September 2003

We apologize for the delay in getting you this update. The points pulls were close enough together that we were unable to get one written between them, and 4 days after the last points pull Beth was admitted to the hospital to have the baby. The newest member of the Fire & Ice team Samantha Clare Musk was born August 19, 2003 at 3:30pm. Since then things have been a little crazy in the Fire & Ice household, thus the delay in getting the update to you.

The season did not go as well as we had hoped, unfortunately we were fighting some problems most of the season and when we started to get them straightened out, the points pulls were well under way and we just were not able to catch up. We ended up 17th in points this year out of 22 trucks. All season long the point's race was real close and if someone missed a pull it basically took them out of the running. Somehow even with the impending arrival of the baby we managed to make all the points pulls the last one was Aug 14, 2003.

In the last update we were trying to get the trailer fixed so that we could go to Cuba, luckily we managed to get it fixed so that we could start out the points season at Cuba with the two day pull July 5 & 6. The track Saturday was not good, unfortunately it had rained so the track was a little muddy. We pulled three trucks and then they decided to try switching the direction we were pulling since the sled was having trouble getting stuck at the starting line. So they switched directions and got two trucks down the track when the skies opened up again. We had a short rain delay and then they got the track scraped down and we started pulling again. We ended up finishing 17th out of 20 trucks, Paul was taking it real easy being only the second time out with the truck. He didn't want to do any damage to the truck with the track being in the condition it was. We faired better than a couple of trucks at least we didn't break anything. Sunday the weather was better and we finished 15th out of 19 trucks. We were having problems with the transmission shifting and killing Paul's rpm's, this was something that we needed to try fixing.

The weekend after was Wild Wheels Weekend in Mt. Upton. This of course was not a points pull, but we could run the truck and try getting it to work better. We had a couple of nice distances 280-290 area, which was good. We also played with the transmission to try to keep it from shifting on Paul and taking away the rpm's. This is also where we discovered the new rev limiter we put in was not working properly. Unfortunately Sunday when Paul went to load the truck on the trailer we also discovered that the night before he broke an axle. So we needed to get that fixed before the next points pull Boonville that was only a week and a half away.

After searching all over and finally finding one we managed to get the axle fixed so that we could take the truck to Boonville July 24, 2003. Boonville was a track for trucks with big horsepower, there were 7 trucks that had a full pull. We ended up finishing 18th with a distance of 254.24. We were gaining in the distance department, but we also decided that before too many pulls we needed to get a new electric fuel pump put on the truck. The truck was starving for fuel. We knew that there was no way we could get this done before the next points pull since that was Whitney Point on the 26th but hopefully before Honsedale on the 4th of August we could get it on the truck.

Whitney Point was July 26th and once again we ended up last this time finishing 20th. The distances were real close though with less than 50 feet between first and last. The truck was just not getting enough fuel to the carburetor so that it could run properly. Holley, NY was a new pull for us on July 27th and we didn't fair any better there than we did the day before. We finished 18th out there, but this was another track that was real bad due to the weather. People watching Paul didn't even think he was going to make it past 200 feet, but he did with 201.1. We were hoping that with the new fuel pump on we could do better at the rest of the pulls.

The first week of August was another busy one Honesdale, PA was Aug 4th. This was a new track for our club to pull at so no one knew what to expect. Paul ended up being the first puller and went 287 feet, unfortunately they decided to reset the sled. His second pull was 242.2 we ended up 19th, but again there was only 50 feet between first and last. The next pull was Whitneyville, PA on Aug 6th. This is not one of our favorite tracks to begin with and the weather just made it that much worse for us. This is where the steering broke last year, this year the trucks had to be towed into the pits tow vehicle and all because of the mud. This should have clued us in right then that it was not going to be a good night. While most trucks throw dirt off their tires going down the track, Paul had smoke rolling off all four tires the whole way down the track. The engine was being worked hard enough that at the end of the run it threw off the fan & power steering belts. He also had antifreeze boiling out of the overflow. Let's just say this was not good! We ended up finishing 17th, Paul ended up getting towed off the track and back to the trailer, but after letting it cool down he was able to start the truck and load it on the trailer. We were hoping that nothing serious was wrong with the truck.

Norwich was Aug 9th and being our home track the fair board asked if we could bring the truck down to display it before the pull. When Paul started the truck it didn't sound quite right but he got it over to where it was to be displayed and then back to the pits. Fred and Paul then pulled the valve cover to see if they could find what was causing it to sound odd. Apparently at Whitneyville Paul broke a pushrod; it was in two almost three pieces. This was not what we needed to find with three hooks left to the point's season. After making lots of phone calls Paul found a pushrod, and went to get it. They got it put back in and went to tighten it down and it was not working. We think it bent a valve also, after talking about it we decided to pull the spark plug wire and run the truck on 7 cylinders to finish out the point's season. We ended up next to last in 19th place with our hurt motor. We were supposed to have another hook Saturday night but Mother Nature did not cooperate and it rained, thus canceling the pull Saturday night.

