Unforgettable Night at the Track - 5Twenty Joins 11 Second Club for the 2nd Time
Friday night was most likely the final Test 'n Tune before the racing season gets underway so I was anxious to get out the and make sure I was ready. I was a memorable night. For the first time since I began racing I thought I was going to crash and then I ran sub 12 for the first time with my new Kenne Bell supercharger, all in a span of 30 minutes.
First of all there was only a third to half of the usual number of cars for a TnT. That meant you could get in as many runs as you wanted. My wife got 20! I got 13. Usually around here 8 runs is a great night, 5 or 6 is more typical. About five runs in I was racing down the track when my back end got out of sorts a bit. The tires weren't breaking loose, I have ET Street, bias plys. They have very flexible sidewalls and the back end normally wiggles around quite a bit, but this was different. They just didn't seem to be tracking on the same line as the car. The more input I put in to correct the situation the more out of sorts I got. Each time I wiggled back and forth the wiggle got bigger and it got nearly out of control pretty quickly, the whole time the tires did not break lose, the just weren't going straight. I actually had to drive out of my lane for the first time ever to avoid what seemed like an inevitable roll down the track. For the first time since I started racing the thought, "I'm going to crash" went through my mind. I race at two tracks, one has walls on each side of the track the full length of the track. This one does not have a wall close to the racing surface. If it did I would have hit the wall for sure. Because there are no walls at this track I was able to drive out of the lane and drive out of the situation, finally. It scared the he!! out of me. I was shaking like a baby. I wanted to go home because I didn't want that to ever happen again. But those thoughts diappeared quickly and were replaced by get back on the horse thoughts. I checked my car thoroghly and could find nothing out of line so I got back into the staging lanes.
Because the lines were short I was at the water box before I knew it and I was scared for the first time since I started racing. I was fully concentrating on making a straight, fundamentally strong pass, disregarding ET. I just wanted to go straight, mainly. I launched and executed the best run I have ever made. It was perfect. In my entire racing life I've never made a straighter pass. The back end never even wiggled the tiniest bit. I was relived but still shaking like a leaf.
I drove the the time shack and was thrilled to see this timeslip:
Now that's getting back on the horse! My first sub 12 pass on my new Kenne Bell SC. My best 60' ever. My first 90 MPH 1/8th mile. My first sub 10 1000'. My fastest MPH ever. I was shaking all over again from a different type of adrenaline rush. On the very next run I backed it up with an 11.95!
People all around me were breaking their own personal records, too. There were no breakdowns or cars spilling oil all over the track so there were no delays. Just as much track time as you could stand. My wife had to go get more gas! It was just a really fun night at the track.
But I learned to respect what you are doing. To remember it is very dangerous. Any number of things can happen at 100 MPH that are a danger to your life and to others, not to mention your beloved car.
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2005 Mustang GT with 04 Cobra iron block, 300 ci, Kenne Bell 2.6l twin screw, P&P S3 Heads, SS valves, Comp S3 cams, Currie 9+ 9" rear end and DS (coming soon), Hurst shifter, BMR K-member, A-arms, LCAs & UCA, JBA long tubes & mid-pipe, Accel COPs, GT500 fuel pumps, much more... 659 RWHP, 598 Tq @ 12 psi & 5800 RPM
I hope you find out what was making your car not track straight. could it be the limited slip diff slipping?
I really don't think it's a mechanical issue. I think it has to do with the tires. The sidewalls are so flexible and I think it has to do with that somehow. I think I just found their resonate frequency when the back end started wiggling.
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2005 Mustang GT with 04 Cobra iron block, 300 ci, Kenne Bell 2.6l twin screw, P&P S3 Heads, SS valves, Comp S3 cams, Currie 9+ 9" rear end and DS (coming soon), Hurst shifter, BMR K-member, A-arms, LCAs & UCA, JBA long tubes & mid-pipe, Accel COPs, GT500 fuel pumps, much more... 659 RWHP, 598 Tq @ 12 psi & 5800 RPM
Awesome Dan! You may want to pull your LCAs and check for cracked bushings. Same thing with the rear end wiggle happened to me. Both of my BMR front bushings were cracked. I've since switched to CHE LCAs.
Awesome Dan! You may want to pull your LCAs and check for cracked bushings. Same thing with the rear end wiggle happened to me. Both of my BMR front bushings were cracked. I've since switched to CHE LCAs.
It's definitely going up on jackstands so I can inspect everything thoroughly. But the rest of the night it was working as I am used to. I think it was just one of those racing things you can't prepare for. Anyway, I'll be conducting inspections.
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2005 Mustang GT with 04 Cobra iron block, 300 ci, Kenne Bell 2.6l twin screw, P&P S3 Heads, SS valves, Comp S3 cams, Currie 9+ 9" rear end and DS (coming soon), Hurst shifter, BMR K-member, A-arms, LCAs & UCA, JBA long tubes & mid-pipe, Accel COPs, GT500 fuel pumps, much more... 659 RWHP, 598 Tq @ 12 psi & 5800 RPM
Are you running in the 11's with 8psi? Love that 60', especially with only 8psi. Just think if you were running 12psi
I had that happen to me once---and it was because the tire pressure on one side had dropped significantly vs the other side--I was on slicks with my 67 mustang.
