At 05:28 AM 4/4/99 , you wrote:
>On April 3, Cayuga Dragway had there opening day (free).
>
>Jon Steiger, Jason & Norah Bleazard, Dave Tom and myself
>represented the Toronto DML group.
>
I'm not sure if Bob was in the stands at the time, but Ron Lane also
showed up in his red R/T for a short while. (He had a previous engagement
though so he had to take off again.)
As usual, it was great to see everyone again. (Well, except for Eddie
and Lisa who didn't make it, and that other guy who sometimes comes to DML
meets... What was his name again? Starts with an R, I think...) Just
kidding Randy!! ;-)
Anyway, I wish I had gotten there earlier; the place was a madhouse by
the time I arrived. It was a "bigger" track than I'm used to, but they
need to make some radical changes in their track policies! The small track
I frequent blows these guys out of the water as far as efficiency and
safety goes. I believe that with a few changes, the event could have gone
a lot smoother and more cars could have made it down the track. (They also
need to keep those crazy riceburners from zipping at about 30mph through
the staging lanes, parking lots, and crowds!) (Yikes!!) :-(
I did get to make one run, but unfortunately I didn't represent Dakotas
or the DML very well I'm afraid. :-P
As I inched up through the staging lanes, the knot in my stomach got
bigger and bigger. I don't know if it was the crowds, or the stress of the
whole situation, or the fear of breaking something, or what, but it got
pretty bad for a while there. Once I got to the waterbox though, it was
same-old same-old, and as I went through my pre-launch routine, I forgot
about everything but the run. It felt like I cut a decent light as I
launched. It was pretty slippery; I spun all the way through first and
most if not all of the way through 2nd. The 2-3 shift felt really good
through, and I could feel the truck picking up some serious speed. Then I
slapped the stick down into 4th and... missed. It took me a while to
finally get the stick in 4th, then I was on the gas again, but completely
disgusted with myself, especially considering how long I waited to be able
to make that stupid run. When I picked up the slip, it said that I had run
15.27@88mph. At the end of last season, I usually ran about 92-93mph
through the traps with a 14.7 or 14.8. Compared to my best of 14.58@93.55
this was pathetic. I studied the slip in the stands and my 60' time was a
2.3something, so if I were to launch with my normal 60' time, I would have
run a 15.07 with the missed shift. I can't be certain about what I would
have run without the miss, but I would guess somewhere around 14.8. Its a
darn shame; I was looking forward to opening some minds. I was also hoping
to get paired up with something "fast" like a Mustang or something, but I
got a VW Jetta. In retrospect, its probably just as well seeing as how I
missed the shift.
Now I have to wait a whole month to be able to run again and redeem
myself. (Normal Wed. night program at NYIRP.) Oh well, at least I was
faster than any other Dak out there that day (according to the DMLers in
the stands). I'm starting to get over it, but its still gnawing at the
back of my brain. :-)
Bob and Dave had to leave after lunch at the greasy spoon, but Norah and
Jason and myself stood out in the parking lot talking for a while. "A
while" = we left from that parking lot to go find another restauraunt to
have dinner in! :-)
Despite the problems, it was still fun. (And Jason & Norah's first
direct contact with drag racing.) Hopefully you guys will get to see me
run again without me messing it up. :-) (And if so, you're more than
welcome to ride along if you want to see what its like "on the inside").
(That way you can see how masterfully I execute a missed shift in
person...) ;-)
-Jon-
.--- stei0302@cs.fredonia.edu ------------------------------------.
| Affiliations: DoD, EAA, MP Race Team, NMA, SPA, USUA. RP-SEL |
| '96 Dodge Dakota v8 SLT CC (14.58@93.55), '96 Kolb FireFly 447 |
`----------------------- http://www.cs.fredonia.edu/~stei0302/ ---'
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