At 06:46 PM 10/9/97 -0400, WillTier@aol.com wrote:
>He made it, Jon got to the drags and now is looking for the opening nite of
>98. The place was busy having the most entries of the 97 season so the runs
>were fewer than usual as I only made 4 runs all night. Jon made a lot more as
>he was there when they opened and when I left at 10:30 he was heading back
>out for another run. Being his first time he had a lot to become acquainted
>with such as the christmas tree and getting used to going on the 3rd yellow
>and not waiting for the green but he got better before the night was over.
Yep; there was a bit of stuff to get used to. While I was walking
around when I got there, I heard the announcer say that lanes 1-2 are for
bikes, 3-4 for cars, 5-6 for trucks, and 7-8 for pro-stock. I couldn't
figure out what he was talking about, because there were only 2 lanes.
Found out there is a difference between racing lanes and *staging* lanes.
:-) I got there early, and I was sort of hanging out, waiting for Bill,
but when the racing started I decided to go ahead. The guy in the staging
lanes checked out my card, wrote the number on the side of my truck,
explained the staging thing, etc. I made a run, and as I was in the
staging lane for my 2nd run, I see this bright red Dakota with headlight
covers glide in. Bill and the fire breathing nitrous beast had arrived.
:-) He already had his drag radials on by the time I made my run and
pulled into the pit area. Got to meet Bill and a freind he brought along.
I also got to meet three other other guys driving dakotas who we hung out
with the rest of the night. (I counted 5 dakotas in the staging lanes at
one point!) My third run was against Bill. It was his first run, and he
was doing it without the bottle. If the winner was the last guy to cross
the line instead of the first, I would have beaten him soundly. ;-)
>
>We talked about how nice it would have been to have the other Dakota list
>members there with us.
Yep; that would be great! I don't know how many members are in the area,
but I think there are a few...
> It was really nice to meet Jon and we had a enjoyable
>evening at the races. I look forward to meeting up with him again and hope to
>meet up with some of the rest of you folks some day.
Yep! It was nice to put a face to the name, and to meet Bill; he's a
really great guy, even if he does drive an automatic. ;-) (Or does he???)
;-)
>
>One side comment that some may enjoy is the 5 speed/automatic contoversy came
>out a draw. There is a inside story to that which I won't get into at this
>time but we got a big chuckle out of it. I had a couple of problems but did
Heh heh heh! :-) I think the quote of the night was when one of the
guys said: "You know you're getting old when you can't shift an
automatic!" ;-)
>manage one good run out of the 4 runs a 13.15 @ 104. I am planning to go back
>up and run on this Sunday just as a practice run for the Frigid Nationals
>next sunday. I am hoping the daytime running may get me a 12 as the evening
>starts out good but as the humidity goes up the performance and traction goes
>down. I'm not a blood racer but sure do have a good time.
Now I understand why so many people like this stuff. I wish I'd have
come out sooner! Bill the drag pusher has got me completely addicted! Now
I need money for mods to feed my new habit... ;-) If you guys have been
putting this off, give it a shot! Awesome fun!
On a related note: Nothing could be this fun without some sort of
drawback. ;-) How will drag racing affect my truck regarding premature
engine wear, clutch wear, tranny wear, etc? I drove my truck considerably
more violently than I do on the street. I wasn't 100% powershifting, but I
was close. There were a few times when I let up on the clutch really quick
with a lot of gas and got a clunk as the power came on. Is this stuff
anything to worry about? I suppose it depends a lot on how good a driver
you are?
I'm going to post my time slips, explanations, and stuff in another post.
-Jon-
.--- stei0302@cs.fredonia.edu -- http://www.cs.fredonia.edu/~stei0302/ ---.
| DoD# 1038, EAA# 518210, NMA# 117376, USUA# A46209, KotWitDoDFAQ, RP-SEL |
| '96 Dodge Dakota v8 SLT Club Cab, '96 Kolb FireFly 447 (#FF019) |
`-------------------------------------------------------------------------'
I do not speak for the SUNY College at Fredonia; any opinions are my own.
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