|
February
17th - 18th, 2001 — NOPI Drag Wars
Year
2000 was a historic year for team RX7.COM with records broken
race after race. For year 2001 the Import Drag Racing Association
(IDRC) adopted a significant rule change. All street class
cars must now run DOT approved radial tires (street radials).
Radial tires have a much less bite than drag built race tires.
With this major handicap, racing performance was unknown.
Launch techniques and power engagement would need to be completely
relearned. Challenging to say the least.
The Palmdale event was run on a two day schedule with Saturday
being qualifying and Sunday showtime. Weather has traditionally
been a concern with races this time of the year, but Mother
Nature gave us an early winter reprieve to allow us to bring
in the season right. For the the track was not prepared well.
Racing in Palmdale is always tough due to the elevation (over
4000ft) and the often wild swings in temperature. The track
surface is not the best around and makes it tough for the
tires to hook up. This, along with the fact that we must run
radial tires, makes for a tough day at the races.
Day 1
At the track, it was again a pleasure to see the rotary community
(which thrives in California) out in numbers and a Wankel
representative in 4 out of the 5 heads-up classes. Well, as
it turns out though many things have changed this season,
one thing remains the same. Ari and the RX7.COM car took an
easy place as top qualifier, running first at a 10.9, but
bringing it all the way down to a 10.6. With our closest competitor,
a 1978 Celica, almost a full second behind (11.5) the weather
wasn’t the only thing looking great Saturday! Also in street
class was a mean turbo 12A, 1985 RX-7, driven by an amiable
local street-racer, Robert Lives, and qualifying at 11.6.
In the all-motor class, two first gens prepared to give the
front wheel drives a run for the money. Honda had more than
a few chances to check out the clean design of the back end
of these cars!
Ray Lochhead showed up to demonstrate RX-7 power in the Outlaw
class, and Abel Ibarra’s amazing R100 and full tube-chassis
3rd gen. owned Pro class.
Qualifying was turning out to be quite a display of rotary
performance! The weather was perfect and the stands were unusually
packed for a day of qualifying. Thousands of fans were there
to watch over 250 racers, including names like Lisa Kubo,
Craig Paisley, Stephan Pappadakis, Venom, Abel Ibarra, and
of course our own Ari Yallon. If Sunday was anything like
Saturday, then the race was going to be only too simple.
Day 2
Sunday morning we woke to the less-than-pleasant sound of
rain. We turned on the weather channel, in hopes that it would
bring us some news to ease our distress. Scattered showers
were predicted to last throughout the day, but we didn’t travel
all that way just to give up. We pulled into the track just
in time to see Lisa Kubo and Venom both loading up their trailers.
Things were not looking quite so good. At the driver’s meeting,
the decision was made that we would wait until 2pm to the
weather to clear up. It paid off! Except for a really light
sprinkling every once in a while, the weather cleared up and
the races were on! First round eliminations pitted us against
an M3 BMW that, we were told, ran 13’s. Knowing this, we decided
to take it extremely easy so as to preserve the car for harder
match-ups. On a soft launch, no-nitrous run, Ari pulled an
easy 11.7 @ 116. The Bimmer finished with a 17.4@ 77.
Though the car seemed to be running fairly well, to reduce
tire spin the rear struts were slightly adjusted before the
second round. The turbocharged 12A was to be our next competitor,
and running consistent 11’s was more of a threat, but nothing
to be overly concerned about. The plan was set to go ahead
and push it on the launch, but as thousands of anxious fans
looked on, something went very awry. The RX7.COM car bogged
severely after the launch, allowing the 1st generation RX-7
to gain a very sizable lead. Amazed and confused we stared
open-mouthed as the car stabilized and took off in hot pursuit
of it’s adversary. The effort was tremendous, the result unbelievable.
It wasn’t enough. Ari finished with an 11.8 @ 138 vs. the
first gens 11.3 @ 124. What the heck????
After the race we were able to confer with Ari and find out
what had happened. Radials!!! Apparently the wheel hop was
so severe that it caused the transmission to POP out of gear
and thus allowing the turbo to completely unspool. There was
a loud noise and then nothing. At first Ari thought that we
had broken an axle, but he quickly realized what the problem
was and forced the shifter back into gear. Unfortunately,
though a noble effort was made, it was just too late. Still
it was pretty amazing to watch the RX7.COM car go from just
sitting there to flying past the finish line at 138mph! Imagine
losing an entire second or so and then coming back to run
an 11.8, especially after just having run an 11.7 without
nitrous! Well, those are the breaks. We were still enthused
about seeing a rotary go on to win the class (against an Eclipse
that beat the Celica in another upset victory.)
Flaco Racing’s R100 also took home 1st place in the Pro Class.
Unfortunately owner/racer Able Ibarra continued in the bad
luck that many racers experienced in the "loose"
right lane. During the 1st round of eliminations his tube-chassis
RX-7 lost traction and the rear end got a little out from
underneath him. Finally the tires regained grip, but they
hooked back up so suddenly and forcefully that it snapped
the driveshaft and threw it into a back tire. The car lost
complete control by this point and speeded across the center
line into the left wall. Abel was care-flighted to UCLA Med.
Center, and is currently recovering. Our sympathy and wishes
for a speedy recovery, Abel.
It wasn’t the best day for racers, but RX-7s sure did well.
Let’s hear it for the Rotary!
Overall the Palmdale event was a fantastic display of rotary
performance. Team RX7.COM set quick qualifier for the street
class, Team Flaco brought home #1 in Pro class and others
placed in Outlaw and bracket classes. It was a wonderful showing,
even with the obvious hardships.
Special thanks goes to our sponsors: GReddy Performance, Jacob’s
Electronics, and Haltech fuel injection .
 <--
back to more 2001 season coverage
|
