“That is why I do drag and drive!” - Tom Bagguley

Preface: If you have been following along with Tom Bagguley’s adventure as he flew from England to Los Angeles, made repairs on the Nap Shack Mustang, drove 1700+ miles, repairing the car along the way, before even starting on the most grueling Rocky Mountain Race Week yet with the heat and swapping a piston with limited tools in the Tulsa Raceway Park parking lot by himself, then you’ll enjoy this last installment of the story! We pick up with Tom as he is leaving Forced Performance in Texas.

To catch up on the previous two parts, you can find Part One HERE and then grab a second beer for Part Two HERE!!

Lastly, make sure to follow Tom on his Youtube Channel (Bagz96), Instagram (@bagz96) and Facebook (Tom Bagguley)!

Tired, Hungry and Filthy at Yello Belly Dragstrip!

Leaving Forced Performance, Tired, Hungry and Filthy, I headed onto the last checkpoint, Yello Belly Dragstrip, what a surprise there was when I got there, The owner was out front and he saw my UK flag flying on the side of the car, Asked me if I wanted to make a pass, Obviously I had to say YES to this! Lined up with his Dodge Ram, fully loaded down with all the kit and the hitch rack on the back, I made a pass! No timeslip and I couldn't do a whole lot because of the 50 litres (Yes litres! I have Australian fuel cans! Thanks Benny :D ) and the radials on the rack but I am calling that a win still! 

I got the full guided tour of Yello Belly facility which was amazing, You can find that on my YouTube channel, Bagz96 (Video HERE). What a place, the stories from the owner are just amazing, I will one day be at an event at this track because it is truly a spectacle to behold!

After the full tour, and a shake of hands, I hit the road again and headed towards the hotel room which had been donated to me with thanks from Eric & Crystal, It was the BEST shower I had ever had! The AC was AWESOME and I really should have used more of it than I did, I got straight back on the road, picked up some Valvoline VR1 and a fresh oil filter, some fresh plugs and a tune checkup before that evening's racing! 

Black but Zero Glitter

It did feel good to drain that oil out, a job I should have done way back in LA… but hey it's done now, no harm done and came out black but zero glitter in it which was reassuring! I did still have an exhaust leak which I couldn't get right because there is no flex pipe between each header it has warped with the heat cycles and it would not go back together… I fixed it later on in the week, I was just stoked to have made it to Texas Motorplex!

When I started to change the wheels and tyres, I noticed that 2 of the wheel studs had come out the back of the axle… The guys in the Juggernaught truck were there to save my bacon once again, Putting a tack on the back of the studs and burning through the gear oil that was leaking into the drum again (Just C-Clip eliminator things…) Gave them whatever cash I had on me and chucked the radials on! 

While I sat in the pits, Rob said that I better get my injectors checked because one of them could have been the reason for the piston failure before. And just as it happens the BTR guys had an injector cleaner, oh and some AWESOME Jambalaya so we stood and talked for a bit while tucking into a couple of bowls and waiting for the injectors to be cleaned. There was 1 who wasn't very happy but at the end of the 2nd bowl, it was flowing the same as the others which was all that mattered! (Thanks Paul & BTR) 

Old Yeller kept us up

Matty cleared the tune-up a bit with the clean injectors, tamed some stuff down and we went back to the gate setting on the controller, starting fresh just to finish the week off. I got my safety pass in and took the chance to watch a bit of racing as it cooled off! Rob was having trans issues so he got his safe pass in towards the end of the night and pulled the box (transmission) out to have a look. We stayed up until 2am getting the box back in Old Yeller so we could hit the road early in the morning.

Sadly Robs' issues just were not going away… Towing the big camper and all the kit, the BRUTAL Texas heat it just couldn't cope. We stopped at 2 car wash to hose the underside of his car off (Nap Shack got a bath too while we waited) We zip-tied another trans cooler to the grille and it still wasn't enough. After hours and hours on the road, I had to abandon the Lepenske family to be able to get to the track, unload and make a pass before the lanes closed…

Weird and Random Leg Lamp

It was a close call. I made it to the last checkpoint (Rather weird and random Leg Lamp but hey that's what RMRW is all about :D ) at 20:50 according to my photos' timestamp… I got to the track, created a Yard sale of epic proportions, got the tyres changed over and did a quick ECU check for the logs from the day, then I was called for the final time! Really soft pass, car still really struggling with 60ft times but nothing I could do anything about it, I really needed to change the stator in the converter, but not really knowing what I had and not having any stators to change too, I am stuck with what I got which was still a running car :D The data shows it could be a 10-second car which is really cool! 

