Well, it was a very exciting night. I left very late to get there and didnt realize how far it really was. I got there, paid my admission, and somehow by luck managed to get into the tech lanes (man those roads are confusing at first). I asked the people in front of me for help (they had a grand nationals turbo) and they ended up helping me the rest of the night. I go up to the lanes and wait for my class to be called, while prepping the crap inside my car so i didnt get hit in the forehead :-). When my turn was finnaly up, I drove around the water box and went up to the staging part, or I should say PAST the staging part by about 5 feet. So I backed up then the guy yelled at me to roll up my windows (oops). So i'm sitting there getting ready and before I knew it the lights were going down and right when I saw the green light I took off. My mistake. The actual run was pretty good though. I was racing a Del Sol with bolt ons. As a side note, My car is a '95 Probe Base model with NO mods. A perfect R/T here is .500. My times for that race were: R/T = 1.274 (his = 1.404), 60' = 2.565, 1/8 = 11.504 @ 60.61mph, 1320' = 17.976 @ 75.06mph. When I got back in the lanes I asked him if hes done this alot and he said yes, hrmmm. At that time I saw Ross's Probe and said hi, and went back to my car. I had a long conversation with the guy in front next to me because he had a 626 V6 and had a lot of questions about mods. It just so happened that thats who I raced next. This was the WORST run of the night. I pull up to the staging lights, light turns green and I drop the clutch. OOOPS not enough gas. the car jumps and sorta bounces for maybe 5 feet and STALLS! I restarted and quickly sped off. My times for that one was: R/T = 1.226 (his = 1.227), 60' = 4.676 (his = 2.582), 1/8 = 13.717 @ 60.61(his = 10.802 @ 66.83), 1320' = 20.181!!! @ 75.61 (his = 16.632 @ 84.23) Boy was I embarrased on that one! I go up to the lines, and by this time it was real busy. What did I do while I waited for my class to be called you ask? I LOCKED MY KEYS IN MY F*CKING CAR, thats what I did. I spent the next 20 mins trying to find someone with a slim jim to get it open. He did manage to get it open in time. My next run was my best run. I gave it enough gas (maybe a tad too little) and dropped the clutch at the third yellow light. I was racing a couple in a Dodge Stealth ES. I thought I was actually going to beat it but it cought up :-(. Here are my times: R/T = .730 (hers 1.077), 60' = 2.483 (hers 2.634), 1/8 = 11.296 @ 61.46 (hers 11.707 @ 66.04), 1320' = 17.727 @ 75.89 (hers 16.997 @ 83.77) I was so proud after that race hehe. I didnt the first 3 races withing about 1 1/2 hour, I didnt get to race again for another 2 hours because a car blew up on the track and other cars leaked oil on it. So I just watched the races and checked out Ross's turbo (NICE!). The next race I was up against a Supercharged Fox Body mustang. I saw his tail lights the whole time. He ended up running 13.23 @101.14. I get up to the line, this time I lauched ok but could of done better. Take off, and missed second gear completly. Ouch, I need practice. Here are my times: R/T = .828 (his .662), 60' = 2.487, 1/8 = 11.707 @ 60.38, 1320' = 18.188 @ 75.48 I then wieghed my car. Without my spare, jack, or floormats, It wieghed 2575lbs. Add my 137lbs to that and I was racing at +/- 2712lbs. My car was actually lighter than Ross's friend's Del sol with GSR engine + Turbo. All in all the whole time was a blast! I can't wait to go again. I'm going to start requesting Wed. off from work and I will try to race every week to get better. Thanks for bearing with this really long letter, and sorry for any inconveniance! Dan Isenberg

Congrats on your first race! Wow, I knew the Probe Base/SE was light, but thats good now we have an actual weight. I thought it might be 2700 or so, but not 2500 w/o the driver, thats pretty good. How much gas was in there, BTW? I just wish I could convince my brother to put his on the strip! :) Dedric Ramsey dedric@...

Dan, I'm glad to see you enjoyed it. I assume you are hooked now. 8-) Anyway, as far as times are concerned, you have a lot of room for improvement, but I assure you my first time at the track yield similiar results so don't be dissappointed. With a stock 2.0L, I would look for mid 16's or even better if your in a colder environment. My best time to date is a 16.41. Full stock. Also the most effective launching technique I have found is

actually bryan ive tried that launching technique and it doesnt work as well for me. the best method ive come up with so far is revving the motor to about 2900-3000rpm and letting off the clutch. when i do this the probe spins tires for about 10-15 feet and when it hooks up its right at the beginning of its power band and most of the time i get my head snapped back. i know about the whole shock to the driveline thing and all that but i like to go with what works and believe me this method has gotten me ahead of 5.0 mustangs and even a camaro(not z28, of course) of course its not track proven yet. but well see...........

You absolutely kill your ET's if you lose traction at the strip. I have have seen 2-3 tenths from small "chirps" of traction loose. Our engines power band has a small dip between 3000-3500 rpm, with a peek torque at ~2600 rpm and ~4000 rpm. I would highly recommend using this 2600 rpm peek torque to launch. This torque is what is going to get your car off the line the quickest. If you can modulate both the clutch and gas to keep the tach around 2600 rpm without losing traction you should have an optimum launch. Not trying to slam you or anything, but it is not uncommon to take a heavy street V8 off the line, simply because our car is so much lighter, plus street V8 cars probably have more problems with traction than you or I do. The low end torque of our car also helps out-propel most of your Hondas and Acuras, etc, too because their power band is higher in the rpm range. Don't get confused though, while I typically take many street V8s and street high-reving Jap cars off the line they almost always overtake me, particularly V8s (well they always do, except one V8 automatic kingcab Chevy I beat once). Enjoy, Bryan Pendleton >

just a quick question for bryan-- how much drag race experience do you have? it sounds like you have some as do i. my last car was a dodge challenger w/ a built 360. now it was absolutely detrimental to my ets if i lost traction in that car because it wouldnt hookup again. the main reason for that is that it was pushing 400 horsepower and pulling consisten low 13's with a best of 13.024. i believe in some cars it is necessary to break traction for optimum 60 foot times especially low horsepower applications. and believe me ive been in more than my share of street races, i have two points on my driving record to show for it. and in my experience with my probe breaking traction to get a good start has worked because at present the probe doesnt have the necessary power to keep spinning tires.