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I was a good day of racing at NED yesterday. It was very warm and the track was well prepared because they were letting V8s and bikes run during the day as well for the weekend points series and for practice for a Sunday event. That made for an interesting day to watch racing. The V8s and imports didn't compete with each other, they just ran the import classes, then the bikes, then V8s. Some V8s were running 8s in the 1/4 mile.
I entered in the slick class (bracket racing, slicks). I have drag radials which means I could have entered the street class, but usually there are 50 cars in the street tire class and only 10 in the slick class so it's less people to deal with. Much better racers so it's no walk in the park, but less rounds of competition.
But, with the "run only" class (were people just run time trials, which this event has been running for a while) being more and more popular with the ricers (since they know they can't run their car consistently and actually get a reaction time below a full second) the street tire class has less and less people in it as time goes by, and there were only about 16 cars in the street class this time.
Ok, as for the racing, the traction was great because it was warm (mid 80s) and the track was well prepared for the bikes and V8s, so good that I had problems bogging all day. The first run had a good reaction time of 0.540 but I bogged with a 2.25 60' time and only had a 15.68. (The other car broke down so he didn't finish the race, it was a 11 sec civic that was trailered up there)
Second trial run I gave it a whole lot more gas at the line and had a 0.581 R/T with a 2.156 60' time! My best ever, so I finally have the launch down, and on a day like this I can take advantage of it with great 60' times. The car ran a 15.478 at 88.99mph, decent enough. The other car was a rotary powered corrola and ran 12s, but I think afterwards he had problems and didn't compete later in the day (or he lost the first round, since I didn't see him running later in the day).
Then the competition began. I dialed in at 15.41 because I figured I could still get more out of her. I had a BYE the first round because it seems that I had the best reaction time during qualifying (really?!?! heh heh, have to brag a LITTLE there, but as the saying goes it ain't bragging if you can do it).
Well, I was right about getting more out of her. I made a normal pass and did not take it easy to see what I could do, and had a 0.569 R/T, a 2.184 60' and a 15.402 1/4 mile at 90.49 mph. I broke out! Good thing it happened on the bye run. So, that meant next round I needed to drop that dial in time a little!
Second round was versus a turboed civic dialed in a 12.0 sec. He was running pretty well so I knew it would be a tough race. I go first (I lowered the dial in to a 15.38) and had a decent R/T of 0.594. I bogged the launch and had a 2.241 60'. When I got into second gear it looked to me like he was having trouble off the line but I decided to stay on the throttle as I figured he had more than enough power to catch up quickly, which he did! When I got to the 1000 foot mark he shot past me like I was standing still and, fortunately for me, he broke out by only 3 thousandths at 11.997! (at 110.67 mph!)
I only ran a 15.610 at 90.60mph so it was a good thing he broke out because even though I had the better reaction time it wasn't enough to make up for bogging the car. Anyway, I made it to the next round where only three cars were left.
For the next round I keep the dial in at 15.38. I am lining up against an older gentelman who has a VW powered roadster and is a regular at the drag strip. He is quite good, and last year I lost to him in one of the import events.
Before the race I said to one of the New England DSM club guys "if I don't bog, I'll win."
I line up against him and go first as his dial is 13.53 (and he was running right on that time so I knew I was in for a tough race). I get of the line wiht an outstanding 0.509 R/T! But, I did bog this launch as the RPMs caught at about 3500 after I jumped off the line. I kept ahead of him until the 1000 ft mark but he got past me and won the race. I ran a 15.642 at 91.25mph to his 0.558 R/T and 13.546 at 94.16mph.
I was right. I bogged and I did not win. I had him at the light, but he was exactly on his dial in time so that gave him the win. Next round he raced a rotary powered something or other to get the 1st place trophy.
So, that placed me in 3rd place for the day which is a good showing, but since they only give trophies to 1st and 2nd place that means while I had a good day, I went home empty-handed. 
I decided to get one more time-trial just to see what I could squeeze out of her. I lined up against a stock FWD 1st gen turbo Eclipse. I got him off the line with a 0.576 R/T, and absolutely smashed the throttle on launch! I ran a 2.157 60' time and the car lept ahead with no wheel spin. I hit the 1/8th in only 9.846 sec and I'm staying ahead of the turbo. Near the end I can hear his car starting to gain as his turbo spooled but I had just too good of a lead and beat his 15.443 at 96.35mph to my.... 15.371 at 91.68mph! Now that is a good run! If this car was tuned, who knows what it would have done!
I was a good day; I have the launch down, ran my best 60' times, my worst R/T was a 0.594, I wasn't getting close to red lighting (it is a much better strategy to keep the R/T in mid 0.500s instead of trying to get as close to 0.500 as possible), and took 3rd place. Not bad at all.
"Tutto fa brodo."
Todd Scungio
98 RS
15.173 @ 90.70 MPH
And also a 2011 Ralliart
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