13:00 - Initially everybody I can recall headed over to the slick track. After spending a few hot laps going wheel to wheel with other Probers, I guess the attendants there were starting to get motion sick because they kept cutting the power to the cars remotely. What a bunch of wusses. Unfortunately for that day, the machine that spits out lap Times was busted so I didn't get a chance to see how well I (or anyone else) did. On this race Richard showed himself to be an angry and violent man when behind the wheel of a go-kart. Don't get in his way. Scary stuff, I tell you.

From Front to Back: Eric San Miguel, Howard Chu, Richard Hall, and, uh, others.

Alex rapidly closes the gap on Damon as they approach the hairpin.

13:30 - For the second race, we headed over to the "turbo" track. Unlike the slick track where there is a lot of bumping going on, the turbo track is a bit more relaxed (if that's the word for it) and less hard on the body (i.e. less collisions). I had a rather mediocre experience with this track, but it was still pretty fun. I could hear the engine revving in my kart but it never got as high pitched as the other cars) (check the "short takes" below).

14:00 - Racing sure it thirsty work. At this point many of us broke off and did our own thing. The cute waitress was definitely overworked and most likely underpaid. It took forever to get our drinks.

14:30 - I ended up at the drag strip with several others ready to prove their prowess. Lots of noise, lots of speed are the two key ingredients. Each Time you pay for the drag strip, you get 3 runs, one after the other. (The cars are on a fixed track and brake automatically, but accelerate much faster than any supercar) Unfortunately, when our group came up to race, they had to change the fuel tanks. Doh! But for making us wait an extra few minutes, they gave us an extra run for a total of 4. The "trap ET" was completely unreliable and pointless, as the car I was in consistently turned in the best Times (around 3.5xx seconds) despite having other people in front of me. In any case, I came to the conclusion that they were just measuring reaction Time.

From near to far lane: Lino, [none], Damon, Howard, Jin, and Alex.

In the meanTime, a lot of the others were driving laps in Time trials. I didn't think about doing it. I guess I'm more for the direct competition instead of racing the clock.

Richard lines up to start racing.

Now I wouldn't be a "Time Traveler" if I didn't know something about Timing, right? I ended up winning two out of the four drags with at least one 2nd place finish as well(didn't check one of the runs). 1/4 mile drag racing, here I come!(NOT!)

I'm in the lead with my bananamobile. WooHoo!

14:45 - My final two races for the day were rounded out by going wheel to wheel against Robert, Jennifer, and Alex. On my first of the two races, I was in car #19, the same car I used on the first slick track run. The car is more powerful than the average field but it tended to oversteer under heavy throttle. I tried to use this to my advantage and it worked pretty well.

On the fourth race I was in car #41. This car was just average in power (. The good thing about it was that it handled very neutral. It was tough to upset this car. My foot never left the gas and I lifted only occasionally to avoid obstacles (i.e. stuck cars). This car was rather boring to drive, actually and it didn't take me long to pass everyone and even lapped some people.

At around 3:30 or so people started breaking up and leaving. We never had an opportunity to take a group picture with everyone and their cars, but there will always be the next meet. Here's to hoping that the turnout is bigger than this one.

Short Takes

I broke a fingernail in the first run on the slick track. It hurts now. :(

I swear that I had the slowest kart on the turbo track. During the entire race I had my right foot buried on the gas but Howard Chu kept coming up behind me and tapping me. Occasionally I would look back on a turn and I saw that there was a whole line of cars waiting to pass me. On one corner I pulled out wide and came to a stop, letting around 3 cars pass me with Howard leading. Several laps later I was once again disturbed by the gentle tapping of someone on my bumper. Again I resignedly pulled to the side and let two more cars pass. I tried to give chase, but my car absolutely refused to be pressured into decent performance and I kept slipping back. Very disappointing.

On the second slick track race, I totally creamed an innocent female driver when she oversteered and started gunning the kart. Unfortunately she got on the gas when she was almost facing me. I slammed into her at full throttle and got thrown violently into the harness. Had to shake my head for a moment to clear the fog.

On that same race, I got into it with Jennifer. In the latter half of the race I managed to make my way past everyone else on the field, until I got behind her. I managed to be a bit faster around the track than her and I kept tapping her rear bumper now and then, but she was an absolute beast on the track, knowing just how to keep me from passing her. When we hit traffic she quickly dodged a slower moving car and when i tried to chase her through traffic, the hole closed very quickly and I t-boned somebody. This caused me to lose a spot, which I eventually made up, but Jennifer's skillful (and might I say, rather aggressive) driving made sure that I would play second string on that race. Hats off to you, Jennifer.

As a side note to my last race, I suggested to Alex that he try #19. Unfortunately he discovered that the car was not underpowered as he spun at the very beginning of the race. I can't recall if I was responsible for this or not, but I like to think that I gave him a little tap. Realizing that he was falling behind, he decided to exact a little revenge on me. He actually slowed down so I could catch up to him so he could pull some trick maneuver which would send me into the wall. Too bad for our sneaky Alex, instead of trying to blow by him I just used my car to put him into a spin on a tight turn. That caused another pile up which brought a smile to my face. Sorry, Alex. :)

On that final race with just one or two laps to go, I looked back while on a turn and who did I see? Jennifer. Coming up and gunning for me. If she had two more laps, it would have been a duel to the death for one to get in front of the other. As it was, Time ran out and I gloated more than is probably healthy. (WooHoo!)

Out on the parking lot, it turns out that a family in a PGT actually parked in a line with the rest of us. In a flash I got out a notepad and pen and scribbled "SCPOC: Southern California Probe Owners Club" with the URL and placed it under his windshield.

I gave Lino a ride in the GT; he had never ridden one before. I made two passes out in front of Speed Zone at full throttle 1st through 3rd. On the drag back to where I started, I started slowing down to a reasonable speed. Right after my speedo indicated just a touch above the limit, a police car came around the corner. A very close call.

Until the next Time.