***SO WE TOOK RIPPER02\'s MONSTER GTS TO THE TRACK (IN CAR VIDEO)***
I POSTED THIS OVER AT THE ALLEY. I KNOW THERE ARE A LOT OF FOLKS THAT MIGHT LIKE TO SEE THIS THAT DO NOT GO OVER THERE. HERE YA GO.
If you are just interested in the numbers, skip my little story and check out the slips and video at the bottom of my post.
We took Jerry Kennedy’s(Ripper02) GTS to the track for the first time this past Wednesday. It turned into a pretty awesome day. After watching Chad rip off 8 second passes left and right, I often wondered what that would feel like. I decided to write up a little article on what I experienced. Maybe, this will help some folks get a better idea what it feels like to pilot a car that is this fast.
The Beginning:
It all started at the Heffner Nationals in December. I met Jerry at the track. He told me that he was building a car with specs similar to what I have in mind for Red. We kept in touch over the next couple of months. As Jerry’s car got closer to completion, we discussed taking the car to the track. Jerry asked me if I would feel comfortable driving the car at the track to see what we could get out of her. I accepted. Jerry is an experienced drag racer with a very stout auto mustang, but he has limited experience with a 6spd at the track. We wanted to get a number out of the car at first and when he gets it home, he is going to take the time to get familiar with the car.
The Car:
I arrived at Jason’s shop on Wednesday morning. The first thing I noticed about Jerry’s car is there is nothing to notice. Besides the massive intercooler across the front and really nice looking Forgeline wheels, the car looks absolutely stock. The only thing out of the ordinary about the interior is the 5 point harnesses that are usually tucked away for street use. Jason started the car and it sounded like a stock 96 with a cat back exhaust. I step back and wonder, is this really an 8 second car? I guess we are going to find out.
At the Track:
We get to the track and get the slicks put on the car. We are going over everything, crossing our T’s and dotting our I’s. Jason explains to me how the line lock works (I’ve never used one) and where to shift. The rest is up to me. That’s when Jerry hands me the keys. He looks me in the eye and says,”Here you go buddy. I have all of the confidence in the world in you.” I suite up and get the 5-points strapped down tight around me. Now I can feel some nerves. I start the car and drive over to the staging lanes. As I wait to get called out into the lane, I am going over everything and what I am here to do. I tell myself that this is the first time I have ever sat in this car, and I am just going to make a little shake down pass. I decided to take it out to the 330 or maybe the 1/8th and shut her down. There is no need to try to nail it on the first pass.
The First Pass:
The drag strip guy points at me. The time has come. I start the car and pull into the water box. I set the line lock and start the burnout. I move forward and stage the car. That’s when I had a little conversation with myself:
Nervous Gary- Man you sure have gone and done it now. Do you realize how fast this car is going to be?
Confident Gary- Quit worrying. We have this covered. Didn’t you see us in the T-Busa race? We kicked ass!
Nervous Gary- Yeah, but this car is making about 600 more horsepower, and Tom Welsh told us we could never go a nine. Oh [******], the tree just dropped. [******] it, let’s do it!
The moment I nailed it off the line, I was back in Big Blue. Granted, we were going a lot faster, but it was all the same. I just sort of went into autopilot mode. Four years of street racing vipers took over. I remember getting about half way through 1st and feeling my face being pushed back, kind of like when you ride the Gravitron at the fair. There was no doubt about it, this ***** was movin’! I made the second gear shift and the car was [******] brutal. We start ramping up boost at this point and my body was telling me all about it. I was going to do a shake down pass, but everything felt great. The car went straight, the tranny shifted smoothly, and I was in the groove. I ran second out, nailed the 2-3 shift, ran 3rd out, and nailed the 3-4. I knew it was a clean pass. We didn’t put much boost in the car on that pass, because it was basically going to be a test pass. I pull the car around to the “pit” and Jason comes walking up with a big grin. He told me we just busted an 8 on the very first pass! IT WAS AN 8.90 @ 161! Wow! That was cool. He said it was hard to believe, because we just didn’t put 8 second power into the car on that pass. We hooted and hollered for a little while, and then it was back to business. Now it’s time to start putting some power into the car.
