So I went to the NHRA Sport Compact Nationals on Sunday in Atco, NJ. I decided to try my hand at bracket racing. I never did it before but I had heard that most of the people racing are schmucks. So I became convinced that I would have a shot at bringing home some money. If not at least represent the Max at a big event. So I was registered in bracket 2…something like 10 sec cars to 14.99…ha.

So first I got a time trial. I ran 15.1…MY FAULT, I was not aggressive enough on the launch and I bogged bad off the line. Definitely one of my top 5 worst runs since I modded my car. So I decide that the track isn’t in the greatest shape and my driving is obviously not great at the moment so I dial in at 14.75 thinking that will give me a decent head start against the turbo Type R that I have to race and if I am enough ahead I could brake a little before the line to make sure that I would not break out.

I had been talking to the dude in the Type R for the past 45 mins because it has always been a dream car for me. He tells me all about his car and his experience racing which seemed to be pretty extensive and I got somewhat worried. I realized to beat the dude my RT was going to have to be better than the .1XX to .2XX I would say that I normally get.

He dials in at 12.80….So off the line. I hit a .094 RT! He hits a high .1XX Here lies the problem. After about 10 ft down the track I start spinning uncontrollably and not moving anywhere. Normally when I spin I still have forward momentum but this really felt like I was stuck in one place. So I think my car is fu cked up(really have no idea what is going on) and I take it out of first gear and put it back in real quick. I immediately take off down the track but by the time I hit my 1-2 shift the Type R was flying by. I never had a chance. Eliminated first round!

I knew that it wasn’t my driving skillz cause I wouldn’t have been spinning under normal conditions based on the amount of gas/clutch I gave it. So I go back and think something is wrong with my car I guess. I was just really mad and really confused as to what happened. I meet Pete (refuse2lose) at the exit coming off the strip and he tells me that when I took it out of first gear and put it back in…when I took off for the second time a huge (probably baseball size from what he told me) piece of rubber flew from underneath my car and the track official had to pick it up and remove it. So now all I can come up with is that the rubber was either on my tire or on the track and somehow it fu cked up my traction bad. I was soooooooooo mad. 45 bucks down the tubes and I didn’t even get a shot!

To top all that off I come back to find that my jack was stolen from where I left it near the fence. AHHHHHHHH!!! Ghetto track.

So I am sure this was my WORST DAY AT THE TRACK EVER!!! Not happy at all when I got home. To top all that off I typed this entire thing out yesterday and it didn’t post for some reason!!! So this is the second time I am typing it. Everyone asked me what happened so I figured I could tell the whole story one time fully.

End of Day recall: 45 bucks lost, one jack lost, an embarrassing drag showing(15.1 and 16.6), and one long a$$ typed story gone after 10 mins of typing.

 

damn bro that sounds like a sh!tty day.

 

with the weather the way it was you should've just skipped on the racing. the track conditions were horrid and the pros were running sh*tty times as well

 

yeah you have to pay at the door so i had no idea the track was that bad.

 

true....i had a few friends that were racing but i warned them the way the weather has been to hold out. sucks they don't warn you at the gate that the track is a mess and they still have X hours to go to get it prepped for any kind of racing

 

That rubber was most likely a part of the track. If a piece of your tire flew off, your balance would be jacked and you'd know it.

When you spin like that at the track, just let off and forget about it. It's not worth beating on your car because the run is blown.


Dave

 

yes i agree. they should warn you.

yeah i agree. it definitely wasnt off my tire. normally i would totally agree with you about forgeting about it...i just had so much adrenaline and was so mad that after it happend i still went for it. i guess hoping he would fu ck up bad.