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View Full Version : Riverhead Spec Drags.....



SuperShafts
05-28-2007, 08:17 AM
What are the rules of the spec drags?

I noticed yesterday a street slick or dot approved traction enhancing tire is ok.

So running a bf/gy road course rain tire would be legal then, and much stickier then the Eagle GTII's.

Anyone know of any rules or anything not allowed? or where they can be viewed or found.... Thank you guy's, ladies

W. J.
05-28-2007, 08:30 AM
Basically, anything that is legal on a street registered car is legal for spectator drags. Like all racing rules, that is open (or closed) to interpretation by competitors and officials alike. Some have been known to flatbed their cars to the track, put on new(er) tires, and win! I guess it's up to luck and the craftiness of the individual.
BTW, you had some nice runs yesterday in that Jeep.

wayne
05-28-2007, 08:58 AM
You Were Fast As Hell,and You Make A Damn Good Drive Shaft Too,lol

SuperShafts
05-28-2007, 09:29 AM
I did a lot with the Jeep to make it handle and stop...mainly for playing, and getting back and forth to work quickly. Originally I was also going to do a motor and use it to play at Bridgehampton, but we all know what happened with that...

Been talkin about coming out and try the Spec Drags and unfortunately, I didn't get around to it, some reasons for not making it was because of the issue with fighting for a motorsports park.

I have to say it was fun, fun that I haven't had in a long long time.

I didn't get to learn all that much yesterday though about the track. I had a push in the 2nd run in 1 and 2, but I think know after thinking about it and trying to remember the feeling it had I believe I would have been able to drive thru it.
Then in the 3rd run, the road racer in me came out and being behind you do that throwing the vehicle around, muscle it thru the corner the hard way and I cut turn 3 and 4 way way to short.... the idea was I was gonna run the apron, use it to hook the Jeep, cut it real short, drive down and across the back of him and pass on the inside....but as I didn't realize, that apron isn't a painted yellow raised section, it actually is a bunch of somewhat medium little speed bumps and each of the painted sections is a bump...
I should have stayed high and stayed in the gas.

The thing that really got me all screwed up was when I came out on to track for the 1st time I thought we were allowed to come out and do a little run into turn 1 and 2....I came out, got on it and then I saw everyone looking at me like wtf is wrong with this mental patient, coming out like bat of hell...so I was like whoops, got on the brake and turned in behind everyone lining up.
The 1 lap around goes by pretty quick and not enough time to really get an idea of is it to much spring, not enough, to much rear spring, was it just me overthinking, or nerves.
I'm gonna add some sway bar preloaders and add a spring rubber to the front spring for the next outing and look into some tires.


I enjoyed it, the blue 'Stang did a good job keeping it in the direction and not sliding into the wall or anyone else.
Having AWD, I had the advantage of the leave, but I was surprised I didn't have the Mustang come up on me pretty quick, why I left room to my inside in 3 and 4.
The TransAm though, he got up next to me real quick, I expected that he was the one to be there if I got to the end with those tires.

But I was having fun and no one got hurt or hurt there car...

The Jeep was the 1st new vehicle I ever bought, it was the chariot to my 1st 2 sons when they were born, I have a love for that Jeep that runs deep, it has never let us down.

I'll look for you guy's june 17th, the day before my anniversary...maybe I'll get a little lucky that weekend....

RGeeProductions
05-28-2007, 09:42 AM
If you had any kind of a push into the turn, I believe a spring rubber in the right front will make the push worse.

SuperShafts
05-28-2007, 09:47 AM
You Were Fast As Hell,and You Make A Damn Good Drive Shaft Too,lol


Well the last thing I want to hear is someone had a problem with one of our shafts, whether it's our supershafts used in racing cars, trucks and boats or Moms dd, dads commuter, the street car, the 4x truck, the big trucks carrying everyone's material...

The Jeep is using a 3" alum rear shaft. Unfortunately, I can't do anything with the front shaft in alum until the technology catches up.

SuperShafts
05-28-2007, 09:55 AM
If you had any kind of a push into the turn, I believe a spring rubber in the right front will make the push worse.

The push i had was on exit, more so in the one race with the mustang, where i got up close to the wall coming out of 2 when the man announcing said who's gonna do the body work...
It's kinda hard to really put a finger on it though with the 1 lap thing, your trying to stay ahead so you have room to adjust the line if you screw up entry, and your trying to win, and definately not trying to have any collections of any type...atleast for me with the Jeep though...

If you guy's know the announcer tell him i said he does a good job..

SuperShafts
05-28-2007, 10:46 AM
BTW, thanks for the kind words...here and from everyone at the track

Although on the way home i got bagged for no seat belt..

W. J.
05-28-2007, 03:34 PM
BTW, thanks for the kind words...here and from everyone at the track

Although on the way home i got bagged for no seat belt..
Did you not see the story about Gov. Corzine in NJ??? You should always wear a seatbelt, because like the lottery, "Hey, you never know!"

SuperShafts
05-28-2007, 07:52 PM
Did you not see the story about Gov. Corzine in NJ??? You should always wear a seatbelt, because like the lottery, "Hey, you never know!"


The one thing I like about the new cars is they have a constant warning that goes off letting you know it's not on....not aN excuse for not wearing 1 in a older vehicle...but I knew this weekend was a seat belt watch and my head was still in turn 3 and 4 with a couple hundred what if's going on..

W. J.
05-28-2007, 09:09 PM
Okay, I just want everyone to be safe, whether on the track or the highway. :)

nflobster
05-29-2007, 09:16 AM
i thought it was run whatcha brung which means anythng goes

RGeeProductions
05-29-2007, 09:20 AM
It used to be called "Run Whatcha Brung" but it's now "Spectator Drags" and has to be street legal, which still leaves it open to what you can have.

SuperShafts
05-29-2007, 09:54 AM
It used to be called "Run Whatcha Brung" but it's now "Spectator Drags" and has to be street legal, which still leaves it open to what you can have.


That's basically what i wanted to know....i don't want to show up with 4 sneakers on...
A set of goodyear f-1's with very little tread left....might be the answer.

SpeedyMS
05-29-2007, 11:39 AM
Your jeep was suprising some people. I would like to got a chance to run you in my GTO.. the Infiniti kept slammin the door on me.

ps: What's a performace driveshaft go for nowadays?

SuperShafts
05-29-2007, 02:53 PM
Your jeep was suprising some people. I would like to got a chance to run you in my GTO.. the Infiniti kept slammin the door on me.

ps: What's a performace driveshaft go for nowadays?


I'll try it again, I love anything to do involving speed.
I never ran the track before, it would have been good had we got a chance to figure things a bit, I would have been able to find out how much I can push it, or keep it pinched down in the corner, I guess it's fair to though... It was fun though and the kids enjoyed it and the wife did also, lol. The only thing the wife objects to is me figure 8 racing..the wife doesn't want to hear about me playing with that.

I used to mainly drag race and once in a while hit Bridgehampton....the loss of Bridgehampton still to this day kills me. We had started to try and get people together to show the county how many people really wanted a motorsports park...but it's impossible to get people to come out and the spectator drag is the 1st fun thing I have done in years, with all the time spent with rallies and talking with people, and I'm looking forward to trying it again.

The driveshafts, depending on material, usually run between $275 and as much as $425. Mostly a street shaft is $265 to $275 plus a slip yoke if there isn't 1 with the old trans. The dm race shafts start at $325 plus s/y. The alum shafts run from $325 to $450 plus s/y.
The more expensive of the aluminum shafts are usually the shafts I make to replace the 2 piece in the trucks to bring up some performance, like the 1410 Dodge Cummins shaft. We've got 1 now making another 150hp over factory with a 5" alum shaft
The Jeep has a rear 3" alum shaft.

SuperShafts
06-18-2007, 04:11 PM
Did I hear correctly? Did the Raceway announcers say they're going to have the spectator drags on Saturday the 30th, next week? If I did hear correctly, did anyone catch a time?

unowho243
06-18-2007, 06:18 PM
I don't know, but I'll tell you something, you scare the heck out of everyone throwing that Jeep into the corners that hard. Every time I think you're going to lose it and you don't, so hats off to you!

W. J.
06-18-2007, 06:28 PM
You heard correctly, but no scheduled time is ever given. Features start around 5:30 PM, and that would be considered a feature, so it could be any time after that.

SuperShafts
06-19-2007, 11:36 AM
Ah thank you WJ, I'm glad I asked. I would have been pretty lonely getting there at 11:45 am.

