Just Paul
Nitro Member
First off, this may be boring as hell, so I'm just letting you know before hand. 
I've been waiting a long time to take a car down the drag strip. I know, if I wanted to go race my mini van (stop laughing) or my daily driver I could, but I wanted to be in something a little quicker then that.
I found a mint 1996 Z28 Camaro last week, bought it and told the wife I was going racing this weekend!!
Long story short, the weather went from highs in the 80's down to highs in the 50's within 1 day!
I drove over to Grove Creek, the local 1/8 mile. Raceday started out at a balmy 41 degrees (see time slip). There was a slight delay for freezing rain, but then after I got signed up and went through tech it was time to hit the track! Test and Tune time.
Well I could see/hear cars having traction troubles, but I thought my car would be OK since it was just a stock Z28 and might only run 8.9-9.2 in the 1/8 on a good day.
I drove around the water box since I just had regular street tires, and gave them a little chirp. The guy next to me had slicks and did a monster burnout. I waited for him to finish and we pulled up. Of course then my glasses and visor fogged over. Flip the visor open and search for the pre stage. He pre-staged first, I was right behind him. He then staged first, I was right there. Tree came down, and I thought I nailed it pretty good! Just that second the tires came loose a little bit and the traction control kicked on. Damn! I forgot to turn it off before the run. In this car, it closes the throttle, and pulses the rear brakes to keep the rear wheels the same speed as the front wheels. Well I kept in it, but the traction control just kept staying on. As you can see, the 60' time was very horse and buggy like LOL. Well I let off and then put it back to 3/4 throttle just to get it moving before I put it down all the way. About the 330 I put it down and it was fine the rest of the way. I drove it way out the back door just for kicks and made the turn off.
Down to the time slip booth to grab my first ticket. Reaction time .220 oops!! I thought it was better then that.
In the end, a slow 11.22 at 71 mph. Not what I was wanting, but it was good just to make a pass, and I didn't hold the other guy up or roll the beams like I have seen some rookies do. I drove right back down to the lanes for another pass, but just as I got there, the freezing rain came back and we were done for the day.
Hopefully I can get out 2 more times before the snow comes, weather permitting.
Parked with my good friend and fellow Mater member Chris Anderson's trailer/motorhome.
I've been waiting a long time to take a car down the drag strip. I know, if I wanted to go race my mini van (stop laughing) or my daily driver I could, but I wanted to be in something a little quicker then that.
I found a mint 1996 Z28 Camaro last week, bought it and told the wife I was going racing this weekend!!
Long story short, the weather went from highs in the 80's down to highs in the 50's within 1 day!
I drove over to Grove Creek, the local 1/8 mile. Raceday started out at a balmy 41 degrees (see time slip). There was a slight delay for freezing rain, but then after I got signed up and went through tech it was time to hit the track! Test and Tune time.
Well I could see/hear cars having traction troubles, but I thought my car would be OK since it was just a stock Z28 and might only run 8.9-9.2 in the 1/8 on a good day.
I drove around the water box since I just had regular street tires, and gave them a little chirp. The guy next to me had slicks and did a monster burnout. I waited for him to finish and we pulled up. Of course then my glasses and visor fogged over. Flip the visor open and search for the pre stage. He pre-staged first, I was right behind him. He then staged first, I was right there. Tree came down, and I thought I nailed it pretty good! Just that second the tires came loose a little bit and the traction control kicked on. Damn! I forgot to turn it off before the run. In this car, it closes the throttle, and pulses the rear brakes to keep the rear wheels the same speed as the front wheels. Well I kept in it, but the traction control just kept staying on. As you can see, the 60' time was very horse and buggy like LOL. Well I let off and then put it back to 3/4 throttle just to get it moving before I put it down all the way. About the 330 I put it down and it was fine the rest of the way. I drove it way out the back door just for kicks and made the turn off.
Down to the time slip booth to grab my first ticket. Reaction time .220 oops!! I thought it was better then that.
In the end, a slow 11.22 at 71 mph. Not what I was wanting, but it was good just to make a pass, and I didn't hold the other guy up or roll the beams like I have seen some rookies do. I drove right back down to the lanes for another pass, but just as I got there, the freezing rain came back and we were done for the day.
Hopefully I can get out 2 more times before the snow comes, weather permitting.
Parked with my good friend and fellow Mater member Chris Anderson's trailer/motorhome.
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