RightTrailers in Lakeland, FL is a distributor of Vintage race car and utility trailers, United Specialties motorhomes and toterhomes as well as Kawasaki, Kohler, Daihatsu and Husqvarna lawn equipment. RightTrailers is dedicated to providing the motorsports market with the finest quality products and service.

The Driver

Paul Fink first gained his Super Comp competition license at Seattle International Raceway in the summer of 1981. His finest accomplishment was being tied for fourth place in the NHRA Division 2 points standings in 1987 and advancing to two IHRA National event semi finals. After taking a 14 year hiatus from the sport and recently learning he didn't have prostate cancer, he returned in 2007 with a newly acquired pre-owned car, rejuvenated spirit, determination to win and started right back where he left off in 1993. After spending much of the spring debugging and freshening up the car, Paul's ready to launch an all out effort in the 2007 fall season. A full time employee of G.E. Aviation in Clearwater, FL as a Sr. Subcontract Administrator, working on major military and commercial aircraft platforms, Paul has assembled the necessary support structure of friends, family and sponsors, as well as gained the experience and expertise to take his program to the next level of success and excellence.

The Crew Chief

As a day job, Paul Witting works with Paul Fink at G.E. Aviation in Clearwater, FL as the Customer Services Quality Manager. Paul worked for six years in the Navy repairing jet engines and is an FAA certified aircraft mechanic. A graduate of Milwaukee University, with a degree in Electrical Engineering, Paul brings many years of racing and overall mechanical expertise to the team. If you meet us at the track, you will find that Paul is one of the most genuine, down to earth, friendly guys you will ever meet. He also contributes to the team with a great sense of humor that always make you laugh.

Racer Math

Calculate An Engine's Cubic Inches or CCs

Calculate A Engine's Compression Ratio

Calculate The Carb Size For Your Engine

Every year at this time the Performance Racing Industry show comes into the Orange County Convention Center in Orlando. The show attracts every manufacturer and dealer that has anything to do whatsoever with the performance industry. It offers a racer a chance to meet all of the manufacturers and catch up on all of the latest technologies and products as well as search out sponsorship potentials.

Paul Witting and I spent all day Saturday walking the show and learning what we could. We also spent time at the Right Trailers booth meeting and greeting customers as well as meeting with Troy Stone, the president of Vintage Trailers.

On Monday, our dragster is going back to Will Bodley's shop as we are making a few changes and upgrades for next year. Next year NHRA is requiring that our master on/off switch be a push-pull switch with the handle extending out beyond the rear slicks. We also need for Will to install an additional engine limiter so we don't have the problem of the engine moving around on the chassis rails.

Paul and I also wanted to learn all we could about mechanical fuel injection as next year we are replacing our carburetor with a 4" 1275 CFM Ron's Flying Toilet which is a whole new world for us. We need the consistency and problem free operation that fuel injection offers for the style of racing that we do. While we are at it, we are going to yank the motor out, increase the horsepower and take care of a few other little issues that we have been struggling with. We also need to install an electric vacuum pump to help pull out some of the moisture accumulation caused when running methanol.

We have a few potential additional sponsorship deals up in the air so we may also have to do some painting or vinyl lettering before our first race. A Flitz trailer wax and detail is definitely in the cards (I hope I get an electric buffer for Christmas).  We are trying to have everything done so that we can make our first race, the Summit points race at South Georgia Motorsports Park on January 26th. Weather permitting of course. 2008 should be a very exciting year for our team.

December 2, 2007

This weekend, Bradenton Motorsports Park held their annual Outlaw Nationals. I didn't race because I'm having issues with cylinders 6 and 8 in my motor which I'll discuss soon. I spent the weekend at the track raising money for Angels Without Wings, a Pinellas County Children's Charity that provides help to children without parents or whose parents are incarcerated.

With the support of Bradenton Motorsports Park, Right Trailers and Unlimited Auto Detailing, I held a raffle for a chance to win an  ultimate trailer wash and detail. The prize was to be provided by Ignacio Martorell and his crew from Ultimate with all of the proceeds going to the charity. For only a $20 ticket, 82 racers and track vendors (about 1 in 4 of those attending) participated in the raffle with the drawing (photo) being held in the tower at 5:00 pm Saturday evening.

The prize was won by Rick Trapiss and his wife of Nomad Tool & Supply who were attending the event as a vendor. After paying for the detail work, the net result was $1100 for the charity. I guess it's  pretty good for my first try at this.

I initially came up with the concept for this project a few months ago as an open trailer wash but I kept running into one road block after the other, between a shortage of labor, a large enough facility to handle the project and believe it or not, environmental issues. The final concept as it was accomplished came to me as an epiphany last week and I had to get approvals and the wheels put into motion within only a few days. I was running out of time to get it done in time if a donation was going to be made in time for Christmas.

