(972) 530-3335 311 E. Buckingham Rd. Garland, TX 75040
NOPI Drag Wars - Nov. 14th, 1999
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When we finally arrived at the track, qualifying for the Quick 8 competition was right about to begin. Thankfully, the event organizers allowed us one shake-down pass to evaluate how the car was performing. With a soft launch and easy shifting, Ari tripped the lights with a 10.83 @ 128mph. Considering the lackluster performance we've had the past few events, just getting back in the 10s was a nice start for the day. As we pulled back into the staging lanes to qualify for the Quick 8, we were paired up with Cam's Pettit Racing drag RX-7. Cam ended up getting the hole shot on Ari but unfortunately spun the tires heavily and was unable to hook up. Ari's RX-7.COM car launched ahead by the 1/8th mile but then started to hiccup on the top end. The end result was an 11.7 @ 130mph run for Cam, obviously due to not being able to put all the power down on the launch, and an 11.20 @ 111mph for Ari. This set the stage for the RWD Quick 8 as we had 4 RX-7s in the competition. Ari was number 1 qualifier followed by Steve Kan's 3rd Gen RX-7, Cameron in at 4th place qualifier and Aaron Imler taking a 7th place qualifying position. With two AWD Eclipses, one Supra and one NSX, the RX-7s once again showed their dominance and their field.
In the first round of the Quick 8, Steve was pitted against fellow RX-7 driver Aaron Imler. Steve's single turbo RX-7 was a bit faster than Aaron's stock twin turbo car and he took the win to advance to the next round. Congratulations to Aaron though for once again having a very strong and amazingly consistent performance this entire season. The next RX-7 up was Cam (Pettit Racing) against an AWD Eclipse. Cam got a better launch this time and flew by the Eclipse with a solid 10 second pass. Last up was Ari who was given a bye run due to the #8 qualifying Eclipse not showing. Ari took the opportunity to make another test pass to see how the car was running and flew through the 1/4 with a 10.53 @ 130mph setting a new personal record. In the Semi-finals, Steve Kan's RX-7 was lined up against Cameron's RX-7. Steve had been experiencing boost related problems and had only been able to run less than 13psi though the car was still making 11 second passes. With Cameron's car performing better as the day went on, it was going to be a tough race for Steve to win. As the lights flashed green, it looked as though Steve had the jump on Cameron until Cam's car came to life and screamed ahead finishing the 1/4 mile in a mere 10.5 @ 136 mph. Next up was Ari Yallon's RX-7.COM car versus a very capable NSX running a 125HP shot of nitrous. While Ari slept at the line, the NSX jumped ahead a made it to the 60ft mark before Ari passed him and took the win with a 10.40 @ 131mph. With the RX-7.COM car and Pettit Racing in the finals, the RX-7s had already won the day. Now it was down to two RX-7s hashing it out for bragging rights. Unfortunately, Cam had some mechanical problems after his race against Steve and was unable to continue. This lead to somewhat of an anti-climax but Ari tried to make the best of it by putting on one last run in hopes of putting on a good show for the crowd. Unfortunately, a miss-shift blew our plans for a dazzling run but we had fun all the same. Click here for page 3, Parting words and MPEG Videos! |