So what the heck happened, you ask? Ok, here's the rundown from my perspective. And of course, I'll include some short takes unrelated to the actual meet but still worth noting as a footnote to this page. Also, I will not delete the instructions/directions for going to Carlsbad and racing. Why not? Because I intend to go very soon again and I hope some of you may show. It's not very fun lining up your car against a 560 cubic inch pro street car with 15 inch slicks and fogging for 9 second ETs. Well, it CAN be fun if you're into that sort of lopsided nonsense.
09:30 - For starters, the plan was to meet up with several people at our usual caravan meeting location in the city of Orange next to the 55 freeway. The intention was to meet there with Robert, Michael, and Damon. At the last minute Michael let me know that he had to go into work in the morning and wouldn't be able to make the caravan but he would meet us at Carlsbad. Damon let me know that he would be partying on Friday evening and that he might not show for the caravan. Robert did end up showing with Jennifer. Apparently he had seen a white PGT drive onto the freeway and wondered if he had missed the caravan. After waiting around for a bit, we finally took off for Carlsbad.
The weather seemed to be cooperating but things changed quickly. While driving through Irvine, some heavy moisture (My passenger liked to say "it's starting to get pretty humid") started streaking the windshield. Undaunted, the two car caravan pressed forward. At some points in the trip the "misting" was heavy enough to obscure vision considerably. Finally at one point it was a downright 100% humidity condition as the "mist" droplets were heavy enough to be heard very loudly on the windshield. But strangely only for about a 1/2 mile stretch of road. Then it stopped completely and the rest of the 10 miles or so to Carlsbad were uneventful.
10:50 - We showed up at the designated meet point a few minutes early. That's where we ran into new member Andrew Kennedy(?) in his white 93 PGT, the same car that Robert had seen get on the freeway. After a bit of talking, we waited until about 11:30 before heading off to get some food. We came back at around 12:30 and parked at the meet spot again.
13:00 - We drove to the raceway to line up our cars with the others going into the drag strip. There we spotted Alex with his friend Ken waiting in line. After exchanging greetings we all drove into the raceway.
After a few more minutes of chatting and trying on the two helmets that I managed to requisition for this outing (Alex was unable to come up with one) I drove my car up to the drag queue and lined up. The intention was to go heads up against Andrew in his stock PGT for the first run. I was fourth in line to get going and they were just waiting for the ambulance to show up to start the runs. I didn't even get a second glance as the inspector was more inclined to look at the cars with roll cages and parachutes.
13:30 - The SCPOC's phearlezz leaderrr made his appearance in his 97 PGT. We were now waiting for the track to dry some more before races could begin. I was assigned #8 written with white shoe polish in big letters on my front and rear glass. I was fourth in line behind a Mustang Cobra and two Cobra R's. I set the front Tokico Illuminas to "3" and left the rears at "5." I was good to go. The track wasn't.
14:14 - The track announcer came on the microphone. "It's starting to rain. Everyone go home." And that was it. Alex headed to San Diego and Andrew, Chris, and myself caravanned back to Orange County. Yes, Chris is from San Diego, but he wanted to visit the local sights.
Short Takes
This is the second Time (out of two attempts) that Carlsbad has been a failed attempt due to rain.
Everyone wish Damon good luck. His white PGT was in a car accident not too long ago, which is why he would have shown up in a Honda to go to Carlsbad. What a trooper. He didn't make the caravan start, but he said that as he got ready to go to Carlsbad, it was raining too much so he turned around.
Michael was in a similar situation. After driving around halfway to Carlsbad he called it quits due to the rain. Not that I blame him.
Robert showed up for the caravan and hung around long enough to talk to Alex at the lineup but stated that he wouldn't actually drag race two two reasons. 1) He had to be at a party at 2pm in Temecula, about half an hour from Carlsbad. 2) He was having steering problems. I tried to point out that drag racing didn't require much steering and that he could be fashionably late to his party, but frankly he would have been rained out anyway. In any case, he said that he was showing up only to maintain his perfect meet attendance record. What a clown.
When lining up on the side of the road to go into Carlsbad, I flipped a quick u-turn on the street behind some cars. I didn't realize that a 20oz beverage was sitting in the regular 1993 Probe cupholder position. It was also one of those "thin at the bottom" cups to fit better in cup holders. The 95s and later (and maybe the 94s) have a modified cup holder that actually flips out and holds a cup well but this part broke off on my car. So combined with a lousy cup holder and a u-turn, the cup tumbled onto the passenger seat. And burst open. The result? A 10 ounce lake of pepsi on my passenger seat. With a passenger sitting. It was a total mess and I had one drenched passenger. As it is now I'll be looking for some Resolve carpet cleaner to get the stains out.
