Lightning Quick '55

Norwalk, OH- Chad Moss, an engineer at Parker Hannifin's Hydraulic Valve Division in Elyria, OH, had his big block 1955 Chevy dialed in over the weekend at Norwalk Raceway Park in Norwalk, OH.

"I had a really good weekend," said Chad. "The car ran really good in the time trials and the air was great. When I got back to the pits after the first time trial, I shut the car off and heard a hissing sound. It ended up being a hole in the inner tube and left rear slick went flat. Luckily, this didn't happen during the run or it could have been ugly. There's a guy at the track that sells tires and does the mounting, so after a few hours and a couple of bucks, I was back on my way."

Moss has been drag racing for the past five years, but has really gotten serious about the sport the last two years. His goal for the 1999 racing season, was to improve on last years results and to keep the car in one piece. So far he has doubled the number of round wins and the car is still intact.

During the time trials, he turned in runs of 11.188 seconds at 116.80 mph and 11.133 seconds at 116.85 mph. "In the first round of competition, the car ran a 11.119 seconds at 114.72 MPH on a 11.10 dial, added Chad. This one was won on the starting line, as I cut a .512 light and he had a .552. His car also couldn't run the number as he ran a 12.128 on a 12.05 dial."

In both the second and third rounds, Moss' competitors red-lighted giving Chad the automatic win. "That was a good thing, since the car didn't run as fast as I had expected. In the third round, I came a little closer to predicting the cars performance."

"In the fourth round, the car ran an 11.104 seconds at 118.49 MPH on an 11.07 dial. I cut a not so decent .620 light to his .546 light, giving him the win. He also went on to win the points championship for the year. It was the last point's race of the season and I may have even broken into the top 20 in points," he concluded.

(John Strand-September 27, 1999)