As a precursor, I will acknowledge my times are nothing to brag about, but I'm just stoked I'm starting to get better at bracket racing!
We had our last race of the year at our local 1/8 mile track here in Lakeview, and not only did I for the second consecutive race make the third round of Sportsman eliminations, I also managed to pull off the best times yet with my project '70 Bug and mild 1776 engine (Engle 100, Kads, S&S single QP, semi hemi stock valve port and polished heads, 7.8:1 comp., 1.25 rockers, 009, stock weight flywheel and stock crank, and a few other minor things not performance related).
I use what I refer to as a poor man's tach (open stinger) as I usually can't hear my car against the open header V8s that run out there, and I think I'm getting a little better. First pass of the day (non pro handicap tree, though in time trials we were running heads up, .500 tree) I cut a .552 light and ran an 11.299 at 60 miles per hour. Previously the best I could muster was a 11.34, and for some reason I've never hit 60, always just a hair under at 59 point something mph.
Throughout the morning I made tons of passes (full cooling system versus a lot of the other guys packing much more heat than me, literally) and I was solid in the 11's, though my worst pass was an 11.92 or something, and a lot of my back to back passes were pretty close. The consistency factor is a tough one, but seat time will help with that, I'm sure.
On one pass, just for curiosity, I pulled the fan belt off to see what a difference it would make. I've heard the fan is a major drag, and I discovered this was certainly true. I ran an 11.19 on that one pass alone at 61 miles per hour, though I did note the cylinder head temp gauge was rising quickly as I neared the end of the track. Didn't read higher than 325 as I shut her off, though, and she cooled down mighty quick once I put the belt back on. The car physically felt like it was pulling harder too with no belt... interesting to see it first hand versus reading it elsewhere.
Eliminations I won the first round, running against a three-seconds-faster Plymouth Satellite who wound up red lighting. I actually broke out of my 11.40 dial in, running 11.31 or so, so if it hadn't been for his red light I would have been a first-round casualty. second round I drew the bye and in the third round I lost to a local guy running a '56 Chevy dialed in at 8.31 or so. He ran within .06 of his dial, versus my .14 margin, which is closer than the last race a few weeks ago. That's the best way to lose, in my opinion, no red lights or break outs, just simply the man that's closest to his dial.
Of course, the only down side (is there really a down side?) is that I'm more hooked than ever, and want more than anything to go faster... but for the time being I'm happy just enjoying the learning curve.
The Cal-look Lounge
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