It Was One of Those Days - Pt XIV

Raven

Here - watch THIS!
Joined
May 24, 2001
As I was slowing from the return road to pull back into the pre-staging area, I saw the black/white striped Shelby pulling into the lanes at the same time. I wondered aloud if she would be in a lane near me.

I didn’t have to wonder long – as I pulled into lane 6 Mira wheeled the big Snake into lane 5 to my left. She had her windows down and just gave me a fleeting glance but that was about it. As we both slowed to a stop to take our place for the next run, I noted that we were side by side – this was going to be a good one. I had hoped to get up against Brandon but he was nowhere to be seen yet. I knew he had run in the next pair behind me but I had no clue how he might have done. I remembered that he had been up against Tom’s new 505hp Vette so he would have had his hands full since both cars were stock but the Vette was probably a good 400-500 lbs lighter, if not more.

About then, I heard Kelly’s voice from somewhere behind me and off to my right.

“Steve! Steve!”

Glancing over, I saw her and Brandon walking my way as they were threading themselves between the cars that were returning to line up again for another run.

“Did you see me run? Wasn’t it awesome!?”

The smile on her face said it all! A 13.19 for a stock GTO on DR’s wasn’t bad at all for her first try in it.

“That’s AWESOME, Kel! Good for YOU!”

I gave her a big hug as B stood there not looking nearly as happy.

“Ok, B – spill it. How’d you do against Tom’s Z-06?”

“Well, not bad I guess but he still took me. I had a LOT of trouble getting traction at the line on those stock tires. Actually, traction was non-existent. And Tom didn’t miss a shift THIS time – here; look…”

He handed me the slip – Brandon had a respectable 12.79 at 119.6.

“Not bad at ALL, Brandon! Not bad at ALL! Man, that’s great for your first time with the monster.”

He finally grinned.

“Yeah, I thought so too… But look at what Tom ripped off…”

Wow! A solid 12.15 at 121 mph! Needless to say, Tom did a great job this time. And in doing so, he shot Brandon down on his first trip to the track. I didn’t want to say it in so many words, but I had a feeling that Tom’s Z-oh-SICK was going to be doing that all night long to Brandon’s stock Snake – in the event they were paired again.

“Not bad Brandon. Man - and he’s got you by a few hundred pounds... Of course, he’s still learning his car too so maybe you guys can get another run in against each other tonight.”

Kelly just stood there beaming, her yellow GTO a couple of lanes to my left, just sitting there and already drawing a crowd around it. You just can’t argue with the fact that the Yellow Jacket GTO is one striking machine.

Just then, both Kel and B noticed who was to my left – the Shelby. I hadn’t noticed but Mira had gotten out of her car and was leaning against the driver’s door talking to none other than Bill Reynolds. I didn’t see the SRT-8 anywhere nearby but seeing that it had run early on, we guessed it must be up ahead somewhere if it was in fact in the lanes.

With all the track noise and the announcer’s PA blaring, we couldn’t hear what Mira and Bill were talking about but it kind of looked like they were also being careful to NOT be overheard – Bill was leaning in closely to Mira, perhaps just to hear her over the din of the track or perhaps to ensure they didn’t have to talk too loudly.

Brandon broke the brief silence of our ‘trying-not-to-stare’ stares…

“Any guess what they’re being all hush-hush about, Steve?” Actually, it DID look like they were whispering to each other – or at least attempting to…

“I’m not sure B… maybe she’s asking for clues on how to race the GN?”

We all got a good laugh at that one. From the way Mira was acting, I didn’t think she seemed to care who was opposite the GT500 at this point in the evening.

About this time, the lanes began moving again so we all got back into our cars. Brandon was a couple of cars back behind me. He had said he was going to make at least one more pass on the stock F1’s but he didn’t hold out much hope. What he WAS hoping for was a nice 11-second pass on the stockers but he didn’t seem to think he was going to be able to pull it off. Time would tell….

Kelly looked to be going up against a mid-80’s looking light blue Malibu that sounded like it had a healthy big block in it. Those cars seem to be gaining popularity around the tracks from what we’ve seen – even the G-body Oldsmobile’s are beginning to sprout up here and there with warmed over 350’s to loaded up blown and Nitroused motors of other sizes. And the neat thing is that you don’t always see old people (as in, my age) driving them – they seem to have really gained some attention from the young crowd. At least everyone that isn’t driving a Camaro or a Mustang anyways…

In minutes we were back to the front of the line, just waiting our turn to be waved out onto the track. Mira was still to my left and I had to admit to myself that her Shelby sounded downright wicked. I had a chance to look over her rear tires closer – definitely slicks on black wheels of some brand and I was pretty sure they were aluminums. The exhaust sounded perhaps a bit throatier than stock but I wasn’t sure. The “NO TIME” shoe polish was still on the rear quarter-glass. With my GN having just run a 10.92, I knew I was about to see what her car was capable of. I had no way of knowing if it was stock under the hood but given the fact that she had decimated Marty’s potent Mustang earlier – that had ran an 11.40 ET – I knew that I was going to have my own hands full…

I watched Kelly pull on through with the Malibu right behind her. In just a few moments, the track official began to wave for Mira to wheel her Shelby in with me right behind its wide duck-tail spoiler and gleaming white stripes. There was no disputing that this was a beautiful car – it looked a little large and wide (especially in comparison to the Mustangs its “retro” look was designed to emulate) but in spite of that, it had a beauty of its own with a sinister attitude that pretty much said, “Try me…”.

Looking at the “SHELBY” logo on the upper left side of the rear as I followed her out and onto the apron, I wondered why they even bothered putting Carroll’s name on it. Given, he had aided some in the development but still, the car was NOT built by him or at his own performance center where the new Shelby GT Mustangs were being built as were his fabled GT350’s and GT500’s from the late ‘60’s and early ‘70’s. To me, unless it has the heart and soul of Shelby development, it just isn’t a Shelby… but hey, I digress… let’s get back racing…

I got to see Kelly run against the Malibu – but it really wasn’t much of a race. The Malibu ran a VERY impressive 11.40-something to another fairly consistent – but still a new personal best – 13.05 for Kelly’s goat. I knew she had to be happy with that. I wasn’t sure when B was going to be up but my guess was that it would be a little bit because he was at least 2 rows of cars behind Kel and me.

The big Mustang got in the water box just before me and began her burnout. In a split second, she had the slicks boiling with billowing clouds of white smoke rolling from out of the wheel wells. My GN’s burnout was a little less spectacular - but given that I was running Drag Radials, I wasn’t ashamed of it by any means (as burnouts go). But Mira’s would have impressed even John Force – and I really didn’t think that she was using a line-lock! She looked to be doing a second-gear warm-up and just revved it and then dumped the clutch while heel-toeing the brake/go-pedals. Even I had to agree – the girl can definitely handle a car at the strip.

The Shelby motored to the pre-stage beam… I allowed the GN to follow in nearly at the same time… then, I pulled on into the “Staged” beam and both sets of ambers were now lit on my side of the tree (the left side of the track)…

Mira seemed to be playing a waiting game… she sat there for several seconds before pulling into the “Staged” beam, illuminating both yellow bulbs on her side. I had already locked the trans brake, reset the Scanmaster, etc… but I hadn’t began to build boost, just in the event she might play such a game and hope for me to load or heat-soak the car prematurely… however, I wasn’t born yesterday…

As soon as I saw her light the second bulb, my foot began to roll into the accelerator… as the tree began to drop, the boost began to rise dramatically, the LC2 straining hard against the converter…

2psi… 4psi… 6psi… 8psi… I was going to let it all hang out this time… I knew I would need every trick the Buick had in it to take the black Shelby and a higher boost launch (IF the DR’s would hold it) was going to be needed…

By the time the AutoMeter Pro-Comp boost gauge read 8psi, the third amber was just beginning to come on… for me, time seems to slow down when the tree begins to drop… it’s as if things go into slow motion and I’m sort of in a Twilight-Zone movie where you hear voices speaking in a very slow rumbly tone that you can barely discern, where you a clock’s “Tick” seems to last for 2-3 seconds, where light bulbs can almost be heard to “CLICK” on or off… I think that might be because of the intense concentration I try to bring to the track but either way, it can be pretty weird when you think about it…

As soon as I saw/’heard’ the third amber begin to light, I released the transbrake… in my mind’s eye, I could see the GT500’s rear wheels begin to sl-o-o-o-o-ly rotate forward, wrinkling the slick’s sidewalls as they dig in hard for traction… I felt the nose of the Buick lurch HARD upward just a bit and prayed that the DR’s wouldn’t lose their bite…

We launched as if both cars were welded together… since Mira had requested “NO TIME” I wouldn’t find out what her RT was but I had no doubt they were essentially identical. She gave me no quarter at the line…

I heard the screaming hiss of the turbo… the howl of the 5.4’s blower also split the air in slow-motion fashion… I heard Mira power shift the 6-speed like a pro, not missing a beat and not bouncing the rev-limiter… I snicked each shift flawlessly and still at the 660 mark – which I later saw had been passed by the GN in just under 7 seconds - we were dead even it felt… I didn’t dare look right in the event I would lose focus, miss a shift point… or even jinx the race…

I wanted – no, I HAD – to beat this Shelby… for some odd reason; it seemed to be a matter of pride...

By the 1000’ mark – a scant 2 seconds later according to the slip that I picked up later – it still felt interminably close…

I didn’t look over… I kept the pedal matted, watching the boost gauge peg itself at a robust 26psi, wavering only slightly with each shift as the engine loading changed with the gearing… possibly a little more than 26 psi – I just couldn’t focus on the gauge for any good length of time… the end of the track was coming up in a blur

The exhaust of the 3.8 SFI SCREAMED as the compressed gases were hurtled out into the atmosphere in a near deafening roar in spite of the quieting effect of the big turbo under the hood… to my right, the Shelby wasn’t even any more… Mira was NAILING each shift, the sound of the blown V8 sounding sinfully wicked as she unloaded the drive train just enough to bang each next higher gear… each shift caused the big Pony to jerk hard as well over 500 lb/ft of torque was being unleashed mercilessly through the driveline…

She drove a flawless race…

The black Buick also performed flawlessly… the time slip would later prove that it had ran a new best time for the combo that was installed in the car that day…

In less than two seconds, I crossed the finish line and let off the pedal… time instantaneously seemed to become real once more, the slow-motion effect brought on by the intense concentration was gone… noises were not slowed any longer; the fact that I was well over 120 mph was now apparent as I tried to slow the 3600lb projectile that was racing unfettered for the sand traps if I didn’t get it whoa’d….

It was at that very precise moment that I crossed the finish line - the single most important part of the run after the launch; the time of the race that determines who tastes the sweet taste of victory or the bitter agony of defeat – that I knew what had happened…

I couldn’t hear the announcer’s near-screams into the microphone… I didn’t hear him yell the time or mph I had just ran…

I couldn’t see the race from the vantage point of the on-track and above track camera’s that are on during a big event - but not this T&T night…

Nor could I see some fans who braved standing at the finish line – “Because that’s what REALLY matters, you know…” – wave in joyful sharing of the spoils of victory for one car or those who simply shook their head in an “I can’t believe what I just saw…” sort of way..

But I COULD see one thing… one very, very important detail just as I broke my intense focus on the race crossing the finish line…

*

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*
I could clearly see that Mira was ahead of me…


By at least a car length… the black Shelby had beaten me. And the worst part of all?

*

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I heard the engine noise from Mira’s Snake change/drop just before we crossed the line… She had let off before crossing the stripe… She had lifted.

As I followed her into the turnout area and onto the return road, I tried to think if I had done anything wrong… I couldn’t.

The simple fact was that I had been beaten… beaten down by new technology, brute strength, and by a woman who can flat-out drive a car like very few men I know…

As I pulled up to get the time slip showing I had ran a 10.83, even the official who handed me the yellow paper had a look on his face of what seemed like disbelief…

“Man, I never thought I would see your Buick lose to a Mustang… Your car is awesome dude but that Shelby is wicked, isn’t it?”

He wasn’t being flippant. He wasn’t being a smartass. He was being honest…

The black and white striped Shelby GT500 and its driver definitely proved without a doubt at that very moment that they were serious players….

Funny, isn’t it? It’s funny that, when you win a big race, the drive down the return road is fun; full of the sweet smells and sounds of victory… even the sky seems a little bluer, the clouds a little fluffier, the air a little cooler – when you win…

But when you lose? It’s quiet… other than the sound of your car, of the air whistling by, of the pavement beneath the wide tires… it’s quiet….

No blue sky… no fluffy clouds...

No cool air…

And you realize just how INTENSE you were during the pre-race, during the burnout, during the staging, during the launch…

During the race…

But then – the finish line comes back up in your mind’s eye… you replay each millisecond of the run, searching for an answer that never really comes…

Because, in the end – you simply lost to a faster car, possibly to a better driver…

And my friend, that is a BITTER pill for me to swallow…

I don’t know about you – but I HATE to lose… to anyone. Yeah, I know all about the “There’s always someone faster, someone quicker, someone who is a better driver” saying.

But I even hate THAT.

Don’t get me wrong – I won’t pick on a 9 second terror; I know what my car can do in its given state of tune. But I was SURE – damned sure – that I could take the black Shelby.

I didn’t… I lost…

And that drive back up the return road was one of the longest drives of my life… the yellow slip flapping gently in the breeze as it rested still in my left hand, my elbow leaning out the open window and the words of the track official that I had just taken the slip from still ringing in my ears…

“Man, I never thought I would see your Buick lose to a Mustang, Steve… Your car is awesome dude but that Shelby is wicked, isn’t it?... isn’t it?... isn’t it?...”

Isn’t it?

Isn’t it?

And worse yet, I could still hear Mira lift – just ever so much – right before we crossed the line.

Why was that ‘worse yet’?

Because I KNEW that she would have beaten me by more than she did…

And - for all I knew, her Shelby wasn’t a whole lot more than stock… I guess that was the worst part of all… what WAS it that just beat me?

It wouldn’t take long to find out…


To be continued…
 
See I said you would lose .... Very good store, but really you had to lose to justify the story going on, and you putting the stage 2 in hehehe, I cant wait for the next few chapters of this story.
 
See I said you would lose .... Very good store, but really you had to lose to justify the story going on, and you putting the stage 2 in hehehe, I cant wait for the next few chapters of this story.

Ah... so you're pretty sure how this is gonna play out, huh? Your idea is much too predictable. :D

I think you're going to be surprised... :cool:
 
This story is way to addicting.


Man your telling me! I got in late last night after 1 in the morning. Checked out the board and there were 10 people viewing the Kill/Fish stories. I'd be willing to venture most were waiting on the next chapter:biggrin:
 
We at team-dsm.com are going crazy waiting for each installation of this story!!

Best story I've ever read. I can't believe you aren't a published #1 seller already!
 
Thanks for all the nice comments and for your support of the story! I'm glad you're all enjoying reading it because I definitely enjoy writing it.

I hope to get a couple more chapters up this week so keep checking back.

There will be one more chapter of events at the track (this time) and then things will shift again... more surprises to come...

:cool:
 
Tommorrow is meet the author day? I'm in muskogee, Ok but will be going to Findley, Oh tomorrow. Kinda close to ya maybe I can stop by and go for a ride in your GN.
 
Tommorrow is meet the author day? I'm in muskogee, Ok but will be going to Findley, Oh tomorrow. Kinda close to ya maybe I can stop by and go for a ride in your GN.

I live near Lima which is about 45 minutes south of Findlay. I will be working tomorrow until ~2:00 pm but if you want, send me a PM with your cell number and perhaps we can hook up. I've got a window in the afternoon of some free time (until ~5pm) so maybe it could happen.
 
That is what makes you such an excellent writer.

You cant win them all, then it would be too predictable. Another great story, but I think that Need Boost is right, the stage II will be going back in. And if not then the GSX will be coming out with ooooh's and ahhhh's and what the F is that, people just wondering and glaring.
If you think about it...... What show, author, or radio show has an interactive audience. This is great because you could be thinking one way and all of a sudden because the audience knows or is expecting one thing, WHOOOOPs we have been thrown for a loop.
 
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