On Friday, my buddy Mike emailed me asking if I wanted to go back to Maryland International Raceway with him so he could race his 2003 Mustang Cobra SVT. Nadia had a friend coming in town, so I wanted to go, but didn’t want to be rude by not being there when her friend showed up. Talked it over with Nadia, and she said it was cool if I went. So, I did.

The plan was to get to the track by 8:30 p.m.; we were meeting friends there. I got to Mike’s around 7:45 p.m. and we left shortly thereafter. The problem is that MIR is in the middle of fumblebuck Maryland and is @ss-far away from Mike’s place in Alexandria. The ride is like an hour and a half.

While we were on our way, we passed some d-bag kid in an older (1997-1999ish) BMW M3. We weren’t speeding, or attempting to race – just trying to get to the track. He, however, wanted to prove that his car was faster, even though we all knew it wasn’t. Perhaps the massive amount of gel in this kid’s hair was putting too much pressure on his brain for it to operate correctly. I really don’t know.

But, he would get behind us, ride on our tail, then move to pass us, then slam on the brakes to avoid slower car, and get behind us and do it again. He did it about three times. Eventually he made the pass. He must have felt like he accomplished something. Way to go, kid.

Anyway, we arrived at the track after 9 p.m., I think. We drove up to the gate and were informed it was $20 to race and $10 to watch. We were given a form to fill out so that Mike could race. The form basically asked for your contact information and car information, and contained the rules for racing and a liability waiver.

To paraphrase, it basically said don’t act like a jack@ss when you’re not on the track, and if you die, sucks for you, but it ain’t our fault. We drove to tech inspection and were greeted by a big dude. He gave Mike a pen to fill out the form and looked at the car. I should note that he did not look over the car, he simply looked at it.

After filling out the form, he wrote an identifying number in the right corner of Mike’s windshield and on his rear, passenger side window. Mike asked if he needed to have his car inspected, to which the guy replied, “You’re good.” I don’t know exactly what a tech inspection entails, but it didn’t seem like much since it could be performed without touching the car or raising the hood.

After that, we drove over to park and wait for them to call the street division. We caught up with Mike’s brother-in-law, Andy, and his friends, Mike and Tommy. Andy has a slammed Mustang Cobra while other Mike and Tommy have Mustang GTs.

Other Mike, Tommy, and Andy all gave Mike pointers on anticipating the tree (designates the start) and making his first pass down the track. They told him how many RPMs he should be turning at the start and how to stage.

When you approach the track, there is a small trench with water in it. Cars with racing slicks (no tread) wet their tires, and then perform a burnout to heat the tires, lay rubber on the track, and remove debris from the tires. This improves traction. If you have treaded tires, like Mike does, you avoid the water box because your tires will drip water on the track, making it unsafe for those who run after you. Most people with street tires skipped the burnout.

As you roll forward, approaching the tree, a set of yellow lights come on indicating that you’ve pre-staged (you’re roughly seven inches from the starting line). You roll forward a bit more and a second set of lights comes on, indicating you’re staged (at the starting line).  You can roll forward a little more to gain a slight advantage, but you’d be very close to being disqualified.

Once both cars are staged (the “staged” lights are on for both drivers) three amber lights illuminate one at a time about a half second apart, and then a green light illuminates about a half second after that indicating the start of the race. Tommy and other Mike were telling Mike that he should start to go on the last amber light instead of waiting for the green. If you wait, they said, you’ll be slow. If, however, you leave the starting line too early, you get a red light, which means you’re disqualified.

On his first pass, Mike skipped the burnout and rolled up to stage. Perhaps being a bit amped up to race, he rolled a little too far forward. His staging lights came on and went back off so he had to back up. I can’t imagine that this is uncommon for a driver on his first night of racing. Fortunately he didn’t roll too far ahead otherwise he would have been disqualified. His opponent, a Ford pickup, staged perfectly.

They both had good reaction times and took off almost simultaneously. But, Mike’s car, having much more horsepower and being much lighter, opened up a 5 car length lead in the first few hundred feet and was gone. He ran the quarter-mile in 13.43 seconds at 109.50 mph. His reaction time was .043, which is decent. Not a bad run, considering it was his first time.

The first run is heads up (both drivers start at the same time), and it determines your dial-in time. I could be explaining this wrong, but in order to win a race you have to cross the finish line first, without breaking out (running quicker than your dial-in time.) So, the time on your windshield is essentially a time you can’t run faster than unless you want to be disqualified. This explains why several cars were braking before the finish line… they knew they had the race won and didn’t want to break out and get disqualified, I assume.

After your first run, you have to write this time on your windshield and your passenger side rear window, under your car number.

Mike parked and waited for the next round of the street division. In the meantime, we wandered around, checking out other cars and talking to the other racers. A couple of guys came over to Mike’s car to ask about his oil catch can. They wanted to know if he made it himself. He informed them where he got it. Next thing you know, we head over to check out their car, a 2001 Mustang GT Bullitt, designed after the car made famous in the Steve McQueen movie. The guy dropped a turbo in it, too. It looked awesome despite needing to be washed.

We talked to a few other guys. One had a 2009 or 2010 Challenger with a Hemi. He told us that it wasn’t running right and he was trying to figure out why. He came off a little like a d-bag, but perhaps he was preoccupied with trying to figure out what was up with his car. We quickly moved on.   

After the pro division wrapped up, round 2 of the street division was up. On his second pass, Mike was taking on a 1970 340 Dodge Dart. In ET (Elapsed Time) Bracket Racing, cars with varying performance levels can compete against each other. The times of the two cars are compared, and the slower car gets a head start based on the time difference between the two cars.

Mike’s car was faster than the Dart, so the Dart got a head start to level the playing field. But, the guy in the Dart jumped the start and he got a red light and was disqualified. Mike moved on to the next round.

On the run, Mike didn’t have as quick a start as he did the first time – I suspect he was overthinking, trying to apply the advice Tommy and other Mike gave him to improve his starting time. His first run, he just reacted. His second run, he was thinking about how to improve and ended up doing worse. He also said he missed a shift towards the end of the track. Several of the guys we talked to thought that he might have been throwing it into gear before fully depressing the clutch. Anyway, that killed his speed but it didn’t matter because he was moving on.

On the third run, Mike was up against a 1987- 1993 Mustang Coupe. This guy was an experienced drag racer, and had probably been to the track a few times before. Mike’s car was slower so he was supposed to get a head start. The announcer even started to say it. But, before we knew it, the coupe was far ahead and easily cruising to victory.

I didn’t get the tree in the video but I assume Mike didn’t get going when his light changed because the guy in the Coupe took off at about the same time Mike did and he didn’t receive a red light. (Maybe Mike was too busy looking at the paint scheme… I don’t know.) By the time Mike got going, the Coupe had a five-to-seven car length lead. It was over. Mike said he again missed a shift. In the video you can hear him throw it into neutral – even if just barely. Mike was eliminated.

We hung out and watched Tommy make a couple more passes until he was eliminated. Then we took off. All in all, it was a fun time. Met some interesting people and got to see some fun racing. One day, I might hit the track. Of course, not in my Honda Civic.

Tommy vs. other Mike (red w/ silver stripes):

Other Mike vs. a Chevy Bel Air:

Tommy vs. Toyota Rav 4:

Tommy vs. Third generation Mustang: