Making Laps in the Duck Tape Turismo

(Robert Ellison Photo)

We had a solid outing at Farmington Dragway's annual Footbrake Nationals weekend, near Winston-Salem, NC. The Duck Tape Turismo got to compete in three separate races in two days, thanks to the addition of Farmington's inaugural Champions Showdown, which was a special shootout race open only to racers who have won a championship in their career. Each driver was honored with a special event t-shirt. 50 drivers qualified for the Showdown, vying for a paid weekend entry to Piedmont Dragway's upcoming $20,000 Footbrake Nationals Thanksgiving weekend.

The Turismo made it to the third round of Saturday's Warm-Up race, when our pair was shut off on the line while the track crew rebooted the scoreboards. With the tires cold and the engine warm, I was a sitting Duck, as the four-cylinder front-wheel drive combination can be finicky in the wrong situation. Even so, I had enough of a reaction time advantage that I only lost by .015. I lost second round of the Champions Showdown to a great run, and on Sunday, I rediscovered the frustration of breaking out by tripping the finish line beam with the spoiler while having another track champion on the ropes.

All-in-all, it was a good weekend, as over 135 Footbrake cars, plus drivers from two other categories got to check out a somewhat slower and easier to read billboard making several passes down the Farmington Dragway 1/8th mile. A lot of people really get a kick out of the car!

Food for the numbers geeks below: Air quality ranged from 2000'-2500' over the course of the weekend, 70 degrees, 29.00, 50-60% H. Physical altitude of the track ~ 1,300' above sea level. Staging shallow, with 2-3 bumps.

Rnd R/T 60' E.T. MPH

Q1 .026 2.069 9.928 68.34

Q2 -.010 2.072 9.943 68.13

E1 .015 2.077 9.948 68.14 on 9.95 dial

E2 .014 2.074 9.951 68.31 on 9.93 dial win over Farmington's track champ

C1 .007 2.064 9.902 68.71 on 9.93 dial (Champions Showdown)

E3 .039 2.091 9.975 68.41 on 9.88 dial - spun, engine warm

C2 .024 2.052 9.906 68.51 on 9.88 dial vs .012, 7.800 on 7.79

SUNDAY - special thanks to Scott Macy for tightening up the high gear band in the trans

Q1 .029 2.070 9.901 69.12 moved shift point from 5500 to 6000. Air quality same as Q2 on Saturday

E1 .041 2.074 9.880 70.10 on 9.89 dial vs .043, 6.319 on 6.29 Tripped with spoiler on the brakes.