2023 Kuhnle Motorsports Park Wednesday nights

[Basement Paul]

Last night was totally fun. Dave already told you about my round 1 loss. I'm chalking that up to new car rust. As I drive this car more and get used to the speed that it's running, I'll be better at knowing my boundaries at the finish line. I basically hit the brakes too late so a good win for Dave!

That being said, I'm really happy with the performance of this car. The air was around 2700' when we began the night and out of the gate it ran a 13.78 @ 100.96. And even better, I leave at the EXACT same spot on the tree at the S10, and it's perfect. Pass one was a .02.
Second pass was a little better at 13.72 with a 1.91 60'. It just leaves!
My third pass was a 13.73 at 101.41 and a .03 RT, so I was feeling pretty good going into eliminations. Now I know it's probably going to go maybe .03 faster once the sun goes down. Based on my 1000' time on my final pass with Dave, my breakout run would have been a .69. Live and learn, but I think this thing will be a real good bracket racer too. I would expect a 13.5x pretty easily with some good weather and maybe a 13.4 if I ice it properly.

Since I was expecting 14.2s, I'm definitely super happy so far. Now back to more repairs and upgrades.

-BP

[Basement Paul]

Dave, just before he beat me. If I knew he was really going to be gutting me, I wouldn't have taken such a nice sunset picture of him.

-BP

[Fred32v]

KMP Wednesday Night - with BP
My time slips for the night:
Reaction.....60 ft.......ET..........Speed..........Comments
0.1025.....2.2466....14.8960.......93.12......... Time run
-.1734.....2.1902....14.7596.......93.68..........Rnd 1 dial 14.80 Lost Red lite Foul

A lot of cars, much waiting around, everthing just seemed slow.

For the moment, there is still next week.

Yep, KMP was still fun.

[Basement Paul]

I redlit in the first round too. I was able to get three time runs in, but I was the first pass down the track in time runs. There were a lot of cars, but the track owner, Tony, was pulling lanes and literally had no idea what he was doing. It was pretty terrible. He got several earfuls from people, and although yelling wasn't justified, I understood the aggravation. Hopefully Roberta is just gone temporarily.

-BP

[Fred32v]

KMP Wednesday Night - with BP temperture around 73 - 78ish.
My time slips for the night:
Reaction.....60 ft.......ET..........Speed..........Comments
0.1200.....2.2083....14.8586.......93.27......... Time run
0.1142.....2.2766....15.0038.......93.10......... Time run
-0.0485....2.2087....14.7891.......93.27..........Rnd 1 dial 14.78 Lost Red lite Foul

OK, there is still next week.

KMP was still fun.

[Basement Paul]

The long and short of last night is I lost in the 3rd round to Mike in his black Charger again. He and I are usually back and forth but this year he's had my number. We were both stink on the light, his .08 to my .09 and he pedaled a 12.08 on a 12.05 to my 11.73 on an 11.70 dial. I had multiple ways to win that race, but at least I made him earn it with a green light and no breakout. Not my worst loss.

I was planning to take the Corvette, but after a trip to Most Mint's place, the "new" alternator wrecked those plans. The bearings sound like gravel is spinning inside the housing. Luckily we made it home...

-BP

[TireSmoker]

Wow, we've been out the past two Wednesdays and didn't write anything up.

9/13:

This was my first time out with the Chevelle in quite a while between all the rain and the work on the Porsche. And my first pass turned out to be my best ever, 12.16 @ 110.28 !!

Reaction.....60 ft.......ET..........Speed..........Comments
.1356 ... 1.65 .... 12.1688 ... 110.28

I backed it up with a 12.20, 12.21, and 12.18 in time runs. All 110mph passes, too.

However, in the first round, I lit the red pretty bad with a -.09. After I got back from the pass, I found out my dad had fallen and had to go to the hospital, so I was leaving anyway. (he's fine now)

9/20:

I was all set to try go out and win a trophy -- until my first pass. I really thought I had enough fuel in the tank, but I felt it lose some power for a second at 2/3 track. It still went 12.25, but @ 108. My RT was a solid .05.

My 2nd time run was against Paul in the DirtVette. I managed a .03 RT to Paul's .04, and my car went 12.31 @ 108, same struggle at 2/3 track. I could've easily made a 3rd time run, but didnt wanna push the fuel issue. I probably could've gone and gotten some fuel, but nothing is quite close enough, IMO.

First round was against my friend Dave Volsensek's '72 Camaro. I dialed 12.30 to his 12.50. He red-lighted, giving me a free pass. I went 12.33 on my 12.30.

Second round was against some guy in a V6 Challenger that clearly didnt know what he was doing, dialed at 14.68. His .46 RT sealed his fate. I just made sure to turn the light green. I cut a .11, caught him easy, and pedaled/braked to a 12.65 @ 87mph.

Third round, I was starting to worry about gas, so I dialed up to a 12.40. That proved to be too much as I ran against the 10-second "SEGABYE" BMW M5. We had basically identical .09 RTs, but even though I hit the brakes, I still broke out, 12.37 on 12.40.


All in all, good nights.

[Basement Paul]

The week before I had a cold but was sick of being sick so I went to the track and practiced some social distancing. I took the S10 cuz the Vette was still in dirt mode and I wasn't really up for all the swapping, and the S10 was turn key. I made it to the 3rd round where I went .003 red against Cutlass Mike on a run where if I came green with even a half decent light, I would have won. But those are the breaks.

