TRP 4-17-21 New Season

[wxo]

GM, I think you should frame and preserve that timeslip with the perfect light. Nobody does that!

[Basement Paul]

I was working on staging and RT last night. I started by staging the truck around 1200rpms when the prestage light comes on. Then I can easily bump lightly into the staged light and keep a longer roll out. Then my next thing was to FOCUS on my own lane. It doesn't matter what's happening next to me until way down the track. My lights got way more consistent and no reds last night. The truck was running around 11.78 all night and reasonably predictable.
The first round was fun because I got to race a C8 Corvette and he left before me! He was dialed an 11.95 to my 11.76. With a better reaction time, I was ahead of him by about 150' and was able to stay ahead of him the whole track. Round 2 I got lucky. I got some pretty bad wheel spin against a solid competitor but I ran it hard to keep him on his toes and he broke out by .002. Round three I cut a .01 RT against a Magnum R/T who's normally pretty good, but he left a lot on the table and I was able to finish him off.
After my .01 I decided to cut back a little on the tree for round 4. I cut back too much with a .100 to my competitors .06. He was dialed 12.16 to my 11.74. It was super tight at the end and he ran a 12.23 to my 11.77, but you have to go deeper in the numbers to do the math as I lost by .0015. My tightest race in a LONG time. I thought I had him honestly, but the lights told a different story.

Fun night hanging out with the nephews, family and friends. Plus the weather was perfect for hanging out.

-BP

[TireSmoker]

I made it for the third week in a row too. This time I brought out Gwen's 19 Charger V6 AWD. She's been asking me to run it for a while and with the title/license plate nonsense with my Mustang, and non-functioning tach in my Corvette, seemed like a perfect opportunity. I got there later than I wanted and it was PACKED, so I only got 1 time run. As I pre-staged/staged, the car moved a LOT on me, I thought I was gonna end up Deep, but both bulbs stayed on, netting me a terrible .40 RT -- I didnt wanna go red on my only time run. The mini Mopar ran 15.16 @ 94 mph. I thought the MPH was pretty respectible.

Since it had cooled off before elimination, I dialed a 15.10. I cut a decent .09 light my first round and hit the brakes since I was way ahead, and ran 15.23 @ 81mph. My competition (3000GT VR4) was dialed 13.00 and went 13.35 with a .60 light. "Easy money," as John Connor said in Terminator 2.

2nd round I was feeling a little better since I had a .09 light the previous round. However, I was late and only cut a .16, but ran a decent 15.14 on 15.10. My competition ("howl n gt" mustang) had a very good .05 light and went 12.46 on a 12.38 dial. His MOV was .067. My night was over.

The highlight of the night was John's perfect light, though. That was really cool, something I'm not sure I've ever seen.

-Dave

[GMJohnny]

GM, I think you should frame and preserve that timeslip with the perfect light. Nobody does that!

WXO,

I want to make this happen. I’m going to start looking into options for laminating it. I don’t want the
ink to fade!!

GM

[wxo]

Gm, the first thing I would do is take a good digital photo of the original to preserve it.

[TireSmoker]

GM, I think you should frame and preserve that timeslip with the perfect light. Nobody does that!

WXO,

I want to make this happen. I’m going to start looking into options for laminating it. I don’t want the
ink to fade!!

GM

The beginning of John's preservation ordeal: https://youtu.be/h02Ndl61AyQ?t=32

-Dave

[GMJohnny]

GM, I think you should frame and preserve that timeslip with the perfect light. Nobody does that!

WXO,

I want to make this happen. I’m going to start looking into options for laminating it. I don’t want the
ink to fade!!

