First race of the season tonight. Weather seemed good on the weather station, but we had to ride out some sprinkles when we got there and before we could run time trials. Humidity stayed high all night and threw off DA calculations.

My son ran the Camaro in the High School class. We only get 2 time trials, and he managed to redlight both (I didn't do much better). The 2nd one he left on the 2nd yellow, so that one looked pretty bad. And, the car was all over the place ET-wise - first run showed a 60' 3 tenths better than usual, ET more what you would expect for the DA of 14.63. 2nd run was slower by over a tenth at 14.75 even though the DA went down and wind was about the same, 60' closer to what we would expect. Intervals were just weird.

1st round, we decided to dial the slower time since a lot of cars in the classes that ran first were slower than their dials (even redlight & bye runs). Even though he didn't jump right into the staging lanes when they called high school, he ended up at the front of the lanes. He was paired with a Toyota Tundra that dialed 17.89. They staged, the Tundra took off, my son waited patiently and took off. I was watching from beside the burnout box, saw him hit the brakes near the end (I thought pretty hard - scrubbed off 12 MPH), double break-out, he's .008-sec worse.

We get back to the pits, he shows me his timeslip - he cut a .018 light to the other kid's .041. The 60' was more like the 2nd run, but the intervals were all screwy again - except all three slips showed nearly identical 330' to 1/8 mile times (within a few thousandths, while the other intervals were off by tenths).

So, although he made a great run at it (probably shouldn't have listened to Dad for the dial-in), he went out first round. As he said, though, he'd rather lose after cutting a .018 light than after cutting a .3 light!

Next race, next Friday!

 

I guess the most important thing is that he enjoyed himself and that he can't wait to try it again. How did you make out?

 

I got a redlight gift in the first round and got treed in the 2nd.

But, ran a best-ever at altitude 13.308 @ 100.69 in TT.

 

I hate getting red lights or breakouts since those are the races that I've given away. Everyone does it and when it happens, you just have to shrug it off and try better next time. If you wait too long ot the tree or dial in too soft, then you're not trying hard enough. We all make mistakes and learn from the mistakes.

At least if I cut a good light, ran close to my dial in and still lost, I don't really care because I know I was honestly beat by someone who was a little better and I didn't give away the race.

Weather and track conditions affect everyone so those who can compensate and adjust to the changing conditions have a better chance of winning. Of course you can be totally off on your dial and still win if your opponent red lights. Those freebee passes are sure nice in the later rounds.

Normally I'm just happy if I get past first round. That's got to be the worst. After that all the anxiety goes away.

 

A fellow racer (running a different class) who consistently cuts .00x & .01x lights went out in the first round to somebody who had a .014 package.

In our case, this was his first time out to an actual race with the Camaro. The time trial data didn't make sense, especially the 60' in the first run. This is his first year racing. So, consistency will have to come with time.

I'm just tickled that he cut a .018 light in the first round of competition after two redlights in time trials, and that he had the presence of mind to hit the brakes at the top end when he realized he was too far ahead - in his first round of competition ever.

 

Has he ever raced before at a track or has he been doing test-n-tune for a long time? Practice is everything.

 

Nine test & tune runs in two sessions in April.