I had been looking forward to the Southern Super Heavyweight Shootout this year perhaps more than previous years because of the lack of track events due to work and weather.
The car seemed to be ready and the weather forecast was promising decent track conditions.
The entire event seemed somewhat less hectic starting with the slow line at the gate and the even slower line at the tech station compared to previous years. It seemed like it took an inordinate amount of time for the track to be prepped and the call to come to the lanes to begin trial runs down the strip.
The first run proved to bring out the drama early. After a decent burnout to warm the cold drag tires, I inched up to the tree barely triggering the 2nd launch bulb. As the tree began to come down, ALL the lights came on (the three yellow bulbs, the green and the red) as I sat there momentarily confused what to do. After a quick glance around (and not seeing anyone frantically running in circles with their arms waving like some cartoon character with their hair on fire), I decided I was good to go and launched the car down the track.
The 1-2 shift hit hard and the 2-3 shift came and went with no discernible concerns. It felt like a very good run but I was disappointed as the time slip shown the lights had obviously malfunctioned. A quick stop at the track scales confirmed we were over the requisite 4,000 lbs.
I returned to the pits and did a quick check of the car before returning to the lanes which were quite full now of both event participants and the test and tune cars. After about 45 minutes or so we had finally worked our way to the burnout box and was paired up against a black Marauder. The Marauder got the jump at the tree but I started to 'reel him in' as we progressed down the track. It was a tight fender race at the end with the win light coming on in my lane.
Car # 283 / 285
(Blue Flame) / (Marauder)
R/T = .101 / -.117
60' = 1.779 / 1.936
330' = 5.096 / 5.307
1/8 = 7.891 / 8.088
mph = 87.21 / 88.97
1000' = 10.321 / 10.518
E.T. = 12.357 / 12.561
MPH = 110.88 / 110.61
I was escatic with the new personal best ET and once again returned to the pits to give the car a quick check. As I was getting ready to return to the staging lanes for another time trial, an announcement was made over the PA system that there was going to be some track cleanup time since someone had some type of a mishap on the track.
It seemed like forever before the familiar roar of engines screaming down the strip returned. Shortly thereafter, an announcement was made that the staging lanes were closed as they prepared to take their lunch break. So much for the hopes of another time run.
With no further time trials, I decided to set the dial-in time to 12.35 figuring that to be a safe number as it had now been about 3 hours since my last run and the DA had obviously went up in that time. I figured worse case, if the car decided to run as fast as before, we would just lift at the end to keep from breaking out.
Car # 288 / 283
(Caprice?) / (Blue Flame)
DIAL = 12.90 / 12.35
R/T = -.074 / -.038
60' = 1.814 / 1.859
330' = 5.311 / 5.222
1/8 = 8.204 / 8.026
mph = 85.70 / 87.26
1000' = 10.773 / 10.459
E.T. = 12.955 / 12.498
MPH = 102.65 / 111.00
I had survived the first round!
Now all I had to do was analyze the performance and select the dial in time for the next round. I thought about leaving the 12.35 as it was but for some reason decided that was going to leave too much on the table for the opponent to have a better combo to beat me. Most of these guys are seasoned veterans of the 1/4 mile track and you need to bring your A-game to stand a chance to beat them. Over an hour later we were called to the lanes and I hastily changed the dial-in to a 12.45.
As we lined up in the pits, I found myself against 'Stormin' Norman - a solid contender in the class with his 11 second Heavy Chevy. I knew it was going to be a tough race. I would have about a half second head start at the launch due to our difference in the dial-in numbers. I would need a good launch and a good reaction time.
Car # 2269 / 283
(Chevy) / (Lincoln)
DIAL = 11.90 / 12.45
R/T = .090 / .025
60' = 1.870 / 1.788
330' = 5.047 / 5.060
1/8 = 7.706 / 7.825
mph = 92.55 / 88.53
1000' = 10.008 / 10.226
E.T. = 11.964 / 12.258
MPH = 115.00 / 108.65
As we approached the end of the run, I glanced and saw no one in the mirror. Instinctively I knew he was in my blind spot and I was ahead enough to lift off the throttle and coast thru the traps to save myself from breaking out. As it turned out, it was 'too little, too late' as I saw the win light come on in his lane! I had to have broken out!! Sure enough, the time slip told the tale. I was a solid two tenths too fast!! The mph was off just a bit reflecting the lift off the throttle but I would have had to stab the brakes pretty hard to have kept from breaking out on that run. Ol' Norm 'pushed me out' pretty good.
Oh well, I at least consoled myself with another new personal best ET! I had brought my best, the launch was good with a 1.788 sixty foot time and the reaction time of 0.025 is about as good as I get without risking a red light! I do believe had I not lifted off the throttle, it would have been a 12.1 second run at 112 plus mph.
Since I was now eliminated from the competition, I ran in the open test and tune lanes to try to get that elusive 12.1 second ET. On the first attempt, I had pushed through the brakes trying to launch with too high of a rpm on the footbrake and the second attempt netted a 12.319 at 111.62 mph with a 1.771 sixty foot with a 0.054 reaction time for a new personal best 1/4 mile MPH trap speed. :thumbsup:
The car seemed to be ready and the weather forecast was promising decent track conditions.