That sounds like a great night of racing--33 passes total? Geez, where I go I am lucky to get 6 or 7.
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Paul
Daily driven 2005 GT AUTO - Whipple @ 16psi - 577 rwhp 519 rwtq
Best 1/8th mile: 6.740 @ 101.56 mph with a 1.431 60' time
Best 1/4 mile: 10.672 @ 128.42 mph with a 1.480 60' time Special thanks to:
ST Motorsports, San Bernardino CA - built engine and tune
Larry's Transmission, Corona CA - built 5R55S
M&H - 325/45/17 racemaster drag radials
GI Joe - 8 rib pulley kit
Thump_rrr - billet tensioner
Are you running in the 11's with 8psi? Love that 60', especially with only 8psi. Just think if you were running 12psi
I had that happen to me once---and it was because the tire pressure on one side had dropped significantly vs the other side--I was on slicks with my 67 mustang.
That sounds like a great night of racing--33 passes total? Geez, where I go I am lucky to get 6 or 7.
That's right! Elevens on 8 psi. The supercharger is sitting on top of an engine with stock internals and 85,000 miles and 840 1/4 mile passes to boot. The tune is Kenne Bell stock and runs a solid 11.3 A/F all the way through the RPM range, meaning pretty dang conservative. If anyone is considering a SC and your goal is to go fast, this speaks volumes.
Thanks on the 60', but there's more in the tank, that was launching at only 5000 RPM.
Usually 6 or 7 passes is what we get on a sunny day. For whatever reason, not a lot of people showed up. It was beautiful. It was 33 passes for 2 cars.
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2005 Mustang GT with 04 Cobra iron block, 300 ci, Kenne Bell 2.6l twin screw, P&P S3 Heads, SS valves, Comp S3 cams, Currie 9+ 9" rear end and DS (coming soon), Hurst shifter, BMR K-member, A-arms, LCAs & UCA, JBA long tubes & mid-pipe, Accel COPs, GT500 fuel pumps, much more... 659 RWHP, 598 Tq @ 12 psi & 5800 RPM
The sports psychologists say you should try to recreate all of the thoughts and feelings that accompanied a Career Best performance, in order to meet or beat it in subsequent tries. After reading your story...I think the sports psychologists need a different theory!
Living on that fear/adrenaline edge is cool as a once-in-a-while thang, but not recurringly. My hat's off to you for turning "flight" into "fight" after seeing The Reaper...
"What makes the elephant charge his tusk
In the misty mist, or the dusky dusk?
What makes the muskrat guard his musk?"
C O U R A G E
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"I may never be famous, but my girls Dixi and Luci sure are."
Dixi Candace: Windveil Blue Stick V6 '05, Steeda CAI w/BBK 70mmTB/hi-flo inlet, XCal2, ASP UP, JBA SS Shorties/Evol, FRPP T-Lok diff, 34/28 mm F/R sway bars, MMR rear LCAs, Monte C. strut bar, Precision 3.73s, Snow H2OCH4O, "Q" grille and tons of Dixi Bling chrome
5twenty..I missed this thread.....congrats on your run! awesome way to come back from your near wreck bud! you have to keep goin super nice 60ft and all the way thru! I so wanta join the 11 sec club! I have the mph..just need the 60ft.
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Saleen S/C 3.2 pulley tuned by JDM Engineering, GT500 pumps, CHE goodies on the rear, 4.10's, KOOKS/ high flow catted X pipe with PYPES Violators, Spydershaft, TCI 3500 stall, PA deep tranny pan. Meziere w/p,M&H 325/45/17 DRs.
future mods.... a 3.0 pulley
The sports psychologists say you should try to recreate all of the thoughts and feelings that accompanied a Career Best performance, in order to meet or beat it in subsequent tries.
Living on that fear/adrenaline edge is cool as a once-in-a-while thang, but not recurringly.
Trust me, I am not a thrillseeker. I think it was just a reminder that while drag racing is a lot of fun, accelerating from 0 to 115 MPH in 11 seconds is serious business and not a ride at Disneyland.
By the way, zregime, my hat is off to anyone who quotes the Cowardly Lion. Congrats.
Quote:
Originally Posted by MickMach
5twenty..I missed this thread.....congrats on your run! awesome way to come back from your near wreck bud! you have to keep goin super nice 60ft and all the way thru! I so wanta join the 11 sec club! I have the mph..just need the 60ft.
Thanks, MickMach. It's a fun club to be in. I've now done it on nitrous and on forced induction. Both were one of the best rushes of my life.
Keep trying, you'll get there. What's your 60'?
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2005 Mustang GT with 04 Cobra iron block, 300 ci, Kenne Bell 2.6l twin screw, P&P S3 Heads, SS valves, Comp S3 cams, Currie 9+ 9" rear end and DS (coming soon), Hurst shifter, BMR K-member, A-arms, LCAs & UCA, JBA long tubes & mid-pipe, Accel COPs, GT500 fuel pumps, much more... 659 RWHP, 598 Tq @ 12 psi & 5800 RPM
Unforgettable Night at the Track - 5Twenty Joins 11 Second Club for the 2nd Time 
super nice 60ft and all the way thru! I so wanta join the 11 sec club! I have the mph..just need the 60ft.
