Continuation of Thread: Drag race - Kirkham 65 side-oiler vs Ferrari 458 Italia

[Jamo]

Damn that's funny. Mucho muy goodo.

[Hotfingrs]

Nice story Dan.....

[TerrysSPF]

Agree with the above replies CobraDan..................that was good stuff.

Hey Blitz, I would view Tommy's cancellation as a forfeit and take the money and run!

Mighty nice of you to change the date. However, I would negotiate and say a date change will cost him the ability for you to change your tires to something that isn't going to spin all the way down the track.
Honestly, it probably won't be much of a race without your ability to go to AVONS or drag radials.

As for everyone wanting to hear about Blitz's car from KC, what is there to know that we don't already? It's a Shelby alum block 510-511 with KC heads. Knowing if they are Stage II or Stage III heads would be nice, but either way, my guess is the engine has got to be putting out upper 600hp to lower-mid 700hp figures.
Hey Keith, what tires were you running when you were in Ohio? Looked like BB's to me, but which ones?

I can tell everyone this....................My friend Dave had an SPF (which is heavier) with a KC built Shelby alum 527 (similar to KC's engine in his personal car, and probably not too far off from Blitz's engine) and he ran low 10's on 15" Yokohama street tires (back when they were available). I think they were AVIDS. He would also get kicked off the track at Route66 in Chicago for not having a full cage. They get pretty upset when you make passes at 140mph in a car with no top.
This might be Blitz's problem if he gets a low ET or a high trap speed.

[tin-man]

[quote=TerrysSPF;1111436]
Hey Blitz, I would view Tommy's cancellation as a forfeit and take the money and run!

Mighty nice of you to change the date. However, I would negotiate and say a date change will cost him the ability for you to change your tires to something that isn't going to spin all the way down the track.
Honestly, it probably won't be much of a race without your ability to go to AVONS or drag radials.

Do we have a confirmed revised date yet? John AKA, tin-man

[CobraDan]

RET_COP
Bagels it is

JAMO
It’s hard to beat a CENSORED butt

HOT FINGERS
Well, I never got your storey in Crusin’ Style Magazine.

DIMIS
Just look for 1/18 scale Cobra Roadsters (CHROMED) I have over 100 models all are cobras.

[twin turbo]

Blitz said that a shop just dyno tested his car and it made 550 at the rear wheels. This is enough to put him in the 10's with decent traction (1.8 60 ft or better) and very good driving. If they prep the strip properly Blitz may get the traction he needs. Every 1/10 he can knock off his 60 ft will lower his ET at least double that. Will his half shafts and clutch hold up? Cheers.
Thomas

[Excaliber]

Thomas, I think the half shafts, rear end, etc. will be up to the task, even with drag race slicks (which he apparently does not have). Reports of half shaft breakage are actually pretty rare, all things considered. There are surprisingly robust.

Clutch could be a question mark, I don't know what he's running.

[Mdman352]

Originally Posted by Excaliber

Thomas, I think the half shafts, rear end, etc. will be up to the task, even with drag race slicks (which he apparently does not have). Reports of half shaft breakage are actually pretty rare, all things considered. There are surprisingly robust.

Clutch could be a question mark, I don't know what he's running.

My half shafts were bent like a pretzel. Both universals were dust....

[Excaliber]

We could post pictures, tell stories and cite examples of broken half shafts, and burned Ferraris, all day. It don't mean nothing. It is not likely either event will happen in the upcoming race. Plenty of Cobra's with IRS see both track and drag race duty without incident and plenty of Ferrari's manage to get around without bursting into flame.

[tommygold]

MdMan - sorry to see that. Beautiful car. All the DC-area Cobra guys were a lot of fun, true gentlemen, with gorgeous cars. -Tom

[tommygold]

All,

Dan ran a few times yesterday. His best two were 11.96 and (I think) 12.05. There were some other times in there that were, um, not as good. On the other hand, he only needs to win 1.

He reports a 60' time of 2.01 and a trap speed of under 120. So to my surprise, thus far we're basically starting out together (my 60' of around 1.91) and the Ferrari is pulling away some (my trap speed of 132+). I'm really hoping to bring my 60' time down.

Reports from the front are that his tires make it incredibly scary and dangerous. He's headed back to the drag strip today to give it another run.

