Merc Wins Ford Fall Motorsports

[merc]

75-80 will be closing in two weeks and wiping out 45 years of history for Maryland racers. Weather conditions held and plenty of people showed up for the event. I had a difficult time finding the numbers and traction during the Test -n-Tune, but in the end the C.A.M Marauder took 1st place in Street Elimination class. This was a cash pay-out class field. I meet lots of new friends and saw some interesting cars. Most people didn't know what a Marauder was, but they do now. We had 3 C.A.M members race and Ladyhawk and Haggis showed up to cheer on the team. Joe's car showed the power of a built N/A motor and dialed a pair of 13.6’s on a track notorious for having bad times. I typed in the numbers below for those who want to read time slips. I am car 998. Sorry the for the formatting problem with the time slips. A perfect light is a .500 tree.

The most interesting thing about the event is to watch Breadfan's Marauder run at the track for the first time. It reminded me of the competition between Mad-3R and myself 3 years ago in Hagerstown Dragway. I think he really enjoyed himself.

Car No. 071 Dial 14.30
ET 1/4 16.3183
Reaction Time .7222
Speed 1/4 Mile 91.9792
60 ft 2.4843

I saw this car roasting his tires in my rearview, I knew he was dead meat.

Car No. 998 Dial 13.97
ET 1/4 mile 14.0286
Reaction Time 0.8761
Speed 1/4 Mile 94.0105
6.0 ft. 2.0418

I came off the gas pedel because I knew the race was over, that's why you see a Speed of 94.01 miles per hour. I lowered my dial in time because I know I had more motor.

Car 998 wins by 1.7857 Round 1

Car No. 470 Dial 15.200
ET 1/4 Mile 15.226
Reaction Time 0.4805
Speed 1/4 mile 90.4684
60 ft. 2.2270

Car 998 Dial 13.90
ET 1/4 mile 13.9512
Reaction Time 0.7088
Speed 97.3434
60 ft 2.0094

Car 998 wins due to red light Round 2


Car No. 001 Dial 14.700
ET 1/4 mile 15.1320
Reaction Time 0.837
Speed 1/4 mile 93.4999
60 ft 2.2249

Car No. 988 Dial 13.90
ET 1/4 mile 13.9194
Reaction Time .6283
Speed 1/4 97.5872
60 ft 2.0261

Car 998 wins by .5880 Round 3

[Joe Walsh]

Way to go!
Nothing like 'uncorking' a 13.919 on a 13.90 dial-in!!! :bows:

You did a great job of choosing your dial-in* and then nailing it in the finals.

*....the track was in pretty poor shape due to the owner (understandably) not wanting to dump a lot of $$$ into a track that will be gone in a few months.
What this meant was poor traction and wildly varying ETs during time trials.

It's sad to think that next year that dragstrip will be a crowded pile of overpriced McMansions! :(

[Tallboy]

Congratulations, Merc! Great job! :beer:

[merc]

Way to go!
Nothing like 'uncorking' a 13.919 on a 13.90 dial-in!!! :bows:

You did a great job of choosing your dial-in* and then nailing it in the finals.

*....the track was in pretty poor shape due to the owner (understandably) not wanting to dump a lot of $$$ into a track that will be gone in a few months.
What this meant was poor traction and wildly varying ETs during time trials. :(

You are so right about traction problems Joe. I started out the day with a 15.4183. The next run was 14.5560. It took a couple more runs to understand the track conditions and launch methods. I had to walk the Marauder out of the hole with no additional R.P.M's.

[FordNut]

Congratulations! Way to represent, closing the track out with a MM win.

[Big House]

Good on ya Merc...way to show'em what a 4 door monster is made of. Jolly good show old chap.

[martyo]

Great job my friend!

[jgc61sr2002]

Congrats - A very nice job. :up: :trophy1:

[MikesMerc]

Congrats! Well done :beer:

[Breadfan]

Congrats merc! I was in the staging lanes for the final, but when I saw you line up I hopped out and ran to the fence watching you capture that 13.91. :) Was great!

Like I've said before, I had a blast, I'm still learning though. I realize now my launches had a lot more wheelspin than I thought - like merc told me, I didn't always hear the wheels spinning. A few times during the 1-2 shift I noticed wheelspin when the MPH's on my speedo would shoot up for a split second.

I think on a better track I can nail a 14.5 - like everything, practice will make the difference.

I was really fortunate to have some real knowledgable Marauder people there giving me tips after each run.

My best run was against an AMC pacer that was running 18.9's by the end of the day. That's the time slip I'll show to people who know nothing about drag racing, they'll just see the 14.7 against the 18.9 and think I did great!

My last run was probably the most fun even though it was about my worst. I went up against a 2002 Lincoln Continental - the same type of car we just bought my mom 3 weeks ago! We both failed to hook up off the line, but I grabbed a bit better than he did thanks to the Marauder being RWD. He stayed pretty close but by the end I beat him by about a second. Was a fun run, and I chatted with the gent afterwards, a real nice guy.

Here's a link to some pictures my roommate took, sadly, I don't have any pics or vids of Merc's runs, I wish I had the camcorder with me when I ran to the fence for the finals there!

http://www.neuralimpulse.com/cars/drags1.html

[WolfeBros]

Congrats on a big win. :beer:

Sorry to hear that 75-80 is finally closing down. I spent a lot of time there back in the day when I lived in the Baltimore area. :depress:

[Bigdogjim]

Sad to the track go!

Very happy you go the BIG win!!!!!:up:

Nice job!

[CBT]

Nice nice very nice!