t know 1 or maybe 2 hours….
You could feel the moisture in the air and the car was almost wet from it, when I put the helmet on and closed my visor it fogged up directly… It did not feel good but I was happy to have a solo round so I wont mess up someone else car if something happens…

Then for first time ever I got wheel speed in the Corvette!… Straight up in the sky, and that made me just happy and relieved because I was afraid I would lose traction further out on the track and hurt Jörgens car, now at least the body on the car is ok!

I actually felt in the burn out that there was NO track because it felt like making a burn out on grass!… The change from the round before when we were way low in wheel speed was to move a little weight in the car and a little shock change! That ended up with that I spun the tires directly on the line and that little would not cause to spin the tires if the track would have been ok.

After I spun the tires I got rain drops on my windshield when rolling down the track at the 1/8 mile…
I told them in the shut down area but still they let 2 pairs go out!….

No runs to talk about because a slick car has nothing to do on a wet race track! Then it was time for a delay again because Åke the Baker made a couple of 360:s out on the track, I could hear him do it and you could hear that there was no traction, which tells me that the track was wet and not there and I would like to say that the fourth qualifying pass should have been cancelled before they told us to roll down from the pits, the track was nothing like it should be when letting out high powered cars like this!… The organizer should have known better if you ask me! When I talked with Sofi after the round she told me that it did not feel right standing behind the car and the track felt slippery here and there… Later that evening I also heard that some crew members did not allow their driver to make a pass, that’s NOT how it should be!…

And what’s even worse is that now 7 weeks later I haven’t heard anyone that complained about the organizers bad decisions.

But just like always we did have a good time together and Bärgar Berra from Assistancekåren did visit us and gave us a Action Berra mascot for the Vette!

Then it was dinner and BBQ time!

Sunday and race day! Well, no it was just one more rainy day at the track!..

It started to rain Saturday evening and the weather forecast said that it will rain all night and all Sunday morning! It felt like the forecast had been a little too accurate for a couple of weeks!…

We ended up at spot 19 in the qualifying list and due to one car before us was loaded already we were second reserve and I did hear rumors that some other teams had already decided to not be a part of the eliminations. But I decided already Saturday evening that I’m not going to sit and wait again in the line up for the third day in a row, so we started loading up everything that wasn’t wet already after breakfast on Sunday morning!

Something that I think is pretty funny is that Pro Mod was the first class out for the day scheduled at 09:20 (before the pre race ceremony) which tells me that Pro Mod is not a part of the race or what!? Anyway, it was still raining when the clock was 10:10 and they did cancel all the sportsman classes pretty early due to the weather…

I felt it was going to be a fantastic day for the ones sitting here in the rain waiting for the eliminations to start… And of course fun for us also because I wanted to wait for the tents to get a little less wet before putting them in the trailer…

We got some lunch and then it finally stopped raining, we started to load up the rest of the pit area and were ready to hit the road and go home!

When we were about to leave around 15:00, they held an extra drivers meeting to see if any racers would like them to continue to work on the track and make it ready to start the eliminations, good for the ones that are there to get points in the series but I think it’s kind of stupid because they won’t be able to finish the race completely because they are not allowed to make noise long enough in the evening… But that is how I feel about it, and I was on my way home anyway!

Something that is bad is that I heard from many at this event that it was poorly arranged and way time-consuming when it comes to all oil clean-ups, I do not know anything about this because I was in the pit area myself waiting and not in the grandstands watching! I have heard this from a lot of people after the race also so something must been really wrong? They said it was worse than ever before. I did hear a lot about oil downs so maybe something is correct? But oil downs is caused by the racers so I think that the correct place to start complaining is on the racers to have their cars on order and also that it should be harder rules when it comes to engine diapers and fees when it comes to oil downs?!..

I don’t know about the bad work when it comes to the oil down clean ups but think that the crew did an amazing job all weekend trying to get the track dry because it was raining on and off more than ever before! Great job guys and girls!

Me and Krille left Tierp Arena and maybe 15-20 minutes later the sun came out, the first real sun since Wednesday or so!… So typical and frustrating!…

Then when we arrived in Täby at the ÅBM shop we got clear blue sky, sun and 22 degrees Celsius!… Kind of hard not getting angry after 4 days at the race track in rain, cloudy sky and no sun and on top of that it was cold with heavy winds!…

Directly after we arrived at the ÅBM shop we got some food and then we started to prepare for the weekend after at Dala-Järna and the exhibition race with the Chevelle after letting it sit in the shop for almost a year!

And best of all from the Tierp race that weekend was a great idea by Krille, five of us got a team tattoo late on Saturday evening as a memory from the worst weekend in a long time! Haha =)

 

I want to say thanks to all involved during this unsuccessful test year in Pro Modified, Jörgen first of all that trusted me and gave me the opportunity to drive his brand new Pro Modified car! Dad (Ake), Sofi, Max, Krille, John The Sneaky Snake, Marcus, Dennis, Benkt, Katrin, Ludde, Moa and Mike Canter for a lot of input when it comes to the fuel system!

 

Then I want to say a special thanks to my partners that supported this test year, our own shop of course Åkes Bil & Motor, Peter and Patrik at Rörmekano, Tobbe at T.Grundström Plåtslageri, Christer at Alwerco Svets & Smide, Kaare at ICA Gärdet, Micke at Clearwrap East Coast, Nicke at Nicclast and Leif at Catch With Care!

 

Lets see what 2024 will bring us, we got no plans yet.

 

 

The truck and trailer are now back at the ÅBM shop again and the 2023 season is over for real!

The past is behind us, now it’s time to start think about the future and the 2024 season! 🙂

 


 


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