The entire event seemed somewhat less hectic starting with the slow line at the gate and the even slower line at the tech station compared to previous years. It seemed like it took an inordinate amount of time for the track to be prepped and the call to come to the lanes to begin trial runs down the strip.
The first run proved to bring out the drama early. After a decent burnout to warm the cold drag tires, I inched up to the tree barely triggering the 2nd launch bulb. As the tree began to come down, ALL the lights came on (the three yellow bulbs, the green and the red) as I sat there momentarily confused what to do. After a quick glance around (and not seeing anyone frantically running in circles with their arms waving like some cartoon character with their hair on fire), I decided I was good to go and launched the car down the track.
The 1-2 shift hit hard and the 2-3 shift came and went with no discernible concerns. It felt like a very good run but I was disappointed as the time slip shown the lights had obviously malfunctioned. A quick stop at the track scales confirmed we were over the requisite 4,000 lbs.
I returned to the pits and did a quick check of the car before returning to the lanes which were quite full now of both event participants and the test and tune cars. After about 45 minutes or so we had finally worked our way to the burnout box and was paired up against a black Marauder. The Marauder got the jump at the tree but I started to 'reel him in' as we progressed down the track. It was a tight fender race at the end with the win light coming on in my lane.
Car # 283 / 285
(Blue Flame) / (Marauder)
R/T = .101 / -.117
60' = 1.779 / 1.936
330' = 5.096 / 5.307
1/8 = 7.891 / 8.088
mph = 87.21 / 88.97
1000' = 10.321 / 10.518
E.T. = 12.357 / 12.561
MPH = 110.88 / 110.61
I was escatic with the new personal best ET and once again returned to the pits to give the car a quick check. As I was getting ready to return to the staging lanes for another time trial, an announcement was made over the PA system that there was going to be some track cleanup time since someone had some type of a mishap on the track.
It seemed like forever before the familiar roar of engines screaming down the strip returned. Shortly thereafter, an announcement was made that the staging lanes were closed as they prepared to take their lunch break. So much for the hopes of another time run.
With no further time trials, I decided to set the dial-in time to 12.35 figuring that to be a safe number as it had now been about 3 hours since my last run and the DA had obviously went up in that time. I figured worse case, if the car decided to run as fast as before, we would just lift at the end to keep from breaking out.
Car # 288 / 283
(Caprice?) / (Blue Flame)
DIAL = 12.90 / 12.35
R/T = -.074 / -.038
60' = 1.814 / 1.859
330' = 5.311 / 5.222
1/8 = 8.204 / 8.026
mph = 85.70 / 87.26
1000' = 10.773 / 10.459
E.T. = 12.955 / 12.498
MPH = 102.65 / 111.00
I had survived the first round!
Now all I had to do was analyze the performance and select the dial in time for the next round. I thought about leaving the 12.35 as it was but for some reason decided that was going to leave too much on the table for the opponent to have a better combo to beat me. Most of these guys are seasoned veterans of the 1/4 mile track and you need to bring your A-game to stand a chance to beat them. Over an hour later we were called to the lanes and I hastily changed the dial-in to a 12.45.
As we lined up in the pits, I found myself against 'Stormin' Norman - a solid contender in the class with his 11 second Heavy Chevy. I knew it was going to be a tough race. I would have about a half second head start at the launch due to our difference in the dial-in numbers. I would need a good launch and a good reaction time.
Car # 2269 / 283
(Chevy) / (Lincoln)
DIAL = 11.90 / 12.45
R/T = .090 / .025
60' = 1.870 / 1.788
330' = 5.047 / 5.060
1/8 = 7.706 / 7.825
mph = 92.55 / 88.53
1000' = 10.008 / 10.226
E.T. = 11.964 / 12.258
MPH = 115.00 / 108.65
As we approached the end of the run, I glanced and saw no one in the mirror. Instinctively I knew he was in my blind spot and I was ahead enough to lift off the throttle and coast thru the traps to save myself from breaking out. As it turned out, it was 'too little, too late' as I saw the win light come on in his lane! I had to have broken out!! Sure enough, the time slip told the tale. I was a solid two tenths too fast!! The mph was off just a bit reflecting the lift off the throttle but I would have had to stab the brakes pretty hard to have kept from breaking out on that run. Ol' Norm 'pushed me out' pretty good.
Oh well, I at least consoled myself with another new personal best ET! I had brought my best, the launch was good with a 1.788 sixty foot time and the reaction time of 0.025 is about as good as I get without risking a red light! I do believe had I not lifted off the throttle, it would have been a 12.1 second run at 112 plus mph.
Since I was now eliminated from the competition, I ran in the open test and tune lanes to try to get that elusive 12.1 second ET. On the first attempt, I had pushed through the brakes trying to launch with too high of a rpm on the footbrake and the second attempt netted a 12.319 at 111.62 mph with a 1.771 sixty foot with a 0.054 reaction time for a new personal best 1/4 mile MPH trap speed. :thumbsup: