I went drag racing. Vids inside

[R/T93]

I have completed the trifecta, the hat rick, the Three Amigos. I did it: Autocross, road course, and finally drag racing.

I cleared my car out this morning and went to work with plans to drive to the dragstrip right after and do some Friday night Test and Tune runs. I got to the track around 3:15, sun was blaring, there was a line at the gate. They had only been open a couple hours and people were trickling in. I paid my entrance fee (27$), filled out my first time registration, paid another $5 for my driver #, and got teched.

You could see for miles. This was probably 6:30. Mount Raineer is behind me in this pic but the trees blocked it, could see it from the highway clear as day, its 60 miles away.


Tech was eye opening. I think the man doing inspections on my car was VERY experienced. He didnt touch the car once, just glanced over things. I had a feeling he knew what he was looking at; a car that was well maintained with little modification. He asked to look at the rating sticker on my helmet, asked how fast it would run, and took my card and told me to have a good day I answered to his last question, "Not any faster than 12.5."

I went and parked, cleared out the small stuff still in my car, spare tire, mounted my camera and did 3 runs in about 9 minutes, lol.
My first was....well, my first. Lol.
Ran a 13.7 @103. Terrible 60' Shifted to 4th early



2nd pass had much better launch, 1.94 but messed up 2nd shift bad :/ I need to bleed the clutch... 13.8@102


3rd was much better all around. Gained .4 seconds over the first run. 13.318@103.


I have two more vids but they are unnoteworthy as the times were similar or slightly faster than the 3rd vid.
One thing I DID change was staying in 3rd gear for the whole pass on the later runs. The MPH gain was significant. I gained 3-5 mph staying in 3rd. Goes to show even with 9b's revving it out is quicker.

4th try was 1.9 60', 8.49 1/8, and 13.208@103, I believe I shifted to 4th this run.

5th was probably similar to 3, the vette I was lined up with had problems with his line lock, the tree screwed up for some reason and they just told me to go, no line up or stage or anything, no timeslip.

6th was against a ZX-14R Ninja, they are...pretty fast. This one was heavily modified running low 9's. Its kind of neat to have a fast vehicle take off next to you like that, seeing the speed.
2.028 60' but still a 13.267@104.77. This is where I began to stay in 3rd, helped out on the top end a lot.

Bogged the next one, 13.5. Was against a Pro-comp dragster going all out. Ran a 7.94...

I hot lapped run 8 and my last of the day, only 4 minutes apart.
2nd to last was good, 1.92 60', RAN A 13.000@106.86!!! WTF. I literally put my hands over my face and screamed. It was my goal to hit the 12's since I decided to even go to the strip earlier this week. One measly thousandth of a second. Well, i did what any red blooded American would do in that situation, GOT A BIGGER HAMMER, lol.

Last launch was probably 5k. Finally got into the 1.8 60's with a 1.858. Used the clutch a lot more this time, RPM's held steady near 5k for the first 10 feet then popped the clutch and RPM's shot up to 7k, nice shift into 2nd and 3rd and held on. 12.987 baby!! YEAH!!

Lol, so this was my last pass, I was happy with the results of my driving and car. No noises, no leaks, no temp problems. Honestly I checked the temp of the HKS intercoolers and they didnt feel hot at all, slightly warm but I doubt much more than ambient. They seemed to do well drag racing at my power level even hot lapping. MPH didnt drop off even after 3 runs in succession. I had my tires at 41/36 PSi, didnt change them at all. Possibly could have got more grip by letting air out but i was NOT trying to destroy my trans with hard launches and lots of grip (this is my only car). I think it could do 1.7's how it sits and get deeper into the 12's but the 9b's just suck. They taper off to 10.0 PSI by redline, whenever I shifted the boost just went from 12 down to 10 as the RPM's climbed. The only gear I got more than 12 psi was 1st, had boost set to 14.5 with my EBC. I set my Tein coil overs full stiff rear and full soft front. Unknown if it really did anything.

This was a fun day, I learned how to launch my car a bit better which could benefit me on autocross starts.

I recommend this to anyone with car buddies. Go to the dragstrip on a Friday night and have fun with your friends. Its a pretty unique experience.

[R/T93]

This is the motor to my friends' wife's Mach 1. They figure 1000 crank HP. Its a 598 Chevy big block. A very high dollar engine. They were messing with the throttle stop trying to dial it in to a 9.90 for the Pro Gas bracket. Was interesting seeing the problems they were having setting the throttle stop/air shifter/compressor problems. Cars like these are a LOT more than a big motor and some tire. This thing had a TON of work in it along with most of the other drag cars there. I was very surprised for what it took to run 8's.


Here is the car


Pretty nice 02 Z, twin turbo. Was running mid 10's


I dont have a regular camera anymore. I didnt take too many pics with the cell phone

[wingnut]

Nicely done sir, not bad at all!

So was this your first time ever on a drag strip?

[R/T93]

Been once 10 yrs ago in my Stealth.

From the phone.

[2fnloud]

Nicely done!!

[j2k4]

Way to go, Nathan!

[CoopKill]

That clutch off the line is a tricky bitch ehh? Looks like a lot of fun, wish I were able to go!

[R/T93]

That clutch off the line is a tricky bitch ehh? Looks like a lot of fun, wish I were able to go!

Yes and the alum flywheel and 275's don't help either. I should put on my treadless wonders and go back, see what I do.

From the phone.

[GTO-SIMON]

weldone looks fun i am hopeing do go down drag strip this year a place called santa pod,probably most well known strip in uk,

[ChargerX3]

Nice trifecta! Bet that last run felt really good. BTW do you have a trans brace? Keep up the good work and vids.


PS. Ran my first autocross a week ago. Loved it!