The rain held out for us this past Sat and I went out to run in a Camaro/Firebird vs Mustang shootout in the morning followed by Real Street(the points seires I'm in)in the afternoon.

First round in the morning I get lined up with the points leader in real street(I'm in 2nd). This was the second time we've lined up together and I won the first time so it was important for me to win:

4025 - car# - 6144
11.27 - dial - 12.60
.050 - R/T - .083
11.306 - ET - 12.552

GTA 2, Mustang Cobra 0

Had a .001 light in the second round which got me a bye in the third and and .028 light was enough for me to win the fourth and final round(yes it was a small turnout due to potential rain).

In the afternoon Real Street starts up, I get lucky in the first round dispite my terrible .135 light when my opponent hit the brakes a little too hard, giving me the win by .0158.

The semifinal round put me up against Mr Mustang Cobra again, and this was the result:

4025 - car# - 6144
11.34 - dial - 12.58
.047 - R/T - .028
11.346 - ET - 12.642

GTA 3, Mustang Cobra 0

Unfortunatly my second worst light of the day came in the final round, a .112 to the other guys .039(which sucks too cause I had been .050 and better for 19 of the previous 20 passes )and he got the win by .0203

At least I closed the gap in the points, now only 1 round out of first. And scince the number 3,4,and 5 guys all went out in the first round we've opened up a little breathing room too.

Next race is May 28, hopefully my luck keeps up

Steve

 

Good show!

I'm honestly not sure how they pick byes here in the early rounds. They start the ladder in the 4th round, based on how close you were to your dial in the 3rd round w/o breaking out. Uneven # of cars, you get a bye in the 4th. If you cut a good light and the other guy is off in the 3rd round, you're not likely to run it through so your chances of getting laddered well are reduced. But, I'll take a win over a chance for a spot on the ladder any day.

I'm not sure which is really better, RT or running the number. I suppose the latter isn't as true an elimination ladder as the former.

FWIW, completed races with fewer than 6 rounds is rare around here. High school, sport compact, motorcycle are about the only exceptions.

 

The class I run is a Sat afternoon eliminator and isnt that big(englishtowns bigger points day is Sun), with 39 people registered for points and usually around 50 or so cars show up. We usually go 6-7 rounds but the weather was iffy all day which I'm sure scared alot of people away and we ended up only going 5 rounds(I left out two rounds in my previous post).

Our bye goes by the best reaction time from the previous round and we usually start a ladder by the second or third round depending on car count.

I've contemplated running on Sundays where they often go 10 rounds but I dont really fit well in any of the classes, I'm too fast for the classes my car fits but I'm not enough car for the classes my times/speed fit. Though I plan on giving it a shot maybe next year depending on how the rest of this season goes.

Steve