Well...last night was my second drag racing experience. It was less than pleasant. And these things only happen when an audience is around. I pulled to the light, and decided to try powerbraking...so..I got the lights staged...then tried to powerbreak, but didn't get quite enough break on and inched forward...OH GOD!! The upper set of lights turned off! I didn't know what to do. No one ever bothered telling me what to do if I went PAST staged. So I started to panic, and threw the truck in reverse, naturally thinking if I backed up just a touch, the top lights would come back on. WRONG-O! as I inching back, I see the lights drop, and go green!!! NO!!!!! So my natural instinct kicks in, and I floor it ***** to the wall. In the cloud of smoke that I created I heard a lot of screams from behind me, and then realized that, yep...the race was on, and I was travelling in reverse. I locked up the brakes, and threw it frantically into forward, praying to the good lord that this wasn't happening, and was all a bad dream. I could hear ROARING applause from the spectators in the stands. Thank goodness for dark tinted windows. So...I floor it, and after spinning for a good minute and a half, I finally cross the beams, and away I go. Got a very impressive 4.01 second reaction time and apparently the clock had been ticking since the time I backed out of the beams, cuz my ET was a whopping 17.5 seconds! WOOPS! I finally got to the end of the run, picked up my slip, and reluctantly pulled back around to the staging lanes, fully prepared for the laughter, and ridicule. It was MONDO embarrassing. The first guy to run up to my windows said, "WOW, you ran a 17.5, dragging a motorcycle behind yer truck! Now THAT is a fast truck!" LOL! I was humiliated! but everyone there had a good sense of humor. I should have told them all, I wanted to get a running start. I just forgot to tell the light man to put his foot down in the beam until I went through. Oh well...live and learn.

After hearing the screams and hollering when I was in reverse, I saw the sign at the end of the track that said, "In trouble? Go straight, dont turn." I was tempted. I'll just sink my head in shame and embarrassment, and hopefully never do anything that boneheaded again! *blush*
Needless to say...the lowly mustang GT that I was racing toasted me. I wanted to tell him its not cuz he's faster, its cuz I'm an idiot.

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AtomHeart
2000 Silver Lightnin'
1969 Ford Fairlane Cobra R code w/ 3.91 dragpack
atomhart@cyberhighway.net




[This message has been edited by AtomHeart (edited 05-04-2000).]

 

AtomHeart,
I feel for you on that one. That is just one of those embarrassing moments in life that are hard to swallow. It happens to the best of us at some point in our lives.

I'll tell you a good one about me. Years ago when I used to be into snowskiing, I was at Snowbowl. I came cruisin down the hill and wanted to show off my style as I came down to the lift lines. I was going real fast and was going to come to an abrupt stop in front of everyone in the ski lines. Well, didn't quite work that way. I misjudged and ended wiping out numerous people in the lift line. Not only did I have the audience of the people in the lift line, but also the people at the Lodge having lunch. In addition to the severe embarassment, the people I took down to the ground were not happy campers.

 

Atomheart-

You are one brave guy to share this story. (applause, applause, applause).

 

ROFLMAO

That is too funny and I'll remember never to get in line behind you. You better paint your truck if you ever want to go back, hehe!

 

Before you run again you better get an audible back up beeper, and put one of those signs on your tailgate that says DO NOT FOLLOW, TRUCK BACKS UNEXPECTEDLY. j/k

P.S. Aren't these auto trannies a bltch? After driving a manual for 8 years, I took my new L. over to a friend to show it off, and as I was leaving I decided to show him a little tire smoke. I backed it out of his driveway and punched it. Tire smoke, all right, in reverse. Was my face red when I hauled out of there.

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I'd rather have a bottle in front of me than a frontal lobotomy.

'84 Alan Record Carbonio, Aerospoke wheels, Campy brakes.
'00 SVT Lightning, silver, G-tech Pro, JBA headers

alphadoggy@jetlink.net




[This message has been edited by alphadoggy (edited 05-04-2000).]

 

Love it!

Nothing like a little Light humor (pun intended) to start the day.

Took a good sized set of gonads to head back to the staging lanes. I can only assume you showed them who was boss the next run.

Still giggling over the mental image of the people screaming as you smoked it in reverse. That sort of thing makes everybody's day.

The rally impressive part is how many people you probably beat with your 17.5 second pass.

 

AtomHeart,

Thanks for sharing that story, now I don't feel so bad. LOL! I had a similar experience my 2nd time at the track, I did a burnout in reverse on accident and afterwards people wouldn't stop making sarcastic remarks to me (like "wow you're pretty fast now you just gotta go the other way").

Mike

 

Funny story AtomHeart .

------------------
Red '00 Lightning,
Adopted 4/19/00,
PSP Filter,
Track time pending...

