Quick race update. We left way begin schedule on Friday due to unforeseen work obligations. Once we got on the road the trip took unexpected detours away from our normal route up I-95 through Florence, SC and Lumberton ,NC because the interstate was closed down from flooding by swollen rivers. The hurricane brought a lot of rain and caused a big time rise in area river levels. We had to go westernly and then up through Charlotte NC to hit I-85 and then to 95 in Richmond VA. Along the way, I received a call from the hotel I had made reservations with to say it was overbooked by the service I used and no rooms were available at that time. Dang it. The wife tried calling several nearby hotels with nothing available either. Wow. What a horrible trip this was shaping up to become. We pushed ahead and I decided to just get a room about an hour from the track and get up early to make the gate opening time. That detour added 2 hours to the drive time. Crap. It didn't leave much time to lay down for sleep before we had to get up.
We found out on our way to the track in the morning the race was shortened to one day due to rain forecasted for today. We arrived at the track, got unloaded and set up. I only entered 2 classes because I knew they would be pushing us hard to complete the event. I intended to enter 4 classes initially. I entered my car tire Kaw dragbike in pro ET/ top sportsman. In that class, after the 2 time runs, they pull out the quickest 32 bikes from the field to make up the top sportsman class. I entered the Honda in street ET.
I put a very mild nitrous tune up in the Kaw to see where I stood on ET. My first time run in Pro ET I ran an 8.13 so I knew that should have been quick enough to make the field. I didn't make any changes in the 2nd time run and it got a little quicker to run an 8.08. I was #12 qualifier. I dialed it in at an 8.10 for first round. I was paired with a heavy hitter but I qualified higher so I got lane choice. My opponent was Dustin Lee so I knew I had to be on top of my game. Fortunately for me, he redlighted so I advanced to the second round. Next up was street ET on the Honda. I averaged a 10.63 on my 2 time runs but by first round the weather changed a bit cooler so I dialed ip to 10.67 for good measure. I'm a bit lean so I felt it would slow down a little. My opponent was on high 8 second bike so I got to leave first. The bike left good and I was concentrating on hitting all my shift points when I looked up to see the win light on my side. Another red light by my opponent. Moving on to 2nd round.
A dang grudge bike blew up on a time run and oiled the track down so there was a big delay. In the meantime, we see heavy cloud cover coming in from 2 directions. Uh oh. I decided to enter another bike in the 5.60 index class. I hadn't made a pass on this one since I repaired the transmission so I was clueless as to if it would shift or even run the index. After a lengthy clean up, racing resumed. I got up to the staging area in time for the 5.60 index class eliminations. I was hopeful all would be well with the bike and I could make a few rounds, but settled in to just considering this a test pass. I drew another hard competitor so I had to be focused. We both left the starting line side by side, but when I hit the airshifter button for second gear, it would not shift. I hit it again and it went into gear. By this time my opponent was out in front. All I could do was follow him across the finish line. Oh well, this one goes back in the shop for an evaluation.
2nd round top sportsman was up but the clouds were overhead by then and it seemed imminent we might feel rain at any moment. In fact we felt a few drops but nothing more. Once again I was the quicker bike so I got lane choice over my opponent. I dialed down to an 8.05, he dialed an 8.23. We both staged in at the tree, he left and I gave chase. I knew I was late on the tree so I never caught up with him. His win light came on and that ended my day for quick 32.
They finally called 2nd round street ET back to the lanes around 7pm or so. We sat in the lanes while they sent grudge bikes down the track. In the meantime, the wind picked up and it got cooler. Bad signs. I started to feel a few rain drops again. This time with more frequency. I knew it was time to roll back to the trailer because the heavy rain was coming. Sure enough, once I got the bike inside the trailer and pulled the scooter beside it, the bottom dropped out. Given the time, and a 1am curfew, the track officials decided to end the event and split the purses among all remaining riders. Heck, with 50 bikes left in street et, I didn't bother to get my money. I doubt it amounted to $5. Lol. I wasn't going to get soaking wet walking to the tower for that amount.
Overall, we had fun, didn't get hurt and didn't break anything although the Honda has finally showed signs of slowing down due to a need of engine maintenance. Regardless, It was a good weekend of racing.
Next event for me is the NhRA Division team bracket finals at Silver Dollar Dragway. We're competing with Team Carolina Dragway this time. The cool part about this event is the winner of each class get to advance to race in Pomona California during the nhra national event. They even give you tow money for showing up.
We'll follow up with the Man Cup final in November and conclude the season at an event in Bradenton, Florida in December. This season is coming to a close very fast 😢.
