Rookie's first time out...

driller

driller

El Presidente
Staff member
A beautiful day for racing today at the Pittsburg RaceWay. I met up with Ray(aka 1wykdmk8) at the track today.

No apologies, but this was my first time out. Here are the results of the day.

http://mark8.org/users/driller/pics/Winner845.jpg
I'm number 845 and the slips are in reverse order, left to right.
http://mark8.org/users/driller/pics/TimeSlip042404.jpg

Ray and I had a great time. We were the only Lincolns racing. Wife shot some video with her camera but video is too big without compression for posting.

My first run, I was as nervous as a whore in church. Approaching the start line I looked over and saw I was running against a nice looking Mustang. "I'm gonna lose", I thought. Lining up at the staging lights, I knew I was gonna lose, but I was ready to give 'er hell. Everything happened so fast, I was unprepared and when the race had started I saw a gray streak to my right and remember thinking, "Darn, I sure am gonna lose!". I picked up the timeslip down the backroad and returned to the staging lanes. I pulled back in line to find myself opposite the 'Stang that just whupped me. He had already exited his vehicle and left the hood up - allowing me to see I had not just lost to a run of the mill 'Stang, but a supercharged 12 second Cobra!

After a long delay, the second round came and sure enough, me and the S/C Cobra are lined up again. I tried to concentrate hard this round but still got spanked and had another terrible RT but a more respectable ET.

The third and final round, I was up against some type of VW. He got the jump on me with my RT still awful, but it was at least a more evenly matched race. We were pretty much side by side but I could never get in front. My ET was pretty close to the second run.
 
RE: Rookie's first time out...

Sounds like you had a lot of fun. Don't worry about he guy in the lane next to you, you are just going for your own times. Also your RT won't do anything you your 1/4 mile time. Just wory about a getting a good launch.
 
RE: Rookie's first time out...

RT makes a difference on who gets the win light, though. But i agree, ignore the other guy, concentrate on the light and floor it when the last yellow lights up.

I was racing a couple of buddies last year. Every time we lined up, they'd get a better 60' and ET, but i beat them enough on RT that they never got ahead of me.
 
RE: Rookie's first time out...

2.14 and 2.16 are good short times. That is the KEY to running quick 1/4 miles. What kind of rubber were you running, and at what psi? What about wheels?

Kale
 
RE: Rookie's first time out...

Cool! Congrats. Your 60' times look a lot better than they did on the Tazzo, don't they?
 
RE: Rookie's first time out...

I was pleased with the last two runs, especially the 60' times. The track appeared to be in good shape(like I would know! :+ ). With only 3 runs, I didn't do much testing and tuning... the tires were my street Michelins at 30 psi on my bling/bling 10 spoke chrome directionals. Hope to one day have some drag radials(maybe mounted on some light weight snowflake rims?).

I had a blast. So much thrill factor for so little time. :D

It's funny, I've been concentrating(car wise) on my 60' times(and I'm not complaining), and I find my biggest challenge to be the light tree and my reaction time! I kept the Tazzo in the glove box - I didn't need any more distractions! ;)
 
RE: Rookie's first time out...

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............ I kept the Tazzo in the glove box - I didn't need any more distractions! ;)
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Would have been intresting to see how close the Tazzo was in the quarter. Like I had said before in another post, mine was off .06 slower on average in the 1/8-mile and about 1.5 mph faster than the tracks timers.

Glad you finally made it to a track...it can be a blast.....and addicting ;)....be careful :)

** Bill **
1995 LSC-R'ed w/Recaro's and Cobra R's
Veteran of Carlisle 2000/01/02/03
[a href=//cardomain.com/member_pages/view_page.pl?page_id=258112]For Pic's and Mods click here[/a]

...If you can read this, thank a teacher...If it's in English...thank a Veteran
 
RE: Rookie's first time out...

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... Glad you finally made it to a track...it can be a blast.....and addicting ;)....be careful :)
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Yeah, just what I need... another hobby!! :+
 
RE: Rookie's first time out...

