Adrenaline....
I was giddy all day yesterday... my adrenaline was pumping through my veins as I thought about being able to drive at 100mph and not having to be worried about being stopped by the cops. I took the time to wash and dry the car, vacuumm, wipe down the leather, and then stopped in the auto-parts store and picked up some octane booster. The gates opened for the Streetfight at 11pm, but I knew that I was too excited to wait until then. I left at 10 and got there about 10:30. I'd never been to the track, nor raced before, so I thought I should take time to figure things out. As I pulled in I hear the roar of engines and look around to see about ten imports who pulled in just before me waiting to get in the gate. We wait a few minutes and they start letting us in, I pay my ten dollars to race time-only's because I knew my car wasn't fast enough to be the fastest street-car in Wichita. They give me a tech-card and assign me number 6. The actual races didn't start til midnight, so I had some time to see the last couple races of the competition dragsters from earlier in the evening. I look out to the street and the line to get in is backed up at least a quarter mile, I was glad that I had gotten there early. The smell of gasoline and burning rubber fills my senses and I feel the rush of more adrenaline pierce my veins. They call all time only drivers to the staging lanes and I climb in my car, at this point I'm feeling nervous... I've never done this before, what do i do? I end up setting up for the third race, I don't even know what kind of car I was against... I was concentrating on the Christmas tree, the guy guiding us, and the traction control on my car. I spin the tires, trying to warm them up and then I pull forward to get the pre-stage light on. Creeping forward the staged light comes on, and they were doing instant greens.. which means there's NO yellow ready light.. just GO!... My reaction time is horrible over 1.3 seconds, but the guy next to me was about the same. I accelerate down the track, comfortable with the process now but unsure of how it ends. I back out of the throttle even before I've crossed the 1/4 mile. I was up to 74mph by the 1/8th mile, and had slowed to 53mph by the finish line. 16.4 seconds, and I had still beaten the guy next to me by a full second. I come back to the staging lanes, driving by the booth to pick up my time slip. I look and realize what I'd done. I line up again, this time more prepared and more comfortable. Not many people where there yet, so 15 mins later I'm spinning the tires again, giddy as my car steps sideways a little. I'm up against some other import tuner, but again I'm paying more attention to what mode i'm gonna race, this time i decide to use the manual option with traction control on. I was in drive with it off for the first race. And this time I roll the windows up. My reaction time is cut in half, .71 this time launching quickly and trying to determine my best shift points. I pass the 1/4 mile 15.36 seconds later doing 94.28 mph. just over a second faster than the tuner car I was up against. The line is moving quickly as I get up for my third run, I chose the opposite lane than what I ran in the first two races. I was against a Dodge Neon, missing a hood and having what appeared to be an intake. As we were waiting the guy looks over and asks me to take it easy on him This time i decide to go automatic again, with traction control on. I get staged and hold the brake, upping the rpm a little and I launch instantly thinking I'd jumped before the light so I stutter briefly, my reaction time .58 seconds... half a second faster than the average for the evening. 15.44 seconds later I'm looking in the rear view, and this guys over 3 seconds behind. It's about 1am, so they stop the t/o's and start some of the heads-up racing. I'm still in the staging lanes, so I lock it up and go watch some of the racing. I've met a few people walking around and people are curious what times I'm pulling. Everyone is pretty impressed, considering my car is all stock. After an hour or so we're back to our cars, ready to hit it again. I decide this time I'm going with manual shift, no traction control. This means its all me, no computers controling anything this time. My burn-out was pretty weak, but I stage anyway. I'm racing a tricked out Honda I think, with some blue neon lights and a couple girls as passengers. My reaction time is fairly normal for instant greens, getting .73 this time around. My car loses a little traction off the line, but I hold it down and pull through with the best time of the night at 15.25 at around 94mph. I'm pretty satisfied at this point, and I park the car in the pits and go watch some more racing and the Bikini Contest that turned into a wet t-shirt contest that turned into just a bunch of topless girls from Michelles Beach House that were uglier than the burnt rubber scrapped off the track. But the itch to do better gets me one more time when they start the t/o's back up. By this time the lines to race are huge, over 140 cars are entered to do time/onlys. But I wanted pictures, and hadn't gotten any of me yet. My friend Scott from work takes my cam to get a couple pics. I do the sweetest burnout of the night, getting the smoke to roll from the tires for the first time. Showing off for the camera I suppose... I pose all the time apparantly. I was lined up against a Nissan 240sx, and I'm going automatic with no traction control again. My reaction time is a little slow because the crowd is heckling me, damn haters. But it's still 1 second flat. I almost match the best time of the night, running a 15.28, but the strange part is that it was the slowest speed of the night at 92.4mph... I wonder if I let out of it before I crossed again, but I'm still 3 seconds faster than the 240sx. I come back up the return lane, getting stopped by fans in the bleachers expressing their affection for my car. Pulling up to get my time slip, Scott returns my camera and these two beautiful girls express their affection for my car as well. I return the favor for my friends from work, getting a couple pics of them on their bikes, and decide it's about time to go home... it's 4am. Half-an-hour later and I'm home... adrenaline purged.