After making the pass, I was worn out, SUPER long day on the road so I took the chance to just set-up camp, (The concrete in Thunder Valley Pits is REALLY nice to sleep on I tell you that… Got the car mostly packed up and just before bed, Rob rolled in… Sadly the lanes were closed but he did make the drive, Albeit the underside of the car looked like someone was murdered…. 

required a jack, a ratchet strap and some serious force

The next morning Rob helped me fix the exhaust leak, it required a jack, a ratchet strap and some serious force but it eventually got the v band located, the clamp done up TIGHT and it was sealed :D It was a bittersweet moment because Rob was out, he was getting a ride back to Tulsa from Jesse, was going to pick up the girls and the car + camper and head on home and I knew it would be another year before I got to see them again… With a firm handshake and hug, we parted ways, I headed for Mo Kahn… 

Not alone for long though, I spotted Caleb, Trevor & Eric at a gas station not far out of Thunder Valley and decided to cruise along with them for the day! Trevor was nursing a hurt turbo but otherwise, it was smooth sailing! We stopped at some cool spots that day! Including this REALLY cool proper man cave, filled with cool old signs, cool old Hot Wheels and emblems. Was nice to chill out there for a bit! We missed the burnouts as it got shut down but ah well. That's what video is for :D 

I went out there and put on a SHOW!

Made it to Mo-Kahn, SUPER cool track again, Rolled in, got the car unloaded in record time and did some bench racing with Matty, I wanted more boost (Always want more until the rods are on the floor) and the boost controller wasn't doing what we were asking it too, so I went back to what broke the piston on day 1 but put some extra holes in vac line to bleed off some pressure. This was all after my safety pass of course! I went out there and put on a SHOW! The car didn't make much more boost on the line but it did get up to the 2 step target which was nice, Launched really soft as usual and it came up QUICK! That new Forced Performance turbo was on song and it very quickly got into the boost cut…… Big fireball, I got back in and it immediately came up to the boost cut once again, and then again for a third time…. A lot of people thought I had hurt it again but the safety in the ECU kept the rods inside and everything was happy! 

I slept again in the tent in the grass of the pits, was ALOT cooler across the border which was super nice and I managed to get up at a decent time ready for the last short drive of the event. I was so worn out the night before I left the radials on the car and just loaded it down with the other tools and street tyres, We only had 150 miles to do and the radials were really old so I just decided to crank the pressure back up and just roll with it, Plus they are taller than my street tyres so it meant I could drop 200rpm on the cruising speeds too! 

That is why I do drag and drive!

Caleb, Trevor, Eric, Jesse & Myself all rolled out about 8:30 am ready to hit the road for the final couple of checkpoints & back to Tulsa. 

Pleased to report smooth sailing yet again! Although it was super hot out again the car still kept cold, I did spill my slushy which wasn't fun but it had evaporated off the carpet after about 30 seconds it was that hot… We cruised, and I soaked in the sights and sounds, Just cruising along following friends, Nothing to worry about and just living in the moment, That is why I do drag and drive!

We arrived back at Tulsa for a big sigh of relief, and a HUGE surprise that the Lepenske family had driven back to Tulsa and unloaded the camper for some AC Hangout space too! So awesome to see them all again, even if it was only for another day.

I got to the third round

Arriving back at Tulsa meant I had completed the event, I didn't need to break the beams, all I had to do was show Matt the car still runs and drives and that is it, I entered into the big bracket race as I wanted to make as many passes as possible, So I played with the strategy and went back to pure gate pressure, tried to leave on the same boost each time but I did have to cut a light. Since this is a bracket race it doesn't matter who gets to the end first, it's who doesn't break out of their dial or who breaks out the least… 

I was stoked to even make it into it and I got to the third round before I broke out, The diesel truck in the other lane took longer to get into the beams than I was used to and I built more boost than ever on the starting line. I could have lifted and won but I stayed in it to see how fast it would go :D As you can tell, I am not a bracket racer haha.

Which again for me was awesome

That is the end of my RMRW adventure for this year. For the rest of the day, we just sat about and watched the finals. We went through the awards ceremony in the dusk of the final day. And I got another surprise, yet another hotel room! Thanks, Brendan! We also hung out at Buffalo Wild Wings till late. Which again for me was awesome because I could have a conversation with Adam Dorey and Chad Reynolds which I hadn't really had time to do because I was too busy wrenching or driving :D 

But yes, That is my RMRW experience. Looking back I wouldn't change a thing, Sleeping rough, rough day 1, and those mental temps, ALL truly made that event for me and I cannot thank everyone enough for everything they did, loaning tools, giving me the time of day, the unlimited offers for food, drinks, beds & support was incredible, I cannot wait for the RMRW Party in 2025. 

It's going to be EPIC!

Postface: If that doesn’t motivate you to get off your ass and go do something, anything, car related as soon as you can! And do it with a smile like Tom does!! Make sure you follow him to stay caught up on his adventures!!