went to the track last weekend. ran saturday night and sunday morning. first time trial was a 12.24 @112mph. second time run i got behind a suburban in the left lane. when i left my 60' was good, then the car went sideways. i lifted and drove back to the pits. next run i was back in the right lane. this was first round of elims. they started pulling cars out differently than they usually do. when they pulled me out i had to go to the left lane, right behind the suburban again. i launched and had the best 60' time of the night, then headed straight to the centerline again. later on i heard that they chewed her out for sitting in the staging lanes with her a/c on. sunday morning i got in the left lane for a time trial to see if it was my car and it ran fine. corse i screwed up and went out first round anyway. i turned my weather station on while i was sitting in the staging lanes. it was still going up when they called us up to run and it was 121 degrees. now i know why we don't usually race in the daytime. almost forgot the a/c in my motorhome quit too.
Look at it this way. When you get home and everyone asks you how you did, you can tell 'em you were runner up.... In the first round!
The old AC syndrome, happens at our track too. Tech officials are real testy when it comes to that and also broken "rubber trans cooler lines". The newer racers probably are not aware of the dangers yet, a good short rules meeting would help. maybe. Had the same thing happen to me a couple weeks ago. Even with full cage and five point belts it's a little hairy getting sidways when you shift to second and get in water or trans fluid. My car has plexi windows and gutted interior, track temp is 120, air temp is 95 and interior of the car is around 130. Use a small 6in fan mounted on the cage to cool off on the return road(engine temp is now 200 and someone is poking along in front of you) Temper is short and it makes for a crappy attitude on my part. But that's racin, if I happen to give someone a ride in my car on tnt night, the first thing they complain about is how hot it is inside the car. Now if you run alcohol fuel, the added fumes makes it worse. Think I would quit all this misery, no way, that blast down the track is all worth it.
Good post guys. I agree, the the track announcer should have an alarm go off every so often to remind people to turn off the a/c and TO PULL OVER IF YOU BREAK! I dunno how many times I've seen 'seasoned' racers break within the first 60' only to coast the rest of the way through the traps or until the momentum has taken them as far as it can. In the meantime, 37 gallons of tranny fluid (or whatever) is on the track now. Time to take a nap for clean-up!
well i decided i'm through with racing. i didn't have any fun last weekend. i'm gonna sell my new truck and trailer and the maverick. yeah, when hell freezes over. just being at the track is having a good time. the runs are a bonus. i'm gonna quit until this saturday night at tucson. :bananaman this weekend is a new one, all over again. last weekend is history. new trailer is here next week. p.s. frame connectors and roll bar will be in by the end of the month:bananaman :bananaman
good post! I am gearing up for the short season at a track about 100 miles from here. They run whats called a "autumn bracket series" its only 6 or 7 weeks long. It starts Oct. 9th. Gonna try and give it a run. Only time I have been to the track this year was at the round-up......I sure miss it!
good luck. do they race every week? i race points at 2 different tracks here. that way i get to race at least 2x a month. the rest of the weekends i tell the wife it's whatever she wants to do. got to keep the wife happy too. i just ordered a set of the new m/t et street radial drag tires. i've heard a lot of good things about them. i'll let you know.
I used to race every weekend....but with a wife and kids it was just too demanding to try and put forth a honest effort to run for points......but with this little short schedule I might....."might" be able to give it a go! I agree, family is definitely first! but I sure miss racing...... As soon as I wear out my e/t drags I am buying the e/t streets as well.....I too have heard a lot of good things about them!
