Racing the NMCA-West with Our Low Buck Corvette
MAKING DRAG RACING FUN AGAIN with the NMCA's TRUE STREET COMPETITION
The NMCA/Gear Vendors True Street competition is the perfect class for any beginner…because reaction time doesn’t matter. All entries in the True Street division participate in a 30-mile NMCA WEST-escorted cruise to prove the real street worthiness of their cars. Then they line up for 3 back-to-back passes with no adjustments and no cool down period other that waiting in line with you engine running for their next pass. The NMCA WEST presents cash and awards to the overall fastest, runner-up and to each racer with the closest 3-pass average to 9, 10, 11, 12, 13, 14, and 15 seconds brackets. What better venue to prove the worthiness of our low buck, "Beyond the Crate" 1995 Corvette supercar; a project easily duplicated by anyone or as a great father/son bonding experience.
True Street Driving Loop and Roadability Test
Escorted and tailed by NMCA officials, all entrants in the True Street competition drive their cars on a 20 mile loop to test their street worthiness under real world conditions. What an inspiring site to see a quarter mile long train of American muscle putting some road miles on their cars and hot lapping the parking lot of the Fontana Speedway before they race. Not a single car dropped out of this part of the event and we witnessed no overheating or driving problems with any of the entries. Immediately upon returning the cars were paired off in the staging lanes for the drag racing competition.
All the cars seen here passed the 20 mile driving test with flying colors and then lined up for the competition runoffs to see who could post the closest three-pass average to the 9, 10, 11, 12, 13, 14, and 15 seconds brackets.
Energy Suspension's VP of Sales and Marketing Michael Santa Cruz in line behind our Lyle Larson Corvette project car. Michael's '69 Camaro sports 11-second muscle with a 650 HP LSX engine. It's a screamer.
Not a single car dropped out during the 3 lap round robin fast pass competition. After the 20 mile loop every car made three passes as fast as they could run them.
So how'd we do? Great! Out of the box with nothing more than a pair Micky Thompson cheater slicks, driver Lyle Larson banged off three consecutive 12 second passes in the 106-107 mph range with no issues. He let the automatic do all the work on the first pass and shifted manually for the next two. It didn't make a lot of difference as the car ran out of track at the top of second gear due to the original 3:31 rear axle ratio.
After teching in we found a pit spot and our friends Alan Mizushima and Rick Delin switched the rear tires for a set of Mickey Thompson cheater slicks which we had mounted on the original stock rear wheels.
Flashing the convert from idle, Lyle noted that the slicks worked so well they tried to pull the motor down. So we filled them back up from 18 psi to 22 psi for subsequent runs and that seemed to help with the consistency. This is an amazing event for some father/son/daughter participation
The TS on the window tells the tower that this car is competing in the True Street class. VP Fuels is the official sponsor of the event and Bones Fab is where the car is based. This is a great event for father/son/daughter participation.
We thought about running some front runners but the ones we needed were back ordered so we left the Hurst wheels and Mickey Thompson street tires on the car. Weight transfer with the QA1 shocks worked very well.
Old racers trick. Tires have a tendency to spin on the rim, especially new tires on smooth aluminum wheels. Lyle broke out the shoe polish and applied the appropriate marks so we could verify that the tire did not move on the rim
Mickey Thompson cheater slicks had great bite. We think we could take advantage of a gear change to 3:73 so the car would use up second gear quicker and permit the 3rd gear upshift a little farther before the finish line.
Plenty of diversity in the NMCA ranks both in available classes and in brand participation. Chevys, Fords, Mopars, Pontiacs, Oldsmobiles, AMC: all the major muscle car brands can be found at an NMCA race.
The NMCA runs a full field of classes ranging from the True Street competition right up through Xtreme Pro Mod. There's a class for everyone and the racers love the venue because it gives them so many opportunities to make run.
Thanks again to Summit Racing, our partners in the development of our low buck Corvette Supercar. You can view a complete Summit Racaing parts list for this Corvette build at:
http://hotrodenginetech.com/383-beyond-the-crate-lt1-parts-list/
http://hotrodenginetech.com/383-beyond-the-crate-lt1-parts-list/
Our thanks to Michael Santa Cruz and Energy Suspension for letting us pit in their display booth and show the car. A lot of people came by to look at it.
And thanks again to the NMCA and Steve Wolcott for their hospitality and a very well run event. True Street is gaining popularity rapidly and it is a brilliant way to bring in a lot of racers who's only alternative is the street. At the NMCA events they participate as equals with all the other classes and everyone has a great time.
