The weather promised to be partly sunny and mild, so it looked like a nice day to go to the park, Pittsburgh Raceway Park that is.
A Test and Tune Saturday with a Gambler's race was on the program. Well over 200 cars showed up which made for a busy and quite a long day for the track officials. Temperatures were in the 60's when we left home for the hour and a half trek. By the time the racing started at 1PM, the outside temperature monitor in the car registered 75 degrees in the bright autumn sun, while the track thermometer showed 72 degrees. Not as cool as I would've liked for it to have been, but certainly better than the 90's the last time out at the track.
I had come on a mission. There were four possible track dates remaining in the season. I was determined to utilize the opportunities to fulfil my goals I had set at the end of last season. The goals I had set for this season were the milestones of a 13 second ET in the quarter mile and joining the 100 mph club. A few weeks earlier, the 13 second barrier had been broken, but the best trap speed to date was 98.39 mph. With the onset of cooler weather, it seemed attainable but the triple digits proved to be elusive.
Front and center in the third staging lane, I watched as cars from lanes one and two proceeded to race. The winds were brisk from right to left, slightly forward at an angle across the track, but at least it wasn't a head wind. From what I could tell watching the others, track preparations appeared good. With the crowd quickly growing, track officials were moving the cars through fast so it wasn't very long until I had my first time trial. I was anxious to see what the first timeslip the lone Lincoln would reel in.
In the burnout box I deliberately spun the Nitto drag radials long and hard to make certain they stuck to the best of their ability. Very quickly after staging, the lights on the tree came down and we were off. The car spun somewhat off the line but held a handy lead over my opponent all through the run to the finish line. It felt good to release all the tension as I drove down the return road anxiously awaiting the results. As I pulled back into the staging lanes, I scanned the slip. A miserable 0.274 reaction time. The sixty foot seemed on par as before with 2.045 seconds. However the 1/8 mile numbers of 9.037 @ 78.76 mph clearly showed it was no record setting day today. The ET in the quarter was 14.144 at 95.00 mph.
I lowered the air in the Nittos slightly, hoping to correct the traction issue and patiently awaited the second time trial. Again, a 0.275 R/T with a 2.011 sixty foot. A little better performance in the eighth with a 8.975 @ 79.30 and the quarter came in at 14.048 @ 96.05. They had already warned the overpopulated street cars not to return to the staging lanes after their second run if they wanted to be part of the Gambler's race. With the numbers I had, particularly the reaction times, I chose to return to my spot in the staging lanes.
After what seemed like an inordinate amount of time, my third run came along. It was almost a carbon copy of the previous. 0.287 reaction time, 2.004 sixty foot, 8.951 @ 79.25 in the eighth and 14.025 @ 96.09 in the quarter. As I drove past the pits towards the staging lanes, the announcer called for all Gambler's to proceed to lane 10 on the far side of the facility. With the last two slips being as consistent as you could get. I figured it worth a shot. Off to lane 10 I go.
Now, I struggle to pick a dial-in. After figuring the track conditions were no better or worse, I concluded the car wasn't going to pull any 13 second runs this day. My problem however was my out of character reaction times. I would be leaving a lot of room for the opponent to beat me - giving over two tenths of a second right at the tree. So if I stand a chance, I need to pick the dial-in very tight. With slight trepidation I used the marker to write 13.99 on both the windshield and side glass.
The track officials were really moving the crowd of street cars through the track as more and more cars joined the line for the Gambler's race until it spilled over into the neighboring lane. I couldn't accurately count the entrants from my position, but it was easily over 25. Very few street cars were joining, it seemed most were 'slick cars'. Scanning around me showed dial-ins ranging from low 9's to high 11's. Man, talk about feeling out of place!
Of course, my opponent turned out to be some 9 second Ford with a lift-off front clip painted to resemble a Mustang. I ignored him as I went through the burnout and staged in the opposite lane I had previously made all the earlier runs. Consciously concentrating on my lights, I barely light up the staging lights and await my opponent and the tree to fall. Quickly, the tree comes down and I left with just a hint of wheelspin and wondered how far I would be down the track before I heard my opponent come screaming from behind. I appeared to be well in front at the finish, but coming back down the return road I recalled I had not seen any win lights either. I pull up tho the ticket booth and snatch my timeslip, almost not wanting to look at it.