This is one of those times when you are so proud to be a member of the drag racing community. Without any advertising or advance warning, these guys and gals stepped up to the plate to help the kids that need it most, especially during this time of year. For those of you who read this and participated, thank you, thank you very much, you're the best group of people I've ever met. Thanks to Mike Scott at Right Trailers for your backing, thanks to Ignacio Martorell for your support in getting the job done and especially thanks to the management at Bradenton Motorsports Park for being so open minded and allowing people to be creative. You guys are the best!

November 21, 2007

We would like to wish you all a very happy Thanksgiving and a joyful journey to Triptophan utopia.

Eat well and enjoy your families!!

November 12, 2007

I just got back from almost a week at Bradenton Motorsports Park for their annual 5 day Winter Series Bracket race. It all started last Monday night after work when we took our motorhome and trailer down to the track for early parking.

This may be a little hard to believe but we were about the 300th rig to pull onto the property which was more than a full day before the racing was scheduled to begin. It was an early indication of what was to come. Wall to wall dragsters.

Our trailer was against the fence at the head of staging with Edmond Richardson, Darren Long and Kurt Damron in front of us as well as Dave Janus to the side. Being surrounded by such talent, I was really hoping some positive energy would rub off. Monday night we returned home as work was a necessity on Tuesday, however, Tuesday night I returned to the track for the duration of the event.

After only a short period of time I was reminded of what it is about drag racing that I enjoy the most. It's the people. There is no other sport where people will give you the shirts off their backs to help you run and run well or where you're gladly willing to do the same, then fiercely compete, only to finish the day having dinner together.

During the race in Reynolds a couple of weeks ago, I took the fuel filter element out to cure the flow problem. I made a stupid mistake by not replacing it right away. On Wednesday, I went out and ran an 8.77 then an 8.84 ET which was very good for my set up and the weather. The car ran the quickest 1/8 mile ever at a 5.445 ET. I was also hitting the tree real hard with a -.003 red light. Well, when first round rolled around I was at the head of staging when the drag racing gremlins bit me hard and my own stupidity did me in. A small piece of trash in the fuel hung open the needle and seat in the carb secondary flooding and stalling the motor. I didn't even get to run first round. To say the least, I was not a very happy camper.

As a result of Wednesday, I sat out Thursday waiting for a new fuel filter element. Running Thursday would have been like adding one stupid move right on top of another and for me, one was enough. I spend the day getting the car ready, filtering all of my fuel and doing PR work for my sponsor. That evening my fuel filter arrived so I was ready for Friday.

On Friday, Dave Janis helped me tweak the fuel bowl levels in the carb and it responded very well to the adjustments, running the quickest passes ever 8.647 ET with a 5.467 1/8th mile ET. I was hitting the tree and won my first race as my opponent went red on the tree by -.001. In the second round I went red by -.004 and ran an 8.65 on an 8.63 dial in. Sooooooo close, yet sooooooo far away.

In the 1/8th mile race Friday night I dialed the car in at a 5.46 as I had run a 5.467 ET twice earlier in the day. During the burnout out in the first round when the tires hooked pretty violently it shook the bypass line loose on the fuel pump and created a small drip of alcohol on the track. The starter shut me off and I was toast in that race. Oh well....that's drag racing.

After all of this disappointment, I was ready for Saturday's $10K race. In the first time run, the car picked up a ton and it ran it's quickest pass ever with a 1.21 60 foot time, 5.401 ET at 126.10 mph in the 1/8th mile and 8.566 at 152.90 in the 1/4 mile. Couple that with a .008 green light and I was pumped with adrenaline and felt invincible. Needless to say, I came crashing back to earth as that feeling was short lived. I went -.011 red on the tree in the first round.

At this point in time my thinking was, well.....at least I can have another shot in the $5K 1/8th mile race late in the afternoon. My dreams of success were totally crushed in the 1/8th mile race when I fell asleep and went totally brain dead on the starting line. I dialed in with a 5.41 ET and the guy I was running had a real slow truck with a 6.81 ET dial in. I think subconsciously I didn't want to red light and I let him get to me. He ran .02 over his dial with an .033 light as he ate my lunch.

This sport is brutal. It is not easy by any means of the imagination and quite frankly, it's the most difficult thing I've ever attempted to do. So many of these racers are so very good and races are won and lost by only a couple thousandths of a second or less. (Edmond Richardson won the semi final race Wednesday night by .0004 seconds, that's 4/10,000 of a second) That's what makes winning so gratifying I guess. The thrill of victory and the agony of defeat. I just hate being that guy that crashes on the ski jump like on the Wide World of Sports.

