• There are more than 250 drag strips in the U.S.
• More than 7 million spectators attend drag racing events in the U.S. each year.
• Every season there are at least 30 televised multi-day national drag racing events in the top metro markets.
• Each year, more than 180 million people watch television shows that are devoted exclusively to drag racing.
• Television coverage of NHRA drag racing events is available in 100% of U.S. markets.
• The average attendance for NHRA national events tops 90,000 spectators.
• The average television viewership audience for NHRA national events numbers more than 1.25 million.
• The reporting of drag racing events by motorsports publications generates more than 7.6 million print impressions per month.
• There are over 80,000 NHRA members.
• 43 percent of the population has indicated an interest in auto racing.

Call to Order: 7:15 Tue. Sept. 2, 2003

In Attendance: Nancy, Clara, Charles, Tim,  Joe, Todd, Gary.
Committee Recommendations:
1) That at least two volunteers be trained in equipment setup to replace Leo and Joe in the future.

2) That each racing class chose two stewards to solve racing problems that arise in that class. If unable to solve the problem at Steward level, the stewards would then refer the problem to the Event Director / Track Manager.

3) That a committee of all the track stewards be formed to settle non-racing track disputes. If unable to settle at Steward level, the problem would be referred to the Event Director / Track Manager.

4)    That the O.A.S.C. Constitution and Executive Structure be revised to permit the following :

One elected President
One elected Vice President
One elected Secretary
One elected Treasurer
As many volunteer Event Directors as there are events
The Event Directors would be responsible for organizing, promoting, staffing, and finding sponsors for their events.
The Event Directors shall be required to bring their event plan before the general membership for approval.
This event plan must include a proposed budget.
Event Directors shall make progress reports at each general mtg.
This event plan must include an actual budget in the final report to the membership
The Event Directors shall include any recommendations in their final report.

There's an old joke in the pits that goes something like "How do you know when a motor is in a bracket racer's car? If the valve cover nuts are rusted and the valve cover is dusty."

The point of the joke is that bracket racers simply don't have time to do a lot of maintenance between rounds. Cooling the engine and trans, refueling and perhaps a few adjustments to the throttle stop and delay box are about all they have time for, especially if it is a six, seven or even eight round affair. They especially don't want to be forced to take the valve covers off and adjust the valve lash or check springs or any of those things that Pro and some class racers have to do as a matter of course.

So, both weekend warriors and professional bracket racers are buying engines built to deliver the power they need without being run on the ragged edge every pass. They generally are buying 500-600 inch engines that make power at 8,000 rpm or less and require freshening once a year at most.

In order to deliver that kind of power and performance, engine builders have had to develop engines that deliver the torque and horsepower the racers want and yet are reliable.

One area in the engine that has been the subject of much R&D in an effort to deliver parts that are "bulletproof" is the valvetrain. Roller cams, lifters, rocker arms and high pressure springs have long been the choice of engine builders when it comes to building engines that are both reliable and powerful. Builders know that in order to make power at higher rpm ranges or with smaller motors, the use of mechanical "roller" camshafts, lifters and springs has been required. Those pieces, however, are expensive to buy and replace, and re quire regular maintenance by the racer.

DEFINITIONS

Just what is a "roller" camshaft and why is it a desirable item to have in a high performance engine? The term roller actually doesn't apply to the camshaft itself but rather to the lifters and the rocker arms. A "flat tappet" camshaft's lifter is a solid cylinder of metal that sits directly on the surface of the cam lobe and actuates the push rod and the rocker arm. A solid or hydraulic lifter combined with a standard no-roller rocker arm create more heat and drag in the engine because of friction.

A roller camshaft lifter and rocker arm have a roller bearing at one end of the lifter to help reduce friction, heat, wear, and drag in the engine. Those components also aid the engine to rpm quicker and higher than a solid or conventional hydraulic lifter engine.

Roller cams are usually found in engines that make power in the 8,000-11,000 rpm range. In order for the camshaft to live at that rpm range, the manufacturers had to develop valvetrain components using stronger and more expensive material. So "roller" camshafts were made from a solid piece of billet steel instead of cast material, roller bearing lifters were specially engineered for improved durability, and valve springs were made of expensive steel using expensive methods.

