Great Day at Englishtown NJ

[Katshot]

Well, our FIRST CadillacForums Local membership meeting/outing went very well. Myself, Dave (DaveSmed), Josh (JJhomer83)) met for breakfast before heading to the track. Dave brought his dad Jerry (who graciously bought us all breakfast, thanks again Jerry), Josh brought his girlfreind Micky (sorry if I spelled it wrong), I was GOING to bring my sone and daughter but they decided on an ALTERNATE plan.
After breakfast, we caravaned to the track in Englishtown, NJ where we met up with Bill (Toomanytoyz) and my two kids Dave and Jess. There were a lot of B-body GM cars there but our Caddies managed to not only "class up" the place but between me and Bill, we also managed hurt a lot of Impala SS and Caprice drivers' feelings on the track.
I wasn't paying a lot of attention but I think Bill's best run ended up to be a 14.3 and mine was a 14.5, not what I was hoping to see but there's always next time. I'm sure Bill will be posting something about the day ASAP so he can give his times if I'm wrong. It really was a wonderful day out there, the weather was beautiful and I think we all had a good time.
For me, the BEST part of the day was when my daughter Jess hit the track (for the very first time) in her Nissan Spec V. I was only going to let her race it once but as it turned out, she was a WILD WOMAN out there and TOTALLY fell in love with the 1/4 mile (spent the rest of the day quoting lines from "Fast & Furious" like "I live my life a 1/4 mile at a time" etc.). However she wasn't the only one that got bitten by the drag racing bug. When we got to the track, neither Dave (DaveSmed) or Josh (JJhomer83) had intended to race thier cars but........
After my first run, I returned to the staging lanes only to find both my daughter AND Josh biting at the bit to get out on the track. My son Dave had taken the Spec V down the track first and that got my daughter Jess revved up and I guess all the other cars going was just too much for Josh. He decided to race his Eldo. Dave (DaveSmed) resisted all day (and rightfully so since his car is really a classic SHOW piece and NOT a race car to be thrashed on the track).
The race was on. As it turned out, there were only a few "non-GM" cars in their own staging lane (including Josh and Jess) and that ultimately ended up setting Josh against Jess in their first race. By the time the two of them hit the track, the rest of us were standing by the wall watching. I was the nervous father watching my daughter in her very first drag race, Micky standing next to me, excitedly watching her boyfriend (Josh). The lights went green and away they went. The rest of what happened will live in history forever. Amazingly, Jess didn't stall it or red light. She actually cut a pretty good light and beat Josh off the line. The next 16 or so seconds must've seemed like an eternity for some of us because at least Micky and I were literally screaming, hoping with crossed fingers and ultimately laughing when the "WIN" light came on at the end of the track on JESS's side!!!! From then on there was no containing Jess. She ran a 16.4, just .4 off my son Dave's time a couple minutes earlier. The rest of the morning was spent watching the two of them duke it out through their other 2 runs. Unfortunately, Josh never managed to beat her. Their last run was a squeaker with Josh pulling a 16.2 to Jess's 16.1. Poor Micky wanted to race but there was no way to get Josh off the track. I think the next time, they'll be bringing TWO cars or will have to split their track time.
It's great watching newbies getting bitten by the excitement at the track. Hopefully this was only the FIRST of these type of meetings/outings, I really had a geat time and hope everyone else did too.

[ShadowLvr400]

You think that's bad? I've been a drag racer for.... Wow, probably 3 yrs or better. Hmm didn't realize it's been that long. I recently tried Autocross. Yes, in my Eldo. I'll take AutoX over Drag any day. Drag it's more of the cars going at it. AutoX, the driver skill is the basis. I'm a new addict.

[Katshot]

I would contest that conclusion as a "generalization". Drag racing a car with an automatic is fairly close to being a car vs. car scenario as you say but drag racing a manual involves a lot of driver input. Still, R/T's can make or break a race regardless of which CAR is technically superior too.
I tried auto crossing recently and found it to be less than exciting. Almost like playing a video game actually. The main reason is that the course is so small and cramped that you really do not get to explore the gear box or power of the car you're running. Dodging cones in small course layed out in a flat, smooth parking lot is far too "2-dimensional" for me. Give me a road course with off-camber turns, changing elevations that lift and compress the car's suspension at a moments notice, straight-aways that allow you to learn how to deal with a wide variety of engine and road speeds. Now THAT's racing man. Hell most of the time (if not ALL the time) the whole race is spent in just ONE GEAR! What the hell does THAT prove? Autocrossing is fun but I would never classify it as REAL racing.

[JJhomer83]

Day at the races was great all around. Meeting dave, kevin, jerry,(thanks for breakfast) bill, dave D, jess was great. I had a blast. Kevin summed it up really well but my 2 cents are I am now hooked on it. Yes ill admit that i lost a girl in a spec V but .1 sec but i had fun. Jess was great on the track even though kevin said only 1 race but i think she misunderstood. My girlfriend miki (that is how you spell it) got hooked too. She wants me to find another time we can go down and she can get a few paces. Gotta love a girl who's into cars/racing.

