(972) 530-3335 311 E. Buckingham Rd. Garland, TX 75040
ID Drag Wars #3- November 1998
Click on pictures to enlarge
On November 15th, one of the biggest import racing event in the country was held at the Texas Motorplex in Ennis, Texas. Five hundred racers showed up for the challenge while over 10,000 spectators filled the stands to cheer them on. As hundreds filed into the Motorplex, a dense fog was creating havoc for the track crew as they fought to dry the track and get the timing lights working properly.
This time our team of five "RX7.COM" cars consisted of Andy's turbocharged 1980 RX-7, Ari's 1993 RX-7, Chris's turbocharged 1985 GSL-SE, Eric's 1993 RX-7, and Steve Kan's Single Turbo '93 RX-7. Other RX-7 notables that came to the event to race were Aaron Imler in his '94 RX-7, Kalhed in his Single Turbo '93 RX-7, and about half a dozen more 1st, 2nd, and 3rd gens out to do battle.
Because of the weather, the event got off to a late start and only one tuning run was allowed for the competitors. As the racers crowded the staging lanes, Andy went up for his first pass of the day. Running stronger than it had in the past when it made low 11 second runs, we were all hoping to see a 10 second pass. Unfortunately, lady luck wasn't on our side quite yet and Andy broke his rear end immediately after his burnout. Next up was Chris in his turbocharged GSL-SE who managed a low 13 second run on street tires. Quite good for a street car with full stereo work, A/C, and power everything and actually surprising considering that we found one of the spark plug wires wasn't properly attached to the distributor. Ari, Eric and Steve also did well but alittle slower than expected with mid to high 12 second passes for each of them.
As the event dragged on, many competitors were leaving early for the long drive home and some of the RX-7 competing were also leaving early due to broken rear ends and assorted parts. We decided to stick around though and through some good luck and fortune, Ari's car qualified for the RWD Quick 8 even though he hadn't made as good of a qualifying run as we had hoped.
Unlike the last few events, they decided to split the Quick 8 catagory into Front Wheel Drive cars so the Honda's could race eachother and then another Quick 8 Catagory for all Rear Wheel Drive and All Wheel Drive Imports. Ari's first run was a "by" run because his competitor had already left for the day so he made an easy pass for some final tuning. In the semi-final round, a twin-turbo Supra w/ NOS was up against Brad Bedell's 3000GT VR-4. Brad's amazing all wheel spinning launch put his car ahead of the Supra but a fuel delivery problem on the top end let the Supra catch him at the end for the win. Ari, on the other hand, got yet another by run and advanced into the Finals. For the final round, luck was on Ari's side as he made a perfect launch and kept ahead of the Supra for the win in the RWD Quick 8. We were also happy to see Kenny Tran of Jotech Motorsports here in Garland take home to FWD Quick 8 title beating out John Brown in his Turismo Civic from Florida. Congratulations also to John Brown of Turismo, the gentleman driving the red twin-turbo Supra and Brad Bedell, some of the nicest guys to race against. To be completely honest, we shouldn't have won the Quick 8 since we were given too many "by" runs but we appreciate the kindness and sportsmenship of our fellow Quick 8 competitors which were there to congratulate us.
| Ari's 93 RX-7 | Red Supra+NOS | |
| R/T | 0.865 | 0.837 |
| 60' | 1.611 | 2.230 |
| 330' | 4.721 | 5.436 |
| 1/8 | 7.336 | 7.911 |
| MPH | 95.78 | 99.20 |
| 1000 | 9.545 | 10.033 |
| 1/4 | 11.408 | 11.821 |
| MPH | 120.51 | 125.96 |
Next season should be even more exciting with FIVE Drag Wars events scheduled for Texas. We hope to continue our success next season by building a more dedicated race car instead of using daily driven street cars to compete in the Quick 8. We also hope to see Ari's and Andy's car in the 10's as well as some cars that have been under development throughout this season which will hopefully debut at the Febuary event. We hope to see you then!!
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.
Jeff Hurst for making the trek down from New York to hang out with us and give us drag racing tips and tricks.
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 Feb. 28th, 1999 in Houston, Texas
Car Specs - Ari's 1993 RX-7
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