First Time at the Drag Strip

[BWoodbury]

This post is not for those of you running high 11's, forced induction, nitrous, slicks, etc.

This is about my first time to a drag strip, ever. I thought it would be good to let all of you who never taken your Viper to the track to know what it was like.

My first pass was:
R/T 0.608
60' 2.255
E/T 12.853
MPH 112.800

My best from 10 runs was:
R/T 0.517
60' 2.078
E/T 12.464
MPH 119.080

My '96 GTS still has the orginal factory rubber, and not much of it on the rears...

For me though, the important part was not the best numbers, but the worst. I never ran slower than my first run. If you take out my first 2 passes, I never ran over 12.762 or under 115.480. I had 3 R/Ts in the .500s. And this was the first time I ever saw a tree.

I'm assuming the track was less than ideal as the fastest pass all day was 12.280

I did 10 passes in 90 minutes, and that included the 10 minute break to fix some problems withe the timing gear and another 10 minute break while our President negotiated a little extra time so we could finish our 3 bracket runs.

I had a blast. I beat the hell out of my car. Major traction problems (7 out of 10 60's were over 2.25) and when it did hook it hooked hard and jumped a bit. But I loved it and the snake never seemed to be bothered by the abuse!

Did I mention that I took 9 out of the 10 runs? Ya I know that many were looking more for consistancy than speed, and I know there were lot of other rookies there, but it sure feels good to hit that trap first! And I'll have better rubber for you next time Scott (the only one who was TOOFAST for me)!

If you have any interest in trying out the Drag Strip I say GO FOR IT!

And a strong THANK YOU to everyone from the IL region who helped pulled this event off. Thanks guys!!!

 

[SoCal Rebell]

Good for you, you had some really good times for a 1st timer and it only gets better. We had a dozen or so Vipers at Palmdale, Calif. this Sunday, the runs were awful, track prep was terrible and it was HOT and we were at 2,700 ft. elev.. What track did you run, what were the conditions and do you know the elev.?

 

[SteveBCloud9]

Bob, Wish I could have went. The car was sitting at McCormick making $, still is, I pick it up Tuesday. I quit my 9-5 job to rent the car full time!!! I too have never been at the track. So how much rubber did you end up buring off your tires? What was the problem you had with the gear? I'd hate to break something. Isn't it weird.... I'll rent the car to any shmo but I cringe when I think of taking it to the track..... maybe I should have my head checked out.....

 

[BWoodbury]

The track is Route 66 Raceway in Joliet, IL. Air temp was probably in the low 60s, track elevation was 632 feet. There was a lot of rubber on the track from an event the day before.

Since it was my first time at a track I can't say if the conditions were good or bad, but again the low E/T was 12.28.

Steve,

I don't think I lost much rubber at all. In fact I left with a lot of extra rubber I picked up from the track. Next time I'm doing a burn out in the parking lot on the way back to clean my tires off after each run!

A lot of cars made plenty of noise as they spun the wheels, but mine spun almost silently. 6 year old tires with almost no tread spin real easy on almost any surface.

You really should come out to the next drag event. I've done a bit of road racing and I've had my share of interesting moments there, but the drag strip is very safe. I never felt any concern for my car's well being at all. Come out and play!