Being an average guy …say it with me…..”with an average budget and average tools”…I travel light to the drag strip.
I don’t have a trailer and I don’t have spare tires, or worry have about NOS (Nitrous Oxide System). I don’t carry a timing light (but that might be handy) or dwell/tach. What I do carry with me is a small toolbox with open-end and box-end wrenches, socket set and screw drivers. I also bring along a lawn chair, a cooler (No Alcohol) and Fire Extinguishers. Now it helps that the strip is less than 10 miles way and I have a very nice GM towing/travel package (AAA like coverage – under 10 miles the tow bill is free) so I don’t really need a trailer and the works.
The tools I carry are just enough to make carb adjustments and plug adjustments. (I have replaced the points and condenser with the Pertronix electronic ignition parts in the Mustang…(very smart idea by the way) and there really aren’t any adjustments I can make to the Corvette as it is currently configured – the computer which is crude 1980’s technology – just returns the car to original operation specs (fuel to air ratio) or close to it anyway.
So I look really small compared to the guys with the covered trailers and the double axle pick-up trucks. But there are a lot of average guys there, taking up no space in the parking lot.
At the drags Pic 1
At the Drags Pic 2
As you can see by these pics there isn’t a giant tool box there and no pit crew. BTW these photos are from my first time at the track, right after the new engine:
New engine just before installation.
And before the new paint.
I have a ton of fun at these events. I’ve attended to two charity events, Race for the Cure, in support of cancer research and a several weekly test-n-tunes. Generally at the test-n-tunes you see a lot of kids (relative depending on your age) with their imports. You can tell there isn’t much of a budget there and that I think is what makes it fun.
In most of these events you aren’t running against the other guy (not really), you are running against your own skill as a driver and a mechanic – your own tune-up work and your last run’s time. The kids with the tuners (a slang term for modified imports) generally have a Nitrous Oxide Systems (NOS) and a lap top to adjust the computer that controls nearly everything to do with the way the engine runs. I know some old school guys that really frown on that but I think it pretty cool.
Do you have a racing experience? Drop it in comment.
Coming up next (if I can find it) is an article I wrote that covers the finer point of bracket racing and some tech tips.
Thanks for reading.
Tim
