It was cold. Got up around 7, showered ate breakfast and on the road at 8:30. I was low on gas so I pulled into a Sheetz and filled up
I wasn't paying attention and filled the whole tank. Can you say an extra 100 pounds of dead weight? Any who, got to Thompson raceway at 9:40, giving me plenty of time to adjust my tire pressures and get "in the zone". I inflated the fronts to 45 psi and dropped the rears down to 25 psi. I guesstimated that these tire pressures would work. Seriously though, that's what The Ranger recommends. I copy and pasted the information in my "
Some Helpful Tips for Drag Racing" and my "
How to Take Care of Your Clutch" threads off of the Ranger's webiste. This is is YouTube page -->
LINK it has some really helpful videos. This is his website -->
LINK. The man has some serious knowledge.
Also, I'm number #37 (...again)
Very first pass of the day (...again). HORRIBLE run. Had a poop launch with a bit of wheel hop, and in my paranoia of breaking an axle I completely backed off the throttle. Basically making me do another launch.
Good run, shifted into 4th at the last second. Kind of regret it. I honestly don't know if I'm supposed to shift into 4th gear
Most of the time I've just been finishing in 3rd really close to the rev limiter. Comments/help is appreciated btw
All around this was my best pass of the day. Still ended the run in 3rd gear. I've noticed that I tend to lose momentum if I shift into 4th.
No complaints. My reaction time could have been better but what can you do.
Found shifting to be a bit difficult, like it required more force than usual.
Overall I'd say I'm pretty happy with my passes today. Besides the fact that it was stupid crowded (see below picture). 2 weeks ago I was there from 10-1 and got in ten passes. Today I was there from 10-2 and only got in 5 passes. Eh what can you do. Today I decided that I wanted to focus on my launch and getting my 60 ft time below 2 seconds (its a long term goal). On the upside though, I am pretty damn consistent with my times.
I did get into a tiny bit of trouble early on though, apparently Thompson Raceway requires that you have a helmet if you are going to make passes. After my first pass one of the pit workers came over and talked to me. Really nice guy btw. I explained to him that I didn't own a helmet and was unaware of the rule. He told me to hold on and a few minutes later came back with a spare helmet that he took for the tool shed (I dunno its the area where they store all their track prep related stuff). So that was awesome. All in all, it's about having a good time and I mean who doesn't have a good time going from 0-108 in 13 seconds?
Panorama of Thompson Raceway
