Voc-Tech Airfield
"Hello everyone and welcome back to the action," said Jarod, "and boy do we mean action. Isn't that right, D?"
"Word, dawg," said DJ D-rail. "Its Team Wyldcardz versus Team Thunder Hall goin' on and we are under way with the first race. a classic Plymouth 'Cuda against a band spankin' new Corvette Z06. Old school versus new school, brotha'!,"
"Yes, D. You'd imagine the newer Z06 would dominate here but it seems that 'Cuda is pretty well tuned and putting up quite a fight. Halfway down the first stretch the two cars are still neck and neck. Who will reach the turnaround first?!"
On the dirt runway, the two muscle cars were trading the lead like kids trading new baseball cards. Rome in his 'Cuda was not giving the Alexia in the Z06 an easy time. Less than half a mile left till the cone at the west end of the runway where the two cars had to turn around still without a definite leader.
"Not for long," mumbled Alexia, as she pushed a little red button on her steering wheel.
That little red button in turn activated a spray of nitrous oxide that pumped into the engine's intake. The added nitrous oxide added more explosive force to the fuel/air mixture and thus basically forced the pistons and camshaft to work harder and produce more power resulting in an instantaneous burst of speed and torque.
The Z06 flew ahead of the 'Cuda and quickly gained a decent lead. Though Rome wasn't getting nervous just yet. It was still pretty early in the race and Rome noticed that the Z06 may have just committed a blunder in activating her nitrous so late during the straight away. More than likely, Rome thought, she had underestimated his car's performance, thinking she could easily outrun the forty year old classic. Had she activated her nitrous system earlier, she might have gotten a significant lead.
With 500 yards to go, the Z06 found that it had rather little distance to break and make the turn. In her attempt to gain the lead quickly, she had overseen this little error. She was too used to quarter-mile drag races it seemed.
"Dammit!" exclaimed Alexia as she slammed her brakes. The Z06 kicked up a load of dust around it nearly obscuring it from view. Alexia found herself struggling a little with shifting down to a lower gear to make the turn properly. This was all the opportunity Rome needed.
"My turn, sistah," he said 200 yards from the west end line. Ever the show-off, Rome performed the classic Scandinavian flick and brought his car into a wide powerslide around the cone, easy in the not so grippy gravel and dirt road.
Because the Z06 had a little trouble coming out of that turn, Rome's 'Cuda was able to make up the distance. Both cars re-crossed the west end line at more or less the same time and were back to neck and neck.
"Shit! He's better than I thought," exclaimed Alexia, finally realizing just how much in a bind she is.
As the two cars crossed the west end line again and began their two mile run back to the east end line, they were neck and neck yet again. Alexia would have none of that. She was determined to prove that she was the better driver here.
"Plenty of road left," she said to herself. "I still got a chance to finish this my way."
Alexia reached for that red button to activate her nitrous systems again. she only had one tank full of nitrous left but it would last for a good mile if she set that nozzle correctly. She was getting ready to push, waiting for the one mile marker. On his side, Rome was closely observing his opponent, making sure she wouldn't get too far ahead.
"Both cars are neck and neck yet again. It looks like a battle of straight up horsepower down there, D," said Jarod. "The Corvette is barely gaining any ground of the classic 'Cuda and they are just about to reach the mile marker."
"If one of these cats, is gonna do somethin' they better do it now," said D-rail.
Indeed, that's what both drivers on the track thought as well. But for Rome, he was just waiting for Alexia to make a move.
She did. A few yards after passing that mile marker, Alexia activated her last nitrous tank. The Corvette Z06 once again took off like a rocket ahead of the 'Cuda. However Rome was not without his options either.
"You think you won, baby?!" he exclaimed excitedly. "No way! I got something for you right here!" Rome pressed his own little red button which activated his own nitrous kit. Unlike Alexia's Corvette, Rome's nitrous system was set up to give one large burst of nitrous to instantly double his horsepower and torque. As soon as that nitrous hit the cylinders, the 'Cuda popped a wheelie for some distance, causing the crowds to go wild.
Alexia peered at her rear-view mirror and went wide-eyed at the sight of the 'Cuda rapidly approaching from her flank.