Speaking of things breaking, I broke the remote trunk latch handle on my car this particular morning. It snapped right off and I was left lifting up on a thin metal arm. An omen of worse things to come, I suppose.
Alex didn't bring his PGT because of car problems. Instead, he was driving his dad's red GTI VR6. His dad told him he could borrow the car as long as he didn't drag race it. I'm sure Alex intended to heed his dad's advice as he filled out the racing entry form. But mother nature would have none of it and decided to make sure that Alex complied with his father's request by raining out the race track. I had a feeling the rain was Alex's fault...
During the entire drive down to Carlsbad I didn't wipe my windows at all. Why not? Because I felt that to wipe the windows would be to acknowledge that the "mist" was heavy and that there would be no race. Call it a case of denial but I didn't wipe (hmm... sounds like a hygiene problem...). On the way down Robert wiped his windows. Bah. He wasn't racing on that day anyway. When the announcer told everyone to go home the first thing I did was start my car and then wipe the windows in defeat.
Carlsbad information
Where?
Carlsbad drag strip in Carlsbad, California. If you look at the map below, you'll see a red X on the map. This is a business park that's closed on Saturday. This is a great gathering point because directly in front of the drag strip's gates really sucks the big one to wait for somebody. I will elaborate more later.
Be Very Mindful of the directions below! If you notice, there is a small side street turnoff before the signal. The signal is just another 50 yards or so past that first minor street. Do not turn into that street before the signal. We had some confusion on December the 19th and we didn't meet with two members before actually going into the Raceway.
When?
Carlsbad does not open until 1pm. I repeat, doesn't open until 1pm. If you want to show up at 1pm, just drive directly to the main gates and go on in.
I for one would like to get together before that Time, say, 11am. Why? It's an opportunity to meet beforehand, get everyone together and do some talking before racing. It's just easier to meet the group ahead of Time first instead of trying to play catch up at a later hour. I'll use the example of Kyle Susswain and how we didn't know he was around and didn't know who to look for. Fortunately Michael Mulgrew did see him before so that was the only way that we ran into him that day. It could have really sucked for someone to show up and not meet the rest of the club. Anyway, show up at 11am, we'll go somewhere and get something to eat and talk. Otherwise, if you're late, you can circle around and look for a group of Probes, probably at the location marked B on the map. Of course, once it's around 12:30pm I suspect we'll all make our way back to the big red X below again before heading off to the track.
If you have any other questions, email me.
This is the map of the immediate area. (Yeah Jin, no kidding!)
The black A is where you can get gasoline (Arco?) or a stop at a Carl's Jr. for the trip back home. It's the same Carl's Jr. where John, Alex, and myself spent four hours talking smack on the 12th. Yeah, you heard right, we sat for four hours in there. Funny thing about sitting for four hours, I got hungry on my drive back home. There's also a Jiffy Lube there if you're inclined to get a quick oil change to maximize your chances at the 1/4 mile.
It's about 8 miles from the freeway to the drag strip. About halfway there there's another gas station you could stop at if you really needed to.
The black Bs represent a small shopping area with various conveniences. There's a bank, a Sav-On(I think), Subway, pizza, chinese food, Mobil gas, etc... Stuff. It's just down the road about a mile or two from the drag strip entrance.
What do I need to bring?
Well I'm glad you asked that question. Here's the breakdown:
If you do not plan to drag race, bring enough to cover the admission fee of 10 dollars per person.
If you definitely plan to drag race, then the requirements are a bit stiffer, so pay attention and make a checklist.
1. Still 10 dollars per person, but an extra 10 dollars for the car you're going to race. Multiple drivers can drag race a single car.
2. Make sure your car is in good working order. No fluid leaks, no obvious/serious damage, etc. Just make sure it's running right.
3. Wear pants! Long legged pants. No shorts of any kind allowed for racers.
4. Bring something with long sleeves like a jacket or a shirt. They did not specifically require this, but I would be careful and bring something just in case. On the 19th it was quite cold and brisk so a jacket was absolutely essential unless you're an eskimo.
5. Clean your car's insides. You don't want that Hansen cassette single to fly across your dashboard and MmmBop you on the nose. They won't want it either, so either leave it out or make sure you can stow away anything into a secure place. Even if you can't, there should be enough members of the club there to watch your gear, but just make it convenient.
6. If you have one, bring a helmet. You cannot run if you don't have a helmet. On the 19th I managed to bring two helmets. You don't have to have a helmet if you can share with others, but you have to be wearing one when you're lined up to race. 4 helmets is probably a good number for a group of people.