Blown Engine Sidelines Permatex/Follow A Dream Team

Courtesy of Follow A Dream Inc.

Marstons Mills, MA-April 1, 2015-Jay Blake's Permatex/Follow A Dream team qualified in the fast half of the field at the NHRA Four-Wide Nationals, as it has at every race this season, but didn't get a chance to parlay that performance into a deep run in eliminations when an engine explosion on the final qualifying attempt knocked the team out of the race.

"It wasn't tuneup-related," Blake said. "It was a parts failure. The spark plugs looked like they'd never been run, and the computer showed that everything was perfect until a connecting rod broke. It's a tough way to lose, and we just missed getting everything back together in time to make it to the lanes for first round."

After persistent rain Friday wiped out both scheduled qualifying sessions, driver Todd Veney ran a 5.57 at 262 mph Saturday morning. About three and a half seconds into what was going to be an even better run, a rod snapped and drove itself out the side of the block, setting off a chain reaction that ended when the supercharger backfired, blowing the burst panel out of the body and creating a mountain of work for the crew.

"I was already through the 'shake zone,' well into second gear and just about to hit high, when it blew up," Veney said. "It's a shame. We had low e.t. of the entire first session for the left lane, and the car wasn't that hopped up. [Tuner] Tom [Howell] got after it for the second session and the car responded. That was going to be within a hundredth of a second of our best run ever [5.52] until the rod broke."

The crew leaped into action as soon as the car returned to the pits and just missed completing the engine swap in time. A new engine was just coming to life in the pits when Veney's scheduled opponent, Gatornationals winner Ulf Leanders of Sweden, ran an on-and-off-the-throttle 6.07 to beat alternate Tyler Scott.

The next race is an East Regional April 24-25 at Virginia Motorsports Park in Richmond, Va., where three years ago the Follow A Dream team set low e.t. and top speed and won the race.