<font color='#000000'>You guys might have seen my Kill/Hang-with story from last Wednesday on the 2002 Mustang GT convertible with the NOVI blower. I stayed with him on a 3rd gear roll up to about 125 MPH.

ANYWAY &nbsp;

Tonite at Darlington we did it for real!! No excuses ... throw down, heads up style racing.

I knew before I ran him the kind of time that he was running tonite. His car is an A/T, and he has a full exhaust and cross pipe, along with the blower and 275 width rear 17s. In other words..I'm expecting to get crushed off the line. I mean, damn, 2 of my rear 15s would practically fit side by side on his rear tires &nbsp;

So, we head to the burnout box....big smoke from his side of the track. I ease into the box and set the rears smoking in first and pop the Blitz off a few times. Then I shift to second in the box and hold it steady at 4000 rpm to get both tires warmed up even though I have an open rear diff. Easing off the brake while still burning the tires I inch forward out of the burn area. A few quick practice launches to make sure that she's hooking and then we both pre-stage. He stages up and I set my rpms at 3200 and inch forward to light the second bulb. This is it. No turning back now...I look to my left and catch him grinning...Hmm..this is gonna be fun. &nbsp;

The yellows drop and at .724 I slip the clutch and bog for a second as the boost snaps up and kicks me off the line. I'm worried about the bog, thinking that the Stang would be up and away, but he stayed longer at the light than I did, leaving at a .900. So I'm out front by a nose at the 60'...he is pulling hard and draws even by the 1/8 mile marker. I nail third and pull a fender again just after the middle of the track. Here he comes again...damn this race seems like it is taking forever. At about the 1000' marker I nail 4th and we are side by side. Man, this is going to be close... PLEASE!!!!!... I kept the hammer down and kept shooting glances over his way...the look on his face is of sheer terror..this little 4 cylinder is about to beat him! I look up to the timing towers and check for the win light as we cross the line...I lit the big W!!! Woo Hoo!!! By mere inches, I took down the biggest contest that I have had yet with SaRa.

The tale of the tape is that I left at a .724 light and he left at a .900 light..that is where the race was won. At the other end, he ran a 13.36@106.95 and I ran a 13.46@106.43.

Just remember, any race..no matter what you are up against, can be won or lost on the starting line.

The crowd in the stands went absolutely berzerk when I lit the Win light on my side of the track.

Just wait til I &quot;really&quot; tune her, on the dyno. &nbsp;

Jeff</font>

<font color='#000000'>Nice. &nbsp;His stang is slow for what he has invested. &nbsp;Prolly needs tuning too..</font>

<font color='#000000'>actually, &nbsp;he needs some DRS and some driving lessons.

It was the kid's first time at a track. &nbsp;When the boost would really kick him at about the 330' mark it would kick the ass out spinning to the 1/8 mile. &nbsp;He would usually let off to bring it back in b/c it scared him.

It is an EASY 12 second car... his best for the night was that 13.36.

Him and his brother with a 300zx TT that went with us last night will probably be going to the dyno with me too.

I drove the Z last night too...Stillen exhaust, intake, dps, JWT ecu, 18&quot; RH M5s 3pc, Stillen front fascia....beautiful car!

Needs an SAFC...JWT #### is SO rich. &nbsp;I ran a brand new BMW M3 vert in it last night. &nbsp;I bogged on the line...DOH...no boost response like in my car!! &nbsp;I pulled a 2.6 60' by the time I got it moving, &nbsp;and I ran the BMW down. &nbsp;It was running 13.90s all night. &nbsp;I pulled a 13.76@107.94 in that run and pulled a length out on him. &nbsp;Talk about a come from behind victory!!

I didnt get to race the BMW..I was going to and had to leave and get some gas, &nbsp;by the time I got back, he was gone. &nbsp;He had to drive back to Charlotte.

Jeff</font>

<font color='#000000'>oh, the owner of the Z only ran 14.30s in it.... <img src="http://www.spartanburgracing.com/iB_html/non-cgi/emoticons/biggrin.gif" border="0" valign="absmiddle" alt=':D'> &nbsp;<img src="http://www.spartanburgracing.com/iB_html/non-cgi/emoticons/rock.gif" border="0" valign="absmiddle" alt='???'>

Jeff</font>

<font color='#000F22'>How about posting a thread on drag tips. &nbsp;Everyone could use a little help. &nbsp;You sound like you know what youre doing.</font>

<font color='#000000'><table border="0" align="center" width="95%" cellpadding="0" cellspacing="0"><tr><td>Quote </td></tr><tr><td id="QUOTE">How about posting a thread on drag tips. *Everyone could use a little help. *You sound like you know what youre doing.</td></tr></table>

<img src="http://www.spartanburgracing.com/iB_html/non-cgi/emoticons/tounge.gif" border="0" valign="absmiddle" alt=':p'> Hmm...so it's come to this huh? *The old guy teaches the younger crowd all the hard-earned secrets... <img src="http://www.spartanburgracing.com/iB_html/non-cgi/emoticons/biggrin.gif" border="0" valign="absmiddle" alt=':D'> * Just kidding.

I'll see what I can come up with to try and help out anyone that will listen to me.

I guess I do have SOME experience...hell on my one CRX I put over 400 runs on just one set of MT slicks!!... they were so worn by the time I gave them up that they just started going flat thru the tread surface while sitting in the staging lanes.... <img src="http://www.spartanburgracing.com/iB_html/non-cgi/emoticons/biggrin.gif" border="0" valign="absmiddle" alt=':D'>

I just have this great job that people ask me to drive their fast cars for a living and make them even faster and more reliable...I get plenty of practice in everything from MR2 Turbos (12.26@115.99), &nbsp;Nissan 300zx TTs (13.26@110)
Mitsubishi 3000gt VR4 (11.60@122)...just some of my personal bests in customers cars over the years.

I am already getting close to 100 runs on SaRa....I average about 12 every time that I go to Darlington..been there with her about 5 weeks now and the first time out at Rockingham I had 6 or 7.....whew....where has the time gone?

I guess that is the best advice that I can give for the moment *(I'm tired right now). *Get to know your car. *Going to the track to run doesnt have to mean beating up on your car. *You can race and not break things..at least not all the time. *I'm still working on perfecting that one... <img src="http://www.spartanburgracing.com/iB_html/non-cgi/emoticons/cool.gif" border="0" valign="absmiddle" alt=':cool:'>

more to come..

Stay Tuned

Jeff</font>

<font color='#000F22'>Did the guy with the stang used to have a 98 laser red S/Ced roush? &nbsp;I raced a guy in asheville then we pulled over and talked he said his brother had a TT just like that. i dont remember where he was from.</font>