Beach Bum

Well its winter time, and I know a lot of you cold weather city racers are getting a bit of the cabin fever, thus I thought I would share a bit of my racing yesterday with you..... feel free to join in and add your recent racetrack experiences if you've some how made it out.

Yesterday, at Carlsbad raceway they had a test n tune, so I went out of boredom, track is very slippery and my over cooked ET Streets aren't helping either, thus none of these et's are worth a hoot, but the trap speeds aren't bad.

Temp: 64 degrees, 29.98 bar, 60% humidity. 300 foot track elevation. This equates to roughly 800 DA..... which is very good. :) Weather varied little if any all day.

1st race: I am racing a beautiful 68ish pure black Fastback Mustang... think is immaculate. Not sure all that is done to the motor, but has a lot of chrome, he's running skinnies up front and 12" Sportsman street slick on the back. And he has the big words NOS on his windshield. (At Carlsbad, if you're running NOS, the techs write it on your windshield for safety purposes), I pretty much think I'm in for a tough race considering the set-up.

..........................me............ ........Mustang
rt......................529............. .......128 (the bastard)
60 ft................1.717................. .2.129
330 ft..............4.862..................5 .793
1/8et...............7.511................. 8.854
1/8mph...........92.71.................80. 63
1/4et.............11.716.................1 3.763
1/4 mph........117.51..................99.25
Mov left 1.645

Okay, something wrong with the Mustang... had the looks of a 10 second racecar, but ran in the 13's.... maybe he was just doing a shakedown pass on the motor and didn't flip the switch.... dunno. I liked my trap speed on my pass, but couldn't hook up, had to get in and out of the gas the 1st 5 feet to get it going.... with a normal 1.5x hook my best pass to date of 11.55 could have been history considering I ran that with a 116.99 trap speed. Oh well.....

2nd race.... I'm racing a bracket racing buddy in his Pinto with a 302 in it.... he's normally a mid 12 racecar with his slicks on, but he was just running his street tires today for grins.

........................me.............. ...Pinto
rt..................560................. .554
60ft.............1.741................2. 156
330ft...........4.912................5.7 20
1/8et...........7.572...............not shown (timer problem)
1/8 mph......92.34...............not shown
1/4 et..........11.790............13.025
1/4 mph.......117.31............109.38
left mov 1.228

My buddy treed me... I hate being treed :).... stay tuned, we go again.

3rd race.... This time I am racing a good friend and also one of the best footbrake bracket racers here on the west coast.... back when I 1st stared modifying my vette years back, me and him literally raced 50 times with the outcome decided by a few feet each time, however, I've got him easily covered nowadays, but we still have tree battles. He drives a very nice 73 Trans Am with a mildly worked over 455.

........................me.............. .....Trans Am
rt.....................574.............. ....279
60ft.................1.721.............. .1.943
330ft..............4.885................ 5.329
1/8et..............7.539................8. 152
1/8mph..........92.53................87.01
1/4et.............11.751...............12. 663
1/4mph.........117.42................108.7 0
left mov....616

Damn cheat... he left early on me... he does that to me sometimes just to irratate me. Good thing though, my .574 light was late and he would have ate it up easily if he was trying to push the light. Keep in mind, this isn't bracket racing today, but that doesn't stop us from having tree wars. :)

4th race... is a repeat against my buddy in the 302 pinto... if you recall, he treed me 1st pass... I'm out for revenge. Keep in mind none of these guys are pushovers, they're all accomplished and very experienced bracket racers.

.................... Pinto.....................Me
rt..................529................. ......519
60ft.............2.109.................. ...1.786
330ft...........5.651................... ..4.946
1/8et...........8.467..................... 7.615
1/8mph.......87.77.....................92. 18
1/4et.........12.938.....................1 1.848
1/4mph.......109.61....................116 .64
...............................right mov...1.100

Motor was heated up on this pass to account for the lost mph.... I lose roughly .5-.7 mph when compared to 160 degree temp to 190 degree at the lights. Got my light revenge though. :D.... on the flip side, his reaction times are very impressive considering he is on his street tires... I'm always late or early when I'm on my street tires. (Its much harder to nail consistent lights with heavy tire spin... you're typically late getting out of your rollout from the tirespin... then whenever I try to compensate for this, I leave too early 1/2 the time.)

Next race... I'm up against a early mid to early 60's Nova. I've never seen it before, but it has NOS written on the windshield, so I know I've got my hands full with him.

.....................me................. Nova
rt..................517................9 96
60ft..............1.777.............1.84 6
330ft............4.957.............4.887
1/8et...........7.630.............7.366
1/8mph........91.87.............99.10
1/4 et..........11.872...........11.332
1/4 mph......116.60............123.66
......................right.... mov .061

At the start of this race, I thought no problem, I got this guy easily covered, but then about at the 1/8th, I noticed that momentum had changed and he zipped past me right at the traps. :(.... say what you want about NOS... but the stuff does work. He told me later in the lanes he's running a 150 shot and picked up 1.2 seconds with it and that he runs mid to low 12's on the motor. But hey I treed him pretty hard with my best light of the day for whatever thats worth.

