First time to the track

[tclelland]

OK, first let me state the good news. My first time ever to the track with my car turned out great. I ran the 1/4 mile in 14.032 at 98.5 MPH. My 60' time was 2.113. First time ever....what a rush!
All I can say is if you have the opportunity to drag at your local track (mine is Maple Grove near Reading, PA) don't pass it up. My reaction time was .560 but I was a little nervous since it was my first time.
The bad news was I almost didn't get to run. I was sitting in line my turn with my electric windows down. When it was time to run I pulled up, drove around the water box and prepared to stage. The official waved at me to put up my windows and guess what....no power to the windows.
I have a strange short that blinks out the windows and radio every so often. Perfect timing. I have to back up from the staging lane so other cars can go around me while I try to get the %#@& windows up. No luck, so I drive around the back of the lane to the exit and all of a sudden the windows agree to cooperate. The official was cool, he held the line and let me sneak back into position. I lined up against a Honda ??? and off we went.
Not only was I happy with my time, I beat the Honda that ran a 14.246

[Joe 1320]

look like you did really good for the first time! The reaction for a begiiner could be worse, your 60' is right where it should be on average radials, the ET and speed are about the norm. nice job!

A few more tweaks and you're in the 13s.

[Injuneer]

Very good results.... I don't think I even got close to that reaction time or ET the first few tries ...

Maple Grove is a great track.... beautiful location, well organized, top quality surface, huge shutdown area - the guy in the rest room collecting tips for tidying up is a nice touch too .

My passenger side window is so s - - l - - o - - w to move that I don't put it down any more, particularly in the staging lanes. Gets sort of hot sitting there in the fire jacket, but I don't want to take the risk of it not going back up....

Can't wait to see the results from your next trip to the track.

[DJ Taso]

I don't care how many times you go to the track, you will always feel nervous. It's one of those feelings you can't describe, it's the best.

[Kevin - Blown 95 TA]

Do you realize that you only beat a Honda by .21 seconds. Mod time...

[N20LT4Bird]

Originally posted by Kevin - Blown 95 TA
Do you realize that you only beat a Honda by .21 seconds. Mod time...

Unfortunately, there are Hondas out there that will beat your 11.8.......not many, but some are pretty quick. One of my students just built a civic that is pushing 340 HP at the wheels. He has run a VERY traction limited 12.5 @ 115mph. He's challenging me when I get my car back together. It may be time for some more nitrous, just to make sure....

[Kevin - Blown 95 TA]

Originally posted by N20LT4Bird
Unfortunately, there are Hondas out there that will beat your 11.8.......

I know - I was just giving him a hard time-

Besides, that has already happenned. They were serious drag cars though - gutted with Nitrous & RWD. I saw plenty other more normal imports faster than mine, too, but never raced one. 11.8 isn't very fast anymore, and I never went the last step to get some slicks & skinnies to take advantage of the power my car has, or it would be a touch faster ET than the times I posted. Yessiree, there's allways someone faster, someone willing to spend more money and every last waking hour on his car to get it to scoot. My original goal was to run a 12, and not race it again with the stock shortblock, but that came easy with a few more mods, and then I SWORE that when I ran an 11 that I would quit racing the car unless I built the engine, got slicks, etc. I think that the neat thing about my car is that it can run 12 flat all day long just the way I drive it around on the street, and I can also drive it 600 miles round trip to a car show if I want. I'm happy with it the way it is, but if I start getting smote by imports, I might have to rethink my position...

[Joe 1320]

Originally posted by Kevin - Blown 95 TA
I think that the neat thing about my car is that it can run 12 flat all day long just the way I drive it around on the street, and I can also drive it 600 miles round trip to a car show if I want. I'm happy with it the way it is, but if I start getting smote by imports, I might have to rethink my position...

And that speaks volumes. A streetable 12 flat is a nice place to be. No fussing with air pressure, fuel pressure, swapping rubber, etc. Drive it and go. The car is not really that stressed either. That could potentially go 250K miles with little performance loss with regular maintainance. I just don't see imports pulling off the same feat. Sure they can go fast, but I don't see the longevity when stressed beyond stock.

I remember being at the track on a hot summer day, had the stereo up, the a/c blowing cold. Couldn't hear the other rice burner in the other lane or my own exhaust for that matter. I was proving a point to a now intently watching crowd. I ripped off a 10. 91 to his losing 11.40 by leaving the car in drive and just hammering the throttle from idle at the last amber. No brake torque launch.. from idle. The poor import guy was frantically rowing through the gears with his turbo spitting back every gearshift. Poor guy was working so hard and I was out for a cruise. I drove home without swapping tires, with the a/c and tunes still going.

[Kevin - Blown 95 TA]

Originally posted by Joe 1320
I remember being at the track on a hot summer day, had the stereo up, the a/c blowing cold. Couldn't hear the other rice burner in the other lane or my own exhaust for that matter. I was proving a point to a now intently watching crowd. I ripped off a 10. 91 to his losing 11.40 by leaving the car in drive and just hammering the throttle from idle at the last amber. No brake torque launch.. from idle. The poor import guy was frantically rowing through the gears with his turbo spitting back every gearshift. Poor guy was working so hard and I was out for a cruise. I drove home without swapping tires, with the a/c and tunes still going.

Good story!!!

[N20LT4Bird]

Originally posted by Kevin - Blown 95 TA
. 11.8 isn't very fast anymore,

Dont sell yourself short - 11.8 is pretty freakin fast for a street car! And your right, about the streetability of these cars. I have driven several 5-6 hour trips in mine with the A/C blastin, 75 mph in 6th gear at 23 mpg. Its great.

As a high school teacher, I have seen some of the imports first hand though, and my opinion is changing more and more. Many of these cars are just as streetable. You just cant undersestimate some imports. Notice I said imports, not ricers. Ricers you can underestimate.

[Formulaboy95]

I think I saw George Baxter's camaro today

Didn't get a chance to stop by the car, or see it run. Anybody know if he got it back up with the new setup? He wasn't racing for times, and it had a new wing on the back. Sorry to hijack the post! I wonder if he got into the 8's......

[Dave M]

Fred posted a few weeks ago that George ran his new setup at Maple Grove and got into the 8's. try seraching for the thread and you can read all about it.

[Formulaboy95]

Thanks, must have missed that post. Guess that could have been him today at Island. Wish I could have seen that beast run! I went to try out my new suspension setup, and ended up with 2 horrible runs. Getting better with my launch though, got my R/T around .107. So I guess practice makes a big difference.

tclelland - Yeah I know what you mean. I love the rush!!!