GRNDSM
Moderator
- 2,420
- 189
- May 16, 2002
-
Chelmsford,
Massachusetts
For years, I have been thinking of driving out to NY/NJ and attending their NOPI events. But for one reason or another, I was never able to make the trip. I was kind of pissed when I found that NOPI was coming to my home track (New England Dragway), right after I sold the Green Machine 
.
Fortunately, I had a car to borrow for this event: it is Bruce Kwartlers 92 Talon AWD w/original 56k miles!
It is one of the cleanest 1Gs you will ever see:
This car has full interior and is a perfect match for NDRAs Sportsman Power Street class.
This is a legitimate mid to high 10 sec car, but unfortunately, on Saturday we have been combating several problems which limited us to getting just 8th qualifying position with a 12.4 sec run. I was able to figure out one of the problems (car being too rich after 1-2 , or any other missed gear shift). But I was still not able to shift fast (after the race, we found a bad clutch master cylinder). So on Sunday, I was forced to granny shift in order to make sure that I do not miss any gears.
We started with a field of 16 cars, my first pass was against a fellow DSMer, who qualified #9 with a 12.5 sec pass. However, he too fixed a few problems overnight and ran 11.9 to my 11.6 in our first round.
My second round was against a Clutch Masters Integra, a car which is current in 2nd place in points race for this class. This should be a mid 9 second monster, which is reduced to a crippled low 11 sec car (@ 145mph) due to its lack of traction. I treed the guy by .25 sec and then ran .2 sec faster than this best run of the weekend (11.3). That should have been enough to beat him, but as I crossed the finish line first, I realized that he was no-where in sight, he broke down at the 60 mark (broken axle). Too bad, because I would have preferred a good race instead.
In my 3rd round, I was facing similarly handicapped Civic, which ran comparable ETs and trap speed. She was #3 in the points standing. One of our local DSMers, who lost to her in a previous round, had warned me about the staging game that she played, which messed him up (he ended .9xx RT to her .580). But I had a bit more experience than he did, so I wasnt going to let her do this to me
. I made starter re-stage her, after she fully staged (ignoring courtesy staging rule), and then I made her wait the tree as long as rules allowed . End resold was my .580 RT to her .850, plus I beat her by ~.2 seconds in the ET, so this was a pretty good race!
In my final round, I had to race of my DSM friends (my 11.1 to his 11.2) for another good race. It sucked that I had to beat him, but the alternative would have sucked even more.
So there we go, I got my first NOPI X-box trophy (+$600 check from NDRA + $1250 from the sponsors)!
I am very impressed with how NDRA ran their event. I cant wait to have them back in New England!
I should be racing this car again in Ohio next week (DSM Eliminator class)! See you guys there!
. Fortunately, I had a car to borrow for this event: it is Bruce Kwartlers 92 Talon AWD w/original 56k miles!
It is one of the cleanest 1Gs you will ever see:
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This car has full interior and is a perfect match for NDRAs Sportsman Power Street class.
This is a legitimate mid to high 10 sec car, but unfortunately, on Saturday we have been combating several problems which limited us to getting just 8th qualifying position with a 12.4 sec run. I was able to figure out one of the problems (car being too rich after 1-2 , or any other missed gear shift). But I was still not able to shift fast (after the race, we found a bad clutch master cylinder). So on Sunday, I was forced to granny shift in order to make sure that I do not miss any gears.
We started with a field of 16 cars, my first pass was against a fellow DSMer, who qualified #9 with a 12.5 sec pass. However, he too fixed a few problems overnight and ran 11.9 to my 11.6 in our first round.
My second round was against a Clutch Masters Integra, a car which is current in 2nd place in points race for this class. This should be a mid 9 second monster, which is reduced to a crippled low 11 sec car (@ 145mph) due to its lack of traction. I treed the guy by .25 sec and then ran .2 sec faster than this best run of the weekend (11.3). That should have been enough to beat him, but as I crossed the finish line first, I realized that he was no-where in sight, he broke down at the 60 mark (broken axle). Too bad, because I would have preferred a good race instead.
In my 3rd round, I was facing similarly handicapped Civic, which ran comparable ETs and trap speed. She was #3 in the points standing. One of our local DSMers, who lost to her in a previous round, had warned me about the staging game that she played, which messed him up (he ended .9xx RT to her .580). But I had a bit more experience than he did, so I wasnt going to let her do this to me
. I made starter re-stage her, after she fully staged (ignoring courtesy staging rule), and then I made her wait the tree as long as rules allowed . End resold was my .580 RT to her .850, plus I beat her by ~.2 seconds in the ET, so this was a pretty good race!In my final round, I had to race of my DSM friends (my 11.1 to his 11.2) for another good race. It sucked that I had to beat him, but the alternative would have sucked even more
. So there we go, I got my first NOPI X-box trophy (+$600 check from NDRA + $1250 from the sponsors)!
I am very impressed with how NDRA ran their event. I cant wait to have them back in New England!
I should be racing this car again in Ohio next week (DSM Eliminator class)! See you guys there!
