Hello everyone,

New member here. I am looking for some advice. My son and I will be taking our 1999 FRC to Arkansas this summer to run their, (ECTA), standing start 1 mile race. We are new to racing of any kind, I have enjoyed being a spectator but never a participant. This looks to be a fun and reasonably cheap way to enjoy the car together. I am wondering if there are any road trip or racing tips from the members of the forum. We will be driving the car from Virginia to Arkansas, and then racing. The car is high mileage, 140k, and is all stock except the exhaust. I will be having it serviced by a reputable local mechanic in the spring and driving it often locally prior to leaving. We will be running in a street class, and should not exceed 135mph as we will be rookie racers and qualifying for our licenses.
Thanks for any input.
Bryan

 

Sounds like fun.

 

 

It can go much faster ! Sounds great , ide love to do that ! I’ve done 145 , felt great . Enjoy and be safe !

 

My Z hit 167 at the Mojave Mile. Thats stock except the air filter. The biggest issue encountered for me was the brakes. No need to do big brake upgrades for now. But consider switching to fresh rotors and fluid with hi-temp resistant pads. Pads designed for the street will not hold up to stopping from high speeds for very long. The shutdown distance can be really short if you're not prepared.

Tire DOT numbers not older than four years will be a requirement at tech. Fresh matching tires are a must. LSR techs want steel valve stems to avoid deflation at speed.

Don't stare at the speedo. Your'e traveling at 220 feet per second and taking your eyes off the track for too long will disorient you when you look back up. Learn to quickly glance at the gauges. Look for needle position rather than reading the numbers. Maybe placing post note stickers to mark nominal needle position will help. This will all make sense when your doing your Rookie Run.

Just keep a presence of your track position in mind. Where is the finish line and where is the end of the track. Keep both of those markers in your conscience and have a great time.

 

Sounds like a really fun time - report back with your experience when you make the run.

 

When I bought my Vette, it immediately got a 250 shot of nitrous and a Yanks 3600 so I could have some real fun in 1/2 mile 1 mile events. If you don't exceed 140 you probably won't have a problem, but around there you are gonna feel the front end of the car get light because of the way it intakes air for the radiator.

At 160mph, my hood would bulge up so severely you could put your hand between the fender and the hood if you were so inclined. The vents in my hood helped woth ultra high speed stability and cooling quite spectacularly.

The brakes won't be bad if you have a cool down lane on your route, but the stock brakes don't like braking hard above 140. You can boil them out at 160 even braking light, but every event I went to has a cool down lane you use to slow down in at the end. Someone else suggested, but new pads and definitely new rotors, RBF600 fluid, and maybe even some cheap titanium shims and you will be set A little octane booster nevwr hurts either, especially since you'll be forcing a load of fuel down it's throat but LS1's like to have their hair pulled and spanked, so they are pretty bullet proof. Just watch your coolant and oil temps and have a blast!

Also, I would crack open the radiator shroud, and used compressed air to clean out the radiator as best you possibly can, or you might have a recipe for disaster by overheating.

 

My advice, park C5, stay home, tune in Velocity channel and stay there, Osmosis will keep you alive..... Proper training a must....Call SCCA and be safe.

 

Standing 1 mile events are...........................boring!!!
I ran 9 runs over 2 cays at the Texas Mile. My best run was 163 mph, but every run was within 1 mph of that. There were a million competitors, so long waits. Bring lotsa WATER and sunscreen. I have a bone stock 04 Z06, but your car should run 145 or so. At that speed your nose will not get light. Drag slicks are not allowed, so traction might be an issue, but 60 ft time is not an issue. DO run one of these, but after that, I would think boredom will set in.

 

Dont really have anything to add other than I see your from Lynchburg, small world.