Beretta.net

Ok, I'm trying to see the potential interest this year for a dragway event. It's been pretty minimal in the past years so before we invest time into setting up categories or trophies I think we should see who's interested in running.

Track this year is a 1/8th mile Northern Michigan Dragway. This is what they have on their schedule, so you can anticipate a decent track prep, it's not just a test/tune night.

Night Moves. Pro Tree, Heads Up Time Trials, Fun Drags, Grudge Racing and Eliminations (+ Gamblers Bracket Race & Jr. Dragster). Pro $$ - 6.00, 6.50, 7.00, 7.50 & 8.00 ($20 entry); Pro Trophy - 8.00, 9.00, 10.00, 11.00, 12.00 (driver FREE with Paid Pit Pass). (Weekend Pit Pass $20) Pit Pass $10; child 8-13 $5. Time Trials 7/ Race 9 pm

Looks like the price is $10 for the one night, and I'm guessing they could set something up for us.

Saturday May 26, Fridays June 22, July 6, August 24 and Saturday September 1

Time Trials begin at 7:00 pm; Eliminations at 9:00
Adult Pit Pass $10; Children (8-13) $5

Test & Tune Available During Time Trials At Any Event

- Pro Tree, Heads-Up -
Time Trials, Fun Drags, Grudge Racing and Eliminations
followed by Gamblers & Jr. Dragster Bracket Race

$$ PRO $$
6:00, 6:50, 7:00, 7:50 & 8:00 Classes
- Dragster/ altered/ door car/ pickup truck/ motorcycle -
$20 entry; $10 re-entry with a 1st or 2nd round loss
Classes separated; Class Winners Handicapped for overall Winner
Payouts based on the amount of entries, third round winners collect

Trophy Classes Open to All Entries
- with paid $10 pit pass admission -

Pro Trophy
8:00, 9:00, 10.00, 11.00 & 12.00 Classes
Driver Free w/ Paid Pit Pass; $10 re-entry with a 1st or 2nd round loss
- No Delay Boxes or Transbrakes; Slicks, Headers, Nitrous Okay -


Win Trophy (R-Up if 10 entries)

**Re-entry is permitted with a 1st or 2nd round loss;
No Double Entries Permitted!!
A driver may enter more than one vehicle, but not the same vehicle twice.
Separate drivers may enter the same vehicle.

So who is interested in this year in having some sort of 1/8th mile event/competition. May not be able to do a small elimination with our group depending on how busy they are, but if we can't get that setup then we can just work off of fastest times for setups.

This is what we did in 2010 for classes 2011 we didn't have any formal stuff setup IIRC...

Stock Classes:

N/A Quad 4

N/A '87 -'93 2.8/3.1V6

N/A '94 -'96 3100 V6

*Any transaxle allowed. WAI/CAI allowed. Full exhaust. Full interior. Street tires.
*Must be street legal and licensed.
*All decisions as to eligibility will be at the discretion of the Event Director.

If you have any questions I suggest you ask beforehand.

Modified Classes:

N/A Inline 4 cylinder

N/A V6

*ANY modification allowed. Engine swaps allowed. Any transaxle. Slicks allowed. Must be original OEM drivetrain configuration (FWD).

Power Adder Class:

Inline 4 and V6 engines only.

Any FWD transaxle.

Any engine modification allowed.

Nitrous Oxide, Turbos, Blowers OK.

Slicks OK.

Interior must include two bucket seats.

Helmets Required, as well as fire jacket possibly. (Section 1A, Page 65 of the 2009 NHRA Rulebook states, "10.00 second (6.40 1/8 mile) and slower cars with aftermarket/non-OEM turbochargers, superchargers or Nitrous Oxide injection require a jacket meeting SFI 3.2/1 or better" I dont know if this is a NHRA rules or IHRA rules track, it's not listed on their website, Chris maybe you can check on that.)

ALL CARS in all classes are subject to Northern Michigan Dragway technical inspection and the local track rules and regulations.

If you have any questions ASK! In this thread so everyone can see them and the answers.

You didn't mention how far the drag strip is from the hotel. The drive last year kinda sucked, which i think kept a lot of the group from going.

According to mapquest... the dragway ia 49 mins / 36.23 miles away from the hotel.

People want a Bfest out west and they complain about how long it takes to get places when its in the central states...

Honestly, its not as bad as some years we have had. Plus the trip has plenty of scenery, so you shouldn't be bored. lol

I'm going this year, I have never made the effort before.

Looks pretty good. I do have a couple of questions/comments.

1. I would like a little more detail on the "Must be original OEM drivetrain configuration (FWD)" part.
Any oem configuration that was in a beretta, gm, or any car in general?

2. The modified class does not mention any interior requirements but the others do.

3. I think the power adder class should include any V8. The two bucket seats would eliminate the possibility of any pro drag cars in the class.

4. Maybe add an inline 4 for the stock category. Anything that is not a q4 is likely to lose in the modified class and would probably fall into the stock class. Most people are not going to do anything to a 2.2 besides an intake and exhaust performance wise.


That is all I have for now. Granted some of the scenarios are unlikely but the cars do exist. Who knows who might show up.

You make a good point Pat, I pulled these rules/categories from Eric's 2010 post and edited them for the location so I can definitely modify them to fit better, but I'd like to see some replies from those who may bring these cars, rather than creating a bunch of classes and having trophies for them and then never having someone compete in the class.