Last race of the day.... I pull my slicks off and put on the rockhard street Yoko's and decide to make a pass. I line up with a good buddy in his 2000 LS-1 Camaro SS.... he's put on a host of bolt on modifications himself including a 3000 rpm Yank torque converter... but he too is on his street tires.

.........................SS Camaro..............Me
rt.......................375............ .............369
60ft...................2.305............ ..........2.096
330ft.................5.861............. ........5.345
1/8et................8.766................ .....8.051
1/8mph............84.13................... ...90.79
1/4et...............13.305................ ....12.332
1/4mph............107.04.................. .115.50
...............................right.... mov...1.059

We both had early lights... I think he was trying too, but as emberassing as it is... I wasn't trying to leave early, I was simply trying to leave earlier than normal to accomodate for the lost rt time from spinning.... didn't work out to well.... I think I would be a horrible street tire bracket racer. :(
My trap speed is pretty weak from the hard peddling spin... I didn't hook up until 2nd gear. I have found that if I just spin for the 1st 10-20 feet as the other passes with the slicks on, my trap speeds are basically the same vs a full hook, but when you spin all the way through 1st and go into 2nd at a slower physical speed than normal, your traps take a dump.


Oh well..... as you can see, there is no drama in the racing above, just an average day of test n tune racing with some good friends. But I thought a few of you guys locked up in your snowbound cabins might enjoy a few minutes of reading material....

I need a new set of slicks and another cool day like this and I feel I have a shot at 11.4's....or at least to knockdown my 11.55 thats been standing since last spring. Didn't have one hook all day.... I think this is the 1st time I've every gone racing and didn't walk away with at least one 1.5 or 1.6x 60 foot time. :(.... maybe next time.

hope you enjoyed.
Beach Bum

CFI-EFI

I certainly enjoyed! I'm snow bound, here. Still have another 3 months before we get a test & tune. Just for the record, where IS Carlsbad? You had some very admirable lights. Have you ever taken note of your "MOV's" in actual competition? Do you (and any other racers reading this) know what your closest race has been? I'm jealous of your warm climate. Have you picked a track for your Summit competition, yet? I hope to meet you at "Top Gun" next fall. Later.

Oh My

Good account for test and tune :cheers: Bithlo usually is so crowded , your lucky to get three runs. Nice consistent runs by the way. Thanks for posting

J Z06

Steady 117 MPH, always makes me smirk! :D

Thanks for sharing. :cool:

ShawnZR-1

Beach Bum, actually, that post has more value than you would think. It is very informative and entertaining! You did well and any day at the track is better than at home! Kepp up the racing! :seeya

pablocruise

Hey Beach, can ya break down for me the way the R/T's work for some of the different classes? For the most part, I only get to watch the big boys race the national events on tv. So I am used to seeing the T/F categories try for as close to .400 as possible. Went to Sears Point and Pomona races last year and watched some of the other categories react at .500 and such sometimes redlighting. At what times does the tree flash the ambers/green? Thanx. -Paul
BTW, I am going to Pomona in two weeks and this R/T info will help me understand tree basics. I guess I'm looking for tree101. :crazy:

mn_vette

Hey, my car's been put away for the winter since I'm up here in Minnesota. i'm very edgy to get to the track with my friend that has a '98 corbra. But the nice thing about being "snowed in" is that you have plenty of time to make mods with lots of time to think about them. I'm hopeing to add 40-50HP this winter with a new camshaft, bigger rockers, electric waterpump, and some underdrive pulleys.

85vet

Beachbum,

Hey, thanks for thinking about us northerners who have to imagine being at the track.

Really enjoyed, but makes me envious of all the fun.

Keep it coming, I love it.

Beach Bum

Thanks everybody... glad at least a few enjoyed.

Hi CFI,

Carlsbad is about 20 miles north of San Diego. Its basically an old rundown racetrack that is on its last leg. (There is a planned industrial complex and road to go through the track) Once upon a time it was a nhra sanctioned track... not anymore. Not sure where I am going to qualify for the division 7 finals yet.... unfortunately the next two closest tracks it does not look like they will be running the Summit series this year. All choices are not an easy drive, however, I am going to pick one and try to make enough events to build enough points to make the team. I'll let you know which track it is soon. I have to pick one pretty quick though, the 1st points events start in either late february or march depending on the track. Yeah I hope to meet you at Top Gun.... I'd like it even more if one of us moved on to Pomona after that. :):) A few of us analyze and bench race our bracket successes and failures via a small email ring during the racing season.... when we start-up competition again, I'll add your name to our list.