The Second Pass:
I launched the car, and things got out of shape right off of the line. I decided to lift and come back around for another pass.
The Third Pass:
We put a little more power in the car. I staged the car and nailed the first three gears. The car started to move around the track a little on the big end, and that was a new experience for me. I found out you have to do quite a bit of steering at times on these big cars. I guess that distracted me a little because I missed forth. I still managed to coast through to a 9.19 ET!
The Fourth Pass:
We put a little more power in the car in 3rd and 4th. Condensation was starting to form on the car, and the track officials decided this is going to be the last pass. I spool the turbos at the light and nail the launch. The car start to get out of shape going left. It felt like things were getting out of hand, and I was on the fence about letting out. A split second turned into a minute. I thought, “Well this is the last pass of the night, and we wanted to get a good number out of the car.” I decided to try to power through it. I have powered through plenty of situations on the street and I guess that experience came into play. The car brought itself back in line and I finished the run. I was pleased when I learned that we just went a 75!
We took the car to the track for the first time and ran an 8.75 on moderate boost. That’s pretty cool. I can honestly say that there is no doubt, that this car has an 8.5X in it.
Thanks Jerry for giving me a chance to see what that beast of yours would do! It is a huge compliment that you trusted me with your incredible ride, and I appreciate that.
Jason, you have built another incredible street car. It performed flawlessly, and I don’t think we could have asked for anything to have gone any better. Thanks man.
To anyone thinking about going out and building an 8 second ride: Please take it slow. I found this to be extremely challenging. There is a lot going on in there. It may look simple, but it isn’t. You can get into trouble really quickly in these cars.
Now I can’t wait to get Red done. This is going to be fun!!!
CLICK THE LINK BELOW FOR THE VIDEO. IT MAY TAKE A LITTLE WHILE. IT IS A BIG VIDEO.
***CLICK HERE FOR THE VIDEO***
I POSTED THIS OVER AT THE ALLEY. I KNOW THERE ARE A LOT OF FOLKS THAT MIGHT LIKE TO SEE THIS THAT DO NOT GO OVER THERE. HERE YA GO.
If you are just interested in the numbers, skip my little story and check out the slips and video at the bottom of my post.
We took Jerry Kennedy’s(Ripper02) GTS to the track for the first time this past Wednesday. It turned into a pretty awesome day. After watching Chad rip off 8 second passes left and right, I often wondered what that would feel like. I decided to write up a little article on what I experienced. Maybe, this will help some folks get a better idea what it feels like to pilot a car that is this fast.
The Beginning:
It all started at the Heffner Nationals in December. I met Jerry at the track. He told me that he was building a car with specs similar to what I have in mind for Red. We kept in touch over the next couple of months. As Jerry’s car got closer to completion, we discussed taking the car to the track. Jerry asked me if I would feel comfortable driving the car at the track to see what we could get out of her. I accepted. Jerry is an experienced drag racer with a very stout auto mustang, but he has limited experience with a 6spd at the track. We wanted to get a number out of the car at first and when he gets it home, he is going to take the time to get familiar with the car.
The Car:
I arrived at Jason’s shop on Wednesday morning. The first thing I noticed about Jerry’s car is there is nothing to notice. Besides the massive intercooler across the front and really nice looking Forgeline wheels, the car looks absolutely stock. The only thing out of the ordinary about the interior is the 5 point harnesses that are usually tucked away for street use. Jason started the car and it sounded like a stock 96 with a cat back exhaust. I step back and wonder, is this really an 8 second car? I guess we are going to find out.
