[VR] 2015 WannaGOFAST Ocala, FL Jumbolair 1/2 Mile Event Recap
02-06-2015, 03:47 PM
#1
[VR] 2015 WannaGOFAST Ocala, FL Jumbolair 1/2 Mile Event Recap The first race of 2015 is in the books! We had an awesome time down in Ocala, FL for the WannaGOFAST 1/2 mile event at Jumbolair airport. Here is a recap of the weekend with some pictures we pulled from photographers that were there. We had 38 customer cars in attendance for the event so we were incredibly busy all weekend long. Thankfully, the photographers that were there did an awesome job so we were able to lean on them a little bit for this recap for you guys.
For those that were following along leading up to the event, this will be no surprise. We were watching the weather forecast carefully. 10 days leading up to the event, the weather was calling for rain all weekend long. Luckily as things got closer the rain moved up a couple of days and looked like it was going to be out of town first thing Saturday morning. Great news for the event but this also meant we were going to be traveling in some rain. We loaded up the semi and all of the trailers Thursday in prep to leave on Friday and head down the 5.5 ours to Ocala. The weeks leading up to the event were pretty busy as we were preparing customer cars with more power and race prep. Everything came together perfectly by the time we were ready to leave and we were off and rolling.
On the trip down, we were expecting rain but we weren't expecting how bad it was really going to be. It was closer to torrential downpour. As we were all driving down I75 white knuckling the steering wheels trying to make sure no one hit our trucks, trailers or cars, we were just ready to get into town. Everyone made it down safely and we had a nice dinner to cap off the night as we watched the rain. The next morning we woke up to sprinkling conditions early with high winds. The radar started looking a lot better so we packed up and headed to the airstrip. The wind continued to blow and the sun came out. After teching all of the cars in, we were ready to race even if we would get a late start at about 11am while waiting for the strip to dry out.
Day 1 - WannaGOFAST - Ocala, FL
Randy Hunter's 1,400rwhp twin-turbo C6 preapring to run.
Mark Hahn's 712rwhp CTS-V that laid down an amazing 160mph consistently through the weekend!
As we mentioned before, we had 38 cars in attendance. That is quite a number to keep track of! All of our big power guys were there from 3 TT C6 Corvettes, our NA motor C5 record holder, about a dozen LSA cars including two recently finished big power CTS-V's and our current stock short block record holder coupe. Our Porsche 991 Turbo S with a new methanol injection kit was in attendance as well. We came down in force like we do to all of these WannaGOFAST events ready to race.
After the first couple of runs that morning it was obvious that traction was going to be a big issue for the guys with a lot of torque and RWD. Not only was the track asphalt (we get more traction on cement with un-prepped surfaces) but the rain had put Florida sand/dirt all over the runway. This made 1st, 2nd and sometimes 3rd gear worthless on many of the cars. Just to give you an idea of what we were dealing with, here is a picture of a CTS-V taking off at the line.
This made the plan simple...get the cars rolling and as soon as you feel traction holding...hit it. There was no ability to launch as the car would just stand still spinning. To make matters even sketchier, the cross wind thanks to the front coming through that previous day and morning was strong on the backside of the airstrip. The cars were dancing side to side at the finish line. There were several cars (not in our camp) that ending up leaving track or spinning out that day and it was completely understandable why. The conditions were rough and the trap speeds of the cars were showing that. Everyone was off in the RWD categories but the AWD guys seemed to be able to find at least some traction.
Jeff's Porsche 991 Turbo S making a 161mph pass. One of over 20 passes that he made EACH day!
The SinisTTer C6 with his best pass of 189mph while still dialing in the new Pro-EFI system!
Robb's 1,215rwhp CTS-V preparing for a 169mph pass.
Twin C6 Z06's!
John's 9-second ZL1 heating the drag radials up on his first ever 1/2 mile pass!
We learned a lot about the conditions that day and started prepping for day 2. All of the cars were running great and everyone was itching for better conditions the rest of the weekend.
For those that were following along leading up to the event, this will be no surprise. We were watching the weather forecast carefully. 10 days leading up to the event, the weather was calling for rain all weekend long. Luckily as things got closer the rain moved up a couple of days and looked like it was going to be out of town first thing Saturday morning. Great news for the event but this also meant we were going to be traveling in some rain. We loaded up the semi and all of the trailers Thursday in prep to leave on Friday and head down the 5.5 ours to Ocala. The weeks leading up to the event were pretty busy as we were preparing customer cars with more power and race prep. Everything came together perfectly by the time we were ready to leave and we were off and rolling.
On the trip down, we were expecting rain but we weren't expecting how bad it was really going to be. It was closer to torrential downpour. As we were all driving down I75 white knuckling the steering wheels trying to make sure no one hit our trucks, trailers or cars, we were just ready to get into town. Everyone made it down safely and we had a nice dinner to cap off the night as we watched the rain. The next morning we woke up to sprinkling conditions early with high winds. The radar started looking a lot better so we packed up and headed to the airstrip. The wind continued to blow and the sun came out. After teching all of the cars in, we were ready to race even if we would get a late start at about 11am while waiting for the strip to dry out.
Day 1 - WannaGOFAST - Ocala, FL
Randy Hunter's 1,400rwhp twin-turbo C6 preapring to run.
Mark Hahn's 712rwhp CTS-V that laid down an amazing 160mph consistently through the weekend!
As we mentioned before, we had 38 cars in attendance. That is quite a number to keep track of! All of our big power guys were there from 3 TT C6 Corvettes, our NA motor C5 record holder, about a dozen LSA cars including two recently finished big power CTS-V's and our current stock short block record holder coupe. Our Porsche 991 Turbo S with a new methanol injection kit was in attendance as well. We came down in force like we do to all of these WannaGOFAST events ready to race.
After the first couple of runs that morning it was obvious that traction was going to be a big issue for the guys with a lot of torque and RWD. Not only was the track asphalt (we get more traction on cement with un-prepped surfaces) but the rain had put Florida sand/dirt all over the runway. This made 1st, 2nd and sometimes 3rd gear worthless on many of the cars. Just to give you an idea of what we were dealing with, here is a picture of a CTS-V taking off at the line.
This made the plan simple...get the cars rolling and as soon as you feel traction holding...hit it. There was no ability to launch as the car would just stand still spinning. To make matters even sketchier, the cross wind thanks to the front coming through that previous day and morning was strong on the backside of the airstrip. The cars were dancing side to side at the finish line. There were several cars (not in our camp) that ending up leaving track or spinning out that day and it was completely understandable why. The conditions were rough and the trap speeds of the cars were showing that. Everyone was off in the RWD categories but the AWD guys seemed to be able to find at least some traction.
Jeff's Porsche 991 Turbo S making a 161mph pass. One of over 20 passes that he made EACH day!
The SinisTTer C6 with his best pass of 189mph while still dialing in the new Pro-EFI system!
Robb's 1,215rwhp CTS-V preparing for a 169mph pass.
Twin C6 Z06's!
John's 9-second ZL1 heating the drag radials up on his first ever 1/2 mile pass!
We learned a lot about the conditions that day and started prepping for day 2. All of the cars were running great and everyone was itching for better conditions the rest of the weekend.
02-06-2015, 03:48 PM
#2
Day 2 - WannaGOFAST - Ocala, FL
We woke up Sunday to find much better conditions. It was a little warmer outside, the ground was completely dry and the cross wind was gone. While we were still going to fight some traction issues due to the asphalt and sand, at least the rest of the conditions leveled off and now we would get in a full day of racing. After checking tire pressures, fluid levels and finishing other pre-race checklists, we were ready to lay down some trap speeds.
Just part of the VR lineup in the pit area!
Chris' Stage II+ CTS-V resting after a 150mph pass.
Jeff's 780rwhp VRSC750 C7 and John's 1,000rwhp ZL1!
The guys started lining up in the staging lanes and we were ready to see what Sunday had in store for us.
Jason's 700rwhp CTS-V making a 160mph run down Jumbolair!
\
Eddie's N/A C5 Z06 after re-setting the naturally aspirated 1/2 mile record with a 174mph pass!
Our C7 Z06 before making a 162mph pass.
