On Sunday there were 40 Supras, 20 Vipers and 20 Vettes at the drag strip-all ready to race. Thankfully, the Texas weather wasn't too hot, but the track was sticky enough to break a few axles. One Viper even puked up a rod.
Many of the street-tired Supras were running low-12s to mid-11s. The serious action was in the Unlimited Class, where Supras running slicks, wicked up boost and nitrous really hauled the meat. The class results are as follows:
Class 1
1st Place - John Hein - 12.34@115.23
2nd Place - Mark Mitias - 12.85@116.82
Class 2
1st Place - Augie Hidalgo - 11.53@137.02
2nd Place - Joe Calabrasi - 10.88@133.65 (red-lit)
Class 31st Place - SW (C5 Vette) - 10.59@119.36 (missed fourth gear)
2nd Place - Stacey Barnett (C5 Vette) - 13.79@62.31 (missed third gear)
The overall fastest time of the day was set by SW from Austin, Texas in his daily-driven stock bottom-end six-speed Supra, which ran a 9.8 at 154 mph. The fastest Viper turned a 10.44 at 139.23.
To purchase a DVD of the event, logon to mydigitalvideo.net or call (713) 457-4338. -Joel Dow Pickelland
Returns To Infiniti
emember the Infiniti M30? That early-'90s two door was a re-badged Nissan Leopard and about as square and upright as a coupe has ever been. And if you remember it, you're in the minority.
The letter M is returning to Infiniti even if the car itself isn't, in the form of the 2003 M45 sedan. With the 4.5-liter, DOHC, 32-valve V8 of the big Q45 sedan in its nose (which is rated at 340 hp in the Q), the smaller (slightly larger than the G35) M45 promises to be one of the quickest sedans available at any price. Infiniti plans to sell it for about the same price BMW or Mercedes gets for their six-cylinder models (think $40K).
Geared more for luxury than the G35, the M45 carries dual-zone automatic climate control, Xenon headlamps, a multi-functional Vehicle Information System with an LCD screen, "Sojourner Luxury Leather" seating, and a Bose eight-speaker audio system. Luxurious though it is, there's also a five-speed manual and standard five-speed automatic transmission.
The M45 is scheduled to go on sale this fall as a 2003 model.
Burnout Of The Month
Justin Rutkiewicz, Wells, Maine
Justin didn't tell us much about his turbo-equipped '91 Nissan Sentra SE-R. All we know is that the car is black and it can burn its front tires down to the lugnuts.
Someone, somewhere is destroying their tires at this very moment. Maybe it's some Kiwi in New Zealand shredding a set of recapped Kumhos. Or a Russian blazing the balonies on his Lada. Whoever and wherever this person is, we hope they're going to send us photos. You should send us burnout photos too. If you do, it might be chosen as "Burnout of the Month."
Remember, while we encourage this sort of wanton behavior, we're not paying for it or explaining it to the cops. You can send us digital media as an e-mail attachment to sccnews@mcmullenargus.com or you can send us regular old faux-toe-grapes through the haphazard U.S. Postal Service at SCC Burnouts, 774 Placentia Ave., Placentia, CA 92870.