Bitter Sweet Results!

FRUSTRATED, ROBBED, INSULTED & BETRAYED!

What a feeling and what can I do to overcome this injustice and massive weight penalty?

At the moment, NOTHING. The current rules between the FWD and RWD vehicles is a disaster for this class. Currently my RX-7 is 500 pounds heavier than Leslie's 2.0 liter CRX and 425 pounds heavier than Scott's 2.5 liter Neon.

Friday afternoon we arrive at the famous Raceway Park in Englishtown, NJ. The weather is cool and the air is near PERFECT. From that, we knew that some good numbers were going to be run this week end. I also knew that I had to race Scott as the championship is down to just the two of us. This would be my only focus.

Our friend Jesus was there so we felt we could make a strong showing for the Mazda camp. This would also aid in the championship quest, or so I thought.

Saturday morning, it is cool with rain in the forecast. Would we be able to get a qualifying pass in? We prepared the car, checked the 2162 lb weight at the scales, changed the fuel map to accommodate for the excellent air conditions and waited. Since I now have the ability to gather and record instant density altitude and other important weather information, the adjustments to the fuel maps are a guess.

With a break in the clouds, we were called to make what would be our only qualifying attempt. With the track temperature at 63 degrees, a short burnout and zoom down the track. A 10.454 @ 127.29 mph. This put us in the #2 spot behind Leslie's 10.275 @ 129.98. Scott's a distant 7th at 11.197 @ 112.49 with the now back halved and much lighter Neon.

The rain began to fall and qualifying was called off. The All Motor class being the only ones to get a round in. With a good data log recorded and in hand to review, it was back to the fuel map and make some more changes. The density altitude was a fantastic 112 feet. This meant more fuel was needed. Going to the hotel, I thought I would be on the "Usual" side of the ladder. As it turned out, I would face Leslie in the semi final all because of a 9 car field. I can't tell you how dejected I felt.

Sunday mornings weather was good. Round 1 ended with a winning pass of 10.386 @ 127.93. Round 2 would be a bye run. Not missing an opportunity to improve the tune and "practice" my reaction time, I ran a 10.383 @ 128.14. A little better but not much.

Round #3 was going to be THE round for me. I had to get past Leslie to be in the final, which turned out to be Scott as the opponent. Talk about the championship going down to the wire. I knew going into the semi final that my ONLY chance was to get a hole shot at the tree.

Burn out, Stage and BOOM. I knew I got a hole shot because I did not see Leslie at all until the 1000 ft mark. She just drove on past like I was on a Sunday afternoon drive. What a hopeless feeling. As it turned out, I had a 0.061 light compared to Leslie's 0.267. A 2 tenths hole shot and I still get creamed with a 10.031 @ 131.68 to my 10.367 @ 128.47 NOW DO YOU THINK THE RULES ARE FAIR?

It remain to be seen if this type of blatant bias will remain in this series. We will all have to wait and see. I will say that I will not be defeated easily no matter what. I will fight to the bitter end, even against all the odds. See you all at the Mazda World Final in Pomona, CA October 25 - 26. I plan on being your next Champion.