RE: Opening Day for Pittsburgh Raceway Park
I'm not sure what's up with the mph other than a lot of wheelspin especially on the 1-2 shift in the first couple runs.
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Great times, and your R/T's are starting to look like the Crazy 8's.
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That's funny. The first light had the attendant walk by the lights and he must've tripped on the pre-stage light before my car was in place. The miscue threw my timing out the window, I even backed up and approached again. By the time I was staged, it was too late to collect myself and the tree came down quickly catching me napping. Hence the 0.517 RT.
That first time trial was against a older model Mustang GT 5.0L.He ran a 17.199 @ 87.19 with an obvious ignition problem. The second time trial had me against a late model Trans Am. His 13.308 @ 101.94 was impressive on paper, but with the -0.022 redlight my 14.331 @ 98.3 looked better. Even better still with the win light in my lane after a 0.095 RT.
By now it had been over two hours between runs and I elected I would get more track time entering the Gambler's race. I was right as less than an hour transpired when they called for the gambler's first run. About 40 cars had signed up for $20 each for a purse of about $800! The last two left standing could choose the option to split the purse or just go ahead and race for it all. First run was against some old Mopar trailer 'Slick Car' as they called 'em. I was pre-staged waiting on my opponent when the start line official waved at me to roll down the window. The Mopar had 'broke' and that meant a bye for the Lincoln! Lucky for me as I had dialed 14.29 and the all out run netted a 14.510 due to not nearly the cool down time as prior to. Winner by default, first round!
It took a bit longer for the second round. Again I was up against some big guns who had a 10.66 dial to my 14.46. I squeezed out a 0.124 light knowing I had a heck of a start advantage. An eternity later I heard the Slick Car leave the line. It didn't matter as I soon crossed the line watching the win light in my lane. Two rounds, two wins!
The field had been trimmed now and only about 45 minutes later, we were called for the third round. First at the staging lane, I anxiously awaited to see who the opponent would be. Another Slick Car, this time an older Camaro with a 13.62 dial-in painted on his windows. Nervous I hadn't enough cool-down time I changed my dial-in to a 14.5 even. We chatted a few moments and he complimented the Lincoln and acknowledged the good RTs I was putting up. I could tell this was a seasoned Pro I was against and hoped I could get a good light to hold him at bay at least. The time finally came to line 'em up and stage. I focused on the tree and managed a 0.096 light. I didn't know it at the time, but he had one up on me there. I had launched well and was well on my way when I heard him coming from behind. I could tell he was closing but the finish line was fast approaching as I held 'er WOT to the end. My heart sank as I watched the win light come on in his lane, even though my senses still had him behind me. I couldn't fathom how I had lost.
Down the back road road and to the timing booth, I picked up the slip and proceeded to the pits. My opponent had pulled out a 0.030 RT and ran 13.682 to his dial in of 13.62. Good enough to beat my 14.519 run with a 14.50 dial-in and a 0.096 RT. The Margin of Victory was a scant 0.0237 seconds! Two hundredths of a second! It was a good race to the end. BTW, I later calculated at our speeds, the time differential was equivalent to approximately 3.3 feet. ::grrr:: Oh well, it was a wonderful day and perhaps I learned a lesson or two along the way.