Seeing bill and kevins fleetwoods roaring down the track was great. Watching them drop jaws from the impala owners. The funny thing was the pa guy talking about there cars as being a impalliac. Bill had some good runs early in the am but when it came down to his race he went lower than his target time. It was a great run and fastest of the day but it didn't count. I was hoping to see bill and kevin go at it. THat is the matchup to watch next time.

Seeing dave's 68 was great. It is amazing the shape its in and that it still has the original paint on the car. Gotta love those drum breaks all the way around though. That's a true classic.
It was a good local meet for me and i hope everyone had as much fun as i did.

[DaveSmed]

I agree, everything just worked out well yesterday. The weather was perfect, the track prep....acceptable once there was some decent rubber, and it was just an all around fun time. Kevin not only infected Josh with the racing bug, but with the modding bug as well. (Why don't you try removing your air filter?) We had lots of people checking out our cars throughout the day, even before we left IHOP's parking lot. We even had fun on the highway getting there. (Found out the secondarys were stuck closed, keeping me from getting above 80. damn.) Once we got to Englishtown we lined up next to Bill making a nice row of Caddies and.... a Spec V. A little out of place but a nice car just the same. To make Josh feel better to losing it though, I'll mention the Grand National that he beat. (I won't mention the GN's broken axle off the line though. ) Jess did amazingly well for being new to racing and new to a stick shift. Well enough to come just .1 higher than her brothers run. Josh (once he got the go-when-green part down ) was just .1 higher than her. Seeing everyone and putting names to faces was great, along with being able to check out each others car. I can't wait till the next meet

[toomanytoyz]

Hey Guys,

Sorry I'm so late in responding, but I just got home a little while ago. I finished out the weekend at my buddy's place down in NJ before leaving for NH early this afternoon. I even got to go see the Devil's play, and get beaten by my Bruins. Heh heh.

I had a great time at the track! It really was great to meet you guys. I only wish I'd had more time to hang out and talk with you guys. There just never seems to be enough time during the racing events to just hang out and talk. I'm glad there are a few more around that have been bitten by the bug though!

I had some good runs. I was running 14.3's and 14.4's at 97 & 98 mph. Pretty decent. Still not getting off the line very well though. And yeah, I did end up getting eliminated in the second round of eliminations. I ran a 14.39 on a 14.40 dial!!! Dammit! And I even let off too... Oh well.

Here's an in car video of one of my 14.3 runs. It's huge, so dial ups beware!

I also have a couple pics of Josh and Jess. Here's one, and I'll email you guys the others.

Hope to see you guys again next year!

[toomanytoyz]

Oops... Can't send you guys emails. They are blocked through your profiles. Send me an email at toomanytoyz@uniquekind.net, and I'll send them to you.

[Blackout]

Yeah it was a fun day. I was hoping that I could have least gotten into the mid to low 15's but with those crappy $60/tire I threw on there I found out why they were $60 because you don't get any traction whatsoever!!!! but it was all in good fun. Hopefully we can do it again and this time I will have my license and my own car by then so I can play around with it

[toomanytoyz]

Josh, I tried emailing you the pics twice, and they bounced back both times. I still haven't heard from Kevin either, so I don't know his email...

What I'll do tonight is host the .zip file up on line and post the link so you guys can download it. There are 5 or 6 pics, and they're 3.2 megapixel, so it's a good sized file.

[JJhomer83]

Originally Posted by toomanytoyz

Josh, I tried emailing you the pics twice, and they bounced back both times. I still haven't heard from Kevin either, so I don't know his email...

What I'll do tonight is host the .zip file up on line and post the link so you guys can download it. There are 5 or 6 pics, and they're 3.2 megapixel, so it's a good sized file.

My email is yahoo based. They have a max on size limit. I guess ill have to wait for you to post them up unless you want my work email.

[Katshot]

I know it took me a while but I thought you guys would get a kick out of this picture. This is Jess after her first run (the one she SMOKED Josh in).

[JJhomer83]

Originally Posted by Katshot

I know it took me a while but I thought you guys would get a kick out of this picture. This is Jess after her first run (the one she SMOKED Josh in).

I had a great time though even if i got beaten by a girl. Now i just have to prepare for next time. If jess is willing to let me have a rematch.

[Blackout]

Originally Posted by JJhomer83

I had a great time though even if i got beaten by a girl. Now i just have to prepare for next time. If jess is willing to let me have a rematch.

Once you beat Jess, then you can come and see me then

[JJhomer83]

Originally Posted by BlackoutSpecV

Once you beat Jess, then you can come and see me then

I would love to take you on but the problem i don't think my car is that fast yet. I need to do a lot of work to get to a low 15. Unless you'll let me use another car.

[Blackout]

Depends on the car