After getting rained out last week I was ready for some racing and the weather was great. For whatever reason the low car count in our class that we've been having lately wasn't a factor this time. We had 9 cars in our stick class, and since there were only 3 bikes present they decided to roll them into our class too, giving us a field of 12.
First time trial was a dud for me as it usually is. I only had a 3300 pill in the two step but still I spun bad enough to back off the throttle then get back in it. I was lined up with a Pinto from the auto class and he had even more trouble getting out of the hole than I did. It's not pretty but here it is:
http://youtu.be/r4zPzD5VAJ0
A little side note on the first time trial pass. At first I thought I'd be running a real nice looking '72 Nova that was initially beside me in the lanes. I noticed he had a vanity plate that read FRD EATR, and thought to myself "we'll see if he can back that up". You never really know what's under the hood and maybe he would have whopped me bad, but I wanted to run him just because of the plate.
As it turned out the way the cars were staggered in the lanes he ran somebody else just before I went against the Pinto. I did notice that he ran a low 13 second ET, so I could have re-established some Ford pride if we'd lined up!
In an attempt to address the spinning problem I lowered the 2 step 200 rpm and dropped a pound of air from the tires for the second time trial. This worked so good that the car bogged a bit coming out. It's such a fine line trying to find just the right hook and launch rpm. At any rate the 60' was a lot better and the ET was close to what I expected at 12.03. Minus the bog I figured it would have been an 11.9x run.
http://youtu.be/iuSswNVCgng
Third time trial was supposed to be the next to the last but right after I ran someone blew an auto transmission and oiled down the entire track, thus making it the last one. I had brought the 2 step back up to 3300 and still had a very slight bog. It was a solid run at 11.94 which was what I'd dialed last time at the track, and in fact was still written on the window. I took that as an omen and left the dial there to start eliminations.
http://youtu.be/KSiMl16JK1c
First round I got the guy in the Maverick that I'd run in second time trial. He'd run a 14.13 then, but was dialed at 13.00. I thought he was either overly optimistic or something was up, maybe he was spraying or something. With my 11.94 dial I gave him just over a second head start, but I caught him by the 1/8, then pulled away. I knew I was having a really strong run so I braked well before the stripe. The car had hooked hard and not bogged at all. I ran 12.02 on the brakes way early. Definitely a solid run.
Back in the pits I was glad to hear that both my friends Chris and Dennis had also notched first round wins. Two of the three bikes had advanced as well as a guy in a Fox Mustang that I'd never seen before.
Second round the Fox matched with one of the bikes, I got the other bike, and Chris and Dennis got each other.
I don't know why there were only the 3 bikes this week. Usually they have a good sized field and the regulars in that class are tough racers. Sitting in the lanes my opponent came over to wish me luck and express his dissatisfaction with the bikes being rolled into the stick class. I saw he was one of the big guns in bike and knew I had my work cut out for me.
He was dialed 9.49 and I stayed at 11.94 so I'd get a big head start. I had the tree on him by a bit .038 to .044, and I hooked good. A little too good as I had a bit of bog and that killed me. I couldn't cover and he ran me down. Oh well, I've had a good couple weeks, it had to end some time.
Chris vs Dennis is usually a good match up as their cars run close to the same times, and they both are good drivers. This time the edge went to Dennis as Chris had some traction problems.
I loaded up and left then, but heard this morning that Dennis had transmission problems in the next round setting up the two bikes for the final, with the guy who beat me taking the title.
So I didn't last too long last night but looking at the bright side, nothing is broken on the car and I still have a free pass for next time, so life is good.
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