I'm back with some high-altitude high jinks.

As I was getting ready to go to the track last week I wanted to make sure I would dip into the 10's (which is difficult here in Utah). My Vbox "private track" runs assured me my car was capable of tens (Cobb/ByDesign/Fabpseed w/ cats stage 3-ish set up). I was consistently doing 10.9's @ 126 with a 1.6 60' time. But I know my local track... The prep is SO bad that I was certain my 60' time would suffer and it might push me out of the tens.

Time for a race tune. Sam hooked me up with an amazing 100 octane tune and it was like magic. All of a sudden I was doing Vbox 10.5's @ 131+ (same 60' time). That was exactly the buffer I needed. A few days before the race I went and picked up a few jugs of the good stuff- 250 GT Plus (I like this picture because it makes the 5 gallon cans look huge).



I told my local friends I was headed to the track and what I expected (which was to run a 10.9 or less). I was mocked- absolutely ridiculed. They derided my Vbox results and made bets against me (yeah, yeah- I need new friends).

Our track is NHRA certified, compliant or whatever. They have been sticklers in the past (other cars). I called the race track manager to make sure it would be okay to run a 10.something in my car. The guy on the phone asked what car it was and then told me that it probably wasn't going to happen. But I was welcome to bring my car out and "go for it." He said if I a ten something they'd work with me- wasn't a problem. Sweet.

Race day arrived. My first priority was getting everyone to shut up about my Vbox. I got it set up so I could time my run and compare Vbox and track slips. Since it was my first run I wasn't worried about prepping anything. I left my tires inflated (45 psi back, 35 psi front), fuel tank was half full, didn't use anything to cool down the intercoolers, etc. It was about 6:00pm, mid 70's, DA of around 6100 (which is great for up here, by the way). I was probably the 10th person to use the track when it opened for the evening session. Here's my run:


As soon as I launched I spun and stuttered a bit and I knew my 60' time would suck but overall the run felt good. I turned off and picked up my timeslip and the guy told me I had to run 1/8 mile races. I was "too fast" without proper safety mods for the 1/4. Turns out the guy handing me my timeslip was the same guy I'd talked to (race track manager). I argued a bit No recourse. Run 1/8 mile or go home. Ah well...

The time slip data looked good to me (hopefully it's obvious I'm on the left). I think I could have shaved a few 10th's off if I'd been able to run later (the track was open from 6-midnight) but at least I got one run. I was particularly happy with my trap speed. All things considered not too bad for up here (would love to run it closer to sea level sometime).



I was excited that my Vbox data was almost spot on. There were quite a few people who became Vbox believers that day:



So there you have it. The day I ran a 10.84 quarter mile in Utah and it was "too quick." What a bummer. I wish we had another (better) local quarter mile venue but it was still a lot of fun to race on a "real" track. I need to decide if I'm going to keep speed questing and put in the safety equipment or if I'll swap my car for a 991.2.

Cam

 

Cam,
Awesome times given your altitude handicap. Sam definitely knows what he is doing. Which vbox model are you using?

 

Great run..I also have the vbox sport and find it very accurate !!

 

Not sure what safety equipment they expect for 10 sec?

Most tracks don't require anything special for post 2008 cars until 9 sec.

 

Thanks! All things considered not too bad. I have the Vbox Sport.
Sam has given consistently good advice. We were talking about track prep and he said he had something special for me. I think this is why my 60' is so good:

 

Thanks! I wish I had gotten a Vbox years ago. There is so much good insight from the data.

 

You got me. The NHRA guidelines they have online are from 2014 and after reading them I was confused- which is why I called them (Rocky Mountain Raceway). After getting booted I found another official to talk to and he said for runs under 11 seconds they required a roll bar, fire suppression system, fire jacket, 5 point harness- all kinds of stuff.

Is it possible the track is missapplying the NHRA rules (I guess they can do whatever they want at their track)? It seems like this isn't a problem for other guys here doing low 10's and high 9's. Utah- they take all your fun away here.

Cam

 

Correct if the track is using NHRA rules

 

Okay, I found an article about the amendment. But it specifically states that they cars must be "unaltered."
It looks like tracks interpret that differently.

 

Hey the secret lube! Nooooooooooo!

Huge congratulations Cam for busting your goal out right away. That's exciting and rewarding you've been doing everything you can. Sucks what happened. I agree you may have an argument. I believe it's 10 seconds for a convertible and nine for a coop. Mark Blackwell would know very well actually he just went through it and got his license. But I think it does depend on the event coordinator and the track management. Maybe we can figure this out together and see what it would take. Then start hacking away at your times. Not bad at all right out of the gate though with such a crappy DA and prep. If you cut a 1.5 60 that would put you in the 10.5's at attitude with cats!

 

Cat's out of the bag! $50 for 16 oz. You can use it for baking too .

Thanks Sam. I talked to RMR again and they said if my car was really stock it wouldn't be a problem. But he also said it's clear to them that my car is modded. I don't see why they even care if I can trap under 135mph. If anyone has any ideas please chip in.

There is some room for hacking. Better 60' time would make a huge difference (although with this track I feel like I'm SOL). Knocking off the cats would give me a couple of tenths (will be experimenting w/ that soon). Also, with the 260 GT Plus my logs are soooo clean (I'll send them to you). There's room to turn the car up a bit there too. And I can do some weight reduction- going to knock 60lbs off over the next six months . And of course we haven't even gone to stage 4 & meth yet.

So much to do...

 

I had the same issue. I took my cobb stg 1 tune car out to the local track. 92 degrees and 90% humidity, 3000 DA at sea level and I'm fat, they at least let me run 3 10.8s before I got the boot. He told me after the first time that I had 3 passes and that was it.

 

great times. a few comments-
1. you could have gotten 1 more run in at the full 1/4, we always do and THEN get booted, but hey, 1 more run is 1 more run

2. so VBOX and dragstrips are within .5 variance, awesome