Black Diamond Motorsports GXP

The auto is way more economical in the long run I would hope and there are some wicked ones out there now, then again a stick and clutch are timeless classics. I used to have a bumper sticker that said [ I would rather eat worms than drive an automatic] LOL How things change .

Yep, know what you mean about the stick shifts. But the one's they have now like the Jerico's, Richmonds and others are a far cry from the old Muncies, Saginaws, T-10's. You actually had to use the clutch using one of them. Oh you could try not using the clutch, but that usually ended up with the driver saying '' Aw shit, not another one '' Don't ask me how I know either. lol

I never had any of the bullet proof ones but I did have 3 buckets of parts for muncie,s LOL

Just to let you all know we went a 4.115 today at Norwalk, but that was only good enough for 19th spot. That's the quickest the car has ever run and we're real happy with that. The bump spot was a 4.111 so we missed making the field by .004 of a second. The difference between #1 and #16 was a .066 seconds. Now tell me this XPS racing isn't tight !
If the weather holds, the guys are planning on staying over for a test session and trying a new intake manifold Dave Vizner has designed. Dave has built manifolds for many of the top running Comp class cars and many of the NASCAR motors. With us being the only car in the XPS class running a automatic trans. Dave feels there is power to be made with a differently designed manifold. If it shows promise, we might be heading to Texas for the season finale race. Now, where did I leave my spurs ?

UPDATE: I just got a call from Rob and apparently the test session for tomorrow at Norwalk has been cancelled.

Congrats to the entire Black Diamond crew for the new best ET, that's hauling butt. Especially for an all motor car!

Thanks Don. Like I mentioned, we're real happy with the 4.115 but when the #1 qualifier goes a 4.045 it's still light years away from us. John Deflorians' new Camaro will be set up the same way as ours but will have a clutch in it. If he comes out and starts qualifying with that car, we're going to have to re-think this automatic deal. Jason Coan at Coan transmissions has been working with us and we feel we're headed in the right direction. But as you well know, the other guys aren't sitting still either. Our motor puts out more hp than John Montecalvo's motor on Sonny's dyno, so the automatic is where the hp is being eaten up.
Plus, we're not allowed to have the box do the shifting for us like when we race in the local Outlaw races and Kevin has to shift it manually. He's shifting at 200-300 rpm under where the torque peak is right now. There is a lag between he moves the shifter and when the actual shift takes place. If the rpm goes beyond that point, bad things (expensive things) happen.

From a 4.24 at Palm Beach Raceway in the spring to the 4.115 today isn't a big difference numerically but it's a huge gain for us.

wow thats fast an close (think if i put anther $100.00 in my motor i can go that fast)

You need a couple more zero,s Keith LOL

Congrats Dan an the Black Diamond Team, I seen that pass an couldn't believe you didn't make the field. ADRL is a great series.

Congrats Dan and the Black Diamond Team!!! Nice meeting you the other week Dan! we got the car to launch with the front wheels up and the back on the ground we went 7.56 sunday about a tenth in spinning still. Lots of bugs to work out and alot to try but were on the right track!

I can't believe that next sunday is the last week for sunset. this season ended to soon!

Hi Brock. It was nice to have finally met you too. We're real pleased with the 4.115 time and we wish the season could continue. Not bad for a bunch of hillbilly racers is it ? Not my words, but Kevin's own words.

No matter what is said that is one awesome operation.

Thanks Skip. And next year there will be a sister car to the GXP when John Deflorian's Camaro is finished. The motor is done for the Camaro and will see some extended dyno time at Sonny's trying some different intake manifolds that Sonny has come up with. When the dyno time is done, it'll have to taken apart and new rods and bearings installed, liners honed to the final size, then 2-3 more dyno pulls and then shipped to John in St. Louis. John has finally taken delivery of the Five Star Camaro body and is in the process of building a chassis. This chassis will be the basis for all the Camaro bodied cars that'll come out of the Haas shops. So if someone like WJ or KJ decides they want to switch to a Camaro in the next few years, Haas will already have the dimensions and jig set up.

