Abarth Drag Race test n tune experience last night

Finally made it to an event.  And if this is how they run them, I won't be at another.  "Tech" was fill out this card with name and address, sign the bottom, ok have fun...

In almost 2 hours I got one whole run.  Lined up in a staging lane and we sat.  And sat.  And sat.  Hey, time to move up, maybe it's tinme to race and & I'll get two at least.  SWMBO heads to the stands and then we sat.  And sat.  They kept sending the pro guys while us regular street plebs collected dust.  They announced they were closing the lanes at 8pm and we hadn't even moved, guess it's one run after all.

I was thankful I got to try it once at the Challenge and my team gave me tips and pointers, how the staging lights work, avoid the water box, etc.  Because no one was at the line to tell me a thing.

But, it was still fun.  She got some photos, a friend got this one at the start.  I got to meet the guy I ran against, a '67 Barracuda that he bought new in '67 and just recently restored.  Some kids behind me in a Focus and a tC were fun to talk to, got to see their run while I waited at the end.  Speaking of which, I followed the 'Cuda and turned out he stopped at a scale.  At least I got to see a weight of 2706# including a 180ish driver.

Bogged the turbo at the start but still made 15.7 at 85.2mph, actually more MPH than the 'Cuda but lost by half second.  I wish I could have made 1-2 more runs to get the launch right.  Oh well.  I enjoyed the run and maybe I should frame my time slip after spending $25 for that run.

Jesus that's pretty awful. What track??

In reply to dculberson :

Kil-Kare in Xenia OH. I'd love to try again but not if that's the norm.

Go tell the track manager, or the event promoter.  When he talks about the regulars deserving more laps, ask him how he expects to get more regulars, because you won't be back.

A test and tune event should have some careful staging lane management to avoid this very situation. You paid the same dough everybody else does.

2500 lbs for a fiat?  Did i read that correctly?

They're pigs.

Like every newer car they're 1000 lbs too heavy.

In reply to Suprf1y :

If 2500lbs is 1000lbs too heavy, I'd like to see what car you consider "right." Seems pretty dang light for a modern car to me!!

A 1988 MR2 weighed about 2300#, you think 2500# is a "pig" for a modern car with modern sound deadening and electronics and such?

In reply to dculberson :

Look at the white car in my garage.

Most newer cars are 1000 lbs too heavy - some more, the Fiat is probably closer to 750. A car that size shouldn't be over a ton

In reply to Suprf1y :

A comparison between a stripped and track prepped car and a fully loaded street car is not meaningful. 

I wasn't doing that, but apparently you did.

The second one you see in my garage was 1650 lbs new. The first one was a few hundred pounds heavier. Considering the size of both cars those seem like reasonable numbers to me. 2500 does not.