Rex 2.0 wrote:4. Maybe add an inline 4 for the stock category. Anything that is not a q4 is likely to lose in the modified class and would probably fall into the stock class. Most people are not going to do anything to a 2.2 besides an intake and exhaust performance wise.

It's similar to last year with the track distance, No one seemed interested so we just scrapped the whole trophy idea all together and did verbal recognition only, and with this track being 45min away I'm afraid we are going to get the same responce... a lot of variations may show up at the event but its starting to look like very few want to drag race their car as well as drive 45min to go to a track.

Rex 2.0 wrote:1. I would like a little more detail on the "Must be original OEM drivetrain configuration (FWD)" part.
Any oem configuration that was in a beretta, gm, or any car in general?

It simply means it must be OEM orientation, aka FWD... so Barry for instance would not qualify if he had is car there since its a RWD conversion.

Rex 2.0 wrote:2. The modified class does not mention any interior requirements but the others do.

Any Modification means any, aka stripped interior if you really need to do that to get a fast time

Rex 2.0 wrote:3. I think the power adder class should include any V8. The two bucket seats would eliminate the possibility of any pro drag cars in the class.

If we have a V8 show up then we will probably let it run in the power adder group if it is a power adder.. if not unfortunately they would really have no one to compete against fairly.... If I get a guarantee that someone is bringing a V8 Beretta then I will do something for them.

The way its setup now puts us at 6 or 7 trophies which I think is ok, but if we have 7-10 people interested in going then obviously we are going to trim down the groups or simply eliminate them and just do fast time recognition as stated above.

I don't think they are going to let us do elimination's like they did at Beaver Creak for NE 2010. Thats more of a question for Kyle since he's been in contact with them so far. I'm thinking it's going to just be us keeping track of who's doing what times and what category they fall into during the test/tune times we get.

Man 1/8th mile wont enable many to pop an engine ... wheres the fun in that?

The outskirts of Grand Rapids would have offered the chance to use the US 131 Motorsports racetrack, full 1/4 mile facility.

I still think we can have fun at the 1/8 mile. I'm even making the effort to go this year. Who knows, maybe I won't be the worst, but it will be the first time I have ever done one.

I'm bummed it's an 1/8th mile, but it is what it is... Anything that's 1/4 would probably be way too far for anyone to want to drive so it would get nixed all together.

Charlotte was an 1/8th and unfortunately I never got times there on the nitrous due to the faulty nozzle... Hopefully this year I can match my 8.101@85.94 thats on my 12.67 slip... It would be awesome to see a high or mid 7 too...

1988GTU wrote:Man 1/8th mile wont enable many to pop an engine ... wheres the fun in that?

The outskirts of Grand Rapids would have offered the chance to use the US 131 Motorsports racetrack, full 1/4 mile facility.

1/8th mile is incredibly fun... I raced at this track for several years. Driver skill becomes much more important.

I already know that won't hold a separate elimination for us; other groups have tried it. If it was a "street drags" night and there were enough people, they would. A Grand Prix group did it a few years ago.

I will ask about NHRA vs IHRA as well as any specific safety requirements.

Kyle Anderson wrote:

1988GTU wrote:Man 1/8th mile wont enable many to pop an engine ... wheres the fun in that?

The outskirts of Grand Rapids would have offered the chance to use the US 131 Motorsports racetrack, full 1/4 mile facility.

1/8th mile is incredibly fun... I raced at this track for several years. Driver skill becomes much more important.

I already know that won't hold a separate elimination for us; other groups have tried it. If it was a "street drags" night and there were enough people, they would. A Grand Prix group did it a few years ago.

I will ask about NHRA vs IHRA as well as any specific safety requirements.

1/4 really puts the FWD cars to the test. With the typical fwd 60'ers and growing power adder clique, the 1/8 mile ends up being a smoke show for the faster cars or its a slow painful watch for the n/a cars ramping up to slow down suddenly.

Rather just have fun than be a strict competition event. Partially the reason why I stay away from 1/8 tracks with "test and tune" days. Everyone is looking to climb over someone else rather than just having fun. Last time I was at a 1/8th mile track, I had more people worrying about wanting to know my business versus them keeping there nose in there own.

Either way, it will get the job done for most that want to "legally" race.

Yes but the more 1/8th practice you get the better your 1/4 will be the next time you go. The first 60ft is my problem and I need to work on it, so a 1/8th mile will give me that time and a bit less stress on the overall setup since it's a shorter run.

and with this being the only replies I'm getting, I'm leaning toward verbal accomplishments only, no trophies and no classes.

Rather sad that I'm getting hardly any replies on interest.

This is one reason why it's so hard to plan things, NO ONE CONTRIBUTES! I need to know who's interested.

I am definatly racing ive been wanting to take mine to the 1/8 mile track not to far from me but i work every fri and sat so i will race.

Might be racing depending on what car I bring Might actually have a loaner, my brother's 3400 5 speed Z26. I would totally just be doing it for fun - have no comparative times on a 1/8 mi. The car did run a 15.2 in the 1/4 when it was still an auto many years ago... I will bring my hoosiers to help with that 60 ft

I finally got a reply from the track manager about track rules.

"IHRA rules. Just be sure to have the obvious things like seat belts, battery tie-down, all lugnuts on tires, etc... most everyone passes tech unless its something obvious. 8.50 and faster requires helmet. 1/8 mile"

To be honest, I have never had anyone check my car over. The only things they looked for was that I was wearing a seat belt and that the windows were rolled up. It's all easy stuff though... no reason you should fail inspection.