I just wanted to keep you folks updated on the BDM team. Dave Vizner, from Michigan, contacted Rob in July asking if he could build us a new style intake manifold to test. Rob gave him the blessing to go ahead and Dave delivered the intake last week at the Norwalk race. We didn't want to try the intake at event we might have a chance of qualifying at, so the intake was packed away in the trailer. Sonny Leonard, our engine builder, asked if he could try it on one of John Deflorian's motor this week, and after checking with Dave Vizner, we gave him the go-ahead to try in on one of John's motor on the dyno. Sonny has provided us with some super engines this season and so the new intake was tried on John's motor on Friday. John's motor is the sister motor ours and as you know John is on our team with a Camaro. Sonny is secretive about the power output of his motors so we haven't heard about the new intake......yet. The intake is on it's way back to us and it'll be used along with a prototype set of 5 circuit Braswell carbs this Saturday at PRP in the season ending Pro Mod race. We also have a set of new style headers we want to try also. If these show promise, we're off to Texas for the season ending ADRL race at the fabled Texas Motorplex. Along with the intake, carbs, and headers, we'll have a re-done transmission from Jason Coan that'll hopefully have less slippage in high gear. We're having around 12% slippage now and Jason feels he can reduce that to 6%. Our 60 foot times are in the .95 to .96 range and actually are quicker than the clutch cars, but the slippage on the far end is hurting us. We went a 4.115 at Norwalk and since the Motorplex is at sea level we're hoping for something quicker.
As I've mentioned before, we've come a long ways from a 4.24 at PBIR in the spring to the 4.115 last week. To say we're happy is a double edged sword because everyone else has stepped up and we still haven't qualified for the BIG SHOW ! Maybe the Motorplex will give us that shot we need to hold us over the winter.
There are a lot more changes coming and I'll keep you folks informed as things happen. I have to say that even though I'm not with the team at the away races, they keep me in the loop and I'm forever grateful for that. NEVER, NEVER in my dreams did I ever think I'd be this close to a team of this caliber.

hope everything works out good for you guys dan!!

I thought I'd let you know how our race at PRP went. The new intake and headers were in place but since we're using the automatic trans. Baswell is saying to stick with the 4 circuit carbs, so that's what we had in place. On the first run the car came up on the converter so quick and clean, Kevin thought something broke and he backed off the throttle and let go of the trans. brake button. Well when he realized everything was ok, the car had moved slightly and when he hit the gas again it basketballed the tires. On the second qualifier we went a 4.137 which is the quickest the car has gone at PRP. But the downside was, we lost pressure in the trans. and the run actually might have been better. We drained the trans. pan and the oil smelled a little funny, but not bad. We pulled the pan thinking the valve body came loose again, but it was in place and tight. So it's something internal. We lost another valve spring so we replaced it since the covers were already off.
As of today the new trans. is in place and we sent the headers back because the right side is pointed too close to the floor and is burning the paint off. They're going to make a new one just for the right side and will have it back hopefully by Monday. Tuesday the guys leave for the Motorplex in Texas for the last ADRL race of the season. I'll keep you posted when I hear what they do.

The guys went to the Texas Motorplex with the GXP for the season ending race. We ended up running a 4.134, but it was only good enough for 17th spot. The #16 car ran a 4.108 so unless someone broke, our season is done. Dang, that's gonna be a long drive back from Texas now. Just when you gain a small advantage, so do all the other racers and everything shifts upward. There were 13 cars in the 4.0's and ended up being the quickest XPS field ever.

Sucks y'alls season might be over... But man, 4 anything in the 1/8 is flying! lol

How about the entire Pro Extreme field being in the 3's with the #1 qualifier running a 3.581 !

Just wanted to update you on what is going on with the teams. First off, the GXP will be going back to Haas' to have some work done like installing the Electimotion receiver installed. This receiver shuts off the motor at the 1/8th mile mark and deploys the chutes automatically in case something happens to the driver or the throttle sticks. All the cars, including the T/S cars have to have this installed in 2012. Some other changes are planned for the car, but since this class has become so competitive, I'm not at liberty to talk about them. Then the car will go to Jeff Hoskins paint shop and get some touch-up work done.
Our second car, the Camaro of John Deflorians', should be done and painted by the end of January and we'll be heading to Bradenton, FL to test. In 2012 the ADRL is allowing the XPS cars to use EFI. We're planning on sticking with the carbs and see what happens with the EFI.
Todd Hoerner, who works at Sonny's Racing Engines in VA, will be getting partial sponsorship from us on his new Camaro he also plans to run in the XPS class. Todd's Camaro will have the same engine combination and our car and John's does with the 830 hemi, but Todd's will have EFI right from the start.
The biggest news for the team is the hiring of Kenny Snopps as a helper for Carl, and Kenny will also be learning the ''black art'' of clutch management from Dan Hellmer on the Deflorian car. Kenny has helped us before with a few of the local races and will be a great addition to the team. John's team is a little shorthanded, so Kenny will be working his tail off between the 2 cars and learning all he can at the same time. We're all looking forward to Kenny coming on board.