Clutch Performance at Woodburn Gives Ahten Hope

Woodburn, OR – There were several questions going into the LODRS Regional race at Woodburn Dragstrip that had Johnny Ahten and the team anxious. They were racing with an unknown clutch combination and were working on suggestions and best estimates.

“I was optimistically challenged by the opportunity to make this clutch work,” said Johnny Ahten. “Being the driver and clutch guy for the Stump Puller brings a great deal of responsibility. We were working with a borrowed clutch from Randy Eakins at East West Clutches because something was not right with ours. We had to estimate counter weights and some settings on the borrowed clutch. It was not a direct replacement, so we had to feel it out. “

The Island Renovations / Combust Filters team took the Friday testing sessions as a chance to work out their theories. The first pass was a planned soft run to 900’ and the early numbers showed they were on the right path. The second test session was aborted when Johnny noticed the car was running a little funky during the burnout. The RPM’s were all over the place, and a post-mortem inspection in the pits found a loose mag wire.

Saturday’s first qualifying session produced a 5.328 elapsed time at 271.49 miles per hour. This was a small victory that reinforced several decisions. On the second qualifying attempt the Stump Puller lost fire in one cylinder at the hit and a 5.519/261.17 was the result. The final qualifying shot was eerily similar to the previous run with #6 loosing fire at the hit. A 5.606/255.97 was the result. Johnny ended up in the #5 position and would race Shawn Cowie on Sunday.

When the tree came down on eliminations Sunday, Johnny Ahten (.063) left on Shawn Cowie (.086) and ran a 5.336/265.25 in a losing effort to Cowie’s 5.299/273.97.

“In retrospect, I think we can give it a bit more in the middle,” added Ahten. “I was out in front and thought I had him until the end. We then prepped the car for the Seattle race and began to plan our clutch strategy over pizza at Godfather’s Pizza near the track. They helped us out for the weekend and we had quite the feast. My biggest highlight of the weekend was having my youngest son Eli with us for his first alone race. He hung out with CleanBoost Performance Oil teammate Beau Bateman, helped out with car and had a blast. Eli let me know he has his own ideas about the clutch set-up, but that’s an Ahten Racing secret.”

Stay in touch with Johnny and Ahten Racing at facebook.com/JohnnyAhtenRacing, and on Twitter and Instagram at: @Ahtenracing