 

AtomHeart:

Doubt that anyone can top your story, but I can add another automotive oriented "OOOPS" that occured to me.

1961, I am a rookie Police Officer in San Diego. After 3 months of schooling and several months of "walking beats", they finally let me loose in a patrol car. About one month later, I am on a double cite and get a call "woman down-possible heart attack" and the address; a code 3 call, lights and siren.
Total panic, as I have two folks drivers licenses in my hand and two cars 10 feet apart, my cite book, flash light and so on.
Chinese fire drill to give back the licenses, stow my gear and get the rig rolling.

I'm fishtailing all over the place making lots of tire noise and siren noise (Police cars in 1961 were FAST!) and come to the address, one of the most popular Drive In's in East San Diego.

There were two open stalls and I slid in about half sideways and pushed what I thought was the kill button on the siren.
Note that in those days we did not have electronic sirens, they were controlled by a start button and a stop button and they were loud as hell. In any case, I was driving an unfamiliar car and hit the wrong button which started the siren at full chat as I am sitting sideways in the two restaraunt stalls.
I do my best Dirty Harry impression and saunter into the serving area asking where's the lady with the heart attack. Nobody knows anything. Finally get to the back parking lot and there is another patrol car there and he tells me the gal was just drunk and is already on her way to jail.
As I returned to my patrol car, the siren was just finishing winding down. I waved to the crowd and took off. Didn't write another cite that night in case I ran into one of the cars at the drive in.

Ugly, you bet.
Bill

 

I'm just glad its over. I learned all about "deep staging" from the experience, so it wasn't a total loss.

 

I dont have a L but I did do the same thing in my 99 150. I didnt have as many spectators as you though. I was doing a little back-roads racing. Before anyonde says anything I live in a little town in Texas and the closest track is 120 miles away. Anyway I did my burnout and backed up and didnt take it of reverse. oops

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black 99 ex-cab XLT
F-150 sport
4.6L
K&N filter and dual series 40 flowmasters

 

Could've been worse, buddy. I've seen guys do burnouts accidentally in reverse and blow up U-joints. You'd have been more than embarrassed if that happened.

I ran into the same type of thing (with timing lights) once about 2 years ago (this after 6 years of drag racing off-and-on...I'm not a frequent visitor of the strip, really). I had staged, but staged too shallow I guess. The front beam must've have _just_ barely been broken. My opponent is staged and the lights come down. I always make sure my car is completely stopped (forward or backward). But, for some reason as the lights came down, the bottom light went off and I got a red-light (DQ'd for "backing up"). I had the clutch in and was in first gear waiting to take off. ??? I'd never had that happen before.

It was just a time trial, so I was hoping the official would just restart the clock for me. No such luck. I first wanted to know how that happened...he wouldn't answer me and just told me to go. I was on drag radials, so I just side-stepped the cluch in my frustration...lit it up for 1/8 mile (I have this on video, if you don't believe me) and ran a 26.xx at 127mph (old engine combo).

The announcer was making fun of me and everything. Whoo-hoo! I ended up getting a good laugh out of it myself...after I realized what must've happened. Now I don't stage _quite_ so shallow.

------------------
Wes Tarbox
90 LX 5.0 (10.69 @ 134.7)--586rwhp/587rwtq
96 Cobra (12.63 @ 114.5)--390rwhp/441rwtq
99 Lightning (13.20 @ 103.3)--362rwhp/444rwtq
00 Expedition XLT 5.4
http://members.aol.com/Wa2fst/index.html

 

Aw w E say it ain't so. No worries, no harm no foul, you didn't run over anyone, you didn't crash the truck and that time still isn't all that bad. hehe If we stage together though please take no offense if I stage next to or in front of and not behind

CA

 

I bust into laughter everytime I think about those poor Bandimere employees diving for cover, and screaming, "OH MY GOD, HE'S COMING BACK!!!!!!" I sure dont THINK that I did any harm to my truck. It seems perfectly fine. I sure hope its ok. At any rate...next week, I get my 3.73's.

and yes, on my next run, I came in about 5 seconds ahead of an Acura Integra "R-type" (yea right). So that brightened my otherwise HORRIBLE night. Hehe.

And its true...that 17.5 second run actually would beat about 1/3 of the cars there that night. :P I sure wish I had been running against one of THOSE...wouldn't it have been cool if I had BEAT the other car, after that shinanigan! HAHA

 

I know how you feel. Two years ago I was street racing In Detroit, We did our burn outs in the VHT. Then we backed-up to the VHT, amd got all lined up. Our flagman made surh we where ready and droped his arms. Well I let go of the trans brake and took off in reverse. There had to have been 100 people watching. I still haven't lived it down!!