Our season started at the end of March for the Mopars at the Strip race in Las Vegas. We ran a personal best of 9.68 @ 147 mph and qualified #1 by over a 3 second margin. After Vegas, we headed to Denver to a test and tune session, to get prepared for Mopars at Thunder Mountain race and to prove that we could run a 9 second pass at altitude, something everyone said we wouldn't be able to do. We ran a 9.90 @ 145 mph with a density altitude of 8350 feet and without wheelie bars!
Next, we were off to Pierre, SD to visit a new track. It was a fun experience, but unfortunately we only got one chance at a very cold track before having to put the car back on the trailer due to weather. At the end of May, we went to Mopars at Thunder Mountain in Denver and once again, put down another 9 second pass at altitude! We also qualified #1 that weekend.
Two weekends later, we were back in Denver for Street Tuner Mayhem. It was our very first heads up event where we qualified #2 with a 10.48. We took home the win over racers Sam Park, and the PFC Hatch of Max Besserer, with a 10.04.
After a weekend of bracket racing Pro class in Douglas, WY, we decided to change to a different turbo. Then we headed out to Boise, ID for Import Summer Jam. It was our second heads up event and we won with a 9.94 @ 144 mph against Jake Montgomery aka "Evil Eagle". We were running 15 psi. less boost that weekend than we had run with the old turbo, and ran just as fast with some very slow 60 foot times.
Next up, was Import Face Off in Pueblo, CO where we blew the motor in qualifying. We then took a month off and put the car back together. We had planned to have the car in Billings for Labor Day weekend, but found out there was an Import Face Off event in Kansas City, Missouri that same weekend. The Friday before the race, we decided we were going to Kansas City. We worked all day Saturday, left at 6 p.m., and drove all night, rolling in with just enough time to get a tech inspection and race. We were trying to break the motor in easy and take home a win, but sometimes you can't have both.
It was back to Douglas for a tuning session to get prepared for Denver's World Tuner Challenge, where we discovered the limits of our oiling system. We broke the oil pump gear in two and spun a bearing.
We towed 20,000 miles this season to race, spent way more money than we planned to, but had way more fun than we have ever had! Heads up racing really ruined bracket racing for us. It is more fun to lose in a heads up event than to win in a bracket race!
Some good sponsors, lots of sleepless nights and driving all night to race have made our Neon the 3rd fastest Neon in the nation. Only two other Neons have ever been faster, both being Hot Rod Class cars and backed by major shops.
But it's not over yet, we still may be back together for a late season Import Face Off event in Texas, or even a race in California. We have tried to do a California race every year in December, which has always been fun for us.
Here's a video of our win at Street Tuner Mayhem in Denver.
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=B8iVLfrDb54More videos can be found at my website:
www.tenthelementracing.com