A Wild Ride in Chicago……

The debut of the new Grime Boss-themed Dodge Stratus did not go exactly according to plan — but it sure got noticed!

Following a really nice public unveiling on the starting line  just before the 1st qualifying session on Friday that included Grime Boss’s VP Keith McQuaid — the team entered Saturday’s qualifying rounds on the provisional list.

The third qualifier was a real “doozy” as they say.   The car left very hard and was on a very fast lap to half track  — with the overall best incremental times of the meet at that point. 

The new Dodge Stratus body created some terrific downforce which helped to load the motor and increase the overall horsepower being applied to the ground.   Then amazingly the car went into a very wild powerstand.  The computer data showed the car’s front wheels went skyward at an estimated 240 mph and did not come back down until the car was running 275 mph!

The problem was that because and when Todd was forced to back off the throttle to bring the car back to earth — it slammed down hard and it actually broke the chassis!   That forced the team to miss the 4th and final qualifying round on Saturday evening.

The car chassis has been shipped off to Indianapolis for necessary repairs.   It will likely receive a new front half — but will be ready for sure in time for NHRA’s race at Norwalk next week……(BB)

Bruce Biegler Photos