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Amsoil Transmission Fluid Saves The Day

Rick Braitenbach, a Synthetic Direct customer and Amsoil user in Grande Prairie, Alberta, Canada, bought himself a drag racing car last year – fulfilling a life-long dream. The car is powerful. It’s a 1974 Firebird with a 387 cubic inch, small block Chevy motor, 600 horsepower and 528 foot-pounds of torque.

“It was my first season running Super Pro and I had never been past the second round of eliminations,” Braitenbach said. Shortly into the race day, he faced the possibility of losing not only the competition, but the car when the transmission heated up.

“I started going rounds and found my powerglide transmission temperature above the normal readings of 140 degrees between rounds,” Braitenbach said. “I have never had to hot lap because I’ve always had lots of time between rounds. This concerned me as my car is not equipped with a transmission cooler, only a line to the temperature sender and back in.” He went to the finals extremely worried, Braitenbach said. “I thought, ‘I might toast a transmission,’ as it was still at 200 degrees after cool down.”

While he was trying to stall the proceedings as long as possible, the car’s previous owner approached him and asked what was wrong. Braitenbach told him his concern about the tranny temperature. The car’s previous owner said, “The car is running AMSOIL synthetic. Go kick some butt; you have nothing to worry about,” Braitenbach said.

Although he was still uncertain, Braitenbach decided to take the man’s word because he had drag raced the car for years. “I did my usual length of burnout and prestaged, trying to buy some more time,” Braitenbach said. “I took my time staging because the temperature was at 220 degrees by now.”

The car is equipped with a trans brake, a device that locks the car in reverse and holds it stationary, allowing the driver to bring the rpms up without moving the car. “I brought the rpms up on the second amber rather than the first, as I usually do,” Braitenbach said.

Drag racing is a race against an opponent and the clock. Drivers predict, or “dial in,” the amount of time it will take them to run one-quarter mile. The winner is the one closest to that predicted time.

“I banged my dial-in dead on at 10.75, something to which I was never close in previous rounds,” Braitenbach said. “My 60-foot time was the best I ever obtained (1.48), with reaction time of .513, and the transmission temperature was 280 degrees at the top end.

“My wife and crew chief, Claudette, tackled the starter with a flying scissor hug when she saw the win light. I know I could not have accomplished this without the superior AMSOIL Automatic Transmission Fluid.

“You have a customer for life. I have since installed a transmission cooler and topped it off with AMSOIL ATF.”