sailsmen
01-13-2010, 08:42 PM
On Sunday I went to Capital State Raceway in Port Allen, LA. It was a gorgeous day, temp in the 40's and humidity in the 50% range.
I had been getting over a cold, on Saturday I debated wether or not to go drag racing on Sunday. Studying the weather I knew how rare these weather conditions are for this area and decided to prep the Marauder to leave @8:30am on Sunday. The gates open at 10:00 am with the first runs at 11:00am.
I am heading out the door Sunday at 8:30am, feeling like my cold has ended when the wife says I just made biscuits and bacon, please eat before you leave. I eat the yummy biscuits and bacon, fill the thermos with Medium Brew Community Coffee and head out the door. It is a gorgeous day, the traffic is light and I enjoy the drive.
I get to Capital State Raceway at 11:10am and there are only a few cars. I prep my Marauder by putting the "cheater slicks" on the rear, load the race tune and hook up the meth vacum line.
I head over to the starting line to watch several cars start to see if they are getting traction and what shape the launch pad is in. I poll several drivers who are running fast cars and some say they got traction. I fire up the Marauder, pull into the staging lanes and wait for the signal from the track official to pull into the starting area. I pull around the water box so as not to pick up any water with my front tires and back my "cheater slicks" into the water box. The track official gives me the signal to do a burn out, I pulled forward out of the water box, jam on the brake and hit the accelerator until smoke fills both the rear fender wells.
I ease off the brake and jerk forward to clean the tires as I approach the starting line. The first set of double yellow lights light up telling me I am 6" from the starting line, I creep up until the second set of yellows tell me I am on the starting line. The three yellow lights count down, .5 seconds apart. I rev up the rpms to load the suspension and torque converter. On the third yellow I hit it and I am off to a great start.
The Marauder is going straight but is spinning, I let up on the accelerator and hit it again only to spin. I coast down the track and pull into the Pitts, parked. I get out and poll more drivers, all say they are spinning out. I consider leaving but decide to stay when I see the equipment being brought out to prep the track. I wait until several cars make runs and poll again, about half are getting traction which is what I observe from the grand stands watching the starts. Then a few drivers report record times.
More cars have now arrived at the track. I check the temp gauge on the Marauder and it has raised from the 30's to the 40's. I am now determined to beat my previous best of 11.8 and these are the weather conditions that it can be done in.
Since the Marauder drifted hard left during a run I aborted at No Problem Raceway on 10-16-09 I have been running higher 17psi in the "cheater slicks" for stability. The "cheater slicks" are bias ply and they want to pass up the radials in front. At 100+mph a 4,300lb car with "cheater slicks" begins to sway back and forth. If you try to correct the sway by steering you "kiss" the wall! All you can do is use your judgement to pull up some of that courage and hold on or let off the throttle which shifts the weight to the front tire and aborts the run. The 17psi make her like she is a freight train on rails, but she spins out resulting in a slower time.
I have made 11 runs since the "drift" incident, dropping the psi as I got my confidence back. I subsequently determined the "drift" was caused by dew on the track.
Today in the quest of a new personal best time I reduce the psi to 14.5.
I have done a good burn out, making the tires hot and sticky. The third yellow lights up and I hit the gas. The Marauder sticks making a good launch, she is going down the track straight and the concrete retaining walls on either side start to blur with the speed building. She still feels straight and smooth. At 105mph she feels light and starts to sway, I very slightly let up on the throttle and she settles back down. I get my time slip and set a new personal best of 11.7!
I am not satisfied because I know she can run quicker. I check the Marauder, take a 10 minute break and fire her back up.
I do an excellent burn out. Hit it on the third yellow. She makes a hard launch and is screaming down the track, the track is running very quickly under the car. I focus down the middle of the track to keep her in the groove, literally a groove from all the cars running in the same spot, and at 108mph she gets very light.
She is going perfectly straight with no sway. I reach down for a big dose of courage and hang on. I get past the finish and begin to brake. I ran an 11.556 @122.51mph. At 11.49 you are required to have a roll bar!
