Hi guys,
I went to Maryland International Raceway (Budds Creek) for the annual Ford Fever Classic. Unfortunately I had to attend a friend's wedding yesterday, so since I couldn't attend both days of the event, they wouldn't let me join in the Lightning heads up class today. It's too bad really, because it looked like I might have mopped up. the lightning class was a RADIAL street tire only class! the fastest truck I saw there today ran like a 13.50 if I remember correctly. They said that the number one qualifier from yesterday ran a 12.60, but he broke a driveshaft I think.

In any event, I was forced to race in the street bracket class. the good news was that slicks are allowed in this class, so I bolted my hoosiers on and ran a 12.44 on my first practice pass, and so I dialed in a 12.35 for eliminations but broke out with a 12.31@110.7

well, that would have been the end of my day, except that a friend that followed me up in his stang blew a water pump on the drive to the track. we were running late and I was cruising along at a fairly brisk pace, and he was spraying nitrous to keep up at one point and there went his water pump before we even got there. So anyway, after I lost in round one due to my breakout, we take the slicks off and pack up and call a tow truck to get his car home. well AAA calls back and says they are delayed and it will be awhile. so we wait and wait and eat and watch racing and wait some more. before you know it they are calling for buy backs in the street class. I figure what the heck, if I have to sit there and wait on the tow truck, I might as well make another pass or two.

I didn't feel like putting the slicks back on, so I decided to just run on the F1s.

I dialed in a 12.50, and to my surprise I ran a new personal best on F1s of 12.42@109.57 with a simply awesome 1.76 60ft!

so while I lost both rounds due to breakouts (and of course my crappy reaction times). I still got a new best on street tires, and a new best 60ft on street tires!

anyway, here are the slips:


later,
chris

 

1.76 DAMN I don't do much better than that on my Hooisers

 

YA BABY...........
SMOOOOOOOOOOKING

CONGRATS CHRIS
CAN'T WAIT TO SEE THE ET'S WHEN YOUR DONE MODING
CONGRATS AGAIN PAL


BTW
It was a big weekend for all of us

 

Must be the color

 

AWESOME Rob! congrats on the 11's!

hopefully I'll be there with you before too long!

later,
chris

 

Thanks Chris,

So whats the next move ?
I know you got big plans for that beauty.
When's it going under the knife ?

 

Congrats Chris!

 

Chris,

Congrats on the new best times! Looks like most of the people that raced this weekend had new bests. I know I did. Chris are you gonna be at the SSOTN event on Nov. 8th>??? I am pretty sure you were there in the spring. Would like to meet you one day. Your truck is sweet. I will be there going for a big number if it stays together! Hope to see ya there, -Mat-

 

Superfords,

How do you cut a 1.7x on street tires? Can you please share your secret, in terms of traction devices, launching methods, etc.... because I am stuck in the 13's only because I can't get under a 2.0 60' on my stock f1's.

Please share your advice, because you could help me get into the 12's

I have only a K&N airbox mod, 2lb'er, and JDM flipchip. I did 2.09 60' on an 80 deg day, 1/2 worn f1's, slight burnout, rolling into throttle. I try and try and try but can't get it right!

Cheers,
Moe from Toronto

 

don't feel bad, neither do I

I'm just waiting on a few more parts, but everything is at the machine shop getting balanced, bored, etc right now. hopefully have the new engine running within a month or two. (we need a "fingers crossed" smilie)

I think I'm going to be in Las Vegas for the SEMA show that weekend.


well, some people say I have magical tires... but seriously, I have owned two different lightnings, both of which have cut 1.78 or better (at least a year apart and on THREE different tracks!) Virginia Motorsports Park, Richmond Dragway, and now at Maryland International Raceway.

I would say that probably THE most important thing is track prep or a good track, if your local track doesn't keep the track clean and sprayed down with traction compound then it doesn't matter how hard you try, you may not get a good launch on street tires.

also, it helps if you are at the track on a day when the FAST cars are there, these big tire cars put down a lot of hot rubber and keep the track clean and sticky. Generally when the big boys are there (usually racing for money) the track does a better job of prep. unfortunately this probably means that your weekly street night is not the best time to attend the strip for optimum 60fts.

It also helps to be there on a sunny day! the sun helps warm the track and keep the surface hot and sticky.

