Post by Niko L on Jan 5, 2019 14:24:13 GMT
I'm a lot late with these Race Reports, but better late than never I guess...
The first West Coast Street Cup series event was on Pori Airport on May 26th 2018. After having lots of problems with the car at FHRA Spring Nationals, we decided to go to this event and try to do some adjustments to make it run better. On Friday we drove to Pori and slept at our relatives' place. On Saturday morning we drove to the airport, unloaded the car from our bus and passed the tech inspection easily.
Before the first Qualifying Round, we adjusted the ignition timing a little and adjusted valves. The weather was very hot as usual, so we headed to the Lineup as soon as possible, to be able to run three or four Qualifying runs before the Eliminations would start in the afternoon.
Qualifying:
First Qualifying run was at 11:38 AM. I didn't know what to expect from the car, as I did run some promising numbers at Spring Nats, even though the car was straight from the trailer. But now with a little of adjustments, we didn't know if it would run any better.
Anyway, on the first run I did a long burnout (past the staging beams) as the race director had said in drivers' meeting that "If possible, please do long burnouts so the fans get what they want". So I did just that. I backed up and staged the car normally. When I launched the car, I immediately noticed that now everything is working as it should! I had 1.608 60FT time, which is better than what we've had in a long time. The car launched a bit to the right so I had to steer during the run. Anyway, I ran 12.078 and 175 KM/H! That was a very good run, very close to car's record (12.065). Also my reaction time was .009, which was good, as the Qualifying order is based on RTs in this ET Bracket class.
After a very good run like that, we did no modifications to the car, just drove back to the Lineup. If the car would go straight, it would go still a bit faster. But 2nd round wasn't that succesful. I did a normal burnout on this run and got .046 RT. But 60FT was not good as the car bogged pretty bad at the start. Despite that I ran a decent 12.216 ET.
Before the third Qualifying Round, we decided to let the engine and tranny cool down and charged the battery. Third Qualifying run was at 12.50 PM, and this time I also suffered from the same bog issue as on 2nd run. I took .073 RT and ran 12.250 with 175 KM/H top speed anyway.
After this round we decided to go one more time, and after this run we'd let the engine cool down properly before the Eliminations. This time my 60FT was a lot better than on two previous runs and it showed immediately in the ET as well, 12.097. So a pretty good run to end the Qualifying session.
Before the Eliminations it was time to think about the dial in. I was a bit unsure if I should put 12.10 or 12.20. Depending on the launch, and if the carburetor bogs or not, either one of the dial ins would be wrong. After all, I decided to go with 12.10 dial in and see how it would work.
Eliminations:
First Elimination Round was against a very fast red turbocharged Toyota Carina. I got a big headstart on this, I left with .069 RT and I had a good 60FT time on this run. I saw from my mirror that the Carina had some problems in the start, so I slowed down before the finishing line to prevent from breaking out. So I continued to the next round.
2nd Elimination Round was going to be tough as I was racing against a skilled Bracket racer in his BBC powered '69 Chevelle. I left first with .053 RT and suffering from a small bog at the start I ran full throttle until the end... It was a very close race, but I won running 12.209 ET on my 12.10 dial in.
3rd Elimination Round was going to be another very close race. I was running against a '70s Corvette with a Blown Big Block. I left first again, I took .074 RT and ran full throttle to the finish line. We were on the finish line absolutely the same time, it was impossible to tell who had win or lost. I ran 12.103 on my 12.10 dial in so I was very close. When we came back to the pits, I found out that I had won by a very small margin.
Semi Final Round was against a very nicely finished VW Bug. I left first again, but I got a terrible 60FT time as the carburetor bogged pretty badly. My RT was decent though, .032. I ran 12.258 on my 12.10 dial in, but that wasn't enough and the Volkswagen continued to the final round.
On other side of the ladder, there was a solo run in the Semi Finals. What is different in these WCSC events, they also run a race for the 3rd position. So as I was the only loser in the Semi Finals, I already knew that the 3rd place was mine. Someone said I didn't even have to make a run to confirm my 3rd place, but I went to ask from the race director if I could make the run anyway even if I didn't have to. He showed me a green light so we came to the Lineup again.
So the run for 3rd place was a solo run. I took .097 RT but I had some traction problems at start. Because of that I was able to run only 12.319 but of course that didn't matter at this point.
Last thing was to head to the "Prize Ceremony" where I took home the 3rd prize in ET Bracket. Not bad.
Then it was the time to put the car back to the bus and head back home. It was a very good race day, we got the car running right and I did pretty good on the Eliminations as well. That was a good starting point for the 2nd race in Finnish Championship series coming in a few weeks in June.