Bath was the last point's pull on Aug 14th, everyone was quite surprised to the truck there and even more surprised to see Beth there still pregnant (since the due date for the baby was 8/15). The truck was still only on seven cylinders, but we decided that we would make the last points pull, since we didn't miss any of the other pulls. Before going to Bath we decided that it would be the last pull of the season for us and after displaying the truck for some more of the sponsors the truck was going to be taken apart and gotten ready for next season. At Bath we also finished next to last finishing 19th. While we would have liked to have been consistent like we were all season higher up in the pack; we made it to all the points pulls.

We still have a couple dates to display the truck for sponsors. Due to the engine being hurt it is staying on the trailer when we do this. We think that some more damage might have been done at Bath. We will be pulling the motor out and taking it to the engine builder to find out what is wrong soon, so that we can find out what it is going to cost to fix it. There is a lot that we would like to try and get done before next season to make the truck more competitive, it is just trying to figure the finances to get stuff done. The first priority of course is the engine, we also want to try to do some work on the transmission and transfer case to try getting the truck hooked to the track better.

June 2003

The point's season is fast approaching and we are busy trying to get everything done before the first points pull July 5 & 6 in Cuba, NY. Our season actually began back in March when we took the truck to the Motorsports Expo in Syracuse, NY. We ended up placing 5th out of 182 vehicles. We didn't figure this was bad since we didn't have much of a display this year. We were unsure how much area we would have to work with since the Price Crusher Monster truck was going to be part of our display, this made it very difficult to plan for. As usual the weather wasn't that bad to set up in, but leaving Sunday was done in the snow again. After the Motorsports Expo we had a couple of weeks off and then took the truck down to Kingston, PA for the World of Racing Motorsports. This was the first year they held this show and exhibitors were there by invitation only. While this show is not as large as the one in Syracuse it was a nice place to go. We finished 4th overall in Kingston. Leaving down there was also done in the snow; this was nothing new to us though.

While the truck was lettered and running for the car shows more work was to be done after. The engine was rebuilt over the winter, and hopefully will run better this season. We had a couple very unexpected findings when the engine was done; a cracked crankshaft, retarded camshaft just to name a few. These do help explain part of the problems we were having last year though. Paul just needs to learn how the new engine is going to respond now that it is put together correctly with new parts, and more horsepower. We need to make a few adjustments to the carburetor and when we get the money we are going to have to replace the headers. Unfortunately the new headers that were put on before the car shows are not withstanding the heat of the exhaust. When we get a new set we are planning on having them plated with high heat paint so that they will last longer.

Over the winter the transmission was checked over and a couple of changes were made, to hopefully utilize the power of the engine better. We also took the driveshafts out after the car shows to have them rebuilt and strengthened. With the new engine we were worried that the old ones would not be strong enough. The only problem we encountered with this was getting the proper universal joints, with them being larger you can't just run to the auto parts store and pick them up. We just got done adding more leaf springs to the front of the truck. We are hoping that this will stop the truck from bouncing when hooked to the sled. We do not know yet whether we are going to have to try bigger tires to get the horsepower to the ground better.
While trying to get the truck ready to go we also need to get the trailer fixed. We have to put heavier axles under the trailer, so that it can carry the truck better. Unfortunately last summer when we blew the tire on the way to PA, it was because the tires were wearing unevenly. The only way we can fix this is to replace the axles and put different tires on to handle the weight of the truck. All of this needs to get done before we head to Cuba, so that we can make a safe trip.

We have had the truck hooked to the sled already this season. Mt. Upton was the last weekend of May. Paul was able to hook to the sled on Friday night on the test and tune night. We did not have the added springs in the truck and it did bounce the first run down the track. We did find out that the truck runs better than last year though. Paul is unsure exactly how the truck is going to respond yet since he did not want to risk breaking anything, so he took it kind of easy. We were hoping to pull the truck on Saturday night, but due to the weather the pull was canceled.

We don't know whether we are going to try to go to a pull at the Adirondack Speedway on June 28, 2003, so that Cuba is not the first time out with the added changes or not. It will depend on whether the trailer is ready, the weather and of course the ever present financial aspect of it. If we don't make it there Cuba will be the next time out with the truck. We are hoping to be able to have some spare parts with us just in case something happens Saturday night to hopefully be able to run on Sunday. Of course it would be much better if we can have good pulls and not break anything, that is what we are hoping for.

We are hoping to make as many pulls as we can this season. Some of the pulls may be harder to make being in the middle of the week and farther away. That of course means trying to get out of work so that we can make them. Some of them may also depend on when our second child decides to make their entrance into the world. We are going to try making all the pulls that we can though, so that we can run for points again this season.

October 2002
August 2002
April 2002