The past weekend was a birthday celebration to remember, culminating in participating in the Mason Dixon Dragway All-Ford Event, a combination drag race and car show held annually at the Mason Dixon Dragway near Hagerstown, Maryland.
(Be sure to read about the pre and post race activities in the Call for Lincolns thread.)
We had arrived later than usual and was somewhat rushed getting to the staging lanes for our 1st qualifying run. As there was an odd number of cars in our small class (officially called the Cougar/Comet class although they stuck the T-birds and Lincolns in with them), I ran a solo run down the 1/4 mile to start the day. I managed to red-light with an reaction time of -0.040 and ran a not-so-impressive time of 13.883 with a trap speed of 99.14 mph in not-so-track-friendly humid and warm weather conditions. I didn't realize it until after I returned to the pits that I had the suspension too low for the fat drag tires and they had literally been dragging the fenders!
After about an hour we were called for the 2nd time trial and once again I was 'odd man out' and didn't have any distraction in the lane next to me. A little more caution was given to the tree and the RT registered 0.103. This time with the fenders up off the rear wheels, I managed a 13.699 ET at 98.98 mph.
It was a bit longer to be called for the next run and they had announced the elimination rounds were to begin. Not having the best RT to get the bye run, I was paired with a familiar foe in the lanes with a stock MN12 Cougar. We both knew we had to tree the opponent to have a real shot at advancing in the competition.
Car / Cougar ~ Lincoln
Dial / 15.36 ~ 13.60
RT / -0.012 ~ -0.026
60ft / 2.280 ~ 1.864
330ft / 6.472 ~ 5.609
1/8th / 9.917 ~ 8.755
mph / 71.72 ~ 77.66
1000ft / 12.863 ~ 11.497
1/4 / 15.359 ~ 13.812
MPH / 90.12 ~ 96.82
The "first or worst" rule was in my favor as the slower car red lighted first handing me the win.
The second round was a long wait and I found myself doubting my dial-in, so I changed it to a 13.7 when I found that I was up against a low 13 second T-bird known to cut good lights.
Car / T-bird ~ Lincoln
Dial / 13.20 ~ 13.70
RT / -0.034 ~ 0.011
60ft / 1.877 ~ 1.856
330ft / 5.429 ~ 5.580
1/8th / 8.411 ~ 8.716
mph / 82.95 ~ 76.86
1000ft / 10.997 ~ 11.443
1/4 / 13.191 ~ 13.749
MPH / 102.66 ~ 70.00??
So the red light monster had reared up again and the Lincoln stood tall!
It was time now to move onto the finals for the class and with only a half-hour to contemplate strategy, I decided to leave the dial as it was and just try not to red light. This final round had me lined up with a super-charged 12 second T-bird.
Car / T-bird ~ Lincoln
Dial / 12.40 ~ 13.70
RT / -0.029 ~ 0.114
60ft / 1.714 ~ 1.878
330ft / 5.104~ 5.616
1/8th / 7.964 ~ 8.771
mph / 86.72 ~ 76.35
1000ft / 10.434 ~ 11.517
1/4 / 12.523 ~ 13.834
MPH / 107.94 ~ 93.63??
The Blue Flame was victorious!
(Be sure to read about the pre and post race activities in the Call for Lincolns thread.)
We had arrived later than usual and was somewhat rushed getting to the staging lanes for our 1st qualifying run. As there was an odd number of cars in our small class (officially called the Cougar/Comet class although they stuck the T-birds and Lincolns in with them), I ran a solo run down the 1/4 mile to start the day. I managed to red-light with an reaction time of -0.040 and ran a not-so-impressive time of 13.883 with a trap speed of 99.14 mph in not-so-track-friendly humid and warm weather conditions. I didn't realize it until after I returned to the pits that I had the suspension too low for the fat drag tires and they had literally been dragging the fenders!
After about an hour we were called for the 2nd time trial and once again I was 'odd man out' and didn't have any distraction in the lane next to me. A little more caution was given to the tree and the RT registered 0.103. This time with the fenders up off the rear wheels, I managed a 13.699 ET at 98.98 mph.
It was a bit longer to be called for the next run and they had announced the elimination rounds were to begin. Not having the best RT to get the bye run, I was paired with a familiar foe in the lanes with a stock MN12 Cougar. We both knew we had to tree the opponent to have a real shot at advancing in the competition.
Car / Cougar ~ Lincoln
Dial / 15.36 ~ 13.60
RT / -0.012 ~ -0.026
60ft / 2.280 ~ 1.864
330ft / 6.472 ~ 5.609
1/8th / 9.917 ~ 8.755
mph / 71.72 ~ 77.66
1000ft / 12.863 ~ 11.497
1/4 / 15.359 ~ 13.812
MPH / 90.12 ~ 96.82
The "first or worst" rule was in my favor as the slower car red lighted first handing me the win.
The second round was a long wait and I found myself doubting my dial-in, so I changed it to a 13.7 when I found that I was up against a low 13 second T-bird known to cut good lights.
Car / T-bird ~ Lincoln
Dial / 13.20 ~ 13.70
RT / -0.034 ~ 0.011
60ft / 1.877 ~ 1.856
330ft / 5.429 ~ 5.580
1/8th / 8.411 ~ 8.716
mph / 82.95 ~ 76.86
1000ft / 10.997 ~ 11.443
1/4 / 13.191 ~ 13.749
MPH / 102.66 ~ 70.00??
So the red light monster had reared up again and the Lincoln stood tall!
It was time now to move onto the finals for the class and with only a half-hour to contemplate strategy, I decided to leave the dial as it was and just try not to red light. This final round had me lined up with a super-charged 12 second T-bird.
Car / T-bird ~ Lincoln
Dial / 12.40 ~ 13.70
RT / -0.029 ~ 0.114
60ft / 1.714 ~ 1.878
330ft / 5.104~ 5.616
1/8th / 7.964 ~ 8.771
mph / 86.72 ~ 76.35
1000ft / 10.434 ~ 11.517
1/4 / 12.523 ~ 13.834
MPH / 107.94 ~ 93.63??
The Blue Flame was victorious!