I am ecstatic! Check out my 11.7 run, starts at the 1:40 mark,on streetfire;http://videos.streetfire.net/video/Marauder-Runs-117_728518.htmhttp://www.mercurymarauder.net/gallery/data/500/medium/Marauder11_5560001.jpg (http://www.mercurymarauder.net/gallery/showphoto.php/photo/17237)
I had been getting over a cold, on Saturday I debated wether or not to go drag racing on Sunday. Studying the weather I knew how rare these weather conditions are for this area and decided to prep the Marauder to leave @8:30am on Sunday. The gates open at 10:00 am with the first runs at 11:00am.
I am heading out the door Sunday at 8:30am, feeling like my cold has ended when the wife says I just made biscuits and bacon, please eat before you leave. I eat the yummy biscuits and bacon, fill the thermos with Medium Brew Community Coffee and head out the door. It is a gorgeous day, the traffic is light and I enjoy the drive.
I get to Capital State Raceway at 11:10am and there are only a few cars. I prep my Marauder by putting the "cheater slicks" on the rear, load the race tune and hook up the meth vacum line.
I head over to the starting line to watch several cars start to see if they are getting traction and what shape the launch pad is in. I poll several drivers who are running fast cars and some say they got traction. I fire up the Marauder, pull into the staging lanes and wait for the signal from the track official to pull into the starting area. I pull around the water box so as not to pick up any water with my front tires and back my "cheater slicks" into the water box. The track official gives me the signal to do a burn out, I pulled forward out of the water box, jam on the brake and hit the accelerator until smoke fills both the rear fender wells.
I ease off the brake and jerk forward to clean the tires as I approach the starting line. The first set of double yellow lights light up telling me I am 6" from the starting line, I creep up until the second set of yellows tell me I am on the starting line. The three yellow lights count down, .5 seconds apart. I rev up the rpms to load the suspension and torque converter. On the third yellow I hit it and I am off to a great start.
The Marauder is going straight but is spinning, I let up on the accelerator and hit it again only to spin. I coast down the track and pull into the Pitts, parked. I get out and poll more drivers, all say they are spinning out. I consider leaving but decide to stay when I see the equipment being brought out to prep the track. I wait until several cars make runs and poll again, about half are getting traction which is what I observe from the grand stands watching the starts. Then a few drivers report record times.
More cars have now arrived at the track. I check the temp gauge on the Marauder and it has raised from the 30's to the 40's. I am now determined to beat my previous best of 11.8 and these are the weather conditions that it can be done in.
Since the Marauder drifted hard left during a run I aborted at No Problem Raceway on 10-16-09 I have been running higher 17psi in the "cheater slicks" for stability. The "cheater slicks" are bias ply and they want to pass up the radials in front. At 100+mph a 4,300lb car with "cheater slicks" begins to sway back and forth. If you try to correct the sway by steering you "kiss" the wall! All you can do is use your judgement to pull up some of that courage and hold on or let off the throttle which shifts the weight to the front tire and aborts the run. The 17psi make her like she is a freight train on rails, but she spins out resulting in a slower time.
I have made 11 runs since the "drift" incident, dropping the psi as I got my confidence back. I subsequently determined the "drift" was caused by dew on the track.
Today in the quest of a new personal best time I reduce the psi to 14.5.
I have done a good burn out, making the tires hot and sticky. The third yellow lights up and I hit the gas. The Marauder sticks making a good launch, she is going down the track straight and the concrete retaining walls on either side start to blur with the speed building. She still feels straight and smooth. At 105mph she feels light and starts to sway, I very slightly let up on the throttle and she settles back down. I get my time slip and set a new personal best of 11.7!
I am not satisfied because I know she can run quicker. I check the Marauder, take a 10 minute break and fire her back up.
I do an excellent burn out. Hit it on the third yellow. She makes a hard launch and is screaming down the track, the track is running very quickly under the car. I focus down the middle of the track to keep her in the groove, literally a groove from all the cars running in the same spot, and at 108mph she gets very light.
She is going perfectly straight with no sway. I reach down for a big dose of courage and hang on. I get past the finish and begin to brake. I ran an 11.556 @122.51mph. At 11.49 you are required to have a roll bar!
I am ecstatic! Check out my 11.7 run, starts at the 1:40 mark,on streetfire;http://videos.streetfire.net/video/Marauder-Runs-117_728518.htmhttp://www.mercurymarauder.net/gallery/data/500/medium/Marauder11_5560001.jpg (http://www.mercurymarauder.net/gallery/showphoto.php/photo/17237)