(972) 530-3335 311 E. Buckingham Rd. Garland, TX 75040
ID Drag Wars #2- August 1998
Click on pictures to enlarge
On August 16th, the ID Drag Wars were once again held at Texas Motorplex in Ennis, Texas. This time we were a major local sponsor of the event so things were quite busy leading up to the race on Sunday. Once again we decided to bring four of our own "RX7.COM" cars. Andy's turbocharged 1st generation RX-7 to lead the charge in the Quick 8 Competition, Ari's 3rd generation RX-7, Ethan's 2nd generation Turbo II, and one of our shop 3rd generation RX-7s normally only used for product development.
This was the third event held at the Texas Motorplex this year, and the turnout is getting bigger every time. We arrived at the track as the gates were opening and there was already a line of cars reaching out to the highway. As we set up our displays, Andy and Ethan went to perform a few practice runs before the classes started. Eric (driving the shop's 3rd gen) showed up an hour later to iron out any bugs left in the car's setup. Still missing was Ari who, as usual, had stayed up all night preparing his own car. At the very end of the Quick 8 qualifying runs, Ari finally showed up and made a pass, running out of gas at the end of the quarter mile with a 12.2sec run. Andy's 1st gen was running consistent mid to low-11's, still slightly off his pace but getting closer to the 10 second goal. Andy's car also blew an intake gasket during a pass which we attempted to fix by piecing together a 12A gasket on his 13B motor. Ethan's Turbo II pulled off an impressive 13.1 @ 107mph pass on his stock turbo, stock intercooler car. Another pleasant surprise was the 11.91 sec pass performed by Chris Ott driving the shop's 3rd gen work horse. This time was then repeated by Eric driving the same car to another 11.96 run.
While waiting for some competition to begin, Ari decided to enter into the burn out contest and have some fun. Enjoying the luxury of a line lock, he smoked his tires to the delight of the crowd filling the stands with smoke. By far one of the best burnouts of the day but unfortunately he lost when someone in a truck blew a tire while burning out which pleased the judges. Nonetheless, it was a good time and a sign that these events are designed to be fun for everyone involved.
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After completing what we thought were qualifying runs for the Quick 8, they called for another qualifying session later in the day due to some problems by the officials. This was a one time chance only to make a quick run and qualify for the Turbo Magazine Quick 8. Unfortunately, our shop car suffered from a bad launch and only ran a mid 12sec pass and didn't qualify for the competition. Two of our other cars, Andy's and Ari's, did qualify though as the 2nd and 3rd fastest cars.
With two of our cars qualified for the Quick 8, we hoped to have the slight chance to come home with a trophy. In the first round, Ari was matched up with a California bred Honda. Obviously not running the pace they do back home, Ari was able to stay well ahead of the Honda and advance to the semi-finals. Next up was Andy in his '80 RX-7 which was paired up with the Jotech sponsored turbo Civic. Being that Jotech is a local performance shop, this was a bit of a friendly grudge match. Andy's car had been having problem on the top end due to the intake gasket problems but was still able to produce an 11.3 @ 115mph, obviously letting off before the end of the quarter mile. This was enough to beat the 12 second time of the Honda and advance into the next round. For the semi-finals, Ari was matched against the low 11 second Civic from Florida. Running an 11.73, Ari was defeated by the 11.3 second time of the Turismo Civic. Once again it was up to Andy to uphold the rotary honor which he did well by defeating yet another Honda and advancing into the Final round. With some final adjustments made in the pits before the final round, it was obvious that the intake problem was taking it's toll. He had been unable to complete a full run without letting off due to a problem at the end of the track which had severely limited his performance. Facing the Turismo Civic for the final round, Andy made a terrific launch and pulled well ahead of the Civic. Once again the problems occurred and he only managed an 11.2 @ 118mph run versus the 11.1 @ 130mph run of the Civic.
Overall we were quite pleased with the event and to walk away with a 2nd and 3rd place in the Turbo Magazine Quick 8 competition. RX-7 turnout is also getting better as the events go on. Once again we were joined by Kyle and Brad from the Houston RX-7 club, as well as others from the Houston club, North Texas Club, fellow rotary fans and friends from Louisiana, Oklahoma and even California.
Special thanks go to:
Phil and his wife for the help and use of the trailer home, generator, and everything else!
Del Barnett from Haltech for helping with fine tuning of Andy's car before and during the event.
Our fellow rotary friend that luckily had a spare intake gasket.
Everyone that helped us set up for the event. All of our friends and customers that came to support us, and everyone with an RX-7 that ran at the event.
NEXT EVENT:
ID Drag Wars on November 15th in Ennis, Texas
Car Specs - Ari's 1993 RX-7
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Car Specs - Shop's 1993 RX-7
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