It was obvious right away. Sunday was our run day. After the first couple of passes, the trap speeds were coming back much better than the previous day. While they were still a good bit off our GA event speeds, they were much better than Saturday. Everyone was getting excited and we started support as Sunday turned into a lot busier day than Saturday. All of the cars were running very well and everyone was getting a good amount of passes in.
Mike's 1,100rwhp twin-turbo Z06 pulling out hard on a BMW X5M
Brian's stock bottom end CTS-V making a 171mph run!
WannaGOFAST Ocala Results and Recap
All 38 cars did extremely well given the strip conditions. Given that fact, where else are you going to race in the winter! This event is a great way to get everyone together and racing during a time where we usually have no outlet to go fast. The AWD cars saw some crazy fast times with a new world record set for the 1/2 mile by an Underground Racing car at 233mph. There were even some hairy moments with a 2,000whp+ RWD Gallardo taking a swim and several other cars taking some spins. At the end of the weekend there were still no injuries and everyone had a great weekend of racing. Here is how our weekend resulted in the end.
Class Wins
It was an awesome weekend of hanging out with friends/customers. Thank you to all of our customers for coming down and racing with us. You make Vengeance Racing what it is today and we greatly appreciate choosing to work with us on your builds. We are really looking forward to the rest of the WannaGOFAST events this year and we look forward to seeing everyone.
Here is a couple of videos of the event.
Drone Video of the Event
A coverage video featuring some customer cars
Pass by one of our CTS-V customers
We woke up Sunday to find much better conditions. It was a little warmer outside, the ground was completely dry and the cross wind was gone. While we were still going to fight some traction issues due to the asphalt and sand, at least the rest of the conditions leveled off and now we would get in a full day of racing. After checking tire pressures, fluid levels and finishing other pre-race checklists, we were ready to lay down some trap speeds.
Just part of the VR lineup in the pit area!
Chris' Stage II+ CTS-V resting after a 150mph pass.
Jeff's 780rwhp VRSC750 C7 and John's 1,000rwhp ZL1!
The guys started lining up in the staging lanes and we were ready to see what Sunday had in store for us.
Jason's 700rwhp CTS-V making a 160mph run down Jumbolair!
\Eddie's N/A C5 Z06 after re-setting the naturally aspirated 1/2 mile record with a 174mph pass!
Our C7 Z06 before making a 162mph pass.
It was obvious right away. Sunday was our run day. After the first couple of passes, the trap speeds were coming back much better than the previous day. While they were still a good bit off our GA event speeds, they were much better than Saturday. Everyone was getting excited and we started support as Sunday turned into a lot busier day than Saturday. All of the cars were running very well and everyone was getting a good amount of passes in.
Mike's 1,100rwhp twin-turbo Z06 pulling out hard on a BMW X5M
Brian's stock bottom end CTS-V making a 171mph run!
WannaGOFAST Ocala Results and Recap
All 38 cars did extremely well given the strip conditions. Given that fact, where else are you going to race in the winter! This event is a great way to get everyone together and racing during a time where we usually have no outlet to go fast. The AWD cars saw some crazy fast times with a new world record set for the 1/2 mile by an Underground Racing car at 233mph. There were even some hairy moments with a 2,000whp+ RWD Gallardo taking a swim and several other cars taking some spins. At the end of the weekend there were still no injuries and everyone had a great weekend of racing. Here is how our weekend resulted in the end.
Class Wins
- Mike Bramati for winning Fastest Rear Wheel drive both Saturday and Sunday (Black TTC6 aka. SinisTTer)
- Eddie Blackwell for winning Fastest Naturally Aspirated Car both Saturday and Sunday (Red C5 Corvette)
- Brian Landfried for taking Fastest "Heavy Weight" in the Sponsored division both Saturday and Sunday
It was an awesome weekend of hanging out with friends/customers. Thank you to all of our customers for coming down and racing with us. You make Vengeance Racing what it is today and we greatly appreciate choosing to work with us on your builds. We are really looking forward to the rest of the WannaGOFAST events this year and we look forward to seeing everyone.
Here is a couple of videos of the event.
Drone Video of the Event
A coverage video featuring some customer cars
Pass by one of our CTS-V customers
