I finally got my first win trophy with the car. It's only been 10 years.

Last night's air was terrible. Barometric pressure was low, DA was high. My first time trial run, I ran exactly what I thought I was going to do according to my laptop with a 9.38. Second time trial run I ran a 9.26. WTF? A wind had picked up but it was more of a cross wind. There's no way I should have run that fast. BY the time the first round started, the wind dropped right off again. A thunderstorm skirted past us to the north but we didn't get any rain. No more wind for the rest of the evening.

Based on the last time trial run and guessing it was a fluke, I decided to dial in 9.24 and ran another 9.26. Guess it wasn't a fluke. Second round, the timers screwed up in the opposite lane and we had to do a re-run. I did have a win light but it was so close that I could not tell who had won. On the re-run, his car slowed right down. I lifted at the 1000' mark and coasted across the finish line for a win.

Third round and still dialed in at 9.24, the traction was really going away. I was fishtailing by mid track, peddled it briefly and still took the win running 9.28.

Final round. I moved my dial to 9.26 but when I got bumped to the other lane, I figured I was going to lose. My opponent was going to get about a 1 second head start. I'm sure we both left at the same time as his reaction time was .8xx (.000 is perfect). Again I was fishtailing so bad by mid track that everyone said they could see sparks coming out from under the car. That was from my exhaust pipes as they're so low. I figured when I had to lift to straighten the car out that I had lost the race but he was still behind me so I got back in and powered my way down the track and took the win light with a 9.77.

$300 for the win plus a trophy. Runner up got $200 and a smaller trophy. They were ugly passes but wins are wins. I also set new personal bests in the bad air but haven't done any number crunching yet to see why.

I'm hoping to have new video posted within the next few days.

 

Sweet man, congrats

 

A win is a win! Congrads, and hats off to you!

 

Were the small tire guys getting down the track without issues? I never can figure out how guys with the huge tires are having traction issues when we're running on a 28x10.5S almost right along side them.

 

this is your first win in 10 years of racing? congrats dude, but dam, i'd have probably given up...

 

Way to go, now time fo figure out where the .1 came from

 

Not my first win, my first win with this car. Well actually we had what was called a Wednesday night Rumble a couple of years ago. It was a full track prep Wednesday night race for the drag cars so we didn't have to go to a poorly prepped Friday night street legal night to get some track time. I won one of those events but it was maybe $150.

My other wins where when I was originally racing my 454SS truck. I have 2 win and 2 runner up trophies from that. I've been racing the car since 1999 when it was basically still stock and it's taken this long to get to the final round of a points race with a trophy. I don't run in the local drag race clubs points series though so I really screwed up their points by taking the win.

Talking to some racers today at a swap meet, I wasn't the only one with traction issues. Many of the other cars were having a lot of problems. The only time they prepped the track was right at the start around 6pm. When I made my last pass around 10:30, the track was getting really slick.

Most of the time when I'm in eliminations, I'm just happy to get past the first round. When I found out I made it to the finals where I would win some money, that was just a bonus. Winning the final was even better.

I may not get back to the final round for years now.

 

Great Job!! This is my 4th year of drag racing now and still unting for my first win. I don't get out there as often as I'd like, but hopefully in the future I'll get out more.

It must feel really good to have that one done...especially going that fast!!!!!

 

Girlfriend was shooting video again. She's still getting the hang of using the camera. Out of all the video she shot, this was the best clip I could salvage something out of.

First round eliminations. Dragster red lit by -.005 but also broke out running 9.485 on a 9.50 dial. My 9.260 win on a 9.24 dial.

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=LrIAXZRvyGU

 

Congrats Alky!

 

Congrats!

Love watching dragsters go to the trailer!

 

ssshhhhweeet! Congrats Stephen!

Now to find out why the tune-up liked the bad air and get yourself a new personal best.

 

I hate to say it but from past experience, I've always found a car will unexpectantly pick up like that just before something fails. That little extra burst of power gave me a calculated HP from 830 which is what I was expecting to 860. Who knows. Maybe one of the injector nozzles was slightly plugged and finally opened up giving me full power.

That pass in the video was actually my fastest 1/4 ET

60 - 1.34
330 - 3.819
660 - 5.918
mph - 116.91
1000 - 7.731
1320 - 9.260
mph 145.84

Temp - 18.6c
Humidity - 46%
Station pressure 887 hPa
Density altitude 5042 feet
Dew point 6.764c

I ran a faster 1/8 mile, 1/8 mile MPH and 1000' on the third round but lifted for the win. A conversion formula from my 1000' time says I would have run it in 9.230. I don't have the weather data for that run but it was better than the first run.

60 - 1.312
330 - 3.803
660 - 5.894
mph - 117.24
1000 - 7.701
1320 - 9.378 (lifted)
mph - 125.12

I'm running the same tune I was running at the beginning of the year. I've raced in better air and still have no idea why it picked up that night. There was no wind at all during eliminations.

 

Here's the same run against the dragster but from inside the car

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=j3RAD2Lq61E

 

Damn that tree comes and goes quick! That looks like a ton of fun.

 

[sarcasm]...no idea what you're talking about.....[/sarcasm]

 

I got some of those trophies to the god of speed