LEAVINU

We got back from the 1st Annual Speed Festival in Carrabelle, FL yesterday.

My buddy Alex (Turbo NSX) and I made the 6.5hr drive down, not trailered, and ran in 95+ humid weather against some very serious competition.

There were 40 cars registered to race and 32 or 33 showed up to run Saturday morning. I always like to throw my car on the dyno before a big event like this so Thursday we strapped mine down and pulled 498rwhp & 441rwtq (Dynojet SAE) with 109deg dyno room temps. Not too shabby, especially for the conditions. My tq yet again is low but I'm thinking the lightweight clutch is contributing to that reading on the dyno as I used to pull mid/high 450rwtq consistently prior to the clutch. I'm not concerned about this low "dyno" number as the car pulls harder than ever before with the new clutch so thats all that matters.

So, we get to the airfield run through "tech", get our numbers and wait for the drivers meeting. The class of cars in attendance was amazing. We had two 800+rwhp FGT, two 1000+rwhp Supras, one 1000rwhp TT Mustang with a parachute, 600awhp E85 GTR, 550awhp GTR, 620rwhp SC C6(700rwhp+ on the juice), and on and on. After the meeting we were to all make a solo pass to see what the runway was like.

Well, the Heritage FGT pictured below made a pass and showed the importance of the driver mod. This guy had more money than sense obviously and along with the other FGT owner said they'd never really "driven" the cars like this. The Heritage FGT ends up roasting the tires bouncing off the rev limiter for a 100' or so then shifts, bounces off the limiter another 100' then shifts and does this all the way down to the 1/4 mile mark. As he comes back to the staging area it reeks of clutch. Well, this 800rwhp monster just had its clutched burned out by the worst driver possible. The owner is not very happy and says "I'll just run my back-up car (2012 PDK Turbo Porsche)" Nice back-up car right folks? Well, 1hr later he loaded the FGT on the trailer and left as he was so embarassed he didn't want to show face any longer. We never saw what the Porsche could do either. That was the first "driver error" of the day to say the least.

After all the solo passes I was itching to get the day started:

2012 GTR(stock)= We were the first race of the day. He was bone stock and being such a consistent car I knew it'd be a nice first kill of the day. Being the first time this event was ever being held there was some drama/confusion at the starting line not only with the event holders but the GTR owner too. Turns out he bought the car 3 months ago and had no clue how to work the thing. So after a few failed starts between us we get a decent one and it was ugly for the GTR. I put at minimum 3+ bus lengths on him and hit 160mph before letting out. Turns out he shifted into 3rd by accident at the start and had to downshift back to 2nd. He went all out from there but for some reason raced all day with a passenger and the A/C on. A 2012 GTR is no contest for me from any rolling speed but 3+ bus lengths should have not been the end result. I still claim the win but know the driver was the reason for the embarrassing distance.

2012 GTR E85 (603awhp/620awtq)= I raced a 2009 E85 GTR back at the last event and got walked by 3-4 cars and well this one did the same thing to me. I stayed with him off the jump pretty well even with me spinning but as soon as I shifted he shot out 3 cars and stayed there. He wasn't really pulling anymore and I wasn't catching him at all so I let out trailing 3 cars and took my beating and yet again gave props to a beast of a car. That 180wtq difference really showed once I shifted while he was in his powerband. But once ahead the 3800lb weight kept him from pulling me any harder and I didnt have enough power to pull back. Hmmm..... little bit of nitrous would remedy that....hmmmm.

640rwhp E-Force C6 with methanol & 109 race fuel (I asked him to not spray nitrous)= John was a cool guy and happened to be staying at the same hotel as us. He was a convertible LS3 with 20" wheels, C6Z brakes, etc. We lined up and I was hoping for a good run with him having so much more added weight but I got caught spinning. I preferred the left lane most of the day but John got in there before me and I learned the right lane had a thin film of sand on it. John told me he preferred to start in a higher gear to avoid spinning so it wouldn't have hurt him to be in the right lane instead but oh well; maybe he set me up. So we hit the line and I boiled 1st gear, hit 2nd and the car goes sideways but I'm feathering it staying in it trying to regain traction while John pulls up ahead 2 cars. Once I hit 3rd I caught traction and got it straight again. By this time John is ahead almost 3 cars at best but can't pull away from me and I'm holding steady. We cross the line with me trailing 3 cars yet again. John was impressed to say the least. If I hadn't spun as bad as I did I would have definitely been knocking on his rear bumper I believe.

2003 Whipple Cobra (owner claimed 600rwhp)= This guy was the buddy of the E85 GTR that walked me and suggested we run as it should be a good run. I figured this should be a good race as well if he's really making 600rwhp but it ended up being pretty ugly. I put 1.5-2 bus lengths on him with ease. I asked him after the run if I jumped him or something and he said we had a clean start and I was just too fast for him. His buddy came to find out what happened and he even told him it was an ugly beating. I'm going to play it safe and say he was claiming higher than actual hp numbers or he was REALLY heatsoaked.