October 31, 2007

Tonight was a good opportunity for me to use the test and tune session at Sunshine, to get the car dialed in for next week's high dollar five day bracket races in Bradenton. After finding the problems in Reynolds, GA last week, I hadn't had a chance to run the car all out to see where I really stand. I desperately needed these time runs.

I was one of the first cars out at 6:20pm and ran a 5.592 ET at 120.87 mph. For a green track this evening it was a good pass for me. The 60 foot and 330 foot times were pretty much what I expected. However, what came next was an unbelievably pleasant surprise. I ran again at 6:42pm, 8:07pm and 8:34pm and my ETs were 5.574, 5.574 and 5.573 respectively. 3 passes, two hours apart within .001 seconds. WOW!! Talk about being deadly consistent! I could not have possibly been happier. If I can run like this next week in Bradenton, I should bring home a whole boat load of money, as long as I can hit the tree with reaction times in the teens that is.

Instead of running Top Dog tonight, the track had a Halloween costume contest which was a real hoot. Personally, I liked the cow.

Tuesday night after work I 'm headed to Bradenton for 5 days of bracket racing. Each day is a separate race and they are paying $10,000 to win each day. They also have a second chance 1/8th mile race each day that pays $5000 to win if you lose in the first round. Really exciting stuff. I expect there will be 600 of the best bracket racers on earth there. Stay tuned.
 

October 22, 2007

                                                           
This weekend we headed to Reynolds, Georgia to compete in the NHRA Division 2 points race in Super Comp. It was the final points race of the year and we were looking forward to a weekend away. Seeing that we were going as a family and taking additional kids along, of course we got a late start Thursday night and arrived at the track around 3:00am Friday morning in the rain.

Friday turned out to be wet as the rain continued until early afternoon. We were finally able to get through tech about 3:00pm and the kids were bored to death because of the weather but we survived through it. Friday evening, Mid-State RV Sales threw a racer appreciation Bar-B-Q which was well attended and appreciated by everyone there. Sonny's Bar-B-Q catered the event and the pulled pork was excellent as well as the live music. It's really hard to argue with free food, especially great food.

As this was the last chance for most racers to earn points towards either a divisional or world championship, the place was packed to the gills with racers. There were at least 500 racers as the Super Gas field alone had 91 entries. The Super Comp field was filled with most of the really heavy hitters in the nation including Edmond Richardson, Gary Stinnet and Bob Fuller just to name a few.

On Saturday, the weather was great and we had ideal racing conditions of high 70°'s to low 80°'s with 25% relative humidity. Unfortunately, I was having serious fuel system delivery problems. On my first pass the fuel filter was clogged up and my main line fuel pressure dropped to under 10 lbs. Right after the 330 foot mark the car fell on it's nose as I ran the fuel bowls out of fuel. To remedy the situation I pulled the element out of the filter which visually looked clean and the pressure came right back up.

On the second pass the same thing happened and then I discovered that my fuel pressure gauge was defective as it showed 2 lbs of pressure with nothing connected to it. It's a good thing I had a spare gauge so I replaced it and had to reset the fuel pressure. While I was at it, I stripped the carb to make sure everything was clean. At this point because of the rain out Friday, I was out of time runs, had a new set up on the car and I was lost for a throttle stop setting, so, all I could do was serve up a WAG (wild ass guess).

Sunday was another Chamber of Commerce type of day. Beautiful racing weather as well as comfortable. For a Florida boy who is used to sweating like crazy in 80% humidity and temperatures in the mid nineties, it was great. I had some serious guessing to do, so, I threw some numbers in the box and crossed my fingers.

As it turned out, the car ran it's quickest 60 foot ever and ran flawlessly in the first round. I had to run a very experienced Skip Wall who is one of the owners of Lokar Products. He welded me to the tree and I ran an 8.98 on the 8.90 index because I threw way too much delay in the box for the throttle stop. Skip did a good job of not breaking out and took the race by .03. The only good thing about it was I figured out the problems and now the car is back to normal so dialing it in now should be a simple matter with a few runs.

The drive back home should have been uneventful but noooooo, not for me. Just south of Perry, Georgia a Greyhound bus driver pulled up beside me and pointed to me, then backwards. Yeah, I knew what that meant. By the way, thanks Greyhound! I blew a trailer tire. Actually not just blew it but shredded it. Take a look, what do you think? I'm just thankful that I had enough room on the side of I-75 not to get mowed over by a passing 18 wheeler. The rest of the trip went flawlessly and we did make it home by 11:00pm Sunday night.

Just another adventure in the wild wonderful story book world of a drag racer.