Willow Drags Invasion Sat 08/10

[Tetge]

So far Ohio John and the blue SloBra, and Carios with the orange beast and me with my slow auto slug, are heading up to the Willow Drags. I expect that I will arrive somewhere close to the 6 PM opening time so that I can register and get some early laps in when they start to run somewhere around 7 PM. I wouldn't go, but, I need to get revenge on John, and, Carlos says that he will be bringing it with race fuel and lots of boost and giant sticky MT DR's. He wants to run over 120! Too bad that Jerome can't make it as usual, since we could add him to the list of victims..

[Tetge]

Good to go with tires all mounted up and my helmet sitting in the front passenger seat wearing its seat belt. The only bad thing is that I just fueled up, so I will lose a 10th in the 1000'. But, it is not as hot today as it was for the past few weeks, so that is a plus. Weatherunderground says that it will be 75* at 8 PM at Willow, so it could be just fine for drag racing.

[03_SONIC_BLUR]

I had to mount the Nitto 315's as the ET Street DR's are too worn to use up at Willow

[Tetge]

Jerome is also on his way. But, WineOoooo say NOGooooooooo.

[Tetge]

So, we invaded and my 5.0 slug was at the bottom of the heap. I tried to manually shift it and, for one reason or another, I failed miserably and ran pitiful 11's. So, I gave up and put it in drive and it ran all 10's. The final calibration run was a 10.881 @ 102.73, and I challenged Ohio John to a final shootout, but he declined. I had been flirting with good RT's all night, so I can understand why he refused to race me. I was running solid in the 10's and he was vulnerable. Still, have to concede that Jerome and Carlos and John all owned my pitiful auto trans 5.0 slug. In fact, both Carlos and Jerome were right there with the fastest cars at the track, although they did not seem to get any respect. I was car 19, and, usual, I really had nothing to be ashamed of. But, I need 3.55 gears for Willow, for sure. I was car #19.

And, the weather was quite nice. It was under 80* and no wind to speak of, and getting cooler by the minute. A very good day/evening at Willow. Of course, it is not real, serious, drag racing, but, it is still a form of drag racing. I had a pretty good time, or so they tell me after a visit to the old Cantina. But, I got home, and my outside air temp indicator was a max of 71* on the trip home. So, with the signifantly shorter MT DR's giving me more punch and more grip and with 70* temps, let's just say that I made it home, and let it go at that.

But, I still have to admit that I love to drag race.

[Brakelate]

You can't leave us with that! So, what did Jerome run? Did Carlos take the record back?

Why is it that it takes me not showing up to get a good group to show up? Hmmmm

[Tetge]

You can't leave us with that! So, what did Jerome run? Did Carlos take the record back?

Why is it that it takes me not showing up to get a good group to show up? Hmmmm

How would I know the numbers of the super pros? Suffice it to say that they were significantly quicker and faster than I was (and Carlos and Jerome were quicker and faster than almost anyone was). In fact, as we rushed down to the old Cantina, they all dropped me big time on the freeway as I did not wish to run 100 with my MT DR's at 25 PSI. At the strip, I was running in the less than quick, street driven, just quicker than most Honda Civics, class, although I did get into the 10's on a consistent basis once I gave up on trying to shift the car manually and let the auto trans take over. I also bumped into my former mechanic, Berry, who was running his purple Dodge, that had been tossed from LACR many times. I never heard a time or speed for him since the announcer is not always audible when you are in the staging lanes. So, it was a typical day at Willow, although they put up a lot of cones to block entrance into the pit area and they announced frequently that only cars that had numbers and that were racing could park in the pits. This actually cleaned up the parking situation a lot, so it was a good move. I have no idea of the turnout, as the staging lines were pretty short, but, Willow has it all worked out now so generally things move a bit quicker.

As a side note, when we arrived at the old Cantina, before 10 PM, they initially told us that they closed at 10. I had called a couple of months ago and they told me that they closed at 11 PM on Fri and Sat, same as they always had. But, they obliged us and allowed us to order food, etc. As we left, I noticed that the painted sign by the entrance said 11 AM - 11 PM. But, since they took care of us, I suppose it turned out OK. They did still make a killer Margarita, or two, and the food and service was good. But, it seems that there is a need for a restaurant somewhere near Willow that stays open late and has a bar so that thirsty racers who lost all their races to mugs with lots of HP can unwind and forget their defeats.

[JeromeMach1]

Why is it that it takes me not showing up to get a good group to show up?

I was tricked Jay. I specifically said I would not go unless Jay is there too. Pat assured me that you would be there. Then when I get there and ask when you are showing up, he made up some story that you moved out of State or something.

This was my first time going to or racing at this event. This type of racing certainly requires one to be in tune with their vehicle. You must know just how much throttle and clutch to apply to get maximum traction on an unprepped surface.

I made a few passes againt Carlos and John. I tried multiple times to line up with Pat but he kept zig zagging the lanes to avoide lining up with me.

After making a total of 7 passes, my best ET was the first pass. I manages a 10.37. The mph on that pass was 108.53. My best mph was the 2nd to last hit. It was 108.59. On this run my ET was 10.46. On another pass I did run a 10.40.

Overall, I had a great time. It was fun hanging out with the guys and making some passes. Perhaps the next time I will do this is when Jay is really going to be there.

Thank you for the invite Pat

Jerome

[Brakelate]

After seeing how well your Mach runs Jerome, perhaps it is best that I wasn't there! You guys were smoking! I'm lucky if I run 10.5's and I believe my best trap speed ever was 109 if I am not mistaken.

Bummer, I missed a good time.

[Tetge]

After seeing how well your Mach runs Jerome, perhaps it is best that I wasn't there! You guys were smoking! I'm lucky if I run 10.5's and I believe my best trap speed ever was 109 if I am not mistaken.

Bummer, I missed getting my butt kicked by the real fast guys.

I couldn't have said it better.....

And, did I see Jerome saying, "maybe next time". I guess that he has to do max weight reduction and run his skinnies and all. Toward the end of the season, up at Willow, it can get cooler and that is when personal bests start to come into play. I might go back since it does offer a chance to legally open the throttle and run up to around 100 mph. This might blow some of the cobwebs out of my grocery getter.