L.A.F.D. A/Fuel Dragster

Race Team Owner/Crew Chief: Pete Christlieb

Chief Mechanic: Steve Dragas and P.J. Christlieb

Driver: Scott Christlieb

Pit Crew: Butch Rose, Richard Rose, Christopher Riley

Junior Pit Crew: Zachary Christlieb, Ian Riley, Elizabeth Christlieb

Current VRA Standings as of 5/13/05: (Update coming soon)

Season Results:

46th March Meet at Famoso Raceway (March 11-13, 2005):

March meet was a rough beginning for the Christlieb Race Team's year. The new car's inception in Kansas took longer than anyone expected. Just getting to the track in March was nothing short of a miracle. Before long, everyone realized that the bugs weren't even remotely close to being ironed out. Oil being pushed past the O-Rings shut down the weekend before it even got off of the ground. It was apparent to everyone that testing was necessary before the Nitro Nationals in Sonoma.

17th Nitro Nationals Nostalgia Drags (April 23 - 24, 2005):

The weather in Northern California might have been a sign of the weekend to come for the Christlieb Race Team. Saturday morning saw Infineon Raceway in Sonoma blanketed in thick gray clouds and rain. Qualifying for the Elimination Rounds didn’t start until well after 11AM. The late start and the frequent oiling of the track resulted in only one qualifying run on Saturday. The pass was over .75 seconds slower than the faster qualifier at a little more than 6.4 seconds. This was good enough for a 13^th qualifying position in the show on Sunday. After a night of frustration trying to figure out what was wrong with the car, Sunday brought answers. It didn’t take long to see that there was a timing issue, nothing like a small part like a cam key messing up the entire performance of the engine. After borrowing and replacing the sheered key and the 45 minute thrash of all time the car ready for the first round of eliminations. But like everything else that weekend, it was a “hurry up and wait” deal. Nearly an hour of blown motors and oily track later it was our turn to take our run. After the burnout, the referee spotted a quarter size drop of oil beneath the front of the oil pan and he ordered the engine shutdown. As a result of the Sonoma weekend, the big block Chevy is a goner. A new Aerias engine will be in the car for the Pomona Nitro Nationals. With some testing in Las Vegas and Palmdale later this summer things could be looking up for the beleaguered team.

8th Pomona Nitro Nationals (August 5-7, 2005)

A brand new motor, brand new gas tank, and a new fin on the car gave everyone high hopes for the weekend to come. The temperature at Pomona Raceway was blistering all weekend long. After a morning of car prep, we prepared to make our first qualifying run. The first run of the day was a 7.51. Needless to say significant disappointment set in. With all of the upgrades how could we be going slower than we did at Sonoma. Once back to the pits the answer was soon starkly clear. A dropped valve severely damaged the number seven piston and head (pictures in the photo gallery). For twenty minutes the idea of packing it in seemed to float in the air. But Steve was confident that the head could be fixed if Pete could come up with another piston. So during rush hour traffic on a Friday night, Pete went through LA. He did not return until nearly 8 PM that night. The damaged motor forced us to miss our 7 PM run. Into the wee hours of the morning work went on to completely put the engine back together. The task was finally completed around 2 AM. With the car back in one piece we set off to take our final qualifying run. Run two was a significant improvement with a 7.19 at a little over 190 MPH. That was good enough to qualify us for 9^th position and a face off with current VRA points leader Mike Austin. So it was back to the pits in an attempt to find a half second of speed. As the sun, began to set on Pomona Raceway, we pushed out for the first round of eliminations. We knew it would take some luck to make it to Sunday. Unfortunately, luck wasn’t on our side as we ran a 7.10 to Mike’s 6.46. Although there are still some bugs to work out in the car it was a step in the right direction. The team has shown once again that it has the ability to put a car together again and get it running when the pressure is on. We also showed steady improvement toward our goal of breaking 200 MPH. It will only be a matter of time before other A/Fuel teams will be looking at our parachute as we rocket past them. A trip to Vegas for testing is the next stop for Christlieb Racing before the big trip to Pacific Raceway in Kent, Washington.

Pictures of Christlieb Race cars

* Photo Gallery

* Old Christlieb dragsters never die

the nostalgia eliminator and Rear

Engine Dragsters live on!