So, you are asking, what does all of this have to do with the subject of hydraulic roller cams and bracket or Sportsman racing. Well, fellow racers, here is the deal.

BENEFITS

1. With some limitations, hydraulic roller camshafts offer a racer many of the benefits of a roller cam with almost none of the drawbacks. Instead of a conventional roller lifter, they use a hydraulic lifter with a roller bearing on one end. True, the hydraulic lifters are heavier than the conventional roller lifters, but, generally speaking, once they've been adjusted you can forget them.
2. Hydraulic roller cams, because of the weight of the lifter, generally rev up past 7,000-rpm so springs, rocker arms and push rods don't take much abuse or need much maintenance.
3. Both the roller and hydraulic lifter cams are turned from a piece of billet material hydraulic rollers so both offer durability
4. A hydraulic roller costs a bit less than a regular roller.

So, you ask, will a hydraulic roller make the horsepower and torque I need to run between

7.50 and 10.90? The cam people I talked to gave me a qualified yes. In doing research for this article, I talked to cam designers from
Isky Racing Cams, Competition Cams, and Crane Cams, engine builder Jim Oddy, Stan Ray of Ohio Crankshaft, and Scott Walker of
ASW Race Engines.

The general opinion among all of them was that for all but the most high horsepower requirements a hydraulic roller cam was probably
the best compromise between a regular high performance flat-tappet cam and a full-boogie, roller-lifter cam. Everyone agreed that up
to about 7,000 rpm the hydraulic roller cam will make approximately the same horsepower and torque that a conventional roller cam will
in a like engine. The only apparent drawback is that if your applications require an engine that operates above 7,000 rpm you'll have
to take a pass on the hydraulic roller.

Crane Cams' camshaft R&D Director Mark Campbell said that Crane put hydraulic roller cams in all of the vehicles in Frank Hawley's
drag school. Why? The answer is simple. Low or no maintenance -- which is all important to many racers today who either don't have
the time or the inclination to adjust valve lash after each lap. A hydraulic roller cam

lifter is adjusted to zero lash. No feeler gauge is required; just tighten the adjustment up. This would be an especially important benefit
to those who have a high performance street car or a serious bracket racer who has to make round-robin laps during eliminations.

What kind of power can you make with a hydraulic roller cam, you ask? I talked to Scott Walker of ASW Race Engines. When he was
the shop foreman at Oddy/Perfection Race Engines, he built a 460 cubic inch rat motor using a custom Isky hydraulic cam and
 lifters, pump gas, 9-1 compression and an 8-71 blower. It made 800+ hp and 700+ lbs of torque at 6,800 rpm. Plenty of poop for a 7.90
class dragster.

As far as small block engines go, Joe Sherman built a small block, pump gas, four-barrel, mouse motor that in a magazine shootout
 made an average of 420+ hp and 480+ torque. Not a bad small block.

At Ohio Crankshaft they offer their customers a "street" 550-inch big block engine that develops 600 hp and 675 lbs of torque burning
92 octane gas with a single four-barrel and a hydraulic roller. It could easily be a 10.90 motor and certainly something you could use
in a Super Pro car.

Would like to thank Derek Hart for dropping us a line on the weekends events on the mountain:

Updates on TMR first work party of the 2003 season seen at least a dozen people turn up both Saturday and Sunday, Saturday being
the better of the two days due ole mother nature throwing snow and hail stones. We got the conduits laid and backfilled, ready to
 fish the computer cables through. On Sunday we did some major brush clearing at the turn off area to improve the visibility of
the drivers parked off the return road gathering chutes etc. We laid out the guidelines for the new safety barriers required by
the insurance company to protect the starter and crew. Several of us volunteers are going to the track a couple evenings this week
to reinstall the guardrails from the burnout box to the start line. Other good news is that the pile of light poles piled beside the
burnout box guardrail have been moved away to a more suitable spot till we can get them erected. We also moved the washrooms
closer to the spectator area on the hill behind the grandstands, “no more wet shoes when it rains”. They say it was to make
 the washrooms more accessible for the fans but I think it was to have a spot to park….”what was that Lucy movie” The Big Trailer?
 We still have a ton of work to get finished and only 4 weeks to get there so if anyone can help out please call Laura to set up some
 times etc
                                                                                          best regards , Derek Hart