I leave my F1s at 32psi. honestly I have never experimented with lower pressures. I have always been told that dropping the pressure on a radial tire (stiff sidewall) will only cause the center of the tire to bow in and actually loose some contact patch in the middle of the tread. I don't know if this is true, but at this point, I'm not about to start dropping tire pressure on my truck. some people swear by it, but I think i'm doing ok at 32.

stage as shallow as possible, this allows for maximum "rollout" before you trip the beams. basically you get a mini "running start".

Leave the line FROM IDLE! meaning 800rpms, let the converter do the work. don't STOMP on the pedal, but roll into it quickly. this is the hardest part as the driver. you have to experiment and see what your truck and your track will handle on that particular day. you need to roll onto the gas quickly enough to get a good launch, but not so fast that you blow the tires off.

my advice is get to the track EARLY, while the lines are short, just hot lap the truck, making back to back runs you can experiment and get a higher number of launches in. when you run back to back like that you have a fresher memory of exactly what you did on the last run and if it worked, or if you want to try a little more rpm on the launch, or a little faster or slower rolling onto the gas pedal. Normally people don't want to hot lap the trucks because the ETs generally get slower and slower. well, you are trying to perfect your launch, so screw your ET, just get lots of runs in trying to figure out what launch technique works best for you.

your technique will have to vary from day to day and from track to track depending on weather and track conditions.

Drive right straight through the water box. Watch how the big tire fast cars do it. They usually have years of practice. take some time and just stand on the fence and really watch how they do it. They drive into the water box with the rear tires untill the track crew signals them to stop and turn the tires over one time to get a little water on them. then they generally pull forward just out of the water before they start their burnout. you don't want to do your burnout IN the water box because you'll just sling a bunch of water all over the wheel wells that'll just drip back onto your tires on the starting line. pull just out of the box and when the track official signals, start your burnout.

I always do a healthy burnout. Generally I count to 5 leaving the truck in D w/ OD off when on street tires (one one thousand, two one thousand, etc.) if the sun is out and it is a really hot day and the tires may already be warm and require a shorter burnout. If it is only 35 degrees outside and cloudy or at night, you may need a longer burnout to achieve the same tire temp. and remember even if you get the tires to the same temp, a cold track will probably not hook as well as a hot sticky one.

when you do your burnout and you feel like your tires are properly heated, then you want to slowly let off of the gas as you slowly let off of the brake. this will start the truck moving FORWARD and away from the water, at some point as the rpms come down and you release the brakes you'll feel and hear the tires get traction with a screech! this is when you know you are ready! you can do a little "dry hop" to get an idea of how the truck is going to launch and if you got the burnout right. a mistake I see A LOT of people make is that they do their burnout IN the waterbox. this is ok if you know what you are doing and have 30+ inch slicks and 800HP, but most of us don't. I see people do their burnout IN the water box from start to finish, meaning they never pull out while the tires are still spinning. so basically they did a big nasty burnout and stopped the tires from spinning while they are still standing in water. then they slowly idle forward. all you have now are two slightly warm and very wet tires. tires that are still covered in water just aren't going to launch worth a crap.

anyway, sorry for the long post. I hope this helps. remember watch how the fast/big tire cars do their burnout and try to duplicate that (maybe slightly shorter duration though). and make as many launches as you can! PRACTICE, PRACTICE, PRACTICE!

good luck!

later,
chris

 

Great times! You're really moving out!!


...and a great write-up. Always enjoy reading your posts The best I've mustered on F1's so far has been a 1.86 - but I think that was staging right after a guy on slicks

 

Thank you so much, I really appreciate it!

It looks like I have a date w/ my local track this weekend!

 

that's OK you actually brought up something I forgot. Use the cars in front of you to your advantage. If a race car is running in front of you with some big nasty wide slicks, then you know he is going to do a nice big burnout out of the box and you'll have two patches of clean warm rubber to follow in his footsteps!

use the "groove" or tracks left by the fast cars at the track, they are generally in the best line. and leave nice clean wide traction strips for you to use!

later,
chris

 

I think that it was just your "magical" tires. Have you put new tires on recently, or are these still the factory originals? If they are the originals, then you deserve even more credit. The last time I looked, you only had about 1/3 the tread or less left on those tires. That would be quite a feat to pull times like those on worn tires. Good job!!

 

yep, unfortunately they are my original tires, about 11,000 or 12,000 miles on them now, too many smokey burnouts and they are gettin' pretty low on tread I need to order another set, but i'm too busy spending money on go faster goodies

later,
chris