Moparty summary:
I'll start by saying the organizers of this event had very poor communication and information for participants prior to the event. It took about 3 weeks for me to get some questions answered regarding the schedule of events. I didn't know if I needed to be there Thursday or Friday since they didn't have a schedule posted anywhere. I needed to book a hotel room, so knowing when I needed to be there was slightly critical. I finally got some very vague info on start dates, but then as the even got closer, they had only posted the drag race schedule and nothing else. The week of the event, it was finally posted. Lastly, when I get there and I'm signing in, they give me an extra wrist band for my "crew". My friend that went with me bought a spectator entry. Again, poor communication. Had I known he would get entry with my entry fee, he could have save some money.
On Friday we had two auto cross sessions and a drag race session. Since this was my first time on an auto cross, it took a few laps for me to get comfortable with the car and the course. I had a blast out there. The asphalt course was terrible for traction, especially off the start. I ended up posting my best time of the weekend on the second session on the first day. At this point, everything with the car seemed good. After my first pass down the drag strip, it kicked the alternator/AC belt off. Fortunately, they were still hanging on the engine so a quick run to the trailer for tools and I was able to make another pass. This certainly wasn't my first time down a drag strip, but it was my first trip with this car set up with handling suspension and a 5 speed. Traction was an issue. I would just roll out and floor it. I would spin through just about all of first gear. I ended up running a 12.8 at 111. This car used to run 11.7 at that same speed years ago with a drag race type suspension and slicks.
It rained Friday night so everything was soaking wet Saturday morning. I also had a fairly large oil leak when I started the car. I found that the drag race not only kicked the belts off, but it also loosened the oil filter somehow. Thankfully it was an easy fix. I had also bought some new belts Friday night so I would have some spares if they decided to jump off again. Auto cross in the wet was fun, but I'd would have preferred the dry pavement. It ended up drying up a decent amount but not enough for me to push to get a better time than the previous day. I made two drag passes that afternoon that were exactly the same time, 12.8. Go figure, a car with handling suspension and a manual trans consistent enough to bracket race!
Sunday morning was damp again. They reset the cones for the speed stop challenge. This was a blast. Standing start, right turn (or left depending on the side you're on) and stop in a box without touching a cone. My recent brake upgrade proved to work very well and were very predictable. It was starting to drizzle so we loaded up early to get on the road. I didn't want to be soaking *** wet at a start of a 9 hour drive. It was a good decision because it started storming shortly after we pulled out of the track.
All in all, I had a great time and I'll be back next year. There's so much more to my experience, but I'm not writing all of it here. I'm hoping whoever organizes communications gets better going forward. They are hoping to grow it into the biggest mopar event in the states.