--- = LEFT / RIGHT
Car - 717(me) / 0X69
DIAL - 13.99 / 9.29
R/T - 0.156 / 0.873
60' - 1.989 / 1.357
330' - 5.784 / 3.855
1/8 - 8.917 / 5.958
MPH - 79.64 / 117.14
1000' - 11.651 / 7.766
1/4 - 13.947 WIN>> 9.323
MPH - 99.16 / 139.53
Left 1st 0.7935
Right MOV 0.0765
I suck at bracket racing. :B
A Test and Tune Saturday with a Gambler's race was on the program. Well over 200 cars showed up which made for a busy and quite a long day for the track officials. Temperatures were in the 60's when we left home for the hour and a half trek. By the time the racing started at 1PM, the outside temperature monitor in the car registered 75 degrees in the bright autumn sun, while the track thermometer showed 72 degrees. Not as cool as I would've liked for it to have been, but certainly better than the 90's the last time out at the track.
I had come on a mission. There were four possible track dates remaining in the season. I was determined to utilize the opportunities to fulfil my goals I had set at the end of last season. The goals I had set for this season were the milestones of a 13 second ET in the quarter mile and joining the 100 mph club. A few weeks earlier, the 13 second barrier had been broken, but the best trap speed to date was 98.39 mph. With the onset of cooler weather, it seemed attainable but the triple digits proved to be elusive.
Front and center in the third staging lane, I watched as cars from lanes one and two proceeded to race. The winds were brisk from right to left, slightly forward at an angle across the track, but at least it wasn't a head wind. From what I could tell watching the others, track preparations appeared good. With the crowd quickly growing, track officials were moving the cars through fast so it wasn't very long until I had my first time trial. I was anxious to see what the first timeslip the lone Lincoln would reel in.
In the burnout box I deliberately spun the Nitto drag radials long and hard to make certain they stuck to the best of their ability. Very quickly after staging, the lights on the tree came down and we were off. The car spun somewhat off the line but held a handy lead over my opponent all through the run to the finish line. It felt good to release all the tension as I drove down the return road anxiously awaiting the results. As I pulled back into the staging lanes, I scanned the slip. A miserable 0.274 reaction time. The sixty foot seemed on par as before with 2.045 seconds. However the 1/8 mile numbers of 9.037 @ 78.76 mph clearly showed it was no record setting day today. The ET in the quarter was 14.144 at 95.00 mph.
I lowered the air in the Nittos slightly, hoping to correct the traction issue and patiently awaited the second time trial. Again, a 0.275 R/T with a 2.011 sixty foot. A little better performance in the eighth with a 8.975 @ 79.30 and the quarter came in at 14.048 @ 96.05. They had already warned the overpopulated street cars not to return to the staging lanes after their second run if they wanted to be part of the Gambler's race. With the numbers I had, particularly the reaction times, I chose to return to my spot in the staging lanes.
After what seemed like an inordinate amount of time, my third run came along. It was almost a carbon copy of the previous. 0.287 reaction time, 2.004 sixty foot, 8.951 @ 79.25 in the eighth and 14.025 @ 96.09 in the quarter. As I drove past the pits towards the staging lanes, the announcer called for all Gambler's to proceed to lane 10 on the far side of the facility. With the last two slips being as consistent as you could get. I figured it worth a shot. Off to lane 10 I go.
Now, I struggle to pick a dial-in. After figuring the track conditions were no better or worse, I concluded the car wasn't going to pull any 13 second runs this day. My problem however was my out of character reaction times. I would be leaving a lot of room for the opponent to beat me - giving over two tenths of a second right at the tree. So if I stand a chance, I need to pick the dial-in very tight. With slight trepidation I used the marker to write 13.99 on both the windshield and side glass.
The track officials were really moving the crowd of street cars through the track as more and more cars joined the line for the Gambler's race until it spilled over into the neighboring lane. I couldn't accurately count the entrants from my position, but it was easily over 25. Very few street cars were joining, it seemed most were 'slick cars'. Scanning around me showed dial-ins ranging from low 9's to high 11's. Man, talk about feeling out of place!
Of course, my opponent turned out to be some 9 second Ford with a lift-off front clip painted to resemble a Mustang. I ignored him as I went through the burnout and staged in the opposite lane I had previously made all the earlier runs. Consciously concentrating on my lights, I barely light up the staging lights and await my opponent and the tree to fall. Quickly, the tree comes down and I left with just a hint of wheelspin and wondered how far I would be down the track before I heard my opponent come screaming from behind. I appeared to be well in front at the finish, but coming back down the return road I recalled I had not seen any win lights either. I pull up tho the ticket booth and snatch my timeslip, almost not wanting to look at it.
--- = LEFT / RIGHT
Car - 717(me) / 0X69
DIAL - 13.99 / 9.29
R/T - 0.156 / 0.873
60' - 1.989 / 1.357
330' - 5.784 / 3.855
1/8 - 8.917 / 5.958
MPH - 79.64 / 117.14
1000' - 11.651 / 7.766
1/4 - 13.947 WIN>> 9.323
MPH - 99.16 / 139.53
Left 1st 0.7935
Right MOV 0.0765
I suck at bracket racing. :B
