April 18, 2004: Drag racing at Mid-America Raceway . . .
My first time trial. Our group was racing in the Trophy Street class. I hadn't been drag racing in several years, and never at this facility. Even so, I didn't redlight, (.713 RT), and the Lincoln did well with a 15.50 @ 92.42 mph. The Honda Accord next to me was part of our group and went a surprising 16.05 @ 85.86 mph ! In other words, this sensible economical car would have outrun my 1985 Olds 442, (good for 16.2). It's amazing what a difference 20 years makes.
The picture above tells the whole story. That big red light at the bottom of the tree on my side (near lane) is never a good thing. A .467 reaction time (RT) will do that every time. And my opponent in the Trans Am must have been taking a nap, (1.076 RT). In other words, I was already off and running before my opponent moved. But I was too early and lost. I went 15.52 @ 92.38 mph, or extremely consistent with my first run.
My opponent ran a 13.93 @ 100.85, which means he blew by me mid-way down the track. Mid-America Raceway had a notoriously short shut-down area. Unfortunately, he didn't slow down in time and crashed through the cones at the end of the pavement and went into the sand pit. The track safety crew had to drag him out.
The Trophy Street class is a bracket class that consists of several time trials, followed by eliminations. The series of time trials allows drivers to see how his/her car is performing. For eliminations, participants must write a "dial-in" time on his/her windows. The object is to come as close as possible to the dial-in time without going under (or "breaking out"). Now add to this the fact that the cars have all had a chance to cool down for a while, and the temperatures are dropping slightly. Taking all of this into account can get very tricky. Shawn dialed-in at 13.49.
Tanja had a great spot in the stands to watch my elimination run. I lined up against Shannon and his 1980 Mustang. His lower dial-in meant I got a 1.58 second head start. I didn't red-light this time ! My reaction was a little slower than Shannon's, (.748 vs .705). But it didn't matter. I ran 15.15 @ 88.23 mph, a very significant 0.23 seconds quicker than my dial-in. I remember wondering why Shannon wasn't catching me down the track. Thinking I was about to "breakout," I hit the brakes going across the finish line, which is reflected in my slower trap speed of 88 mph. Shannon ran 13.81, which was right on the money with his 13.80 dial-in. The Lincoln picked the wrong time to bring on the power !