Street Car Takeover hosted a racing competition and car show at zMax Dragway in Concord, NC. They host racing competitions all over the country. For a cash payout on a quarter (1/4th) mile track was a great opportunity to see how Orange Julius (OJ) holds up in the brink of a summer heat wave and in classes of cars from all over the state, nearby states, or cross country. There were three classes I wanted to compete in: heavyweight, extreme street 10.0 index, and roll racing. However, not knowing how long of a break I would have in between classes may not be enough time for OJ to cool down and be in top tier shape for the next race. As I examined, trying to determine which race I should compete in, I saw that there was a women's class that Women & Wheels USA sponsored. I later found out that they travel with Street Car Takeover. I decided to only compete in that class so that I can meet the other women that also drag race. It was a great turn out with 19 women entering the class.Outside of heads up and roll racing, the classes were bracket racing. For those unfamiliar, and to my dissatisfaction, bracket racing is when you conduct time trials to gauge how long it will take your race car to drive down the track, and use that time for all competitive rounds. If it takes OJ 10.8 seconds, 10.7 seconds, and 10.76 seconds to go down the dragstrip the day of the competition, then I know that the fastest OJ will go is 10.7 seconds and the slowest about 10.8 seconds. When choosing my time, not only do I have to beat the person I'm competing against, I cannot go faster than the time I choose.
The idea behind it is to try to create a heads up race so that you and your competition will cross the finish line at the same time, even though you will not start at the same time. With this in mind, reaction time is important! On a .400 Pro Tree, it's easy to learn and pick up. So if I play it safe and choose 10.8 seconds and OJ crosses the finish line at 10.75 seconds, I break my time and am knocked out of the competition. During this day, OJ was running about 10.5 seconds consistently.
It was hot and humid during each day of the competition and because there were so many participants, many of the competitions ran into the night. The women's class was last in queue. I was able to make it to the quarter finals before I broke out by 0.02 seconds. However, I don't think I would've crossed the finish line before the other driver. Those with cars faster than 10.5 seconds were actually 10 seconds or faster cars. It's a gamble that many of the more experienced drivers understand about bracket racing; which I will be working to improve in 2023. You can watch the footage here on my YouTube Channel.
The competition was fierce! My competitors had some really fast cars! They were built, fast, and pretty. Many had racing teams that they were involved in. I was happy to have had the time and place to enter the women's class. I got a chance to befriend a lot of the competitors and talk about racing with other women.
