Drag Racing my Corvette.
I used to take the Corvette to the drag races on a regular basis. The last time I went was late 2004. The investment in time and money just because too much.
Since then the Corvette has lived a life of leisure.
In June of 2003 I added Drag
Radials and
a Hurst Roll Control to my car. I am just having a hard time trying to launch
correctly. With
these I have gotten better but nowhere near what other people are getting. My
best on DRs
has only been a 1.95 60'. Typically it is a 2.0x. I will try to post my best
time slips.
7/18/02 - Irwindale 1/8th
Good News bad news. Felt like I was starting to learn to launch. I had 60' times
of 1.988, 2.002 and 2.024. Bad
news was the last two runs the 60' times went up to as high as 2.489. Found on
the way home my clutch was
shot and needed to be replaced. Clutch would just slip horribly.
6/29/02 - West Coast Corvette Challenge at Fontana
It was very hot, over 90, so there were few very good times. My best of the day
was 13.66 at 107mph. 60' was still a miserable 2.82. This was only my 2nd bracket race. I
won in the first round when my opponent red lighted. In the 2nd round I ran a
13.76 on a 13.70 dial (real good), unfortunately I red lighted and lost. Bad
news for the day was one of the C5s lost control of the car and slammed head on
into the wall.
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5/9/02 - Irwindale 1/8th
Got in my two best runs so far before the track just became way too slick for my
tires. Best run was 8.817 at 81.36mph. I am trying to work on lights. So far I
have the reactions of a tree sloth.
5/4/02 - West Coast Corvette Challenge Inaugural Event at LACR
Had a lot of fun at this first event and met some really nice people. My best
run of the day was a 13.9. This corrects to a 13.46 at sea level. Got a chance
to weigh my car with 1/2 tank of gas - 3,270lbs.
4/4/02 - LT4 Irwindale 1/8th
It was a poor night. Racing was supposed to start at 5pm but didn't start until
about 6:30pm. Got my 2nd run in just before 8pm and left after that. On the
bright side I continued to improve. My best run was 9.044 with a 2.277 60' at
78.55. I have no idea why the time is better the 60' and mph are worse?
3/21/2002 - LT4 at Irwindale 1/8th -
Ok, this was exciting. Fixed the problem with the rev limiter. Shift light
worked great. On my first pass when I shifted from 1st to 2nd the wheels lost
traction and I started heading toward the concrete side rails. Fortunately I
recovered quickly and missed the wall. Once everyone saw I was alright the
announcer really started ribbing me. After you pick up your time slip on the way
back you have to drive in front of the grandstands and he let me have it. Asked
if I needed new shorts, etc... Anyway, this car has way too much power to be
handled by these worn GSCs. When these wear our I will put either Firestone
Firehawks or Dunlops on the car for street traction. I need drag radials for the
track. What the heck, it's only money?
On the last run of the evening I finally beat the red 86s best time. I went
9.079 at 83.44mph. 60' was 2.294. My best 60' of the evening was 2.181,
The 1986 L98 went to the
1/8th mile twice. The best time was 9.168 with a 60ft of 1.920.
The LT4 visited California
Speedway on Sunday Jan 27. Had trouble launching and hitting
the rev limiter. I installed a shift light to fix the rev limiter problem. The
rest will take practice.
Reaction Time |
Elapsed Time |
Top Speed |
60' |
.580 |
14.088 |
100.8 |
2.293 |
.453 |
13.990 |
101.77 |
2.363 |
.438 (red again!) |
13.878 |
103.06 |
2.300 |
Here I am staged at California Speedway.
The next picture is my favorite so far. The car I am racing is a 1999 SVT Cobra.
320hp with drag radials. The result of this race is me 9.180, him 9.429. He spun very badly at the start
and this allowed me to win this race.
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