PRA Summer Nationals with So Cal Race Trial

PRA summer nationals with So Cal Race Trial

On August 3rd, when the rainy season had just gone and summer had come, Super Shot(a car shop in Japan) hosted the PRA Summer Nationals and So Cal Race Trial in Sendai High Land. Summer had officially started August 2nd, so we weren't worried about the weather. The sun was shining down on the hot pavement, "A Little Bit of Rain Would Have Been Nice!" The temperature that day was an all time high this year. No shade and excitement added to the heat.

The race began after a maintenance check by the PRA. Cars were tested by class. Some cars didn't pass, due to oil leaks and poor maintenance. That's too bad. The cars which were maintained regularly passed the test safely. So let's start draggin'!

PRA VW Drag Racing is devided into 9 classes. Gas Dragster, Pro Turbo, Pro Stock, Super Street, Stock Modified A/B, Sportsman Eliminator, Bracket and Stock Bracket. MOON BUG joins the Pro Turbo class and it didn't run. Sorry about that. The engine, weight and so are different for each class. There is a special class called "Step by Step" which is prepared for the drag race beginner. The class is designed for the beginers to step up easily. In the two runs in the morning, everyone doesn't run by their 100% ability.

Each pictures of PRA is Summer Nationals Winner.

So Cal Race Trial started. There were no rules, besides complyng with PRA regulations. You can run with any kind of car. Shige Suganuma joined this race, too. The cars which competed against each other were different each race. Sometimes, they were the same car but different year, other times, both cars are 60's, but different makes, many interesting matches took place. A Hummer II also ran the race. Because all kinds of cars could join this race, the difference in ET time was up to 10 seconds. (Don't be discouraged HummerII. It's pretty fast, man)

The morning consisted of two races for each PRA and So Cal Race Trial. In lunch time, people who repared the cars or people who had a good summer vacation celebrated with a BBQ. The race resumed again in the afternoon. For PRA, Stock Bracket, Blacket and Sportsman Eliminator Class started final round. Engines might get mad for the sunshine's heat, some guys retired. On that day, I found out again that VWs are realy good for drag races. Although it was made about 1/2 century ago, they run 1/4 miles by 10 or 11 seconds. It is fantastic, isn't it?

Same as in the morning, after that So Cal Race Trial started and they raced 1 time. Later that day, the drivers and cars looked tired so reaction time was slower than in the morning. Did you know that drivers can't use air conditioner in the car during the drag race? Because the water drops from the air conditioner is dangerous for the race. And they have to shut the windows and wear long sleeve shirts. That's just like a steam bath, isn't it? Ofcourse all drivers sweat like water falls. Once the race began, they forgot about the heat and concentrate on the Xmas tree signal and rush through the dragway. Their face was very cool on the return.

Well the sun was going down into the horizon. The only thing left was the commendation.They prepared several awards for the racers. At first, they announced the fastest cars from 16 second's to 13 second's. Shige Suganuma with Glory Rod(1971 NISSAN Gloria) got the best ET awards. The time was 11"606. They got the time in the final race. The best RT was Mr. "artist" Nakazawa. He showed us the quickly dash with his gasser style '64 Ford Falcon in 0.512". Next awards were MOONEYES award, Daytona Magazine award, PRA & Super Shot award. MOONEYES choose Mr. Shoda's '69 Chevelle. He told us "I will beat Glory Rod up!" and came from Tokyo to Sendai by normal way, not high way(over 500km). On that day, he records 11"s constantly. If he got better RT, he would beat us up. Daytona Magazine Award was given to Mr.Hasegawa with '61 Belair. He put LSD and Line Lock on his machine. And Mr.Kijimoto with '68 Camaro got PRA & Super Shot award. He burned out every time and it was so impressive. He changed the tires for drag race. The time, 13"723, became much faster than before. He also came from Tokyo by his car. It is amazing. He mentioned "If the car will be broken by accident, I'm calling wrecker so no problem!"

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After that, Daytona magazine held a Rock-Paper-Scisors tornament and they all had fun. The man who got the MOONEYES helmet bag put his helmet into the bag.Next race is scheduled for September 21st, Sunday. It will be the MOONEYES MEET. Same as before, you can race with any kind of car. The ranking will be decided by the reaction time. It will be big help for normal cars, right? All you have to do is improve your reaction senses. Why don't you join us next race?