We would love to have interactment with more clubs. I am very happy to see you guys coming out to race! I would love to see more of you.

I am going to be getting more envolved with CCCA again. We have meeting and cover things like new rules and such. Once the season starts there is usually not much to do but race.

Shoot me a Mail at speed-secrets@comcast.net on your thoughts!

 

Shoot me the number I will call it in and see. it is like 1234xxx?

 

I don't know the number. They usually ask what car it's for and I tell them a Ford and they sell me the stuff. I've used all I have and I threw away the empty containers.

 

Thanks for running the scanner Ellis, I hope to do better next time. Screw PR, I didn't like them when they were SIR and I don't like the f-ers now. 103 MPH sucks for an LS1, seems like the lean condition is my problem.

 

I was out in the first round to that truck. He pulled a .010 light on me.

 

All the complaints I experienced too. 1st-waited 45 minutes in the lanes to get in,

2nd-pulled in like always to the lanes(but today they came to start of lanes and did the tech. Had to let air out of the nittos...pulled up to the lanes and was told, if I stall again I'd be disqualified "we don't have time for this, we have a busy night". Was the whole reason I sat way way back at the turn so I wouldn't be in the way.

3rd-Wife watched the first run(was on concrete area because she is on antibiotics that cause sunburn...was told to leave area...so she ended up sitting in hot car most of the night.

4-She went to get fries and after 1/2 hour asked for her money back.

5-Track prep sucked

6-Almost all of NW Fbody ran the 2nd round of eliminations with the sun directly behind the lights...I couldn't see anything(on top of that the guy next o me could see and was staged way early before I even could see the lights. So redlit that round. Thought it was only me, but was many of us..guess after about 6 people redlit the sun issue must have came up.

 

How did the races go: had a good time despite all the problems like getting in and waiting, waiting and more waiting.
Also, blew out my new $$ clutch after having it for less than 48hrs. Nice flat bed ride though.
My biggest complaint was not getting my name tag stickie.
Robert

 

hehe Sorry man Steph did not know you were coming

 

Funny you should say that... that's one of things that guys like Schumacher and Bernstein had problems with running on Friday night of the NHRA Nationals time trials. As I recall, Schumacher refused to run because the track is too dark... made people upset, but I understand where he's coming from. Hurdling down the track at 300+ mph in the dark ain't exactly safe.

 

Yea, I've had that problem numerous times and have to let off to get my bearings. Maybe it's my age, what? They do need some lights, as I see it as a safety thing.
Robert

 

I ran a 12.86 at 104 Friday....I need a tune! Top end is killing me.

 

Here's my experience...

I got to the track at about 3:50, gates weren't open. I got to deal with some bullshit related to what esoteric was talking about with the Alfa guys bitching about us. Then I get to the gate and they ask me for my permanent number... well, I didn't have one. They let me in all the previous times without asking... now it was an issue. So they charge me another $10 and give me that card to fill out.... so I have to fill out the card to get a tech card, and then fill out the tech card too... great.

Took me until 4:25 to actually get through the gates, and first thing I do is turn my radio on so I can hear the track announcements... what do I hear? Them talking about how if you're running in Car Club you need to get in the lanes NOW because they're running us immediately...and we're only getting two time trial runs. WTF?? How the hell do they expect anyone to get through the line at the gate, get teched, and be ready to run in less than 30 mins, especially when you've been sitting there idling for 40 minutes waiting to get through the gate??

I said screw it and drove straight to the tower instead of the lanes. Filled out the stupid card as fast as I cool. Filled out the tech card while they were teching me. I end up being the last one in line, and got a run... but damn.. good thing I didn't have to change tires or something! I woulda never made it. Talk about BS.

So they tell us to go back to the pits until they call us... and then they call us saying we need to get to the staging lanes RIGHT NOW if we wanna run. My truck is still majorly heat soaked from driving there and is running waaaay slow. No idea what I'm gonna dial.

Fortunately for the late comers, they had another time trail pass, but it didn't do me any good.

Then comes eliminations... Car Club to lanes 1 and 2... but no lane assignments? How are we supposed to keep from running each other. Sheesh

Made it through round one due to my opponent getting a red light... round two, I have to hold my hand up and squint just to see the damn tree through the sun. It was blinding, I could barely see it. WTF again... and now they're saying that we could have stopped the race? Hell, I was second in line, I would have stopped it if I knew I could. That was just nuts.