"Aww, hell no!" Her reaction was immediate, She immediately swerved right in front of the 'Cuda's path in an attempt to force to slow down. In his car, Rome saw the move and knew what was going on. He flashed a confident smile to himself.
"Sorry," he mumbled. "Ain't gonna fall for that again, homegirl."
With a bit of distance still between them, Rome made a turn to the right, Alexia was watching him as he was charging in and moved in front of his way again. But this was a feint. Rome had tricked her into providing an opening for him and he rapidly turned left, letting all of that momentum he built up with the spray to cruise him straight to the lead.
Alexia was completely caught off-guard by this move and couldn't maneuver in time to block the 'Cuda. Rome cruised right past her as they reached the last quarter mile before the east end line. With a speed of over 160 mph, Rome was now untouchable to Alexia who had lost all her momentum from that wild maneuvering. She was left in the dust as Rome's 'Cuda crossed the east end line with up to fifty yards to spare.
"And the first car to cross the line is the 'Cuda from Wyldcardz!"exclaimed Jarod. "And next up for them is the Subaru Impreza that is now launching off the line!"
From her parked position, Kate's Impreza rumbled to life and jetted off the line. It picked up momentum quickly, thanks to its phenomenal AWD system working the wheels. About a second-and-a-half later Alexia's Corvette crossed the line as well. From the other side of the track, Victor, in his Dodge Challenger, was just leaving the line
"Them Thunder Hall cats have got their next driver on the road," said D-Rail, "In a brand spankin' new Dodge Challenger too, man!"
"Like the Mustang and the Camaro, it's just one of those legends you can't kill, D," said Jarod. "A classic through and through. Now let's see if these two modern street legends can duke it out!"
The Impreza was a good 100 yards off the line when the Challenger just got going. Kate was determined to keep that lead of hers for as long as she can. Despite being heavily modified for power, her car was still pretty much tuned for autocross and rally style races. At her top speed she'll probably be able to touch 180 or so mph but that's going to take a long time. Longer than the Challenger she reckoned.
In a straight line drag race like this, She knew she would eventually lose out to a tuned V8 like the Challenger. Kate simply had to milk the lead for all its worth. She still had nitrous oxide on her side but chances are her opponent had it too (hell this is the street racing world, everybody had nitrous).
For his part, Victor, had tuned his Challenger the classic way. Polishing the intake and exhaust manifold, adding a custom made, wide-diameter exhaust pipe, custom made, 4-inch pistons and adding a little bit of something-something to the fuel mix.
People would be amazed how simply polishing the inside of the manifold would add quite a bit of power to the engine. Having a polished intake meant smother flow of the fuel/air mixture into the cylinders and it also helped to keep that fuel/are mixture clean. Any impurities in the fuel usually meant a weaker, less effective explosion on the chamber. To compliment this, Victor also installed a K&N air filter unit to hlp the fuel mix better.
Polishing the exhaust manifold also helps because it reduces back pressure. If the exploded gasses in an engine does not smoothly leave the cylinders, it creates back pressure on the pistons which in turn puts pressure on the crankshaft and the whole drivetrain in general, taking up precious horsepower. Contrary to popular belief, changing the stock muffler to a bigger and, annoyingly, noisier custom muffler actually does increase power. Couple that with a custom-made wide diameter Borla exhaust pipe and manifold and you can increase a good engine's power by a good 30 percent if done right.
"Ok, miss ricer," said Victor. "Let's see what you got."
The Challenger gave chase quickly and was slowly closing the gap. By the time they reached the one mile marker, the Challenger had cut down the Impreza's lead by half. In another half-mile he would be breathing down her rear windshield.
Kate looked at her rearview mirror and spotted the Challenger gradually getting closer, even in that think dust cloud she was generating. If it weren't for his headlights, she probably wouldn't be able to spot him in that cloud. She focused all her attention on that barrel ahead of her and the victory she could get by getting to it first.
"As the two cars approach the west end line, the Subaru is holding a slim lead," said Jarod. "The Challenger is poised to make a move here. What will it be?"
Kate simply chose to ignore the Challenger for now. That was not how she was taught how to drive. Focus on the road ahead. Approaching the west end line, and the barrel right in the middle of it, the Subaru Impreza was not slowing down one bit.
