Man, what a day! Seeing and hearing that glistening lil' Cobra streak down the track posting three consecutive 10 second runs alone made this trip worthwhile. Dan was as blown away by that performance as everyone else - I can honestly say that there was no snookering or gamesmanship on his part.
Yesterday, in three practice runs on the same track, he posted two 11.2's and one 11.6 or .8 (can't remember exactly right now). On the last run, he smoked the tires right through first with a very short shift into second, hit the 60' mark in 1.8 seconds and still stormed to an 11.27 ET at well over 130 mph. It wasnt his best run of the day, but it showed how brutally fast the Cobra gits to gittin down the track once it hooks up.
We discussed track prep with the strip manager afterwards and he cautioned that with a fresh prep, that track is known as a driveline wrecker so it may be best to leave it as is rather than risk busting something on race day.
With the latest word from Tommy that he was running (I think) 11.29's in the Vegas atmosphere on unprepped pavement and questions about him further lowering his times on the track surface, Blitz being the wildman that he is said screw it - put the fresh prep down for the race. It was looking way too close to play it safe and with a huge stake on the line (not my place to disclose the sum), he was going hell-bent, make it or break it.
Heading back into town after dropping the car off at Shelby for a polish job (Dan felt the car was running well and should be left as is), Dan was literally vibrating with adrenaline. It was obvious that the Cobra had the potential for even quicker times, the key would be a little less wheelspin in first and a slightly more aggressive 1-2 shift. And pulling it off under pressure against the flawless consistency of Tommy's 458.
Well, as we see, he pulled it off big time. Dan launched the Cobra hard with little to no wheelspin, hit second perfectly, and stormed straight as an arrow to an astounding 10.73 second run.
Contrary to almost everyone's expectations, it was soon clear that the Ferrari had no chance. In a heads up side by side race for bragging rights, the 458 jumped ahead off the line, but the Cobra bellowed in anger and blew past before mid track, running away to another 10 second ET.
Even with Tommy in the passenger seat for a ride, Dan easy-shifted the Cobra to another amazing 10 second run, which was probably the most telling of all as you could clearly hear the RPM's drop at each conservative shift.
I was blown away by the Cobra's poise and unfaltering performance, and also by Dan's driving. He may come across as an adrenaline-junkie wildman - which he is -(you know it Bro
) but he backs it up with sheer do or die determination and real world ability.
The Ferrari was also impressive and on another day against another car and driver, with its awesome looks, sounds and speed, it would have ruled supreme. Equally impressive was Tommy himself - the ultimate gentleman racer - battling to the end and amazingly cool after it was over. He spoke cheerfully about the whole thing at the track and later on, discussing his car and the Cobra with friends and strangers alike as if he had just pulled up a local cruise-in. This was clearly not about the money for either of these guys - it was a sporting duel between two hardcore players who couldn't be more dissimilar in nature if they tried, but who are also bonded by friendship and a common yen for high-stakes competition.
It's been a huge blast for me and I enjoyed meeting everyone - Dan, Tommy and their respective posse's. It was also great to talk to Mr007 and the Vegas Cobra guys - I look forward to seeing you all again on saturday and getting some good shots of your cars.
I'm typing this on a brand new laptop in my room and I shot with a brand new camera today so I will try to post pics tomorrow once I get the software loaded and sorted out. Right now its about time to relax a bit before I head out to celebrate Cobra vs. Ferrari part 2!
PS: Sorry for the long winded dissertation but I just couldn't help myself!
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