Here is a video of my runs:
And a link to the Picture Gallery
The first West Coast Street Cup series event was on Pori Airport on May 26th 2018. After having lots of problems with the car at FHRA Spring Nationals, we decided to go to this event and try to do some adjustments to make it run better. On Friday we drove to Pori and slept at our relatives' place. On Saturday morning we drove to the airport, unloaded the car from our bus and passed the tech inspection easily.
Before the first Qualifying Round, we adjusted the ignition timing a little and adjusted valves. The weather was very hot as usual, so we headed to the Lineup as soon as possible, to be able to run three or four Qualifying runs before the Eliminations would start in the afternoon.
Qualifying:
First Qualifying run was at 11:38 AM. I didn't know what to expect from the car, as I did run some promising numbers at Spring Nats, even though the car was straight from the trailer. But now with a little of adjustments, we didn't know if it would run any better.
Anyway, on the first run I did a long burnout (past the staging beams) as the race director had said in drivers' meeting that "If possible, please do long burnouts so the fans get what they want". So I did just that. I backed up and staged the car normally. When I launched the car, I immediately noticed that now everything is working as it should! I had 1.608 60FT time, which is better than what we've had in a long time. The car launched a bit to the right so I had to steer during the run. Anyway, I ran 12.078 and 175 KM/H! That was a very good run, very close to car's record (12.065). Also my reaction time was .009, which was good, as the Qualifying order is based on RTs in this ET Bracket class.
After a very good run like that, we did no modifications to the car, just drove back to the Lineup. If the car would go straight, it would go still a bit faster. But 2nd round wasn't that succesful. I did a normal burnout on this run and got .046 RT. But 60FT was not good as the car bogged pretty bad at the start. Despite that I ran a decent 12.216 ET.
Before the third Qualifying Round, we decided to let the engine and tranny cool down and charged the battery. Third Qualifying run was at 12.50 PM, and this time I also suffered from the same bog issue as on 2nd run. I took .073 RT and ran 12.250 with 175 KM/H top speed anyway.
After this round we decided to go one more time, and after this run we'd let the engine cool down properly before the Eliminations. This time my 60FT was a lot better than on two previous runs and it showed immediately in the ET as well, 12.097. So a pretty good run to end the Qualifying session.
Before the Eliminations it was time to think about the dial in. I was a bit unsure if I should put 12.10 or 12.20. Depending on the launch, and if the carburetor bogs or not, either one of the dial ins would be wrong. After all, I decided to go with 12.10 dial in and see how it would work.
Eliminations:
First Elimination Round was against a very fast red turbocharged Toyota Carina. I got a big headstart on this, I left with .069 RT and I had a good 60FT time on this run. I saw from my mirror that the Carina had some problems in the start, so I slowed down before the finishing line to prevent from breaking out. So I continued to the next round.
2nd Elimination Round was going to be tough as I was racing against a skilled Bracket racer in his BBC powered '69 Chevelle. I left first with .053 RT and suffering from a small bog at the start I ran full throttle until the end... It was a very close race, but I won running 12.209 ET on my 12.10 dial in.
3rd Elimination Round was going to be another very close race. I was running against a '70s Corvette with a Blown Big Block. I left first again, I took .074 RT and ran full throttle to the finish line. We were on the finish line absolutely the same time, it was impossible to tell who had win or lost. I ran 12.103 on my 12.10 dial in so I was very close. When we came back to the pits, I found out that I had won by a very small margin.
Semi Final Round was against a very nicely finished VW Bug. I left first again, but I got a terrible 60FT time as the carburetor bogged pretty badly. My RT was decent though, .032. I ran 12.258 on my 12.10 dial in, but that wasn't enough and the Volkswagen continued to the final round.
On other side of the ladder, there was a solo run in the Semi Finals. What is different in these WCSC events, they also run a race for the 3rd position. So as I was the only loser in the Semi Finals, I already knew that the 3rd place was mine. Someone said I didn't even have to make a run to confirm my 3rd place, but I went to ask from the race director if I could make the run anyway even if I didn't have to. He showed me a green light so we came to the Lineup again.
So the run for 3rd place was a solo run. I took .097 RT but I had some traction problems at start. Because of that I was able to run only 12.319 but of course that didn't matter at this point.
Last thing was to head to the "Prize Ceremony" where I took home the 3rd prize in ET Bracket. Not bad.
Then it was the time to put the car back to the bus and head back home. It was a very good race day, we got the car running right and I did pretty good on the Eliminations as well. That was a good starting point for the 2nd race in Finnish Championship series coming in a few weeks in June.
Here is a video of my runs:
And a link to the Picture Gallery