Bob Tom <tigers@bserv.com> wrote:
: I got very, very lucky in the bracket racing at Toronto Motorsports
: Park today and made it to the semi-finals (elimination round 4).
: Unfortunately my tranny decided that it did not want to complete
: the 1-2 shift, said hello to the rev limiter and went down to the eventual
: winner.
: This bumped my points total to 4 (1 for each round won) for the season
: and got me a payoff to cover the entry fee and gas ($50). I got my
: first point last weekend when I managed a win over a corvette.
Congrats, Bob! :-)
As far as your tranny troubles go, do you think it has to
do with the full throttle acceleration, or does it shift
erratically all of the time? I ask because I have been
thinking that when I get some time to start going to the
track again, I was going to try something like putting a
block under the accelerator or using a throttle stop such
that it would only allow the accelerator to go 1/2 to 3/4
of the way down. Obviously this would raise the ETs, but
that's not important in bracket racing - I think with
much slower acceleration, the truck might be more consistent
(wheelspin at the line is less of a factor and the tranny
should have plenty of time to shift). Plus, another benefit
(and the main reason I have been thinking about doing it,
to be honest) is that it would put a lot less strain on the
truck. Especially for my truck which is a 5-speed. :-)
The only drawback that I can think of with this method
is that I always liked to be the faster truck, because I
could control the race better at the top end and make up
for less than perfect dial-ins. On the other hand, its
probably a good idea to just run your own race and get
better at picking dial-ins, I suppose. :-) My drag
racing strategy used to be to pick as best a dial-in as
I could, but because my truck wasn't very consistent, I
would "modulate" on the top end. It usually worked, but
will lose every time against an opponent who breaks out
or a real drag racer with an accurate dial-in.
There is something of an ego factor here, where people
will assume you have a slow truck, but if it brings in
the points and the trophies, I would be perfectly fine with
that. They'd find out different if they tried to start
something when the throttle stop is disabled. ;-)
Has anyone else done anything like this? Or does anyone
have any thoughts about this? I suppose some might
consider it cheating, but its not really sandbagging,
or unethical (I don't think?), its basically de-tuning the
truck for more consistency... IMHO, as long as the throttle
stop isn't defeatable mid-race, its no different than
driving a slow(er) vehicle.
: For those DMLers who have been on the list long enough, Ed Estoppey
: was at the track, testing and tuning a non-Dodge 4x4. I haven't seen him
: in a few years and he looks really well. I was also surprised how quick
: his "racer" was (look out you 3.9ers :-) ).
I just got an e-mail from him recently too - he might be
coming down to the BBQ in July. I don't know if he would be
planning on running the trails or not though because he plans to
lower his 4x4 (gasp!).
: Trying to uphold the DML name up here in the frozen tundra:-)
Its a tough job, but somebody's got to do it. ;-) Has
Jim been helpin' you out? As much as he races, I'm surprised
he isn't running points too!
---Jon-
.---- Jon Steiger ------ jon@dakota-truck.net or jon@jonsteiger.com ------. | I'm the: AOPA, DoD, EAA, NMA, NRA, SPA, USUA. Rec & UL Pilot - SEL | | 70 Cuda, 90 Dak 'vert, 92 Ram 4x4, 96 Dak, 96 Intruder 1400, 96 FireFly | `------------------------------------------ http://www.jonsteiger.com ----'
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