At the Track:
We get to the track and get the slicks put on the car. We are going over everything, crossing our T’s and dotting our I’s. Jason explains to me how the line lock works (I’ve never used one) and where to shift. The rest is up to me. That’s when Jerry hands me the keys. He looks me in the eye and says,”Here you go buddy. I have all of the confidence in the world in you.” I suite up and get the 5-points strapped down tight around me. Now I can feel some nerves. I start the car and drive over to the staging lanes. As I wait to get called out into the lane, I am going over everything and what I am here to do. I tell myself that this is the first time I have ever sat in this car, and I am just going to make a little shake down pass. I decided to take it out to the 330 or maybe the 1/8th and shut her down. There is no need to try to nail it on the first pass.
The First Pass:
The drag strip guy points at me. The time has come. I start the car and pull into the water box. I set the line lock and start the burnout. I move forward and stage the car. That’s when I had a little conversation with myself:
Nervous Gary- Man you sure have gone and done it now. Do you realize how fast this car is going to be?
Confident Gary- Quit worrying. We have this covered. Didn’t you see us in the T-Busa race? We kicked ass!
Nervous Gary- Yeah, but this car is making about 600 more horsepower, and Tom Welsh told us we could never go a nine. Oh [******], the tree just dropped. [******] it, let’s do it!
The moment I nailed it off the line, I was back in Big Blue. Granted, we were going a lot faster, but it was all the same. I just sort of went into autopilot mode. Four years of street racing vipers took over. I remember getting about half way through 1st and feeling my face being pushed back, kind of like when you ride the Gravitron at the fair. There was no doubt about it, this ***** was movin’! I made the second gear shift and the car was [******] brutal. We start ramping up boost at this point and my body was telling me all about it. I was going to do a shake down pass, but everything felt great. The car went straight, the tranny shifted smoothly, and I was in the groove. I ran second out, nailed the 2-3 shift, ran 3rd out, and nailed the 3-4. I knew it was a clean pass. We didn’t put much boost in the car on that pass, because it was basically going to be a test pass. I pull the car around to the “pit” and Jason comes walking up with a big grin. He told me we just busted an 8 on the very first pass! IT WAS AN 8.90 @ 161! Wow! That was cool. He said it was hard to believe, because we just didn’t put 8 second power into the car on that pass. We hooted and hollered for a little while, and then it was back to business. Now it’s time to start putting some power into the car.
The Second Pass:
I launched the car, and things got out of shape right off of the line. I decided to lift and come back around for another pass.
The Third Pass:
We put a little more power in the car. I staged the car and nailed the first three gears. The car started to move around the track a little on the big end, and that was a new experience for me. I found out you have to do quite a bit of steering at times on these big cars. I guess that distracted me a little because I missed forth. I still managed to coast through to a 9.19 ET!
The Fourth Pass:
We put a little more power in the car in 3rd and 4th. Condensation was starting to form on the car, and the track officials decided this is going to be the last pass. I spool the turbos at the light and nail the launch. The car start to get out of shape going left. It felt like things were getting out of hand, and I was on the fence about letting out. A split second turned into a minute. I thought, “Well this is the last pass of the night, and we wanted to get a good number out of the car.” I decided to try to power through it. I have powered through plenty of situations on the street and I guess that experience came into play. The car brought itself back in line and I finished the run. I was pleased when I learned that we just went a 75!
We took the car to the track for the first time and ran an 8.75 on moderate boost. That’s pretty cool. I can honestly say that there is no doubt, that this car has an 8.5X in it.
Thanks Jerry for giving me a chance to see what that beast of yours would do! It is a huge compliment that you trusted me with your incredible ride, and I appreciate that.
Jason, you have built another incredible street car. It performed flawlessly, and I don’t think we could have asked for anything to have gone any better. Thanks man.
To anyone thinking about going out and building an 8 second ride: Please take it slow. I found this to be extremely challenging. There is a lot going on in there. It may look simple, but it isn’t. You can get into trouble really quickly in these cars.
Now I can’t wait to get Red done. This is going to be fun!!!
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CLICK THE LINK BELOW FOR THE VIDEO. IT MAY TAKE A LITTLE WHILE. IT IS A BIG VIDEO.
***CLICK HERE FOR THE VIDEO***
