Took my Firebird to Lapeer Dragway on Saturday (Oct 4th) to get some test/tune passes in - I've been trying to break into the 12's for a while now, with no luck. The day started out pretty crumby - scattered rain & HAIL showers - so there weren't very many cars there.

My first pass of the day was probably the scariest I've ever made. It actually started to hail as I was driving down the track. Amazingly, my BFG DR's hooked up good off the line (1.9 60ft), but when I hit 2nd gear, the car got pretty squirrelly. I had to back off the gas and get back into it. I kept it floored for the rest of the pass and turned a 13.50 @ 107.6 - smoking a '70 Chevelle in the process (he ran a 15.0).

Then the weather broke and it turned out to be a nice (cold) sunny day. A friend of mine took his '68 Grand Prix (mint condition) and ran it - he had never been down the 1/4 mile before in his life. That car weighs 4600lbs and my friend is over 200lbs. That old 400 Pontiac (factory rated @ 350 HP/445 TQ) kicked some serious butt - 15.30's - I was impressed. He actually beat a late 80's Mustang GT.

My car was running very consistent - 13.0-13.1 @ 107-108. I managed my best 60ft time to date - 1.864. I'm starting to get the burnout down in my manually shifted car - right heal on the brake, right toes on the gas, and I was able to shift into 2nd gear mid burnout. If not for the severe head-wind that lasted all day, I think I may have broke into the high 12's (excuses, excuses).

GM was sponsering a race on this day. Most of the racers were GM employees. They were in a bracket of their own. There were only 8 of us in the regular trophy bracket eliminations. As luck would have it, I advanced to the finals. Who am I facing? My buddy Kevin in his '68 Grand Prix! I was extatic - I dialed his car in for the eliminations and he was doing great for a beginner! I was happy just knowing that one of us was going home with a trophy. Unfortunately, Kevin needs to work on his reaction time - I smoked him in the final race, quite badly.

So, It may have been the easiest trophy ever won, due to the low turnout, but I'm still pretty happy - I've been going to this track for years and this is the first time I've won something.

 

congrats and awesome times!

 

Nice times. Manual Burnouts are easy. Rev to about 4000 or so after getting the tires wet, and let her fly. Hold it at a good RPM (I do this in 2nd gear) and put your left foot on the brake. This method has worked for me, but I might need line loc soon.

 

Hey, a win's a win no matter what, congratulations!! Brkt racing with a manuel is a hellava lot harder than auto's so to each their own, but keep practicing and it'll come together.

 

Sweet!!!!

 

congrats dude!
:-D