I took the Vette out this past Wed and was really focusing on my R/T. And with success as my worst light of the night including practice was a .05 and I went .006 green in the first round of eliminations where the guy racing me broke out big time with a 10.57 on a 10.69 dial and he had slowed to only 95mph. His light was only a .11 so there was a lot of space there to play with and he was so far ahead that once he hit the stripe, I hit the brakes as to not lose on a double breakout. I was good with a 13.77 on a .68 dial. Round 2 was another 10 second car. We both went .03 green on the tree. When I got to the stripe I was a little ahead of him, but he was moving 26mph faster than me and I made the decision to stay in it and broke out by .002. I think I had enough room for a brake tap at the stripe and will work on that in the future as I plan to race this car more. He ran a 10.64 on a .60 so it was a .04 differential. Still reasonably tight.

I'll be out there again on Wed with bells on for the last Wed night of the year.

-BP

[Basement Paul]

Dave pulled this picture out of a video from earlier this year where I broke out by .003 against him. There's a lot happening here. I'm on the brakes, and he's still on the throttle. The thing I was looking at was the height of the finish line beams. My Corvette will trip these beams under braking sooner than it would under full power as the nose will be a lot higher under throttle than braking. I bet it's a solid 8" sooner under braking which makes calculations at the line a little more confusing. Would I have broke out by .003 if that lower splitter weren't there?? That's not a lot of time...

Either way, a cool shot, even if I did lose.

-BP

[TireSmoker]

I have to add one more pic.. this was from last week, just a time run, but i beat Paul on the tree. No small feat. But since his trophy collection dwarfs mine, i gotta collect my little victories where i can!

Looking forward to the season finale tomorrow night!

-Dave

[Basement Paul]

You son of a bitch!!

-BP

[TireSmoker]

Well, it was the last Wednesday of the season and we had great weather for racing. There was a ton of cars and friends out tonight. When they made the call for Stock class, it was 5 lanes!

I went out on a mission tonight to try and bring home a trophy. Ive been really solid on the tree lately, but last week's inconsistencies with the low-fuel made it tough to be confident that the car would run its number. This week, I made sure to have plenty of fuel.

Before I made my first pass, Paul mentioned something about being 3mph slower. I'm glad he did, otherwise I would've been scratching my head about my 107mph,

For the 2nd week in a row, I bested Paul on the tree during my 1st time run (his 2nd) -- .0170 vs. -.0145.

RTs would be my story of the night. During time runs, I went .01, .07 and .006 green. During eliminations, I went .05, .05, .05, .03

My time runs were 12.32, 12.30, and 12.33. I dialed 12.31 for all my races.

Round 1, was against a blue Challenger, one of the regulars. 12.31 vs his 12.77. I crushed him on the tree .05 light vs his .34, but I banged the rev limiter in 1st badly. After getting into 2nd, I ran it out for a 12.53. He was on the brakes, and still broke out, 12.57 on 12.77. Not sure what happened with him, but I'll take the W.

Round 2 was against the green Notchback Coyote swapped car. He dialed in at 12.00, so I'd leave first. I crushed him on the tree, .05 vs. 43, and I was on the brakes for a 12.43. He even broke out going 11.98.

Round 3 was against one of the Chargers, dialed at 12.08, so I'd leave first again. This was another crushing on the tree, .05 vs .26 and I was on the brakes again for a 12.43. He went 12.10.

Round 4, (6 cars left) was against a guy named Jim in a stock '10 Ford F-150 5.4. Tony red-lighted against him in round 1, but he seemed to be making good runs all evening. I knew I was crushing it on the tree, so I figured I had a pretty good shot. I did beat him on the tree, .03 vs .06 (could say I was twice as fast!) I stabbed the brakes right in the traps, and went 12.36 on my 12.31 dial. He ran right-on his 16.37 dial, for a final MOV of .0187. Maybe I shouldn't have stabbed the brakes. I thought he might break-out. Maybe I would've broke out. Either way, it was a solid run to end the season on and I just got beat.

[Blue_69_malibu]

Very fun evening at the Thunder and Mullet Capital.

It took a bit of work for me to make it out....but I'm glad that I did. Always cool to hang with Dave and Paul. That this may be the last time we're at the Track formerly know as TRP this year made this decision even better.

I was also down three MPH-ish: 109.90, 110.0, and 108.69 on my first run where I bumped the rev-limiter twice.....aka....each shift.

Great time for sure, though!!

[Basement Paul]

I've been working on my winning in the Vette pretty hard. My R/T in time runs weren't too great, but my last time run I found my spot with a .04. The car is pretty consistent after the first time run which is usually off by a few hundredths. In the first round I went .005 green to my opponents .07 but I did notice some wheel spin off the line, then again from 1-2 so I knew I could run it out. I went 13.79 on a 13.73 dial to his 12.54 on a 12.53 dial. Holeshot win for sure. He even came up to me after the race and said "I'm not trying to be a dick or anything, but wasn't I in front of you?" I heard him pedaling the gas, but wasn't sure why. He was in a mid 60s LeMans I think, but from where I was sitting, I was ahead, and the timing system agreed.
Round two I went .05 to his .02. This is where my struggle is, racing cars that are noticeably faster than me. I had this guy covered and touched the brakes at the stripe, but didn't knock off more than about .5 mph and I broke out by .002 AGAIN!! He ran a 11.41 on a .25 dial, so I had room. I need to get better at this since I've decided to race Animal and there's plenty of fast cars in that class. I really just need to stop dialing so tight and give myself .02-.03 worth of room so I can run it out.
Either way it was a nice night, there were all my homies out there racing, it's just like a big hang out party. Pretty fun.

-BP