At the Track
As we drove through the gates, fog covered the track. It had just stopped raining and the sky was still dark and foreboding. Whether was the question--whether or not we would get this shootout off that is, due to the weather. The temperature was a cool 60*, the barometer was 30.21hg. and rising, which was hopeful and the humidity was a moist 74 percent.
Once the photo session was completed and the few puddles on the track dried, the mayhem ensued. A select group of Mopar products also joined us this day as the editor made an attempt to complete two shootouts for two magazines at once. Jim Taylor, a shootout regular, ran the tree and contributor Dan Foley helped organize the groups. Let's see what the participants had to say.
Shawn Witkowski
Shawn's 389-powered '65 LeMans ran impressively despite traction limitations. "The 13.49 is the fastest ever for the LeMans," he related. "The lack of traction was my biggest problem as can be seen in the soft 60 foots. Otherwise, the car goes straight. I brake torqued as high as I could to 1600 or 1700 rpm and came off line easier than usual to try to maximize what traction I had with my street tires and then I manually shifted at 5800 rpm. The shootout was excellent . It was very satisfying to make my fastest pass ever on that day. I learned about dialing the Pontiac in for the conditions of the day and I enjoyed talking to the participants who probably got me to those low ETs."
Andre Thomas
This 1968 Firebird posted some impressive times for very little cash. "It has been a great car," Andre reported. "There is very little money invested in the engine and with nitrous it should run in the 10s. Coincidentally, each time that this Bird has gone to the track it has been in the 17th of the month and each time it has gone faster. At the shootout my brother and I learned to stage a bit higher and leave harder because the Firebird would still hook and run straight. Shifting at 5800 rpm it goes through the traps at 5200 because the tires are a bit tall. We may install 4.30s but first I want to see how it runs on the nitrous. It was a great day for all of us. It was fun watching the Mopar guys too. I just wish we hadn't run out of gas!"
David Sciarretta
David's 1970 GTO began to hook with the best of them after a slippery first pass. "Tire slip hurt the 60-foot on the first run but conditions improved after that," David told us. "The GTO goes very straight now that I put both stabilizer bars back on. Before, the car always twisted. Now it leaves less violently, which hurts the 60-foot slightly but it doesn't twist or need steering corrections like it did. Shifts come automatically at 5400 thanks to a B&M governor kit that allows adjustment of full-throttle up shifts." Commenting on the day as a whole David said, "It was like rolling 3 or 4 weeks of test and tunes into one day. It was great. I thought that the Mopars were cool too. I own Mopar as well. It was nice to have people there who could watch the car run and tell you what it was doing. Its difficult to do this on a test and tune night."
Louis DeBiase
Louis' 1978 GP performed a quarter-mile long burnout on its street tires just for fun on the first run. After that it was all business with a string of mid-11 second passes. "I made no adjustment to motor," he explained. "Mostly I adjusted the tire pressure in the slicks. We started with 12 pounds and worked down to 8 which was optimal. We tried slightly lower pressure and the rim came down on the ground and blew out the slick at the end of the day. The track conditions were very good; the car stuck well and went straight. We were also able to dial in the shift points better with all of the runs that we got. All in all it was a very good day and the Mopar guys were good too."
John Minarchenko Jr.
John ran hard with his 87 T/A. His catch phrase of the day was "launch technique" which he practiced religiously. "As the day wore on the launches improved," John recalled. "I didn't run slicks because I like the car to race as it comes off the street. The T/A goes straight as an arrow. There are no corrections like you would have to make with skinnies on the front. I was very surprised that the Koni road race shocks allowed the kind of squat that they did. The ratchet shifter is a big bonus as the stock shifter was no good in the heat of battle when a Mustang is crawling up your back--the B& M is much more precise. Although BFG suggests that you put a haze on tire to heat it but no serous burnouts, I found the opposite was true for best launch. The car leaves best off idle. The more heat we put in the tires the better the 60-foots got. Then we adjusted shift points and Julio from Cartek adjusted the fuel curve. The track was sticky despite the weather and we had a great time at the shootout. Thankfully the car ran well in front of the cameras and that is all that I could hope for."
John Pawlowski
John drove his 2000 GTX and said "The first run was the worst ever. I couldn't do a good burnout and on launch it just spun!". For later runs there seemed to be some sand on track possibly from the return road, so I came back after each run through the pit area where I kept turning the wheels, NASCAR-style, to get some heat in the tires. Torque steer off the line needs correction as it pulls to the right hard on launch. I was flooring it out of the hole early on and just spinning the tires. Later I was walking it out then matting it. The best run of the day--a 14.1 ET--came after seriously heating tires and walking out as described. The GTX has run 14.00 on street tires. SLP says that 13.70 are possible with mods that it has. The shootout was one of the best experiences I ever had. It was pretty neat, everybody was real nice about explaining things. I had a real good time and learned a lot.
As you can see, all of our participants enjoyed themselves and some even had fun mixing it up in side by side races with the Mopars at the end of the day. I guess it really doesn't matter what the valve covers say.