"You crazy, woman?" asked Victor to no one in particular. He saw how close they were to crossing and if they didn't slow down they would overshoot the line. Was she waiting to brake as late as possible? How short does she expect her breaking distance to be?
Kate simply focused on the barrel in the middle of the line, decorates by florescent graffiti making it very visible. She ignored the Challenger which was almost neck and neck with her at this point.
"Wait for it..." mumbled Kate to herself. The barrel was 300 yards away.
Victor in the Challenger, was switching his sight from the barrel to the Impreza's driver next to him to the speedometer on his dash. They were still going at 150 or so mph.
200 yards to the line ahead.
Kate didn't slowdown one bit and kept her foot on the gas. If she were to look to her side, she would have seen the Challenger start to back down. Victor was hovering his left foot over the clutch and was ready to transfer his right foot from the gas to the brake. But he couldn't yet, no matter how nervous he was getting.
He was waiting for Kate to brake first. But that wasn't gonna happen.
140 yards to the line ahead.
In the Subaru, Kate was still calm and cool, never taking her eyes off the barrel ahead. Victor was starting to sweat.
100 yards to the line ahead.
Victor lost his nerve. "Dammit!" he exclaimed as he slammed his foot on the brake and clutch as he frantically braked and shifted down. The Subaru zoomed ahead, unaffected by her opponent's move. Kate was still focusing on the barrel completely. "Almost there..." she mumbled.
40 yards to the barrel ahead. "Now!" exclaimed Kate.
In the flash of a quarter of a second, Kate's left foot kicked the clutch and her shifting hand shifted down from 6th gear to 1st. in the next quarter second, the foot that was on the gas was lifted off and switched over to the brake, her shifting hand went from the stick shift to hand brake then pulled it, and her remaining hand, turned the steering wheel 180 degrees to the right.
In the next half second, the Subaru Impreza turned a complete 180 degrees less than twenty yards from the west end line. Within the next half second, Kate straightened the steering again, put her hand on the shift stick and hovered her foot above the gas.
Pure momentum brought the car across the west end line while it was facing backwards. The Impreza crossed the line, rear end first, went around the barrel with less than a foot to spare between the front bumper and the barrel, and once passed the barrel, the Impreza's wheels spun like mad and the car jetted off back towards the east end line.
On her way, Kate brushed past Victor in his Challenger, flashing him a barely noticeable smirk. As well as causing him to lose a bit of control since he was caught off guard by the move.
"Hot damn! Did you see that move?!" exclaimed D-Rail. "That car was practically kissing the barrel, man! That was a tight move, dawg. Figuratively and literally."
"Yes, D, it was," concurred Jarod. "And with that fantastic move, it seems the Impreza has regained a lot of the lead it lost. Just goes to show you muscle isn't everything. Now the Challenger is making his turn around the barrel as well and crossing back to head for the finish. Let's see if that engine can muster enough grunt to get back the race."
"These Wyldcardz got some crazy moves. These cats seem to always have something up them sleeves. Better be careful Thunder Hall this ain't no push-over ricer club. These dudes got game!"
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Meanwhile, back at the hanger.
The crowd in the hanger, both upper and lower social classes, watched with eager anticipation on the flat screen TV's that brought the race to the crowd in high definition.
At the far table, Sinclair watched carefully, not really sharing the excitement of the young crowd or even those around him. He looked like a judge at a county fair, scrutinizing entries in a 'best pumpkin' contest. This team, Wyldcardz, the team Virgil was hosting, was something that was really grabbing his attention.
Seated next to him Virgil was enjoying the sight of his own team genuinely kicking the exhaust out of the competition. He knew then and there that he made the perfect choice when he recruited Alex and his friends.
"Quite a crew you've put together," commented Sinclair.
"Thank you," said Virgil.
"You have...quite an eye for talent."
"Again, thank you. I do try to over-achieve."
"And do you expect them to go all the way?"
"To the final stage, you mean? Oh yes. I should expect so. I mean, after all that money I lost to you during Ultimate Street two years ago, I've been meaning to make that up...in spades if I can help it."