GM

The beginning of John's preservation ordeal: https://youtu.be/h02Ndl61AyQ?t=32

-Dave

[Fred32v]

Another fun night at TRP. Temperature was in the 70's cooling to high 60's.
My Jimmy made 4 passes.
Time Run – 1/3rd tank of 93, reaction .3139 60ft. 2.2678 15.0902 @ 91.96 mph
Time Run - reaction 0.0670 60ft. 2.2001 14.8784 @ 93.24
Round 1 - dial 14.87 reaction .0664 60ft. 2.1660 14.88 @ 89.92 mph let off .1132 win
Round 2 – dial 14.83 reaction .0720 60ft. 2.2152 17.3441 @ 87.49 1st gear, shifted to Dr. .6275 win
Round 3 – dial 14.83 reaction .0618 60ft. 2.2042 14.9072 @ 93.63 mph ran out .0500 lost
BP was there waiting for me to win the semifinal round since he received the bye into the final.
Then he went on and won the Truck Eliminator.

'Smoke lost in the first round of Stock eliminator, but he was there with his new motor looking for numbers.

As always, TRP is great fun.

[MostMint]

so you think it faster with the tune? Weather getting better should be able to tell something

[Basement Paul]

I was really kind of testing for the upcoming 11.50 heads up race this weekend and wasn't completely focused on racing. I had several time runs ranging from 11.60 to 11.83 with a little wheel spin. For eliminations I put a 11.7 on the window, but at the last minute changed to a .73 for round one. I didn't need it as my opponent was asleep. But comparing numbers through the 1000' mark, I would have run about a .76 on that pass so I bumped my time to a .74 for round 2. I cut a .05 to my competition's .04 light. He was dialed 17.19 to my 11.74, so he was WAY out there. By the stripe he was clearly off the throttle but no brake lights. I stayed in it and ran a .76, he ran a 17.1899 and broke out!
Round 3 was either dad or I for the bye. I chose not to run the bye so I was in the finals against a 3/4 diesel dialed 14.10. My light was a little better than his, but there was no way I was going to catch him. He ran a 13.88 on the brakes to my 11.69 on a .74. Double breakout and I win!

Now to run a little more gas out of the truck as it still has 1/2 tank after driving home from racing, and switch over to the smaller tires for the 11.50 race on Saturday. Hopefully I can get it dialed into at least low 11.50's by the time qualifying is over. Should be do-able.

-BP

[TireSmoker]

It was a good night -- I went out with my new engine, made passes, and drove home with nothing broken. I had a work issue going on which was a major distraction for me. At one point I was sitting in the staging lanes with my tuning laptop and work laptop both up and running.

My first time run was encouraging with 12.15 @ 111, but thats the best it would be over the night. I tried adding some fuel in a few places it went lean, but somehow made it slower 12.24 @ 109, although Paul said he went slower that run too. 1st round of eliminations, I dialed 12.20. It launched and I got thru the 1-2 shift decent, and it felt like it could be on a good pass, so I just stayed in it. I was a mile ahead, but I wanted a number. 12.16 @ 110. Not exactly worth the loss, but I really didnt have a "go rounds" mindset. My end-of-the-night time run was lousy as I really banged against the rev-limiter on the 1-2, and then a little again on 2-3, so it was a wasted 12.40.

I was really hopeful I'd get an 11.99, but based on the dyno numbers I was given, tonight's result werent too surprising. 12.15 & 12.16 are my two quickest runs ever, but they didnt feel especially satisfying.

-Dave

[Basement Paul]

