The Day Before
It was 10:30pm when I got that phone call. I was about to go to sleep, when the mobile rang and I was told about the following weekend.
-Hello?
-Hi, this is Andrew from the NDRA. How you feeling today sir?
-Um, good thanks. NDRA?
-Yep, National Drag Racing Agency. Now, are you the owner of a silver Subaru WRX?
-Uh, yeah, it's a 1996 model. How come?
- Well we saw your car on a dyno the other day and saw your power figure, and we decided to give you an invitation to one of our competitions. The Las Vegas Nationals are on in two days, and we would really love it if you and the Rex came along. What do you think?
-Well OK, but do I need anything?
-Just you, the car and some decent burnouts please. Heh heh! I'll send you the details via SMS tomorrow morning. Now go sleep champ, you gotta run some good numbers tomorrow!
-Alright thanks mate, see you later.
And that was it. I didn't know what to say, do or think. All I knew was that come tomorrow, I'd have a hell of a fun time. I slowly walked into my bedroom, still in deep concentration. Put on some shorts, got into bed, and didn't sleep for a long time, even though I tried to bring myself to fall asleep in so many different ways. I'd be having a long day at the shop tomorrow, tuning the settings and whatnot...
At 11am my alarm clock chirped like there was no tomorrow coming. Shocked, and feeling like utter crap, I got out of bed and wondered if last night was a dream. I checked my phone's received calls list, and whoa, that Andrew guy's number was there. OK, so maybe I am racing. In my WRX. In front of hundreds, maybe even thousands of people. In Vegas. It all seemed to go by really fast. Anyway, stop thinking about that, get in the car and go to the shop quick.
After having a quick breakfast, getting dressed, grabbing the keys and sliding out of my driveway, I was soon in our family mechanical shop. Parked it outside, walked in, greeted everybody there and went into the back room.
-Charlie, help me tune the car. I'm doing drags in Vegas tomorrow and I need the 'Preza to be in tiptop shape. I want it to run some hell good times!
-No kidding? Alright, pop it in the back, I'll deal with you in a minute.
At around 7pm, after the tuning was completed, I called up our major sponsor, HKS, and I gave them the news. They knew already though; apparently their R33 GT-R Skyline drag car was running there too. The flight tickets were arranged, everything else was done, and I was all set to run times.
At the drags
At 11:30am, I was gripping the steering wheel tightly. I was running next. All I was thinking was "don't choke, don't choke, don't choke..". There was a major crowd to impress and I almost didn't know how to do so.
"And now, will be up against Mike Shaw. running a '96 WRX STi, while Mike is driving a single turbo Supra RZ. The WRX is converted to rear wheel drive, running about 420 horsepower, with the interior slightly stripped and the Supra utilises 450 horsepower, in full street trim. This is an extremely tight match and from the looks of it, the slightest mistake could make a massive difference! Both participants now lining up for the burnout."
When hearing those last words, I was ready. I pulled a standstill burnout, let go of the brakes and launched forward at redline. Hit the brakes again, selected reverse, and started to get behind the line. The Supra was already staged; he didn't let go of the brakes. Quick glance in his direction assured me his car was a real sleeper. Standard wheels, no kit, nothing whatsoever to hint at race performance. I set the boost to 20 psi, and got ready for a launch.
Tyre-screeching greeted my ears, and I was already flying. It was extremely close, until something went wrong around half way and he either mis-shifted or stuffed the engine. However, something went wrong with my car too. Either way, I ran a 12.48, which was pretty good I reckon.
Unfortunately, this was it for me. A cracked wastegate meant game over, and I had to get the car towed. My efforts were awarded a "Best Burnout" medal, so I guess that's pretty cool. Until next time , and I'll probably have stage 3 of mods done then.
Note-Most of that, as you can tell, was made up. Don't take it personal...
It was 10:30pm when I got that phone call. I was about to go to sleep, when the mobile rang and I was told about the following weekend.
-Hello?
-Hi, this is Andrew from the NDRA. How you feeling today sir?
-Um, good thanks. NDRA?
-Yep, National Drag Racing Agency. Now, are you the owner of a silver Subaru WRX?
-Uh, yeah, it's a 1996 model. How come?
- Well we saw your car on a dyno the other day and saw your power figure, and we decided to give you an invitation to one of our competitions. The Las Vegas Nationals are on in two days, and we would really love it if you and the Rex came along. What do you think?
-Well OK, but do I need anything?
-Just you, the car and some decent burnouts please. Heh heh! I'll send you the details via SMS tomorrow morning. Now go sleep champ, you gotta run some good numbers tomorrow!
-Alright thanks mate, see you later.
And that was it. I didn't know what to say, do or think. All I knew was that come tomorrow, I'd have a hell of a fun time. I slowly walked into my bedroom, still in deep concentration. Put on some shorts, got into bed, and didn't sleep for a long time, even though I tried to bring myself to fall asleep in so many different ways. I'd be having a long day at the shop tomorrow, tuning the settings and whatnot...
At 11am my alarm clock chirped like there was no tomorrow coming. Shocked, and feeling like utter crap, I got out of bed and wondered if last night was a dream. I checked my phone's received calls list, and whoa, that Andrew guy's number was there. OK, so maybe I am racing. In my WRX. In front of hundreds, maybe even thousands of people. In Vegas. It all seemed to go by really fast. Anyway, stop thinking about that, get in the car and go to the shop quick.
After having a quick breakfast, getting dressed, grabbing the keys and sliding out of my driveway, I was soon in our family mechanical shop. Parked it outside, walked in, greeted everybody there and went into the back room.
-Charlie, help me tune the car. I'm doing drags in Vegas tomorrow and I need the 'Preza to be in tiptop shape. I want it to run some hell good times!
-No kidding? Alright, pop it in the back, I'll deal with you in a minute.
At around 7pm, after the tuning was completed, I called up our major sponsor, HKS, and I gave them the news. They knew already though; apparently their R33 GT-R Skyline drag car was running there too. The flight tickets were arranged, everything else was done, and I was all set to run times.
At the drags
At 11:30am, I was gripping the steering wheel tightly. I was running next. All I was thinking was "don't choke, don't choke, don't choke..". There was a major crowd to impress and I almost didn't know how to do so.
"And now, will be up against Mike Shaw. running a '96 WRX STi, while Mike is driving a single turbo Supra RZ. The WRX is converted to rear wheel drive, running about 420 horsepower, with the interior slightly stripped and the Supra utilises 450 horsepower, in full street trim. This is an extremely tight match and from the looks of it, the slightest mistake could make a massive difference! Both participants now lining up for the burnout."
When hearing those last words, I was ready. I pulled a standstill burnout, let go of the brakes and launched forward at redline. Hit the brakes again, selected reverse, and started to get behind the line. The Supra was already staged; he didn't let go of the brakes. Quick glance in his direction assured me his car was a real sleeper. Standard wheels, no kit, nothing whatsoever to hint at race performance. I set the boost to 20 psi, and got ready for a launch.
Tyre-screeching greeted my ears, and I was already flying. It was extremely close, until something went wrong around half way and he either mis-shifted or stuffed the engine. However, something went wrong with my car too. Either way, I ran a 12.48, which was pretty good I reckon.
Unfortunately, this was it for me. A cracked wastegate meant game over, and I had to get the car towed. My efforts were awarded a "Best Burnout" medal, so I guess that's pretty cool. Until next time , and I'll probably have stage 3 of mods done then.
Note-Most of that, as you can tell, was made up. Don't take it personal...
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