So I broke out and was eliminated... ran a 16.983 on a 17.0 dial.

Then them running the test & tune guys for over an hour... they're freakin hotlapping to run... while the guys in the finals just sit there with their thumb up their butt with their cars getting cold.

What a freakin fiasco.

 

As NWDragRacer would say, it's better to be lucky than good! All of that aside, I thought we had a good drag race. More or less side-by-side all the way down the track. Would have been a doozy if I hadn't bulbed.....

As for revising rules, I agree. Our cars are not Pro-style bracket racers, nor should they be if this is to be fair. A couple of our cars DO run in that series on ocassion. But there are & have been a couple full-on race cars in with us that really have an unfair advantage. My car is pretty consistent. I usually run within a tenth all night. But I put a lot of time, thought & $ into making it this way, for these races.

I have heard several people complain about sand-bagging. And as much as I don't care for it, it is & always has been a part of bracket racing. Anyone can do it. Sometimes it works, sometimes it doesn't. I prefer to run what I dial. I don't like to lift.

And several guys trailer their cars too. I think that is a violation? But I will most likely do that next year if I can afford to. It's just too much trouble changing tires & such when you get to the track.

I think some rules need to be changed, but lots of thought must go into them.

 

Yeah, sand bagging is part of bracket racing... and you have to be able to run your number still, so whether it's good or not is moot. It's a lot harder to say you're gonna run 3 tenths slower than your car is capable of, and then be able to hit that number every time than it is to just run it full on every pass.

I have to sandbag with my pickup, it's too inconsistent, and I have to be able to compensate for it varying as much as 4 tenths between runs. I sand bagged like crazy with my Formula when I broke the differential in time trials... and actually made it through 4 rounds of eliminations that way.

 

Finally getting a chance to put my 2 cents worth in here. I agree with what everyone's been saying. Last night just sucked. There wasn't a single good thing about it IMO. I would just as soon boycott the remainder of the PR CCC races this year if I knew we had the championship locked up just by running Bremerton ? The track was slicker 'n **** last night, and for my car that's a time killer since I have trouble hooking up on a decent track. I know I need alot more tire, but the track honestly sucked The sun behind the tree was totally screwing me up too.

The bottom line for me is this ..... myself and all the people I know in this club race for fun and fun only. Last night wasn't any fun for most. Why the fu** would we go back ? To ensure a championship ? Not me folks .... NOT friggen'' me. Standing around in the pits, and then standing around even more in the lanes all damn night for the runs that I got in just wasn't worth it. I don't suffer things that **** me off very well, I think Bremerton will be the only races I attend from here on.

 

I am certainly guilty of sandbagging. I am trying to find some way to win some races and take advantage of my car. It's not consistent, but it is pretty quick so I dial soft and chase people down. You all know that I still have to cut a good light or I lose anyway, and you saw that happen against O'keef.
I know some other racers think that is bad form, but I look at it differently so I'll just have to take the criticism. The vast majority of people that are really good at bracket racing do not use the dialing soft tactic, indicating that it is of questionnable value.

 

I think PR just tried to run too many events at the same time. Adding-in their lack of organization and inability to treat people with civility, resulted in a bad time for all concerned. I had to virtually hot lap my car between rounds, it never cooled-off. I admit that dailing soft helped with that situation but I had to abuse the thing more than I like to.

 

How do you define a car that is "built for bracket racing"?

I mean... my Formula is built for bracket racing, if you really wanna get down to it. That's what I bought it for. Guys like Kenny have super consistent cars because they've doing this for decades, and just have lots of practice in getting their car dialed in.

 

I meant NO disrespect. I meant I don't like sandbagging. I dial what the car will run & see if you can beat me. To each his own....it's ALL good to me. I'm just there for the fun. WHich I had VERY little of last night!!!

 

I always sandbag, and until this thread I didn't really know that it was what I was doing I pretty much live or die by the sandbag It's just the only method that will allow me to go rounds since my 60 fts are so inconsistant. Once I put a bigger tire on it maybe another method will work, but for now I'm just one of those irritating sandbaggers lol !