2009 Camaro SS (cam-only 473rwhp/437rwtq)= Tom was a cool guy we actually went to dinner with. We ran for the sake of running as the nats were horrible when just standing around. I took a passenger and left the A/C on while running down the airstrip just because. This was just a fun run so I gave just enough throttle and rpm's to stay next to him and at the end pulled ahead enough to win by a fender.

2010 550awhp GTR= We agreed to run after lunch but the moment he saw me come back he bolted. Guess he wanted to keep his tally all wins and zero losses.


This event really had some impressive cars but the drivers were not up to par in most cases from what I saw. There were many many bad starts and even my buddy Alex was jumping the start by 1.5 cars at times which made for some wins that really weren't wins in my book. A lot of guys didn't seem familiar with how to "drive" their cars all out. Some couldn't really grasp the concept of a rolling start at the cones so a ton of races were started with a car already ahead 1-2 cars. Those were the guys saying they were just there to have "fun" when in actuallity they didn't want to admit they didn't know how to drive or didnt know what they were doing. We were all there to have fun but I certainly didn't drive 6.5hrs to not give it my all. I'm not one to race a poor driver for the sake of saying I beat a certain car as it just seems cheap to me.

My brother wasn't there to shoot video at the finish line this time so I don't have any good video this time around. Here's a short video put together by the organizers of the days events.

Few pics:
Outside the hotel right after the races.


500rwhp and 29mpg all the way there. This pic is @60mph but I was seeing 29mpg while doing 80mph on I-75 as well. Just a little easier to snap a pic at 60mph vs 80mph. **Airbag light on because I had to remove passenger seat for the EZ-UP to fit.


At the start of the day.

FloydSummerOf68

Awesome

dennis50nj

nice, please get some nitrous before the next time

LEAVINU

Yes sir! Talks have already been had but I do understand I can't win them all. I plan on not letting those E85 GTR's best me the next time around though. They'll need upgraded turbos for sure.

upsta8NY

Sounds like it was a blast and i must say very well described.

Neumonic2002

Thanks for sharing, looks like a great time!

Ragtop 99

Way to keep up our honor.

nice write-up too.

taken19

Leavinu, how do you find about these events? I'm in S. Florida and have been waiting for one of these for a while. Any specific website?

Thanks in advance, Sean

tomiboy

LEAVINU

By chance we found out about this one. There most likely will be a fall event so check out www.wannagofast.com for those details. The other event I did was more of a small private event a shop here in Atlanta puts on. The one in this thread was open to all cars.

LEAVINU

Alex (Turbo NSX) had a GoPro and just uploaded all his footage.

LEAVINU

John (SC LS3 C6) vs. Me

LEAVINU

John (SC LS3 C6) vs 2003 Mustang TT

Joe_G

Great write up..always enjoy your commentary on the events.

You seem to be the mayor of the 'mile run events' here on the forum...keep us appraised, I'm sure a few of us would join you. These events are fun!

LEAVINU

Thanks Joe, I'll do that and the mayor comment me up! Nice!

All_Motor_C5LS6

Any 1/4 mile times & mph from ur setup?

LEAVINU

Not yet, as I need a set of wheels with DR's on them. Those are coming in the near future as it's very apparent I need them for these roll runs too.

LEAVINU

Update on the Heritage FGT I spoke about above.

Just got word he not only fried the clutch but also the tranny and the repair bill is @$30k. It was also mentioned that he will be selling the car as-is vs. trying to repair.


Another FGT down the crapper because of a man that couldn't drive it, truly a damn shame!

HC Mechanic

That's terrible about the FGT, you gotta feel for him...but man educate yourself
No offense, but I see too many in this country with more money than brains...good old technology vs. mankind!

What's your friends S/C LS3 making? I think those roll on races are the way to go; it's a lot easier on parts!! I wish you lived closer...I'd like to match up the orange H/C cars

Awesome post as always man!

LEAVINU

I feel more for the car than the dumb driver. He was trying to be a hero and "cool guy with a fast car" when he should have just taken it easy and got a feel for the car. Both FGT owners said before any runs happened they had never driven the cars all-out in this manner. Well, with 800+rwhp don't you think you should play it safe? For my solo run I barely hit 120mph just because. Although I know my car, it was a new surface/track/location for me so I wanted to be smart about it. After I got a feel for the road I was doing 160mph by the 1/2 mile mark with ease.

John told me he made 640rwhp with no nitrous and 700+ on nitrous. Not sure of his tq numbers for either.

You don't want none of me HC, you're running on 91 octane and I'm on 93 so of course I'll win.