Wild ride at the drag strip (drifting the 1/8th mile)

[SSEssence]

Damn thats scary, glad you are okay!!

[BMR Sales]

Glad you are OK - the car can be fixed!

[CamaroFan63]

Glad your ok.

[acammer]

I reached out to the track last night to give them some of my thoughts. I haven't put them on blast on social media or anything, because I really value having a somewhat local track. I know they have a difficult job to balance between cycling cars down the track at as quickly as possible against making sure everyone stays safe. I don't know that they'll even respond, but I hope they do.

In other news, I was able to get under the car and check everything, and then put some miles on. Everything seems good, nothing loose or bent in the suspension, axles are nice and snug, still goes straight when you give her the loud pedal. Feeling awfully blessed overall - I say a prayer on my drive to the track every time a go for a reason.

[FasNuf]

Glad it wasn't worse and that you're safe. Good recovery considering the speed. Been there, it's no fun.

[stratman2SSRS]

Glad you are ok, that was a crazy ride.
Any thoughts on why it broke away like that?
Moisture on the track?

[acammer]

Originally Posted by stratman2SSRS

Glad you are ok, that was a crazy ride.
Any thoughts on why it broke away like that?
Moisture on the track?

Yea, it's in my (rather lengthy) description in the original post. The truck making a pass before me lifted a head somewhere between the 330' and the 1/8th - dumped a ton of coolant on the track. Track crew didn't notice it happen, or they would have never sent me down - they are usually really good about checking stuff.

I've had a car get loose at high speed before, but usually when you close the throttle you start to recover right away. Sliding on coolant was like being powerless to do much of anything, it just took a couple hundred feet for the tires to dry off and start responding again. It could have been really awful.

I checked the car all out Sunday, everything looks good, drives just fine.

I'll probably go back for one more test and tune this year - I have some unfinished business and really want that 11.5x or better slip. It ain't all that fast, it's more of a personal vendetta at this point.

[Tajefe Couple]

GL and most of all stay safe!

[CaliforniaSS]

Originally Posted by acammer

If you wanna skip the long read just watch the video here:

https://vimeo.com/362985300

Last night's trip to the drag strip was unlike any other time I've ever been. I'm made few hundred drag strip passes in my life, and at least 50-60 in this car alone, and never has anything remotely like this happened.

This was my 5th pass of the evening, and I was really starting to get my new Hoosier's and 2-step launch control dialed in. The 60' was the best I've ever cut with this car, and it was on what surely was going to be it's best pass ever. Unfortunately, at about the 500' mark I ran through a large puddle of coolant the truck in front of me put down. I didn't see it at all, and apparently neither did the track crew (although several spectators confirmed they saw the truck let out a large cloud of smoke at about that point). The car instantly made a quick right and headed for the wall at about 85mph. It's just not a place you expect to suddenly be fighting with a car violently out of shape. I stomped on the clutch immediately, steered into the slide, and amazing it just kept sliding for a bit - coolant is slippery stuff. Finally, the car found some grip and started to respond to my inputs, and then the fight with extremely soft and flexible drag radial tires with very low air pressure was on.

To add complexity, I was about 3 car lengths ahead of the car in the left lane. I was rapidly losing speed while sliding, and was very concerned about coming across the track right in front of him. I did my very best to catch the slide, almost kept it off the wall completely as the other car passed by, and then let it (let it? I think it was going regardless) run back towards the middle and loop out. Then, I limped off on the first return road, and spent a few seconds letting my heart rate start to come back down before hoping out and looking at the damage.

The damage is a a little worse than it looks. Yes the bumper needs paint, but it actually shoved the lower corner of the rear quarter in. Fortunately I know a good body guy, but of course it will all be out of pocket as insurance isn't going to do anything at the track. Amazingly I didn't hurt the wheel at all, just rubbed the tire ever so slightly.

I'm upset the track crew didn't go take a look after the truck before me clearly had issues. I understand they have a tough job to do, trying to get cars down as quickly as possible, and stay safe, but I would gladly spend a little extra time waiting to make sure the track is safe. The issue was so severe from the coolant that was put down that they closed that lane for the rest of the night and just ran singles in the left lane.

Ultimately, I'm pretty happy with my driving, and especially that I kept it off the car in the other lane. I'm not hurt, I was still able to drive the car on the trailer at the end of the night, I'm counting my blessings because that could have been so much worse. Stay safe and stay ready all my drag racing buddies - anything can happen out there.

First time that shit happens to me Pumpkin is gonna have some 305/45/17's for sale lmfao . Glad you're ok