Had a great day at the T&T in the morning and early afternoon. Made some nice runs and had the tree figured out. Then came the bracket race. Still had a fun outing.

Time shot1 a little red no big issue. Numbers were as expected.

Time shot 2 DA got better but the humidity increased. DA said it would go faster but I knew better. Figured .03-04 slower. I accidently hit the ESC and it reengaged. I then pressed the button again until the ECS disabled message reappeared. I don't know if this led to an issue. It was just starting to get fully dark. I did my burnout went in prestage, tap tap staged, then oh **** it was so dark I couldn't see the unlit second bulb. I couldn't see any unlit bulbs. Tons of glare and I guessed at the tree. Stellar .100 light. Quick phone call to my bracket instructor and we worked out a fix.

Eliminations round 1. I dialed soft and would back in to my opponent. Decent light (.019) but I misjudged on how fast the car was coming up. I believed would come past fast and didn't. I took too much stipe and broke out by. 017. I had room on the top for a win. Calculated I would of run a 8.32

Buy back and keep the dial. Oil down as I was in the staging lanes. Nap time lol. I'm getting old and its been a long day. Take the tree and my focus drifts a bit. Duahhhh .070 and ran out of track (just lifting off the gas) trying to back to my opponent. Again took too much stripe and broke out by .037. Calculated that the flat out run was 8.29.

Lessons learned I need to use the brake pedal to back into my opponents. Lifting off the gas doesn't scrub quick enough. I'm at a loss for the 60' differenced. 8.839, 1.908, 1.888 and 1.870. Either I'm doing a crap a$$ job staging the car or something up with the car. I sent the slips to the coach to get his feed back.

Next week is a IRR double.

 

Did you get any 1/4 runs in the morning. I like to see what that heavy car does. It pretty fast on the 1/8 for completely stock....

 

12.44 at 111. Shallow off idle. I left the trans in auto. Run 5 was the last morning session. I short shifted at 5 grand as I do in 1/8 mile brackets then after the 1/8 I let it run and shifted into 5th at 6 grand. The -145 light was when the top bulb went out. 00x lights are on the second yellow. I think this tank weights 4200 lbs without me.

 

Good to see you back out there.

So you prefer leaving on the second amber as opposed to deep?

 

12.44 I'm impressed............................:th umbs:

 

Its great to be back. I'm hitting the second amber just like a "deep stager". Going deep on the third amber yields .400 lights. Pro 500 or third bulb on the Sportsman I'm .5xx. I'm off idle, heal on the floor and toes off the gas. I'm .015 ish red with my foot touching the gas.

Here's something to think about. In the hot weather when the car slows I can adjust and pick up .015-.020 with my foot. If the car slows more I may have to either bump or possibly go deep and launch when the first amber goes out. That something in my back pocket just in case.

Marc, congrats on the great season you had last year. That is impressive.

 

Thanks man, Bud's class made a big difference in my program. Glen has also been a great resource as well.

Is it true the BB will be running Atco points this year with the master at the wheel?

 

I don't know if the BB will be running points (Bud's option) but the plan is a yes for the index races. Sadly at this point I am forced to sell the car. I feel that there's a better market for the car north especially being highlighted by a driver. Bud should be getting BB with the new motor in time for opening day.

I had an issue Saturday night and Bud was on the phone giving me a solution from 1200 miles away. I'm still getting help 10 years after the class.

 

I have tried the shallow stage leaving at idle on the 2nd Amber, no luck unless it was with a really slow car and/or a lot of rollout.

Do they honor deep staging down there? Some of our local classes honor it, others just allow it.

Hey, gimme a Pro 600 tree and I can leave shallow and still hit it! And my car goes 9.60's............ Not all cars are good race cars unless you top bulb, then it doesn't matter.

 

This is a fly by wire car and has a built in delay going from idle to WOT. I like using the second amber as I don't have to focus that long on the bulb. I don't have an issue going deep as its allowed here but not honored. No big deal. Very few deep stage here as trans brakes and air shifters are allowed in the "foot break" class. They call it "NO BOX" which allows anything and everything except a delay box.

 

I'm hoping the Mustang will be a true shallow player this year. It was close last year (could go .040 on a .500 pro tree @ 3200 rpm) so we added a little more power and loosened up the converter.

I don't mind deep staging and got pretty comfortable with it. But the one round that sticks out in my mind is 2nd rd of the bracket finals when my opponent was fully staged and I'm just getting out of the water box. I felt rushed and it affected my light.

 

Do the deep stage slide. That happened to someone we know at the finals some years back. That's what triggered the deep no longer a honored thing in Div 1.

Here's a funny. I deep stage slide the Firebird. A few years ago, as I'm sitting waiting to do my burnout the starter comes over to me. "We all see ya's deep. We hold the tree so don't worry" I know Lakeland doesn't honor deep and haven't noticed at IRR or Bradenton as I'm shallow in the Dodge and was shallow in BB. I'm guessing they will follow suit to try to emulate whats going to happen at the div finials.

 

The IHRA takes a little getting used to...they only have two classes...Box and No Box...Box allows trans brake, two step and delay box...No Box allows trans brake and two step...

I have always foot fed in the No Box class...truth is footfeeders win the events and divisionals in this class more than half the time...btw, even the bikes must run in one of these two classes at the divisionals....yes, they run against the cars...pretty cool actually...