How many cars will be in the 9's & 10's

Agreed. The best runs are going to happen early spring or late fall. Both are short periods of time compared to the rest of the year. Especially in the Midwest.

Kurt K said:

Generally, most of us from the St Louis are run our bests at the Shootout because the conditions are the best there. Now that Gateway has closed, I don't expect that to change. I will say that I did run my best in Clay City, KY last year after the Shootout, but I think that was dumb luck that the weather cooperated in early November.

Dave & I hit the track numerous times last year and most of the time, the weather sucked. If we lived on either coast, setting personal bests at other track would be more likely.

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Funny I remember other people saying exactly the same thing back when David ran 10.65 in his 91 in St. Louis, only that time it was the east coast complaining about the -1500ft DA that they "never get" on the east coast.

I don't think anyone has the lock on ideal conditions. The midwest is quite capable of some really low humidity, high pressure systems at different times of the year.

What you said in your post above exemplifies what I tried to point out above. You ran a personal best in Clay city, and you don't think that was even due to planning on your part. I'm not saying that people shouldn't run their best at the Shootout, I said that the frequency of people doing so is a reflection of lack of preparation/practice at other times/places during the year.

Remember, this is not a dig at SC owners in general. Instead it is a somewhat factual statement about the reality of most SC owners - they are not dedicated to maximizing their car combinations. Keep in mind that these statements are being presented in a thread about 9-10 second SC's, not 11-12 second SC's. If you want to run 9-10's then its going to take a higher level of commitment than what most people are making.

If you want to run 9-10's then its going to take a higher level of commitment than what most people are making.

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You have to be completly irrational and maybe a little bit crazy, to even think about building a 9 second SC. To actually do it, moves you way up on the crazy scale.

David

Well I've ran at St Louis several times back in the early 2000's (NMRA and World Ford Challenge) and each time I ran bests there. The weather at the shootout this year was excellent and judging by the performances there of some of our local cars, with their set ups they ran new bests that day. So you can kick that theory out the window. Chris, Keith, Chad and Jennifer can attest to that. They also had run quite a bit all season long.

You do catch days where the air is ideal and track conditions great with traction and so on. Yes, if you can catch a day like Chris had last fall at MIR those are about the optimum you can run in period.

Unfortunately I've not been able to get mine on the track in such conditions prior to the engine failure. But I expect my time will come.

For whatever reason, Kilkare is about 1/10 or so quicker than Mason Dixon here in similiar conditions for whatever reason. I have had the truck on both tracks. I also know that Cecil and MIR areconsistantly quicker in the same conditions as Mason Dixon, and Rockingham NC is about the same as those two.

But its an interesting conversation.

Dave is right though. More seat time makes everyone better when they get the cars in the right conditions to run numbers, and thats a fact.

David Neibert said:

You have to be completly irrational and maybe a little bit crazy, to even think about building a 9 second SC. To actually do it, moves you way up on the crazy scale.

David

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I don't think so. Your 91 is clearly on the verge of a 10 second pass and your 93 is on the verge of a 9 second pass. Nothing about either car is irrational or crazy. Both are drivable street cars.

That you might have spent more money on either of them than your neighbors might consider rational isn't relevant. Someone who spends a lot of money at the country club is irrational in my opinion.... The important thing is that you enjoy it and you balance things out. A 10 second street SC seemed absurd 10 years ago, but today it's not so crazy.

XR7 Dave said:

I don't think so. Your 91 is clearly on the verge of a 10 second pass and your 93 is on the verge of a 9 second pass. Nothing about either car is irrational or crazy. Both are drivable street cars.

That you might have spent more money on either of them than your neighbors might consider rational isn't relevant. Someone who spends a lot of money at the country club is irrational in my opinion.... The important thing is that you enjoy it and you balance things out. A 10 second street SC seemed absurd 10 years ago, but today it's not so crazy.

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The cars aren't crazy or irrational, their great. What you call "higher level of commitment" I call being "crazy" about these cars.

David