[Blackbirdws6]

Finally had some decent time to collect myself a bit after the rental. This year was certainly the biggest yet with 34 cars (give or take). Not only was this the biggest rental but we had many many very quick cars show up. I was also happy to see the JSFBOA back in attendance which is the reason why the annual rental became a thing in the first place.

Luck was on our side with weather as I'm sure that helped the car count too. Joe and the MDSheds team provided breakfast and lunch along with beverages all on their dime. They deserve much more than a thank you. Good people like this are what keep me wanting to organize this rental year after year.

Congrats to those that set new bests and even world records.

As for my personal results, they were pretty subpar except for a slightly new best MPH (140.7x). The first run of the day showed me the car was "still there" with a 139MPH trap on a bogged launch. For nearly the rest of the day, I was fighting no boost issues. At first I thought maybe I blew off a charge pipe. After checking all that over, nothing appeared obvious. Next I thought the 2-step switch had malfunctioned and was limited rpm/power once I started to get going. That wasn't it either. I did a logged run with the laptop and sure enough, 100% throttle and atmospheric pressure per the MAP sensor. The power would be non-existent in 2nd and 3rd but would come back a little when I got into 4th. These issues resulted in me getting negged by a rogue TBSS. Still ran 12's doe.

The only next step was to take a look at the blower belt. For those unfamiliar with my setup, this is a 12-rib system so far more grip than the LS boys with a typical 8 rib system. The belt on the car is the OG unit from when I first got this build together 8+ years ago. I've never had slipping or thrown belt issues but it seems it finally decided to give out. Good timing right? While I had a spare belt on hand, I didn't have the tools needed to change it nor the energy to do so. I felt like total crap, headache, dizzy, etc with flares of energy here and there. Reminiscent of old times, the Pals came to the rescue and Adam/Matt got the new blower belt on. I got in the car and took another run. Sure enough, boost was back and wasn't playing games. I took a couple more runs late in the day and while I tried to get some decent seat time to practice launching with the new clutch, my head wasn't in the game. My day would have been done if the Pals didn't jump in so for that, I'm very thankful.

With a new best ET out of my head, I decided to have some fun and attempt a top down pass. If anything, it would be a fun photo op. I pulled to the burnout area and saw the "tree guy" immediately radio and then proceed to put his hand up to hold me back. He came over and said, yea we can't let you run like this. As mentioned, I wasn't all there mentally to negotiate well but did what I could. Essentially I need arm restraints if I want to run like this so I will add that to the list for next year. I ended up getting the photo op but I'm told there were bets of whether I was just going to go for it anyway or not. The thought crossed my mind but I really didn't want to be permabanned.

I took one more run with the top up and believe that was the best MPH pass. I saw some white smoke at the top end of the track and it looks like the tailshaft trans seal isn't happy with me. It was dripping a little bit earlier but only with the front end up on the ramps. That didn't sit well with me so basically I called it quits. So with that, on the trailer she went under her own power fully functional and with all the boost still intact.

TL;DR version

- Biggest rental ever
- Saw a bald eagle
- Surprise pal visit
- MDShed crew are amazing
- Boost issues, turned out to be a bad blower belt, got trolled by TBSS
- Pals rescued/restored boost
- BLS felt like crap for most of the day; still can't drive worth a damn
- Attempted a top down run but got negged
- Car still works but needs some tlc as most project cars do
- Looking forward to next year