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| Saturday September 29 2012 at Martin US131 Dragway |
After 15 years with the dependable 1971 Dodge Charger my drag racing plan has changed. The Charger is FOR SALE listed on eBay, Craigslist and RacingJunk.com since I scored a 2003 Chrysler GT Cruiser. The 3200-pound front-wheel-drive turbocharged 2.4-liter 4-cylinder 5-door Inferno Red mini-SUV leaves the starting line quietly and runs up to 90 miles-per-hour in 15 seconds and change.
No change in the plan to race in Street class against 12-second cars, no change in the plan to drive the car to the track, no change in the plan to roll off the starting line within 0.03 seconds after the green light and finish 0.02 seconds ahead of the opposing car. But I do have to practice staging to flicker the second light, foot-braking the start, watching the other car come from behind, and foot-braking the finish to avoid breaking out.
My first race this season was the last opportunity at Martin US131 Dragway in 2012. In 5 passes through 1320 feet my reaction times were between 0.333 and 0.133 with an average of 0.240, about two-tenths of a second slower than I want. The time to the 60-foot beam was between 2.350 and 2.370 seconds. Here is the average time for each increment going down the track:
60 - 330 feet = 4.20
330 - 660 feet = 3.47
660 - 1000 feet = 3.05
1000 - 1320 feet = 2.56
That is an average of 15.64 seconds.
Any questions?
Did I win?
1st round, 0.18 slower reaction and 0.05 slower than dialed, and I lost by 0.096 seconds.
2nd round buy back, opponent had a foul start (red light) so I won, at 0.15 seconds slower than dialed.
3rd round, 0.04 slower reaction and 0.08 faster than dialed, so I lost, although I was ahead by 0.074 seconds.
That's the story.