Sinclair flashed a convincing smile. "Glad to see you on your feet again. Must have been quite a struggle for you."
Virgil turned to him with an expression Sinclair couldn't read. It looked like he was pleased with something but it also looked like he was hiding a bit of malice.
"Let's not dwell in the past, old friend," said Virgil rather cheerfully. "There's a lot of racing left to go. Let's just enjoy the show."
Virgil contently looked back towards the screen displaying the race as it happened outside while taking a sip of his fine wine. Sinclair did the same but with a lot less enthusiasm. His observing eyes continued to scrutinize the teams as they race.
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Back on the track.
Kate's Impreza has already reached the one mile mark and she still had a pretty decent lead over her opponent who was slowly catching up. But that was okay. Her chances of finishing first were almost grunted. She didn't bother looking at her rearview mirror to check if the Challenger was close or not.
It wouldn't matter anyway. Not because she was in the lead but because a her car was generating such a big dust cloud behind her that a car could never be spotted unless it was at least three feet from the rear bumper and had its headlights on.
About 3 seconds behind her, Victor in the Challenger was having a frustrating time. His car slowly pulled in closer to the Impreza and shortened the gap between them. He was never one to quite while in the middle of a battle.
However, just as they reached that last half-mile mark, Victor got a nasty surprise when the Subaru suddenly activated it's nitrous as indicated by the bright blue flame that came spitting out of the exhaust pipe. The Impreza zoomed ahead.
By the time the dust cleared, the Impreza was long gone. Victor slammed his hand on the steering wheel and cursed loudly. "Goddammit!"
. "Two more cars from each team to go," said Jarod "Up next is the S2000 from Wyldcardz and the new GTO from Thunder Hall going down the track. Thanks to the Impreza's sweet moves, looks like the S2000 will get a bit of a head start. And here comes the Impreza now across the line!"
The Impreza crossed the line at over a 150 mph. The millisecond it did, Suki shifted into first and floored the gas pedal. The S2000 took off the line leaving behind a cloud of dust as usual.
On the other side of the track, a very annoyed pair of Lynn brothers watched as their predicted game plan was crumbling to pieces.
"Dammit!" exclaimed Carl through his open window. "What are we gonna do now?!"
"Relax." said Derek through his open window. "We still got a chance here. Use that fancy new nitrous kit of yours as soon as you get to 5th gear. You should be able to catch up with that Honda at the last quarter mile before the turn. Once at the turn, try and screw up your opponent by taking the inside line, got me?"
"Alright, got it."
"You better make sure you pull this off little brother."
Just as Derek finished his sentence, the Challenger finally crossed the line. Derek was off in a fraction of a heartbeat. The GTO was tuned for a quick sprint off the line. Carl had to sacrifice a little top speed for that but for drag races, it's usually who gets off the line first. And even with his reduced top speed he would still be much faster that any old four-banger like that Honda. He was determined to win this no matter what.
Meanwhile on the other side of the track, Alex watched as Carl in his '04 GTO left the line and began to chase down Suki's S2000. Rome was out of his car and walked towards Alex's open window.
"What do you think, man?" he asked Alex. "We got a pretty big lead here. We might just not need that little plan of yours."
"A race isn't over till it's over, buddy." This can still go either way. At least we know Suki has a plan b."
"I guess that's right. But still, gotta look at the bright side man."
"I thought avoiding the bright side was the plan for Suki," he said with a bit of a chuckle.
Rome chuckled a bit too. That really was the plan. And if anyone could pull it off it would be Suki. Hopefully they won't need that plan. But as Rome would know, anything can happen on the streets.
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Up ahead.
"The Honda S2000 is now halfway down the runway and the GTO is still a ways behind. That dude better haul it, dawg," said D-Rail, "if he plans on winning and--whoa wait up! What's up? Looks like the GTO just turned on the spray! That brotha' is now thunderin' down the line! Looks like this run is still a toss-up, eh Jar?"
"Looks like it, D. At this rate the new GTO will reach the S2000 within that last quarter mill till the turn around. It's gonna be interesting to see what the GTO driver has in store."
Suki, in her S2000, had the top down and the windows up. Usually she would love to race with the soft top down to show off but for a serious race like this she had to maximize her chances.