W. J.
06-19-2007, 02:28 PM
Nah, we'd all be there about 1 o'clock or so to diminish you're "aloneness", LOL.

SuperShafts
06-20-2007, 08:54 AM
Do they allow practice for the early guy's? I would love to make a lap here and there to see how much preload the jeep likes on the bar, im still getting a fairly decent push off.
That's where im losing what ever ground i make up on him going in, he gets back into hard just after the center

unowho243
06-20-2007, 01:09 PM
You really need to get that bottom line. If you got that, you would own that race.... but another thing to look out for..... on Sundays you go out first.... the track is clean, no speedy dry or used rubber up there from the racecars.... Saturday, you guys are going out in the middle of regular racing, there is going to be A LOT, and I mean A LOT, of junk up there high in the turns. If you get into that stuff, you can pretty much kiss that Jeep goodbye, so try to get as low as possible..

Just looking out for you, brother.

SuperShafts
06-20-2007, 04:16 PM
I started on the outside and I stayed up there because I was making sure I was giving him room to race, plus I didn't roll up on the inside lane in the staging area. But if I saw there was room, I would have run a different line, but he was there and I just made sure he had room.
But in my defense, I only have like 3 or 5 laps there, the 1st 2 I wasn't really paying atention, and the last 2 from the 1st spec and this last one I can honestly say I need to make an adjustment to keep weight on the left front.

I'm sure running the high side is gonna be like playing in the snow up there, but kinda what I liked about the Sunday thing is I don't have to worry about the liquids and speedy dry issue...well kinda, unless there is an issue like last week with the Camaro.

Thanks for the heads up though, I do appreciate it. Can you give me an idea about how many feet off the rubber starts building up, like if I get put in the outside, do I need to be against their pass side...tight?

nobandwagonhere
06-20-2007, 07:46 PM
Pinch them low and ride!..lol. Good luck. I should be back to try again the 30th.

SuperShafts
06-21-2007, 09:28 AM
Lol yeah I hear you kid, just after seeing that incident with the Camaro....

That poor Impala....

RGeeProductions
06-21-2007, 08:09 PM
I hope after all your hard work here they don't decide to run the opposite direction. That was done before.

unowho243
06-22-2007, 01:12 AM
Get very, very low, because that rubber build up starts just after the outside line that the regular cars run, and that isn't very high up, so stay on their door, or pray that you get the inside!

SuperShafts
06-22-2007, 09:56 AM
I hope after all your hard work here they don't decide to run the opposite direction. That was done before.


Well the only changes right now is just the spring rubber up front I tried last week, but that is coming out. All I'm going to try this week is preloading the bar, which isn't a hard adjustment, but if they do reverse the field I highly doubt there gonna let me jump out and wind it back down.
I set the Jeep up originally for road racing, and it's pretty well balanced for flat turns. Just the banking seems to make it lift more on that left front and unload it under power and push up. Right now I can see he is getting into the gas about 10 feet before I can really hammer it. But usually if I get into a flat turn too hard, the entire Jeep will drift out, not just 1 end.

Do they mostly play the backward card on Saturday nights, or it doesn't matter?




Get very, very low, because that rubber build up starts just after the outside line that the regular cars run, and that isn't very high up, so stay on their door or pray that you get the inside!

If it comes down to me and Mike again, I'll feel ok about hugging his door. It just makes me nervous with someone else I haven't played with.
God knows people will over drive into a turn trying to beat you to it, and well, that makes for a mess in the middle.

RGeeProductions
06-22-2007, 11:16 AM
I don't think they have done that in awhile, but who knows what they will/can do.....

W. J.
06-22-2007, 04:39 PM
They last ran reverse on the opening Sunday (May 6th). My guess would be they will do it just to add excitement for the Saturday night crowd.

SuperShafts
06-22-2007, 05:55 PM
Maybe I'll just leave the bar alone, that was the Sunday Mike didn't win?

SuperShafts
07-01-2007, 11:54 PM
Lol why do they always get my name wrong, mark johnson, or marty johnston, mark johnston... Martin or Marty Johnson is my real name...

I'll get the lemans next time, had a miserable friday with problems starting with a bad water pump and apon inspection might as well while in that deep, that turned into a timing chain with 10 degrees of play at the crank, and then something in the charging system went arye right at exit 70 on the l.i.e. and i didn't have enough volts to really run the ign and fuel, breaking up, missing, just wasn't my night..
The reason why i was late onto the track was because of the low volts it locked the doors on me and thanks to the welder for having the tools and 2 of the turn 1 cowboys i was atleast able to make something good out of it....

Lol but as my luck is on the way home, some gasket material must have gotten past us and is now semi blocking the p/u and kinda starving the motor for oil....so lets hope nothing to serious.