Mat Moran Motorsports


Event Report
Infineon Raceway
May 19, 2004
Car #12

First Time Trial Trophy

13.66 @ 99.3 mph. Timeslip here.
Seems a little slow... maybe I did something wrong changing the head gasket...

Second Time Trial

Ran 13.74 @ 98.6 mph. Timeslip here.
Even slower... Nice reaction time though.

First elimination round

I was dialed in at13.70. My opponent at 13.65.
I left him way behind at the start line and he never even got close to me. I was hard on the brakes as soon as I passed the 1000' mark to make sure that I didn't break out. Timeslip here. It turns out that I got an almost perfect reaction time. A little too quick for comfort. Also, his car wasn't as quick as he thought, so a fairly easy win.

Second elimination round

I changed my dial in to 13.66. Based on the 1000' numbers on my previous run that's about exactly what I thought I would have run if I hadn't hit the brakes. My opponent dialed in at 12.50 (Mustang Cobra I think.)
As I passed the 1000' mark he was nowhere near me so I eased up and hit the brakes hard a bit before the finish line. Timeslip here. It turns out that my car had inexplicably got a lot faster. Even though I was on the brakes I only avoided breaking out by a hundredth of a second. It probably would have run about 13.58 if I hadn't eased up. Also, my opponent got a significantly better reaction time than me. I only won because he had dialed in too conservatively. Still, a win is a win. I'll take them however I can get them. I'm not sure if I should be happy that the car is getting faster or worried that it has become inconsistent.

Third elimination round

Changed my dial in to 13.60. Opponent was 13.00. Time slip here.
On the brakes yet again. A fairly easy win this time. Opponent must have missed a gear or something. They also got a bad reaction time.

Fourth elimination round

Changed my dial in to 13.58. Opponent was 12.90. Time slip here.
A bit closer this time. I was able to ease up a bit at the end because I got a much better reaction time. Based on the 1000' time, the car is still getting faster.

Fifth elimination round

There were only seven cars left so someone had to get a bye and the track officials chose me :-)
That means I'm into the semi-finals.

Sixth elimination round

Dialed in at 13.50. Opponent at 16.59. Finally I get to race a slower car.
I passed him just after the 1000' mark and eased up after that. Time slip here. I got a close to perfect reaction time.

Seventh and final elimination round

I didn't have time to calculate what I would have run on the previous pass so, to be safe, I changed my dial in to 13.52. I was racing against Vince in his Mustang Cobra. He was dialed in at 12.70.
Around the 1000' mark he caught me and stayed inches in front of me for the rest of the track. The smart thing to do in this situation is to hit the brakes hard just before the finish line. Since there's no way to pass the other car you may as well make him cross the finish line a long way in front of you. Maybe he'll break out and you won't. Unfortunately, my brain froze and I couldn't think what to do so I just kept going. We both broke out (I ran 13.47 @ 101.2mph) but it turned out that I had a 0.008 reaction time against his 0.075. Another almost perfect light so he broke out by much more than me and I got the win light and got to take home the big trophy. Time slip here.

Final thoughts

I don't know what's happening with the car but I'll figure that out later. One of the bad things about drag racing (or any other elimination sport) is that of all the people that show up, only one goes home truly happy. Tonight that one person was me.