Most soft top roadsters like the S2000 are quite capable of high performance. However that performance is almost always hampered if you try to drive it at speed with the top down. Having the top down causes the air to flow into the car's cabin creating a large amount of turbulence. As a result, the engine has to spend a significant amount of power fighting that turbulence. Have the top closed like in Suki's case allows the air to flow over the roof and off the back creating a great deal less of that turbulence. The top speed of a roadster with the top up and down can differ by as much as 40 percent.
But even with this added advantage, it seemed that the GTO was prepared for the circumstance. Suki managed to spot the approaching headlights in her rearview amid the dust that she was kicking up. She knew it was about a quarter mile to go to the west end line. Looks like she might just need to use Alex's plan after all.
"Show time," mumbled Suki to herself.
Meanwhile, Carl and his GTO were shooting down the track at a crazy speed of over 170 mph. Crazy, mainly because he wasn't driving on tarmac and he wasn't even driving on off-road tires. The fact that he could keep a straight line path was a testament to Carl's well-trained street racing skills. "Don't you freakin' underestimate me, ricer girl," he snarled under his breath.
400 yards from the west side line, the GTO finally caught up to the S2000's bumper. Suki got a little nervous at this point but kept her cool. Stick to the plan girl, she thought. This guy won't know what passed him.
Carl was not about to let a wimpy little four-banger import beat his V8. 200 yards from the barrel in the middle of the west end line, Carl took an aggressive inside line. With that sort of line, it would prevent Suki from being able to take lead position while in the turn, something he new import cars were generally better at. He had to make sure she didn't have that advantage.
"You ain't passing me, girl," he said more to himself than to anyone else, trying to reassure his nerves.
The two cars reached the point where they both had to brake hard. the action generated a whole heap of dust that made completely hid both cars from sight. The new GTO made the turn as Carl had planned without the S2000 being able to catch this inside line. The lead was his now. He did some quick shift work and managed to get his car rolling in the right direction again. The new GTO jetted off back towards the east end line, Carl now much more confidence in his win.
Carl was ecstatic about this turn of event and loudly whoop inside his car. "Yeah, who's the man?! Haha!" He looked towards his rearview mirror to check on his opponent. His expression completely changed in that instant.
The S2000 was nowhere to be seen.
"Both cars have now made the turn at the west end line and both are now headed back to...wait," said Jarod. "Hang on a second, something's wrong here. D, do you see the S2000?"
"Hell naw, Jar," said D-rail. "Sistah' just pulled some David Copperfield shit, right there! I don't see a freakin' trace, man!"
"Ladies and gentlemen this is unprecedented. A racer has actually disappeared from the track! And we have no idea where that car is!"
"Hang on man, I think I'm seein' somethin' down there..."
Confused as the two announcers are, no one was more confused that Carl Lynn in his '04 GTO. He frantically switched from looking to all three of his mirrors. He looked at the left side mirror. Nothing. He looked at the right side mirror. Nothing. He looked at his center rear view mirror. Dust and nothing but dust. He even turned his head around a couple of times to look directly out his rear window. No headlights to indicate that the S2000 was behind him. And she sure as hell wasn't in front of him!
"What the hell?" he mumbled to himself as his car drove past the one mile mark. One mile to go till the east end line and to give his older brother his turn. No sign of the S2000 anywhere. "Where did she--How--What the hell?!"
In racing, either professional or otherwise, one of the most nerve racking things that can happen to you is to lose sight of your opponent. Many people who don't know better think racing is just down to who's got the bigger engine. Real drivers know that racing is, like most sports, primarily about strategy. The way you drive often depends on a number of factors such as the car's performance and especially knowing where the other drivers are.
Carl didn't know it but this simple, yet unanswerable, question was slowly affecting his performance. He was too focused on trying to find where his opponent had gone to that he was missing the fact that his foot was lifting off the gas. If he were to look at his tachometer at that moment, he would be alarmed to see that it had drifted down to 6000 rpm. The drop in torque obviously had an effect on his speed as she was slowly drifting down to 120 mph by the time he reached the half-mile mark.
"Goddamit, what the hell is going on here?!" Carl exclaimed, already going into a bit of a panic.
