Been waiting years for it - Ran almost all 9.0s through summer heat - today calling for cool weather which it was despite humidity..

First pass 9.003 @ 149, sorta disapointed - but for some reason first pass is always slow.. Not sure why, I do a thorough warm up driving atleast 1 mile around track grounds getting temp to 200..

Anyway, second pass 8.97 @ 149.4 with a 1.26 60ft with rear tires.- then rained out, expected to go 8.95 in first round elims but did not find out..

The glide has made this car so much more calm to drive and hope to hit 8.8s in next month or 2..

 

I'm still not in the 8 second club
I really want that 8 second timeslipl.

My first pass of the day is always a garbage warmup pass. No matter what kind of pre-race warmup I try to do, the first pass is usually a throw away pass.

The last 3 Sundays of this month are my last 3 events of the year and also the first 3 that I'll be able to attend this year. It's been a hard season without a local track, took a while to put a new race engine together then had to replace the engine in my tow vehicle. I also really want that 8 second timeslipl.

I guess the best part is that it will be near the end of September and the air will be nice and cool making my attempt easier. By October, it will be too cold to race even though we have had nice weather in November some years.

I get asked a lot about what it's like to go that fast down the track. I just tell them that I don't even notice it any more. Launch, shift and in 9 seconds, it's over. Hope the car can return to the pits under it's own power and go do it again.

 

Way to go cracking the 8s!!!!!

Something to try...my team has a 93 stang with a rossler th400...he runs it through the gears for 5-10min on jackstands now because his used to do that. Something to try...now his doesnt change the 2nd pass.

 

It's coming for you, you need atltitude - You have a faster car than me, just handicapped by the damn mountain you live on.. lol

I am glad its not just me with the first pass..

Would you believe I was planning to take the jack today and try that, that was my assumption I am not getting enough heat inn rear and trans also.. Thanks for the tip, I am gonna try for sure next time..

Thank You guys very much - Been working hard to get it there.. BTW - You have a bad radial car there as well!

 

Is it 150 mph that you need a chute?

 

Yes. It's required at 150 mph but that doesn't mean you have to use it. If your track has a long enough shut down area, you shouldn't need it especially if you have 4 wheel disk brakes but it's also nice to know it's there just in case. I've only pulled mine a couple of times a year just so I can still see that it works and it gives me a chance to repack it. Only takes about 5 minutes to pack.

There are a few different brands available but Stroud is the most popular, easiest to pack and hits the softest. You don't even feel it deployed except that the car starts to slow down. Get the #430 chute. The calculation is ((Weight of car, in pounds) X (Speed, in mph)) ÷ 1,000 but unless your track has a very short shutdown area or you start getting over 180 MPH, the 430 chute should be more than enough. At 180, you're supposed to have 2 chutes anyway.

My race weight is 3020 x 150 mph / 1000 = 453 so I'm heavier than what the chute is supposed to stop but I've never had an issue. If it ever becomes one, a second chute can easily be mounted.

 

Yeah we where up at Cayuga Canada where there is a decent cross wind.I honestly don't remember what brand chute was on the car.It was yrs ago.My partner decided because he had never pulled the chute before on a 9.90 car,he would "try it". He said at first he thought we didn't pack it right because it seemed like nothing happened.Apparently that was while the pilot chute was blooming,but when the main chute hit he said it was like hitting a brick wall.That it seemed like the back of the car lifted off the ground.(of course it didn't)Then he had to fight the cross wind from trying to pull the car off the track.Suffice to say,he didn't want to do that anytime soon after.LOL

 

Congrats on cracking the barrier into the next second zone!

 

Thank you. Not as exciting as I thought it may be. No fireworks or sonic booms. Lol. Just a slip with an 8 in front

 

The worst thing is you're now on the bubble. I have a vinyl 9 on my windows and write in the rest of my dial in. Like you, once I know I get run 8's, it's a coin toss depending on the weather if I'll make an 8 or 9 second pass. Hard to have a vinyl number when you're not sure what range you're going to be in.

I need one of those dragster ET boards attached to my roof. A digital ET display would be nice if I had a delay box that could send my dial in to the board.

 

Like you don't hold .05-.15 anyways...just put 9.00 on there and hit the brake pedal...

 

The time I put on my windows is the time I expect the car to run. If I put a slower time, there's a very good chance I'll break out.

The only time I hit the brakes at the top end is if I have a guarantee win when my opponent isn't beside me near the finish. If it's a close race, I run it flat out and hope for the best. Hitting the brakes at that speed can be dangerous plus the nose drops which usually trips the beams early. At these speeds, most of the cars should be running their numbers and if they don't they have some sort of issue happening during the run. At 150 mph, it's very hard to judge a car coming up on you and knowing if it will take the stripe or not.

I could throttle stop the car to slow it down but then it's no fun. I could throttle stop it down to 10.90 and run in Super Street but being on the throttle stop for about 5 seconds sucks. I could throttle stop the car on the top end also but that only scrubs off mph.

Pull the chute at 1000' is another option but too hard to predict the ET. Technically, the chute release should be pulled before you cross the finish line anyway. That way the chute deploys just as you cross the finish and are still under full power.

 

In my class it's hard to judge, racing a rail who traps 180 is horrible to try and predict wether he will pass or not. I miss that being the faster car most of time.

 

When I first started racing we ran a lot of typical Sat night "combo" stuff. - I never ever evah evah, dialed slower than I thought it was going to go and never ever evah evah lifted on the big end. I will beat myself before I give up the win.

I guess that's why I'm not a "shoe polish" racer, I want to leave off the flagger & whomever gets there first wins. Can't stand the studder/spudder/pop/bang box racing. I see absolutely no point in 632ci & Big Chiefs in a 1500ish # dragster to run 9.90 or even 8.90. - We used to mess with those guys the opposite they try to mess with the door cars. We've always run alky, so we'd put 50-60* of timing in the car and dial it accordingly; car would run like all get-out 1st & 2nd gear, then fall on it's face in high. Car would ET good but way low MPH, makes it a lot more difficult for the delay box racers to judge coming on the stripe at a way high MPH for the ET.