On Saturday I went to TRP for the Renegade racing series. It's a heads up deal with 11.50, 10.50, 9.90, and 8.90 indexes. I obviously ran in the 11.50 index and there were 17 cars if I remember correctly. Just enough to make 5 rounds.
With only two qualifying runs, there's not a ton of room for error, although everyone makes the field. I qualified 8th based on my first pass of 11.57. I had 80 lbs in the bed for that run. For run 2 I took the weight out, but went too fast with a .47 so it didn't count.
Not having any experience with a pro tree, it was a big learning curve, but I was picking it up pretty quick, plus between rounds I went and studied the tree to get more used to it. My first run was a .22 R/T and my 2nd was a .14. I figured this would be the end of me, but also learned that instead of calming myself down like for normal bracket racing, I needed to get myself fired up and ready for the tree.
Round one I raced a mid 70s Volare that looked pretty serious. He was qualified 11th. I was able to get a .07 light on that run to his .22, so it was over for him pretty quick. I had the fastest MPH in the field, so once I was out on him, I knew he wouldn't catch me. I was 11.56 on the brakes for that run.
Round 2 was a later model Chrysler 300. I know the car and the guy. Nice guy, but claims to win this stuff all the time. I treed him just a little (.10 to .12) but my slow 60' times have me chasing everyone down on the big end. He whacked his brakes at the stripe but went .43 to my .49, so I'm into round 3.
This put me against an early 50s Chevy Bel Air race car. I learned later he travels all over for this index racing. I added a little gas and 8lbs of weight for this run thinking I'd run a .51 or .52 and rolled into the beams a little deeper for a better R/T. I cut a .03 light, but Bel Air cut a .004. His 1.50 60' puts him way out on my 1.70. At the stripe he hits the brakes and runs a .53 to my .53 and my day is over with a difference of about .025.
I was satisfied that I ran a solid run and made the guy work to beat me. Plus, I was the only car in Renegade that actually drove his vehicle to the track, and raced on street tires. I'll do this again for sure. I may swap to a 4.30 gear this winter from the 4.10 to get another tenth or so to play with. It's easier to add weight to slow down. Most of the field had cars that would run 11.30s IMO.
The pro tree is super cool, and running heads up changes the game a lot. It was a long day but a super cool experience with a nice payout for the winner and runner up.

-BP

[AKROVER]

Thanks for writing up your results, Paul. I always wondered what it would be like to face a pro tree so your description of adjusting to it was really interesting to me and made a lot of sense. It is also an interesting form of racing dialing in with weight rather than shoe polish. And that heads up run to the finish line has got to be really exciting.

Good job. When you run a great round and lose, it feels better than winning in spite of doing something stupid, except for the part about not moving on toward the money round. I am always impressed by your numbers, but this was a different kind of outing and you were in it. Next time!

[Fred32v]

Another fun day at TRP. Just looking for better numbers. Temperature was in the 40's.
The TireSmoke gang was well represented.

My Jimmy made 3 passes with less than a1/4 tank of 93 octane.
11/06/21
preparation - no spare, no jack, and 42 psi in the tires, etc..

Time Run - 1 - reaction -.0280 60 ft. 2.1311 14.5526 @ xx.xx mph (no speed)
Time Run - 2 - reaction 0.4847 60 ft. 2.1065 14.5221 @ 93.70
Time Run - 3 - reaction 0.0675 60 ft. 2.1196 14.5547 @ 93.70

pre-tune
11/21/20 42 degrees same preparation, 89 octane.
Time Run - 60 ft. 2.0570 14.3957 @ 94.27
Time Run - 60 ft. 2,1104 14.5156 @ 93.65

11/02/19 mid 40's no special preparation, had spare tire, 87 octane, etc..
Time Run - 60 ft. 2.1676 14.6480 @ 94.21
Time Run - 60 ft. 2.1907 14.6732 @ xx.xx
Time Run - 60 ft. 2.3529 14.8284 @ 93.85

I have spent some time now looking at all 109 passes on the Jimmy,
29 passes after the tune and 93 octane, it hasn't hurt anything,
but it is hard to see any clear improvement in any or all weather conditions.

It was really great having everyone one there, even some old friends.

As always, TRP is great fun!

[Basement Paul]

With high hopes of low 11 second passes, I was a little let down by the lack of traction. I pedalled a couple 11.4 passes and had one spin so hard then when I got back on it it hit the limiter, so I just eased it down the track. I got one pretty solid run later in the day with a 11.33 @ 120 mph.
I got a couple passes in the Accountants Chevelle with a best of 12.13. My second pass I pushed the launch harder and had to pedal to a 12.24 @ 110.
I also got the opportunity to run Dan Martin's Ferrari 599GTB down the track at 11.93 @ 119.7. I was trying to get him a 120mph pass but I bumped the limiter in 1st gear. I've never driven anything like that before. It's a pretty incredible machine.

It was a really fun day just hanging out with friends and family and the weather was amazing really.

I'm done with the 1/4 mile for the year, but might try an autocross if the weather holds.

-BP