Those are some good 60ft times, esp for a car w/o a convertor. 4.10's are nice.
I hope you slapped Ray around a bit.
 
RE: Rookie's first time out...

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...I hope you slapped Ray around a bit.
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ROTFLMAO! :7

Joe, look at the weather on the time slips. This track is like at 1200' elevation. The barometer was low then and I calculate an density altitude of about 4000 feet. Sound right? What does that tell you about the times?

A stall converter would be nice, but I gotta wait for my rich uncle to get out of the poorhouse. ::roll::
 
RE: Rookie's first time out...

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I bet the guy in the other lane was suprised :eek: your 14.5 Lincoln v. his 14.7 car. What kind of car was it?
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Some type of VW - didn't really pay attention. I doubt he was as suprised by me as I was by the S/C Cobra! LOL!

The run with the VW... I heard the announcer say "blah, blah Volkswagon in the right lane... and looks like some kinda Lincoln... Continental in the left ..." :7
 
RE: Rookie's first time out...

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Joe, look at the weather on the time slips. This track is like at 1200' elevation. The barometer was low then and I calculate an density altitude of about 4000 feet. Sound right? What does that tell you about the times?
[/div]

I hate answering my own questions. :(

It appears this track records absolute barometer readings. This means the altitude is compared to a standard of 29.92 inches of mercury at sea level. Since the best run was at an absolute barometer of 28.41 in. Hg - the 'corrected' altitude is about 1250 feet above sea level. See: http://www.engineeringtoolbox.com/25_462.html .

But to get to density altitude - you apply the temperature and humidity along with the absolute pressure.

http://wahiduddin.net/calc/calc_hp_abs.htm

{Thanks to Kale for the above link}

Now you have the density altitude at 2538 feet(NOT 4000). So the air was somewhat thin, just not as much as I suspected.

Subsequently, ET and MPH correction factors are 0.965 and 1.036 respectively.

Therefore 'corrected' ET is 14.035 seconds @ 99.72 MPH. }(

Corrected ET is important to me as I want to adequately compare techniques and mods over different times and conditions.

That's the problem with me and everything I do... I over analyze it. ;)
 
RE: Rookie's first time out...

SOrry JP I knew what it meant, I just did not post. I will try to keep you from anwsering yourself from now on. :7
 
RE: Rookie's first time out...

The problem was I didn't understand the term 'absolute barometer'. I originally thought the track slip conveniently showed the barometric pressure with temperature and humidity. I then used this in another calculator along with the track altitude to arrive at the density altitude. Problem was, this method corrected for elevation twice.

Absolute barometer is just a way of measuring barometric pressure accounting for the difference in elevation above sea level. Hence altitude is already accounted for. But when I use my Tazzo, I need not only the barometric pressure, but also the altitude along with temperature and humidity to arrive at a correction factor(s).

The elevation atop the hill a mile from my house is over 2500 feet, while in town it can be 1200 feet. Incidently, the track I was at is approximately 1200 feet in elevation. If I did not reside at such elevations... it would most likely be a moot point. And, I'm not trying to deflate my ETs by a couple tenths just for bragging rights. I'm pleased with 14.5 at 96 MPH, but I also take the track and weather into consideration as well. Measuring performance gains(or losses) to the thousandth of a second or a hundreth of a mile per hour seems pointless if you do not have an even atmospheric baseline for comparison.

BTW Joe, I'm sure you knew the answer. I just didn't give you enough time to respond. ;)
 
RE: Rookie's first time out...

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so when are you heading back to the track to get that low 14 second run???
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Hopefully one weekend before Carlisle. Unfortunately this weekend doesn't look good and that is the last Test and Tune on a Saturday at Pittsburgh Raceway Park. Hopefully I can catch one at Mason Dixon near Hagerstown. They have Test and Tune on Saturdays a couple weekends a month. They are the next closest track(about 2-1/2 hours away).
 
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