Went bracket racing last night...

[Project1970]

First Run, Time Trial
Left Lane: Pace-Arrow Motorhome
Right Lane: 1970 GMC
That is not a typo or a joke. We ran after they were sure the RV wasn't going to take out the cable holding the Christmas Tree up. I got a glimpse of the board as I passed through the traps (nearly 10 seconds ahead of the motorhome; he got me by two tenths at the light but I had him by 1.2 seconds at the sixty foot mark!) and I thought I saw a "xx.15" ET...low sixteen, I figure. I get the slip and look at it...I just cut a 15.759 at 86.26, to the Pace-Arrow's 24.465 at 56.94. Holy crap. That's two tenths down and two MPH up from my previous known best at Firebird.

Second Run; Round 1
Left Lane: C5 Corvette, 13.10 dial
Right Lane: 1970 GMC, 15.70
I shouldn't have been bragging about not having to ice my intake like the dry-intake fuel-injected guys. I let it idle too long in the lanes right before I ran...half-track it stumbled hard trying to find enough fuel thanks to some mild vapor-lock. I shouldn't have won, seeing as I ran a 16.17 to my 15.70...but the C5 ran a 13.64 to a 13.10, on top of my .182 light to his .286! (Best light of .000 in this case.) Won it by nearly two tenths.

Third Run, Round 2
Left Lane: 1970 GMC, 15.70
Right Lane: Dodge Ram 2500 crew cab with the new Hemi, 16.00
I knew I had this one the second I launched; I caught him even more asleep than myself, with a .286 light to his .555. There goes his three tenth head start right there. I was on the brakes at the end to make sure I didn't break out (probably wouldn't have) and I took it by a quarter second.

Fourth Run, Round 3 / Semifinals
Left Lane: 1970 GMC, 15.70
Right Lane: 1994 Camaro Z28, 14.50
This is where it really gets interesting. Why?

My dad is in the Camaro.

He's been cutting sub-0.100 lights all night. He could run as fast as he wanted...all he had to do was beat me off the line. I went first, of course...cut a nice .186 light...he blew by me at the top end of the track. I figured he'd won, but found it odd that he didn't pace me like he did the last guy he raced against (they both trapped at 77mph). I didn't look at the slip until I got halfway back to the staging lanes...

He red-lighted.

He blew by me because he knew it was over, so he decided to end in style; he ran a 14.156 at 97.96. Not bad for a car with a crappy ignition. I ran a 15.756 at 86.60.

Fifth Run, Finals
Left Lane: 1970 GMC, 15.70
Right Lane: 2002 Corvette, 13.80
So here I am, in the finals...with my dad's new boss, Madeline, and her 'Vette. This one would be interesting...
I cut my best light of the night (and my life!) with a 0.058; she promptly did me one better with a 0.040. She passed me right before the traps as I finished the night with a 15.762 at 86.48...

...to her 13.778.

So here I am...youngest winner of the QMC Trophy Dash (they've been running since '85, when I was 2), only winner of the Dash to not be an employee, and the only time the trophy has gone to the same home for two years nonconsecutively - my dad took it home in '96, when the Bronco he was racing against red-lighted. And a whole new set of best times, all the way down the track...

Best times (from all runs combined):
R/T: 0.058
60': 2.283
330': 6.566
1/8: 10.083
MPH: 70.11
1000': 13.114
1/4: 15.756
MPH: 86.60

Worst part? The best 330, eigth, and 1000' times were from the run I got on the brakes.

For comparison...a slip I still have on the bulletin board from Jan 28, 2000:
R/T: 1.344 (on a .400 but it still sucks)
60': 2.633
330: 7.416
1/8: 11.354
MPH: 62.83
1000: 14.783
1/4: 17.737
MPH: 76.12

I've cut 2 seconds and gained 10mph over the past three-odd years thanks to a new transmission, new heads, new intake, new ignition, new tires, a steady diet (down to 4110 lbs!) and a bit of exhaust reworking. I figure some headers on that very exhaust restricted engine should really let 'er loose...