My lights were okay, couple of solid ones, but a couple of late ones too. Didn't take it too seriously obviously. Will start hitting the practice tree and a few more test n tunes in the few weeks before competition starts up again.

Yes, I pay close attention to the margin of victory.... I have won and lost many races by meerly a thousandths or two in brackets. Once in just a test n tune I lost a race by .000..... it showed I lost, I believe TSI 2000 timing systems go 4 digits out...


Hi Paul,

I assume you're going to Pomona for the Winternationals.... if you want to race their you have to get in the SuperChevy show or win your regional divisional NHRA summit class.... other than that, mere mortals cannot race on that track.... too bad, its a great, great track.

The Pro-Tree lights are not a full tree light, in otherwords all 3 ambers light simulentously, thus .400 seconds later the green light comes on. Thus the pro's are shooting for a.400 or slightly slower. On a full tree, which most tracks across the country run in bracket racing competition is a Full Tree based upon a .500 amber.... meaning each yellow lights .500 seconds after the other.... on the bottom amber the rt timer starts and .500 seconds later the green light turns on.... thus a .499 is a redlight, because the green is not on yet. Most experienced racers will tell you to nail the gas on the last yellow.... thats pretty simple and good advice.... based upon that and after some experience you can break down that last amber and fine tune your rt to match your rollout and other vehicle variables.

cheers,
Beach Bum

mackeyred96

Good job Todd, but wouldn't you like to drive a SS/EA FIREBIRD?????

91Vette

:cool:

Beach Bum

John, I got your pictures.... very cool.

Are you in any of those ? Couldn't tell.

later
Beach

Beach Bum

Thanks... 91vette.... btw, is Big ALs still open in Peoria, I used to frequent that place with some buddies every now and then. :D

Beach

Red5

Beach,

Why is it that at Beach Bend (corvette homecoming) the perfect luanch is a .50 and when I run the 1/8th at the Valley it is .00?

CFI-EFI

Red5,
Non-standard timing system. LACR had time slips like that 4 years ago at the division 7 finals. Some track's computers read out that way. You would have to double check with the track, but I would assume that you are still running on a .500 (three sequential ambers) sportsman tree. Any negitive (-) number would represent a red light. At the majority of the tracks I've seen or heard of, .500 is a "perfect" light. Back in the late 70's when I raced Beach Bend for the division 3 finals, they didn't give us a reaction time. Neither did Great Lakes, my home track at the time.

Beach,
A fellow racer has had two races in which the MOV was ".000". One race he won, one he lost. I asked the track at the time of the first one and they told me that the timing equip reads much more accurately than the 3 digit printout indicates. Newer equipment is printing out 4 decimal places. I won a race in Vegas at this year's finals by eleven, TEN thousandths (.0011). My local track (RMR) prints rt/l lane first by: and MOV out to the 4th digit since the middle of last summer.

Beach Bum

Red,

All it is is that some timing systems start the rt timer .500 after the last yellow, whereas most start the rt timer as soon as the last yellow lights.... but regardless, you don't need to do anything different at the lights, your rt will be the same but instead of it reading a .520 for example, it would read .020...... I assume it shows a negative # when you go red.

I've always felt that Pro-Tree's should be used more frequently.... for the simple reason it dramatically cuts down on red lights and forces more races to go the distance as opposed to the race being over at the lights. The reason there are less redlights is because the racer does not anticipate the tree coming down and thus jump early, they instead react to all 3 bulbs flashing at once... its very hard to redlight reacting to the lights in this manner. However, don't get me wrong, many racers will try to anticipate the starter starting the Pro-Tree, which is a hard thing to do, thus they go red every now and then. But for the ones that wait for the lights.... it'll be a green light race 95% of the time.

CFI,

I've been told the same thing..... as long as the timer data is their, I think they outa just print it out 4 digits out.... pretty neat to break down a race to ten thousandths of a second.... unless of course you're on the losing end of that race. :cry

cheers,
Beach

SPD DMN

:cool: Thanks for sharing Beach.

rcolling

Fun reading Beach. I was talking to SoCalC5 Sunday at California Dragway. He said he was at Carlsbad too. He ran a best of 12.97 Sunday. First time for me with the stick. Got three runs in and red lighted twice. I am always happy to listen to someone who knows what they are doing. I live about 2 miles from Pomona so let me know if you are ever up this way.

Beach Bum

Hi Rcolling,

Does SocalC5 have slicks and skinnies on his C5 ? That was the only other vette I remember seeing their Saturday. One of these days I'll make the long drive out to Fontana.

talk to you later
Beach

rcolling

Nope, this is on street tires. His is a 2001 MY coupe. I thought he did a great job with his car on the runflats. I was trying to pick up some pointers on shifting and launching.