Fuzzy Dice

I raced this event this weekend...I got to Gainesville Raceway on Thursday night about 7PM...unloaded and went off to dinner and hotel check in...back to the track early Friday morning for the five grander in Pro ET...kinda chilly at 57* but the high is gonna be 80 so we'll be OK...makes dialing a bit tough though...

I make my one and only time shot and go 6.40...what the heck?...I thought I would be fast...sheesh...I ran 6.38 last weekend at Bradenton...oh well, the air is certainly not as good...they finally call us up for first round and off I go...

I line up first round with a mopar green 72 duster...I raced this same guy at Bradenton last weekend...lol...he dialed 7.04 to my 6.41..it was over on the tree...I was 12 and he wasn't...on to round two...they had a re-run round for the buy backs so it took a long time to get there...it was 4:30 by the time they called us up for round next...

I pull into the lanes next to a buddy in his Mustang...he is a full time pastor and a darn good racer...he dials 6.05 to my 6.42...we do our burn outs and he is leaking tranny fluid...oops...I get a broke bye and go 6.40 for the win...

It is now two hours later and I go up for round three...I get put in the left lane and, once again, I miss the tree badly...I am 81 to his 44 with no chance...I try to push him out but he is not having any of that...I go two thou under anyway....sigh...off to dinner and some rest...my buddy in his S-10 got to four cars and then some moisture hit...they split and he got $2200 for his efforts...

Up early and off to the track for the second 5 grander...yikes!...the fog is so thick you could cut it with a knife...some of the classes from last night decided to finish today so I have to wait on that...they finally get going just after noon time...the first pair of dragsters do thier burn outs and both pick up lots of rubber off the track...no bueno...they now have to shut down and scrape and re-prep...took 1.30 hours...I finally get called up at 3PM for round one...sigh...

I pull in next to a first gen camaro dialed 6.72...I have 6.40 on my dial in board...we both leave green but I cut him in half with a poor 39 tree...I catch him and begin whomping to tighten the stripe...I almost overdid it with my third whomp....I take the stripe by .0012...I tried my best to give it back...he he he...I killed just over 6 mph...whew!...

I head up for round two at 6PM...slow race for sure...I race another first gen camaro dialed 6.58 to my 6.41...we both leave green and it is tight...he was a slow 55 on the tree and I was worse with a 69...sigh...I am catching him at the finish line but I have to make a decision...I decide I can't get there so I push him to the last second and let him go...I scrape 4 mph and go 6.437...he runs it out to be 2 above for the win...I had to take 6 thou or less to win...oh well...I am done for the weekend so I become a spectator...

I had a lot of fun but was only in the way once again...the tree is killing me and has been ever since I got this truck...I have made 16 passes the last two weekends and, while my lights are all over the place, there is one recurring theme...I am late almost all the time...hmmmm...I am up to 5 shims in my adjustable button and 43 lbs. in my fronts and 11 lbs. in my slicks...I have decided to go back to the mushroom button on my steering wheel next event...it was way too fast before but maybe it will work now that I am more familiar with my truck...we'll see...

I was going to a 5 day event next week at Immokalee but have decided to skip it and take a break...next up is the New Year Nationals at Bradenton at the end of the month...might test a bit in between...oh yeah, I did get into the high roller shootout...sold out in 10 minutes...

C5 Pete

Thanks for keeping us entertained with the write ups.

Good luck in Bradenton!

Fuzzy Dice

Thanks Pete...I feel like it is there for me ..I just need to find it....lol...

MitchSpence

Some people talk…some people do.

ARCH

How many cars show up for these events? The time spent between rounds is crazy!

Fuzzy Dice

Yes Arch, there is often a lot of down time at drag races due to any number of reasons some being number of entries, oil downs, weather, equipment malfunctions or simply poor track operation...it is part of the deal we all have to live with...I have raced in events with anywhere from 150 to 700+ entries...rarely less the around 220...this particular event had about 150 entries but had a lot of spills on tack and rain which caused the rubber on track to lift...they had to stop and scrape the starting line which took 2 hours....sigh...