I offered to let him stand on 11.96, and just apply his best time against me, but he declined. He's going for the brass ring, folks.

Note as well that the comparison of my time in Maryland to his in Vegas is misleading, and biased some towards me. He's on a much better prepped track, and with warmth tires grip better; those factors will help my time. But on the other hand, the effect of that elevation, and the fact that I ran on such a cold clear day, means that my times were probably artificially reduced. My best bet is that the times I ran in Maryland would be around .25 seconds slower in LV. Specifically, I think I'm going to lose 40-ish HP, and I'm going to not be as able to pull away.

If you begin with my worst time (other than one screw up of 12.25) of 11.55, add the .25 seconds for the different tracks, and add the .2 seconds I spotted Blitz, then I'm at 12.0 and he's at 11.96! That of course is my worst time compared to his best time, but those two opposites could line up. So a lot of who wins this thing depends on how much we each improve at this point.

I've mentioned several things that I believe will get me .3 to .4 in improvement. No doubt, Dan can do better as get gets more comfortable. We'll see!

In terms of the date we run the race, we're still working to find a date in March that works.

-Tom

[dcdoug]

Tom - you should come out in the spring and join us at Cars and Coffee in Great Falls (lots of classics and exotics, including lots of Ferraris) and then our Cobra breakfast afterward.

Hopefully we can figure out another track day too so more of us can join. A CACC track day has been on our list of events to do.

[tommygold]

DCd - I look forward to it. Best, Tom

[TerrysSPF]

Yep, not gonna be a race unless Dan is allowed to change tires. Those 15" BB's are outdated and worthless compared to Tom's 20" 295-35 Michelin Pilot Sports, that Ferrari says are "specially tuned for the car".
Tom said Dan had grooved slicks on his Kirkham and that he was OK with that. Well, that's all drag radials are.........a grooved slick (cheater slick).
Allow Dan to run BFG Drag radials on the back Tom and at least make this a decent race! Dan's only other chance was for you to screw up the start and even THAT'S gone out the window since you guys aren't using a tree.

[tommygold]

T-SPF, With Dan's current (barely death defying) times, it's already a race, albeit so far one that depends on my have a bad time and him having his best. (I did incidentally have one 12.25, so anything is possible.) But even if you take my average time of 12.45, that's probably 12.9-12.0 with adjustments (before I start improving), and he's already at 11.9 without much track practice (though I don't think he can get on the track after today). A tire change isn't happening. Just to repeat, the point here isn't to have the fairest race between the cars -- if it were, I wouldn't have to win all three. (I don't actually have the Michelins by the way; I have Pirelli Corsas -- 295/35/20; and he doesn't have billboards, he has some Goodyear tire that looks like them but is some sort of track slick.) I think he's over at the strip now, and for all we know he's going to report back that he dropped it into the 10s. (I've been checking online sites for word of a crash at LVMS, and nothing to report there so far.)

[TerrysSPF]

You're right Tom. My bias for Cobra's is getting in my way of seeing the true nature of what we're talking about here. As you say, this isn't about the "fairest race"..........this is a BET. -You were just a better negotiator, that's all.

I guess that's why you're a lawyer and Dan's a poker player.
You negotiate what's in the best interest of your client (which is YOU on this case), and Dan makes high stake bets that can be a little crazy (odds aren't in his favor) and hopes for a bluff that will get him a win.
-Odds aren't in his favor here.

Cudos to you for negotiating the better terms counselor.

BTW- Those Pirelli Corsas are bad-ass tires too.

[tommygold]

Dan reports: blew his clutch. Track is closed until race day, which is now confirmed as March 9, 2011.

[Mdman352]

I know the feeling. This video is from the day when Tommy G rented the track in Maryland

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=0Szkodsfjws.....

[Excaliber]

I've gone through a few clutches myself, which is only one of several reasons I think the clutch is at more risk than drive train parts.

My current clutch is the strongest I've ever run to date. It does have some slight chatter on take off because it's designed to hook up, not slip. The chatter is insignificant, compared to replacing the clutch! If I blow THIS clutch, I'm going dual disc next time, the chatter don't matter.

...on a side note, the Bahrain F1 race has not been cancelled, instead, it will now be run with tanks! Check out THIS Ferrari weapon of choice.

[MAStuart]

458 on speed now!