You guy should be proud of me! To my surprise and to the surprise of many
onlookers I made it all the way to the semifinals, just 4 cars!
http://community.webshots.com/user/alving014
On Wednesday, 6 I joined the Zcargarage gang to run the < mile brackets at
the Wed. Night Fun Drags at Sears Point/infineon Raceway. Rob is putting on
a ZCG Drag Series every 1st Wed. at Sears. Whoever gets the most points wins
a set of drag radials.
At first, I didnt really know we would actually be racing, last time we ran
at Sacramento Raceway it was jus time trials, no dial-in times or
eliminations. I rolled with a twin turbo 350z, TT 300zx, supercharged G35
coupe and 2 NA 350z cars.
I had very little time to enjoy my new 15 Panasports and Bridgestone Pole
Position S0-3 tires, but my immediate response was that the ride was less
harsh then the Falkens and the roadster now looks tough, instead of cute!
Sears Point always draws huge crowds and Wed was no exception. The moment of
truth came at the tech inspection. Remember, they wouldnt let me run last
time b/c of the 2 belts and no harness bar. The tech said you cant run
this without a top. Just as I was about to tell him that I had the belts
and harness bar added another tech said it was fine and I was off! Close
call.
There are 3 classes in bracket racing, and we were in the SuperStreet class.
One things for sure, in bracket racing its all about the driver and not
hp/$$ in a car. So many kick-ass rides were there. There was an L16 EFI
turbod 510 there, check the pic out. Everyone loved the roadster. I had a
tough time relaxing before runs b/c everyone was asking questions. I must of
popped the hood up/down 20 timessome guy though it was a Sunbeam!
Finally our class is ready to go. These are practice runs before
elimination. The weird thing about Sears is that the last 1/3 of the track
runs uphill, so my times and trap speed were much slower than what I ran at
Sacramento Raceway! But who cares I did it in a Datsun!
Ill break down the night by my timeslips, with some commentary in between:
2:49pm
First practice run. Horrible reaction time .667
< in 15.821 at 88.66mph
3k launch, felt pretty good
3:36pm
Second practice run. Better reaction time .294
< in 16.010 at 85.64
Tried launching off idle!
Third practice run. Better reaction time .273
< in 15.791 at 87.11mph
2k launch, felt really good. Twist at every 1-2 upshift scares me, but feels
good!
Now its ELIMINATIONS!
Its funny b/c it takes so long to do the practice runs with the number of
cars running. Once the eliminations came it was amazing how many cars
remained and how long we could walkabout(or stay in the car) and chatter
between runs!
Folks were talking about dial-in times. I was freaked. What do I dial-in
at?? And then theres the track and lowering temperatures and fear of
breaking out(going faster than your dial-in). I decided to dial in at 15.8,
with so-so confidence. The L16 guy told me to dial in at 15.4, what he run,
but I later found out that he likes to cheat so poo-poo on him!
5:36pm
First round elimination. Im up against the reigning champion, a black
Maverick with a hood scoop.
Bad r/t .638
< in 15.782 at 87.73
Damn I BROKE OUT! I didnt realize this but when I got to the timeslip booth
the lady said good job! Turns out the Maverick also broke-out, but by more!
MY FIRST WIN!
%50 of the cars are now gone, they are now spectators. Rob, Bruce have been
eliminated, its just me, Sean, Scott and Walt.
6:40pm
2nd round. Im up against a 700hp 94 Supra TT with a single t88 hair dryer
and TH400 transmission. This is the guy that told me to go ahead of him on
the last run b/c he didnt want to race against the Maverick! I dialed
down to 15.7 for fear of breaking out again.
Better reaction time. .265
< in 15.958 at 86.53 mph. My 2nd WIN! He dialed in at 12.00 and ran a
12.749.
7:17pm
3rd round. .159 r/t, my best!
< in 15.781 at 88.05mph. My dial in was 15.70. Other car ran a 16.652 and
dialed in at 16.50. Close! MY 3rd WIN!!!
Scott, Sean and Walt have all been eliminated. I drive back to the lanes
and its like a parking lot at 4am, pretty empty.
I see that Scott ran an 11.7 at 121mph in his TT Z32, but he broke out, damn
fast though.
I can hear people in the stands saying hes still here!
7:36pm
4th round. .270 r/t
< in 15.809 at 88.31mph. My dial in was 15.76. MY 4th WIN!!!
This was a weird run b/c the other car(an 80s Supra) dialed in slower, so
he left first. I had to wait for my tree to light up and actually play
catch-up Oh god that SR power is phenomenal. Catching someone in the < is
a feeling you guys should experience.
7:40pm
5th round. Semifinals.
Rob is telling me that I can win a trophy and to keep doing everything the
same. I am now in the semifinals. I cant believe it. Me. In a Datsun
roadster. Its me and 4 other cars. Im cold and now very nervous. I close
my eyes and I see my opponentits the supercharged Buick guy.
Hes dialed in faster, so I leave the lights first and he plays catch-up.
Stage, yellow, yellow, yellow Go! Launch is good and the 1-2 shift feels
incredible. AS Im nearing the end I can hear the Buick on me, but stick
it15.681 at 88.58my fastest run of the night and I BROKE OUT! I lost. He
ran a 15.037 at 86.71 and dialed in at 14.9. I should of hit the brakes,
done a worse 102 upshift or dialed down even further. Oh well.
I went the farthest out of all of us so Im leading the series,
4wins=4points.
Im so happy with the roadster 8 passes and no problems. Who would have
thought, a roadster drag racing???!!
I'll post more pics of the Panasports when the weather gets better - enjoy!
http://community.webshots.com/user/alving014
Full-length, high quality video on the way too!
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