Suki knew then and there that this was the best time as any to make her final move on this fool. "Smack this ass, boy," she said wryly.
Carl was completely caught off-guard by the sudden glare of high intensity xenon bulbs suddenly appearing behind him no less than two feet from his rear bumper. In the flash of a second, The S2000 suddenly veered to the side and came out of the dust cloud trailing the GTO. A quarter of a second later, blue flame exploded from her tail pipe and the S2000 zoomed ahead of the slowed GTO, taking a commanding lead.
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15 minutes ago, before the start of the race.
"Drafting," said Alex. "If all else fails, Suki, you can go with that. With your car's low profile and maneuverability, it shouldn't be a problem for you to sneak in behind your opponent's slipstream and take advantage of that wake behind him."
"Got it," replied Suki.
Drafting. A very effective but very dangerous technique in racing. Alternatively known as slipstreaming, the technique was popular among pro divers since the early days of motorsport. Drafting is prevalent in almost all aspects of motorsport, particularly in the circles of Formula 1 racing and Stock Car racing.
The principle behind the technique was simple. As a car drives forward, it cuts a path through the air in front of it. The displaced air compresses itself around the body of the car and flows over it naturally. And after the air passes over the car tries to go back to its uncompressed state which causes a resulting in a pocket of air immediately behind the car that contains very little air pressure. This area is known as a wake.
The effect of the air hitting the car is commonly known as drag in that the air pushing against the car actually limits the speed a car can go. Most modern day cars are designed with aerodynamics in mind after many engineers found out that it's no longer about just putting in a big engine with lots of power. In the same manner, racers found out that you don't need that much power to go fast as long as you reduce the resistance of the air hitting the front of the car. Drafting was developed as a result.
The technique involved getting in behind a leading car and occupy the space of that car's wake. Because a wake has less air pressure, a drafting car barely experiences any drag and thereby gains more speed for using less power. In motorsport, particularly on Stock Car racing circuits like NASCAR, the technique is used tactically by drafting behind an opponent to build momentum without straining their engine (unlike the lead car which is using almost all of its engine's power just to maintain momentum). During the right time, the drafter would pull away from behind his opponent and then use the extra potential of his engine to power on ahead and overtake the lead car.
"Let him do all the work," continued Alex. "You won't really have to worry about the power difference this way."
"But what if her opponent tries to counter her?" asked Jimmy.
"No worries about that, Jimmy," replied Suki. "I'll let the track take care of that little detail."
Jimmy looked confused. "Huh?"
"When we were watching the earlier races, didn't you notice that at speed those cars kick up a whole lot of dust?"
"Yeah, but what can you expect? It's an unpaved runway."
"Don't you think those dust clouds are just big enough to hide something?"
Jimmy was a little confused at first but the message slowly sank in. It was a simple concept but sometimes even the simplest ideas produce the biggest result. They may or may not need such a scheme to win the race but definitely something like this will increase their odds.
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Back in the mean time.
Watching from behind the east end line, Derek couldn't believe his eyes when he saw the S2000 come out from the distance before his younger brother's GTO. Straining his eyes he saw his brother about 4 seconds behind her. Something happened, he thought. This can't be right, something had to have happened somewhere in the middle of the race.
The S2000 crossed the finish line at over 150 mph, trailing dust and blue flame from its exhaust. The moment it did, The Silvia S15 came to life and was soon off its spot on the sidelines and started to make its run. Derek watched in horror as the Silvia began to pull away from the line. He looked towards his opponent and caught a very brief flash of a smirk of confidence through the un-tinted part of the windshield from the driver.
Derek wouldn't believe it. He wouldn't believe that his team was being beaten by a group of rice burners.
Around two seconds after the Silvia left the line, Carl's GTO finally came in and finished his run. In a heartbeat, Derek was off, spinning his rear tires madly, getting off the line. It was all up to him now. He was the team's last chance to win this.
He swore he would do whatever it took to win.
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Author's note: There ya'll go. The next chapter in FnF:SU. Next chapter will be the conclusion to Ultimate Street Stage 1 so better look out for that. And after that Stage 2. Hope you guys are liking things so far. Pls. R&R.